Ed Dufresne - Faithfulness - the Road to Divine Promotion - Obedience to God Creates an Atmosphere for Miracles!

Faithfulness

God's Conditions for Blessing & Promotion

Contents

Foreword

One of the greatest needs in the Church today is faithful workers. Pastors face discouragement as a constant enemy because people have not been obedient and faithful in the ministry of helps.

The Word of God promises blessings and promotion for those that will be faithful. This book speaks to the heart of everyone who would want to be successful in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Publisher

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife Nancy Dufresne who has the real spirit of FAITHFULNESS. Thank you Nancy for being a faithful wife.

Faithfulness

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

[Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.]

Ephesians : 8-10

Notice verse 8 says that the Lord gave gifts unto men. What are these gifts? Verses 11 and 12 tell us:

He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Every minister of the Gospel is a gift to the Church. When God first began to deal with me about preaching the Gospel, I had such a bad image of myself that I certainly couldn't see myself as a gift to the Church.

I had to renew my mind to the Word of God and build into my spirit the reality that I was anointed of God to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Before you can have any success as a pastor or teacher, you must know in your own heart that you are a gift to the Body of Christ. If you don't believe it now, then keep building that truth into your spirit until all the doubt is driven out.

Just as the anointing of Elijah was transferred to Elisha, so was the fivefold mantle of ministryapostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacherdropped upon men when Jesus ascended to heaven.

If you are in one of the classes listed here in Ephesians 4:11, then that mantle was dropped on you. You are one of those gifts, and you are responsible for that gift to the Body of Christ.

Many people today are not faithful to their calling.

According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.

1 Timothy 1:11 ,12

It's important to be faithful, no matter where you are or what you do.

When I first got saved, I loved the Lord so much that I wanted to do anything I could for Him, so He put me in charge of cleaning the toilets in my church. [Never ask to do something unless you intend to follow through!]

For over a year I was faithful in cleaning the toilets in that church. I thanked God that He counted me worthy to serve Him; and for being faithful in it, the Lord told me that He was going to bless whatever I set my hand to. And He did!

I got so blessed that I ended up with two trucks and 15 employees in my new toilet business! As the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, I thank Christ Jesus, my Lord, Who has enabled me to clean the toilets, for He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.

I was also in charge of cleaning the carpets and shining the pulpit. One night while working, I was thanking the Lord for my pastor, and God told me He had counted me faithful and was going to promote me to door greeter. So I was faithful as a door greeter!

You know, it makes an impression on people how they are met at the door. Even when people wouldn't offer their hand, I would just grab them and hug them and tell them I loved them.

When the Lord found me faithful as a door greeter, He promoted me to deacon. Then He said, "Son, I've counted you faithful in these three things. Now you are going to preach the Gospel."

No matter what you are called to do whether it's toilet detail, deacon, pastor, or floor sweeperbe faithful in it. One of the biggest problems in many churches is that the pastor doesn't have faithful workers.

The ministry of helps is just as important to God as the ministry of pastor. Praise God for the men who have been faithful in holding another man's coat!

In Exodus 17:8-13, Israel fought against Amalek . Because Moses couldn't get the job done alone, God provided faithful men to hold up his arms until the sun went downand Israel prevailed over the enemy.

When a church has a group of faithful workers, it can prevail over an entire town. The Lord did a pruning on my ministry and it seemed like half the church was going to leave; but when the purging was over, I was left with a faithful group of people.

So the last shall he first, and first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Matthew 20:16

God does not want you to push your ministry. Promote the Word and you will be promoted. But on the other hand, I am convinced that few are chosen because many who are called have a lack of faithfulness.

I would consider it a great honor for God to tell me to be faithful to a man of God and give him all the help he needs. One of the biggest enemies a pastor faces is discouragement. That's why God puts men into the ministry of helps and expects them to be faithful in upholding the pastor.

Proverbs 28:20 says, A faithful man shall abound with blessings.

Years ago I was faithful when God told me to go from California to Oregon and preach to twelve people. For one year I pastored a group of people in Smith Valley, out where there was nothing but ranches.

We met in homes. The Indians would come down from the hills, and I would pastor those people every Sunday night. I was faithful to them.

There were times when I would say, "Lord, am I gonna be stuck with these people way out here in the boonies?"

It's so easy to start looking at the numbers. I had a problem with that. We say, "I don't have 20,000 people in my church, so I guess I'm not successful." If you get one person saved every Sunday, you're having success!

While I was preaching back then, it was so easy to get my eyes on other men's ministries. I was always watching other people to see how they would do things in their ministries; then I would try to imitate them, thinking it would bring me the same success. Finally, God told me that if I kept doing that, it would destroy my ministry. I had to be faithful to what God told me to do. So I learned to relax and be faithful where I was.

You need to let God develop your personality and your ministry. If you keep your eyes on men, they'll fail you. But God knows how to do it. Remember, it will take some time for God to build character in you. Be faithful with the little things and watch God load it on you.

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's who shall give you that which is your own?

Luke 16:10-12

Some men are driven with ambition to get to the top. The ministries should be at the top in the end result, but many people are just driven to out do other people. We should want to help other ministers and rejoice with them when they get blessed. We have to get rid of this competitive attitude and just be faithful in doing what God has told us to do.

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.