BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

In 2 Corinthians 2:14, New King James Version, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through usdi• uses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." Notice that Paul doesn't say to give thanks only after we receive a miracle. He doesn't tell us to wait for something to change. He tells us to give thanks NOW. Another translation says it like this: "But thanks be to God, who leads me from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of Christ." The fi rst part is a simple command: "Thanks be to God." In other words, "Thank God." The second part says, "who leads me from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of Christ." I can't help thinking of a divine conga line with people dancing and celebrating. That's not too far o• ! In every place, whether before or after our battle, our job is to celebrate. What are we celebrating? We're celebrating Jesus' victory over the enemy's attacks. Whether we're dealing with sickness, can't pay our bills, have heard rumors of a workplace layo• , or had a run-in with someone while running errands, it doesn't matter. Our job remains the same— celebrate. We're called to celebrate His victory. His victory is our victory. We're not trying to get victory—we have it because of Him. He's already made it ours. Run Out Ignorance Hosea 4:6 says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." In other words, God's people are destroyed because they are ignorant. Ignorant of what? you may wonder. They haven't learned what belongs to them. And that's what the enemy is counting on. He doesn't want us to know all that God has done for us. That's why we must continually run ignorance out of our lives. How do we do that? By receiving the knowledge of God and acting upon it. The Word calls this being "doers of the word" (James 1:22). As we already read in 2 Corinthians 2:14, if we aren't celebrating, we aren't following His lead. Things change when we celebrate. Locations, conditions and circumstances— they all change when we celebrate. When circumstances arise that we don't know how to handle, we're to rejoice. We're to sing and dance and shout before the Lord. It's not about using choreographed dance moves or by laughing in some manufactured way. It's about simply releasing our faith in celebration. Dad Goodwin once said, "Anytime I run into a fi nancial di£ culty, I go into my o£ ce, shut the door and start dancing." He knew that there is such a thing as Spirit-inspired dance. You don't train for it. You don't practice it. You simply dance with the knowledge that you are stirring up your faith. Take a moment and meditate on these promises of God: "By His stripes I am healed" (Isaiah 53:5) "The joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) "All my needs are met according to His riches in glory" (Philippians 4:19). These promises belong to every believer. The revelation of them will get us moving and cause us to want to celebrate. Personality and Present Times Now, you might say, "Well, Pastor Nancy, dancing like that isn't my personality." That reminds me of a bold statement my husband once made: "The reason more people don't receive more in a service is because they don't respond more." God is always present and moving, but He's not always manifesting. He waits for those who will move with Him to manifest His provision, presence and miracle-working power. You might need to stir up your faith so you can walk into church with a spring in your step and an expectation of what the Lord promises to do. You might need to rejoice and say, "I'm getting something today. I'm Nancy Dufresne is president of Dufresne Ministries and World Harvest Bible Training Center in Murrieta, Calif. A respected author and teacher, she travels nationwide and abroad, ministering in churches and conducting miracle crusades. For more information or ministry materials, visit dufresneministries.org. C H A N N E L C H A N N E L Mon.- Fri. 4:30 a.m. | 7:30 a.m. | 2:30 p.m. ET i Watch Nancy on 2 4 : B V O V

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