Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: I want to tell you that before you try to make things right with people, you must make things right with God. One of the classic mistakes people make who have abused, who have hurt, or who have mistreated others is you try to reconcile with them as if they are the key. God's plan is no, you get right with me and then let me lead you in the process from here.

Guest (Male): Welcome to another great week on Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Wherever you are, however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. In Psalm 51, King David says to God, "It's against you and you alone that I have sinned." He knew that in order for him to make amends with the people he had hurt, he first had to get right with God.

Jacob learned that same lesson during his years in the house of Laban, a 20-year period in which he suffered the consequences of his earlier mistakes. His story continues today. I hope you'll stop by pastorpaul.net when you get a chance. That's where you can listen to any recent message on demand, including today's. pastorpaul.net. Now let's listen closely to our Destined for Victory message, "Dying To Get Right."

Paul Sheppard: We are told that for 20 years Jacob couldn't go home for fear of his brother killing him. During that 20 years, he married Leah, he married Rachel, and he had 12 kids. Finally, he gets to the place where he says, "You know what, I wonder when this is going to end." And God speaks to him. I'm telling you, God's love for you is greater than you think it is.

In Genesis chapter 31, you find the end of this 20-year period where God now speaks up and says to him, "It's time for you to go home. It's time for you to return." God speaks to him in verse 3 and says, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you there." Now here's where some of us are right now in our lives.

You are very in touch with how messed up things are, how many mistakes you've made, and what grave consequences have come into your life as a result of those. What you now have to know is that you have not created such a mess that God can't straighten it out. And so it begins with a word from God. I applaud you for listening to this message because all good movement in your life starts with a word from God.

When you put yourself in the place where you can hear a word, if you can just get a word from God, you got hope in your life. Listen, don't turn to some wise person, don't turn to some self-help book. When you have made a royal mess of your life, it's time to get a word from God. In chapter 31, God speaks up and says, "Jacob, all right, I'm ready. You've had 20 years of consequences of your mess and now I'm ready."

He says, "I want you to get up and get ready to go home." And they go through another set of changes because Laban's not through being tricky. You know the story if you've ever read it. Laban says, "Oh, he's trying to leave now. My flocks are great and increased because of his work. I can't afford to give him up." So Laban said, "Listen, do me a favor. Just stay here with me, work with me a little while longer. After a while I'll let you go."

Then he tried to get him to agree, which Jacob agreed to. He said, "Listen, I'm going to bless you with some of the cattle if you'll just stay here a while." They designated certain cattle that would be Jacob's, but Laban tried to trick him by removing all the cattle that he would get, and he tried to force him to stay there. But these are two con men competing with each other.

Jacob said, "Oh no, I know how to fix him." Read it when you get a chance. He set things up where the spotted and the speckled cattle, which were to be his, ended up being the ones that increased in number. And so ultimately he still had a great flock and he's ready to go. By the end of this 20-year period, he says, "You know what, this man's not going to let me go on my own. I'm going to have to sneak out of here."

One day Jacob, led by the Lord to go back home, got all of his cattle together, got his wives and all those young'uns together, and they struck out without Laban knowing anything about it. Well, when Laban heard that they were leaving, he pursued them, eventually caught up with them, and rebuked him and said, "What are you doing? You're taking my grandchildren, I don't get to see anybody."

But Jacob knew that he would be in trouble with Laban, but because he's being led by God now, God had that covered. The Lord spoke to Laban. Do you know God knows how to deal with your enemies? Some of you are saying, "I don't know the mess I made, I got some people really mad at me." I'm here to tell you God knows how to deal with your enemies. You listen to what he told you to do and you leave your enemies to him.

Laban was on his way, and God spoke up to Laban and said, "Look, when you get there, don't touch him. He's tricky, but that's my tricky boy. I know you want to hurt him, but don't lay a hand on him." God backed Laban off of Jacob. Laban said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do you any harm. I would have, but God spoke to me. When I saw you, it was going to be a problem, but God spoke to me."

So they ended up making a covenant between themselves. And the covenant was, "I will never do you any harm if you promise to never do me any harm." They had to call a truce. Both of them have messed with each other and they called a truce. And God allowed there to be peace between Jacob and Laban because Jacob was now following the Lord's directives for his life.

What I love is when I read this story, it reminds me that God used these 20 years so that before Jacob went back home and tried to reconcile with his brother, he came to be in touch with his own stuff. I've got a word for somebody here. I want to tell you that before you try to make things right with people, you must make things right with God.

One of the classic mistakes people make who have abused, who have hurt, or who have mistreated others is you try to reconcile with them as if they are the key. What you got to understand is when you're called according to divine purpose, you always take everything to the Lord. God's plan is no, you get right with me and then let me lead you in the process from here.

Jacob, God has used these 20 years down at Laban's house. He's used these 20 years to show Jacob himself. Some of us, the reason why we have run into some of the folks in our lives is because God's using those people as mirrors. He'll make you stay with folks longer until you finally stop seeing them for themselves and see them for what they can teach you about you.

God said, "I'm going to leave you down at Laban's until you realize you are Laban, until you realize that you're as messed up as he is, until you realize that you are utterly dependent upon me." By the time this 20 years has elapsed, Jacob understands, "You know what, I've wronged my brother." See, no doubt at first, all he's trying to do is get away with it.

Do you know there's a difference between wanting to get away with it and wanting to get it right? Some folks don't want to get right, they just want to get away. Not you, people I know. They don't want to get right, they want to get away. Some folks, their only goal is to escape the consequence of their behavior. But God will put you in the crucible of trouble until you change and until you say, "I don't want to get away, I want to get right."

I'm tired of being tricky. I'm tired of being messed up. I'm tired of messing up other people's lives. I'm tired of hurting people. I'm tired of abusing. I'm tired of mistreating. I'm tired of this. God will wait until you are sick of yourself, and then he'll say, "All right, now I'm ready to move." Jacob is at a place now where he realizes it's not Laban who's the problem.

It's not Esau who was just weak and stupid and I could get over on him. It's me, Lord. I'm the one who needs help. It's me, Lord, I'm messed up. It's me, Lord, I can't do this without you. I love it when this thing moves over into the next chapter. When you get to chapter 32, you see Jacob on his way to meet his brother, and he has another encounter with God.

It's a very brief encounter. All it does, God sends an angel just to remind Jacob, "Now this process isn't about you trying to talk your brother into forgiving you. Let me lead the whole process." So he has an appearance of an angel and he says, "Okay, God's with me." And then from there, he begins to send messengers. He said, "Okay, let me see what's going on down in the homeland."

He sends messengers down to where Esau lives. The messengers say, "Your brother Jacob sent us to tell you that he's on his way and he's hoping to find favor in your eyes." Esau's response was, "So, now where is he?" "He's on his way, he's coming down such and such a road." "All right, thank you. Hey fellas!" The Bible says when Esau found out that Jacob was on his way and where he was coming from, Esau got 400.

I said it right. That's the way we said it growing up when you wanted to emphasize the point. 400, H-U-N-I-D. He got 400 of the men. They said, "That's all right, he doesn't have to come down here. We will meet him where he is." Esau is getting ready for a fight. Esau's got vengeance in his heart. He is ready to take this boy out. When I see him, there's going to be a misunderstanding, I'm telling you right now.

Guest (Male): Stay with us. The rest of Jacob and Esau's story is coming right up in the second half of today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Well, we can't say it often enough. It's because of you, our listening friends and partners, that we are able to air these messages on this media platform. You are truly impacting this world for Jesus Christ as people are coming to faith in Christ all over the world through Destined for Victory.

To make your investment today, please call 855-339-5500 or give safely and securely online at our website, pastorpaul.net. After 20 years, Jacob made a decision to make amends with his brother Esau, but Esau had other plans. Now let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, "Dying To Get Right."

Paul Sheppard: So Jacob gets that word. The messenger comes back and said, "We saw your brother." "All right, well, did you tell him that I want to reconcile?" "Yeah." "Well, what'd he say?" "Jacob, I think you're in trouble." The Bible says here's what you have to do with your distress. Look at the next few verses there in Genesis 32.

The Bible says in his distress, he cried out to the Lord. See, you can't want to just get over the crisis, you got to want to get right with God so that God can take you where he has destined you to be. And so he cries out to God. He said, "Lord, please, I know I messed up." And I love the prayer. This is the kind of prayer this tricky boy would not have prayed 20 years before.

But now he has seen himself, he knows how messed up he is. Look at this prayer. "O God of my father Abraham," verse 9 of Genesis 32. "God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, go back to your country and your relatives." He's reminding God the only reason I'm going, Lord, is because you told me. You see that? The God who said to me, "Go back to your country and I'll make you prosper."

He said, "I'm unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I've become two groups." He had broken his large company up into two groups thinking if Esau kills one group, the other group can stay alive. He said, "When I left here, all I had was a staff. Now I'm coming back with two groups. But Lord, save me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I'm afraid he will come and attack me and also the mothers and their children."

Then he reminds God as if God needs reminding. "But you have said, I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted." You can always count on the fact that God said, "I will watch over my word to perform it." And God said about you that he has begun a good work in you, and he will bring it to completion.

Let me tell you something, I don't care what changes you're going through and what disobedience you've experienced and the consequences of it. When God helps you to see yourself and you are ready to get right with him, his word is still good. His promise is still good. He promised Jacob that he was going to complete his purpose. And so Jacob prays, "Lord, remember what you said now, and save me from my brother."

Well, that night they're getting ready for this encounter, and he starts sending gifts. Read it when you get a chance. Jacob starts sending gifts ahead. He said, "I'm going to send gifts in waves." So one group of folk took some gifts, then next group took some gifts, then next group took some gifts. He said, "I'm just going to try to shower my brother with gifts to let him know, listen, I'll be your servant. I'll do whatever it takes to reconcile with you."

You will know that you're in the place where God wants you to be when you don't want to just end the trouble in your life, you want to get right, and you're so willing to get right with God and with people until you will do whatever the will of God is. And he says with regard to my brother, "I'm willing to just do whatever it takes to gain his favor, because I've wronged him."

He sends these waves of gifts. Then he tells his family, "You all go on across the stream here, and I'll meet up with you." And that night he wrestles with an angel. Because God says to him in effect, "You're not ready to meet Esau until you meet me." And so they have a one-on-one wrestling match. I love the fact that the angel of the Lord here represents you and I struggling with the worst of ourselves.

But we're struggling with it because we want to make sure God transforms us. And so when the angel, which was a test, gets ready to go back to heaven, he says, "All right, all right, it's been a good wrestling match, but come on, I gotta go." Jacob holds on for dear life. I don't know what kind of hold he had that angel in.

Some of us grew up watching wrestling. Some of those moves they put you in, have you on the mat, one leg up over here and the head over here. He had him in some hole. He said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." Not until you save me from Esau. This wrestling match is not about Esau. This one's about me. I prayed about Esau, but now I'm wrestling about me.

What are you praying about and what are you wrestling about? Some of us are wrestling with what we ought to be praying for. Some of us are wrestling with people trying to get them to forgive us and right now their heart is not there. And you are wasting your time trying to make somebody forgive you who right now doesn't have forgiveness in their heart.

You know what you have to do? Quit wrestling with them. There are some things you don't wrestle about, you pray about. You take those people and say, "Lord, I know I did them wrong and I would love for them to forgive me one day, but God, they're not hearing it. They don't even want to see me. They won't even read my email. They won't even have a conversation with me."

I want to ask somebody in Jesus' name to leave those people alone that you are trying to force to reconcile with you. Because some things don't happen by force. You have to give God room to work. You have to be so resolved that if some people never forgive you for what you've done, you have to be content to know God will forgive you.

So some of us wrestle with things we ought to pray about. You say, how do you know the difference? If you have tried to convince people that you've changed, that you're different, that you're sorry, and they're not hearing it, quit wrestling, pray. Say, "Lord, I'm putting them in your hands." You leave the door open to reconcile.

You tell them, "Listen, I can see you're not open to this right now, but if at any point God touches your heart and you're willing to talk to me, you know my number, you know where I am, I am open." And you leave it there and you pray about it. But now here's the other thing. While some of us wrestle about things we ought to pray about, some of us are praying about things we ought to wrestle about.

Don't just tell God how messed up you are. He already knows. The issue is, will you release your self-will into his hands so that he can transform you? And that's what he gave Jacob an opportunity to do. He said this angel was a test, and Jacob said, "I will not let you go until I'm a changed man." You got to stay before God and say, "Lord, I'm going to stay in your word until I'm a changed man."

"I'm going to stay in fellowship with you until I'm a changed man. I'm going to submit to the body of Christ until I have been changed into your image." And he wrestled until the angel gave him the blessing. The angel didn't bless him before he crippled him. Bible says the angel smote him in the hip and it knocked something out of joint so that there would be a limp that always reminded Jacob that God has brought about change and you can never go back to what you used to be.

He smote him physically, and then watch this, he changed his name. Jacob means trickster, supplanter, deceiver, con artist. The angel said, "Before I go back, I want to give you your new name. Your name is now Israel." Do you know what Israel means? It means prince with God. You were tricky, but now that you've wrestled this through, now that you've had your Gethsemane, now that you have released it.

Prayer is designed for you to, it's a means, but the end is the release. See, if you pray and hold on, you're not doing good. Don't tell folks you've changed because you're going to church now. Going to church doesn't change you. Going to church doesn't make you surrender to the will of God any more than going to McDonald's makes you a Happy Meal.

Prayer's good, but only as you use it as a means to release your self-will. But when you have that breakthrough, God will change your very character. He said, "You're now a prince with God. Never go back to being tricky. You're now a prince with God. Never go back to your old ways of sin. God is doing a new thing in your life."

I want to tell somebody, God is doing a new thing in your life too. And it is time for you to say yes to him, to his will. Surrender that stuff you've been trying to make happen. Give it so over to God until he permanently transforms your heart and your life and makes you the person he has destined you to be. He wrestled until God won. Wrestle until God wins.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, "Dying To Get Right." Stay tuned for a preview of our next message, but first, our executive director, Alicia Greer, has a few words to share with you during this critical time in the ministry of Destined for Victory. Alicia?

Alicia Greer: Thank you to all of our faithful listeners and supporters for tuning in and being blessed by these teachings. We're so encouraged and grateful for your continued partnership with this ministry. Your generosity has set us up well heading into what are typically our more challenging summer months.

One question I often get is, how can I support the ministry? We've made it easier to find the answer. We've updated our donate page at pastorpaul.net/donate with all the ways you can contribute and partner with what God is doing here. We're excited about these offerings and hope you'll take a look. Thank you again for your dedication to these teachings. I remain hopeful and confident that God has great things in store for Destined for Victory in the days ahead.

Guest (Male): Well, as you heard just now, we are committed to continuing to bring timeless truth for a victorious life through Pastor Paul's teaching for many years to come. But the truth of the matter is we can't do that without your help, and your help is especially needed now.

When you give today, we have a great resource to send you as our way of saying thanks. It's 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," you'll discover how to take on a victor's identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart. That's "More Than Conquerors," yours this month as our thanks for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. Please give that gift by phone by calling 855-339-5500, or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. Or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: Fulfillment is only experienced by those who understand that we are creatures of destiny, that God has a greater, higher purpose for us, and have experienced or are on the road to experiencing your destiny. That's where you can experience fulfillment. And fulfillment's very different than happiness.

Guest (Male): That's tomorrow in our continued message, "Dying To Have Significance." Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.