Destined for Victory

Narrator: If you are trying to solve one of life's problems today and you're looking for answers, you've come to the right place. The difference between a good solution and a God solution on today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. But before we get going, Meredith Sheppard has a few words she'd like to share with you. Meredith?

Meredith Sheppard: Hi. This is Meredith Sheppard. Pastor Paul was my beloved husband. I want to take a moment to thank every person who has supported Destined for Victory through your prayers and financial gifts. Your generosity allows us to continue bringing the life-changing message of Jesus Christ to listeners near and far. Many are encouraged, strengthened, and reminded of God's faithfulness because you chose to invest in this work.

We often hear from listeners who tell us that they heard Pastor Paul's message at just the right moment—a word of hope during a difficult season, a reminder of God's love when they felt alone, or a message that helped deepen their walk with Christ. Those moments are made possible through your partnership.

As we look ahead, especially during these summer months, we invite you to continue standing with us. The need for the gospel has never diminished, and every gift, large or small, helps keep these broadcasts on the air and extends our reach to those who are searching for hope and truth. If this ministry has been a blessing to you, or if you believe in the importance of sharing God's word through Destined for Victory, I would be honored by your continued support.

Simply visit our donate page at pastorpaul.net/donate to give. Together, we can continue proclaiming the good news and touching lives for the glory of God. I thank God for you and pray his richest blessings upon you and your family.

Narrator: When you give generously today, we have a special gift to share with you as our way of saying thanks. Introducing our latest booklet, "More than Conquerors." The Christian life is a victorious life, and it doesn't happen by accident. It's your birthright, already purchased by Jesus Christ at the highest price in history.

And yet, so many believers live in defeat, selling their birthright for things worth far less. In "More than Conquerors," Pastor Paul Sheppard uses the unlikely story of Gideon to outline the path from defeat to victory. If you want to understand how to take on a victor's identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart, you'll want to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource today.

That's "More than Conquerors," yours this month for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or by visiting pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.

Paul Sheppard: The enemy has mastered the ability to create an intersection between our felt needs, our desires, our passions, whatever it is, and some illegitimate solution that is not the will of God. But it takes a person who says, "No, I'm going to believe God to meet the immediate crisis of this moment. I'm not going to sell out my future for a moment of satisfaction."

Narrator: If you've ever been tempted to solve a problem by using anything less than God's solution, I hope you'll stay with us for today's Destined for Victory featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard. Remember, when God calls you to live a holy life, he equips you to live that life, and he also gives you the power to make wise, Godly choices. Now, let's get started with today's Destined for Victory message, "Dying to Get Right."

Paul Sheppard: The enemy always finds a nice hot summer day and comes down the street with his ice cream truck. You got to know this, the Bible says you got to know the enemy's devices. He’ll come along. All my life growing up, we were in the summer playing out there in the driveway, heard that sound and lost our minds. Lost it just completely in the middle of a baseball game.

But when you heard that sound, that song out on the street, we dropped gloves and bats and everything. Running, and if you didn't have money, while you're running you scream, "Ma! Ice cream truck is coming! Throw me some money, please, Ma! Where's my allowance? I spent it, please, Ma!" And you just had to go to that truck standing there and get your ice cream cone.

Listen, let me tell you something. The enemy has mastered the ability to create an intersection between our felt needs, our desires, our passions, whatever it is, and some illegitimate solution that is not the will of God. But it takes a person who says, "No, I'm going to believe God to meet the immediate crisis of this moment. I'm not going to sell out my future for a moment of satisfaction."

And we must learn to do that every time and in every way the enemy brings temptation. We must learn that following the enemy will never get you to the place God has destined for your life. He's not out to bless you, he's out to curse you. He'll try to make the curse look like a blessing in the same way that Jacob made this look like a blessing to Esau. But it's not a blessing, it's a curse.

If you're lonely and believing God—you’re a single Christian woman believing God for Christian male companionship—then you trust God, you pray about that, you put it in his hands, and you live right. And when the enemy comes along with his ice cream trucks of shoulders and biceps and triceps, when he comes along, it might look like a blessing, but it's not a blessing.

If it was a blessing, the man would be saved, sanctified, have a Bible that's raggedy because he reads it. He'd be in submission to a spiritual authority. He'd be in a church under a pastor. He'd be in fellowship. He'd be in accountability. He'd be praying, he'd be dealing with his stuff. But if all he comes along with is biceps, triceps, and a line, that's not a blessing. That's a curse waiting to happen.

I know people who curse the day they met somebody simply because at that moment they were feeling so lonely. It's a legitimate feeling just like Esau's feeling that day. But God always has a provision that will allow you to delay gratification. The Bible says his grace is sufficient. You know what sufficient means? It means enough with a little to spare.

Wait now, look like you ought to get with some brothers and sisters, have some fellowship, put some praise and worship on. You paint yourself in the corner and then say, "God help me." We got to cooperate with him. But the bottom line is his grace is sufficient. God has not called you to live holy and then refuses to give you the power to do it. He would be unfair, he would be unjust.

God doesn't tell you to live right and then say, "Good luck." When God calls us to live holy, that's because there is a grace. And grace means an endowment. There is an endowment whereby if we tap into it, God will give us the grace to make it through a difficult time. That applies to single people who are wishing they had a good companion. That applies to married people who are trying to deal with the one they have.

Grace is sufficient because you know the ice cream truck now that's coming along in record numbers. It's an epidemic. It’s telling Christians, "You don't have to put up with this. God wants you to be happy." I can't tell you the number of folks over the years of pastoring I've heard when they sit in my office trying to justify some decision they are about to make.

I say you don't have biblical grounds. We sat here and talked about your story and what have you, and you're frustrated with your spouse, but let's talk about how to deal. No, Pastor, I just believe God wants me happy. And happy means get out, kick them to the curb, and no biblical grounds. Not even looking for biblical grounds, just looking to live the self-life.

When I remind them no, you covenanted before God and witnesses that you'd be there till death, not till misery. Be there till death, not till they worked your nerves. No pastor worth his salt is going to stand up there and let you. And let me tell these pastors now, any pastors listening to this, folks now are trying to write their own vows. Look them things over before you stand up there and legitimize the mess they want to make.

You can find yourself in a financial crisis and the enemy comes along saying stop giving to God, stop giving to the ministry, or he'll come along and say here's some illegitimate under-the-table opportunity, but that might be God's way. God's not under the table. What are you talking about that's God's way? If it was God's way, it wouldn't be under the table.

They're stealing and they're robbing from us anyway, trying to justify something that can't be justified. You take that to God and say, "Lord, you know the needs I have myself, my family, whatever the situation is, and I'm unemployed, I'm hurting, I'm in this tough time period. But oh God, I need you to provide." And you wait on God and you swallow pride.

One of the things you learn in body life is while we're praying—I’ve had the experience where I was praying in a group or something and praying with somebody, they said, "Here's the crisis and I just need you all to pray for me. I know God's going to meet the need, I'm just looking for the means." And so I'm praying, "Oh God, Oh Lord, meet the need in Jesus' name."

And then the Holy Spirit says, "All right, now when you get through praying, go in your wallet." Oh, devil, get out of here. I rebuke this devil in Jesus' name. No, the fact is sometimes while you're praying, God will speak to your heart and tell you that you are part of the answer to the prayer. I'm not telling you what I think, I'm telling you what I've done.

Some of you have done it too. God will make you go to the bank. You can't even get what he told you to give from the ATM. If you don't know about it, you need to get in the body life because it'll happen just as sure as you walk with God. Because what we have is not our own. We talk stewardship, but the fact is it doesn't belong to us.

Whether you get there or not, your stuff is not yours. It belongs to God. And when you get to the place where you're really engaged with others in the kingdom enterprise, you'll understand that your stuff is not your own and God will tell you to give it up to meet the need of somebody. And so we have to learn that God always has a provision.

Whether it is a provision to meet the ultimate need or whether it's a provision of grace in the meantime to sustain you until the ultimate need is met, God will provide. And we have to learn to ignore the enemy when he comes along with his ice cream truck of illegitimate proposals and provisions. And you have to say, "No, I'm going to wait on God."

I'm telling you, when you say yes to God, it'll cost you. Sometimes tears will run down your face, meet under your chin while you're saying yes to God and no to the devil. This isn't glib, this isn't easy, this is blood and guts spiritual warfare. Sometimes you tell the devil no and it will hurt you to your core. But in that moment of tears, you got to say, "God, I'm waiting on you."

You got to be like Job. He sat there in the height of his trouble. He said, "God, I wish I could find you. If I could just find you, I need a hearing because it seems to me somebody is somewhere enjoying my blessings and it feels like I am experiencing somebody's curse." He said, "Lord, I wish I knew where you were so we could talk."

But then in that moment of feeling isolated, holding on only to his integrity, which God had given him the grace to hold on to, he said, "Well, Lord, I don't know where you are, but you know the way that I take. And when he has tried me, I'll come forth as gold." See, we are the bless me generation. But I want to tell you there's some blessings that only come after you've been in the furnace.

Yeah, I understand all that, you want to have a good confession in your mouth like Caleb who said, "Let's go, for we are well able." I understand all of that, and in its context, I believe it and practice it. But let me tell you something, you can't claim everything. Some things claim you after you've been going through.

And so you're not going to just be blessed first. In some cases, you're going to be boiled, broiled, fried, stewed, roasted, baked, burned, barbecued, blackened, and smoked. And when you get through with all of that, then you're blessed. Let me tell you something, we got to learn how to deal with the crises of the moment.

Growth occurs in those moments. Every time you say no to an illegitimate proposal and provision, you have experienced growth. You can't see it, just like your kids growing up. And you don't see day by day, but you just look up one day and you say, "Boy, how you get that tall?" You just see somebody and all of a sudden it dawns on you they've been growing in the night, in the secret places.

You haven't seen it and next thing you know the growth is manifesting. Well, that happens in your life and mine. You say no to the enemy, you wait on God, you just experienced growth. You might not see it yet, the others might not see it yet, but you continue to practice obedience to God and accessing his grace.

And the next thing you know, you'll look around, you say, "Boy, I'm sure in a different place. Man, if I had gone through this six months ago, a year ago, it wouldn't look good. But God has brought me." And you start looking back and seeing the distance you've covered doing the will of God. You start raising your Ebenezer, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord brought me."

And you know what happens when you grow? You're not getting full of yourself, you're getting rid of yourself. You're giving more and more glory to God. You know when folks have a lot more growing to do when they say, "Yes, I've come through and I've done this and I've done that and I just always, I, I, I." You know when they grown when they start saying, "God has brought me. God has kept me. I would have lost my mind, but God gave me a peace that passes understanding."

This was a defining moment in Esau's experience. And the Bible is very clear that Esau regretted for the rest of his life the decision made that day. Now, God blessed him relatively speaking anyway because God is good like that. And Esau's end wasn't horrible, but neither was it the inheritance he could have experienced had he delayed gratification.

Now, you throw your theology and say, "Yeah, but see, God spoke in advance and said that the older was going to serve the younger, and so this was all God's will." Never confuse the decisions God calls us to make with his ability to work all things together for good. Esau had the ability to delay gratification and chose not to do so.

Of course, God knew it in advance. Of course, God's ordained will from the foundation of the earth is what we see manifested, but there are choices and decisions God has given us to make throughout our lifetime. In fact, in one scripture it says, "I have set before you life and death. Now you choose."

And let me tell you something, God can bless us when we truly repent. The Bible says Esau sought the blessing with tears in the years to come. And what happened is he never got that original blessing, but because of his heart, God was able to provide for his needs. In fact, later on you see that when Jacob tries to reconcile with his brother and comes along saying, "Hey, I want to give you some gifts."

Esau's testimony is, "No, no, God's been good to me too. I'm all right. I don't need your stuff." Jacob had to insist that he take it. And so the point is God didn't abandon Esau. And if you've made tons of messes in your life, don't let the enemy condemn you, say, "See that, that's you. You messed up your whole life." Well, the good news is God specializes.

God specializes in taking those of us with messed up lives, made about seven dumb decisions, all of them major. Romans 8:28 says when we repent, when we love him, repentance will bring you back to God and make you love him. You get through messing up, you turn to God and he says, "I love you," and you say, "I love you too. Glad somebody can still love me as messed up as my life is." And Romans 8:28 says if you love him and are called according to his purpose, all that stuff you've done that you shouldn't have done, wasn't God's will, wasn't God's fault, he'll work it together and he'll bring good out of it for his own glory. Folks, we have to learn to die to self and say yes to God.

Narrator: Thanks for being with us for today's Destined for Victory message, "Dying to Get Right." To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously today during this critical time of the year, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: Don't get into the habit of trying to figure out whether God is with you or not based on your behavior. You've got to know that when you are called according to God's purpose, God is with you and has promised to fulfill that purpose.

Narrator: And that's tomorrow in our message "Dying to Get Right." Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.