Destined for Victory

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to another great day here on destined for victory where we feature the teaching ministry of pastor Paul Shepard. We'll kick off today's message here in just a moment. First, we'd like to bring in our executive director Alicia Greer to tell you about a special gift for all those who support the ministry today. It's one that goes along with today's message, our latest booklet, a miracle in the midst of madness. Alicia, what can you tell us about this great resource?

Alicia Greer: I really love reading the booklets each month because I really find them to be edifying and timely and I believe many of you do as well. And this month the booklet is based on a story that I really find fascinating in the Bible and not just a story but a story progression because our pastor Paul bases this teaching on the progression of the feeding of the 5,000 going into Jesus walking on the water and that is a story progression that I have found really fascinating in my walk when I read that section of scripture, especially what happens right after the feeding of the 5,000 and I've read it in different gospel accounts.

Man, it's really this theme of Jesus is doing miracles and then there's testing, miracles and testing and I always can glean so much when I read that with the Holy Spirit in scripture. And where my dad takes this series, it really highlights a similar point about how Jesus kind of tests our maturity after these amazing breakthroughs, but he goes somewhere so different and I just love how different teachers of the word like can dig into scripture and mine different revelation for us to glean from. So, this month I hope you will enjoy the booklet that we're offering.

It's called a miracle in the midst of madness and I believe that you will be blessed. Thank you so much for all of your support. We're so grateful to you.

Guest (Male): All right, thank you Alicia. Again, the booklet is called a miracle in the midst of madness and it's our thank you gift this month when you make a generous donation to destined for victory. Give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. Or as always, you can mail your gift to destined for victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: When you are in the storm and you look to get something back from God and you're not getting anything, here's what I want you to know. Even though he's not speaking to you, he is speaking to the father about you. Jesus is praying.

Guest (Male): If you've ever wondered how Jesus is spending his time, the book of Hebrews leaves no room for doubt. He is seated at the right hand of the father praying that you and I will persevere. On today's destined for victory with pastor Paul Shepard, we've got a great word of encouragement for you. God is not silent and your prayers are not going unanswered. Jesus is not only praying for you, he's preparing you for what's next. Our message is called a miracle in the midst of madness and here's pastor Paul Shepard.

Paul Sheppard: What do you do when you go to pray and you get nothing back? Here's what I want you to see in the text. I want you to see what's happening. The multitude is prospering. They've been healed, they've been delivered, they've been fed. They've been dismissed. They're going home happy, burping, excited. I'm going to come here Jesus again when he come around. Hope he feeding that day too. They're prospering. Multitude prospering. Jesus praying. Disciples paddling for their lives. Not getting anywhere. The storm is buffeting them. They're not going forward, not going back. They are paddling for survival.

They're just trying to ride out these crazy waves, this crazy wind. They can't get anywhere. You ever been paddling and getting nowhere? Working hard but getting nowhere. Pressing on but getting nowhere. That's where they are. They're just trying to survive. You say pastor, where you get paddling from? Have you ever seen first century ships in pictures? There are no steamboats in the first century. And even if they had a sail, that's only for good weather. When you're in a storm, you don't want a sail anywhere around you. You got to ride out a storm. And these folk are paddling for their lives.

Just trying to stay on the surface of the lake. And Jesus is praying. Here's what I want you to know. When you are in the storm and you look to get something back from God and you're not getting anything, here's what I want you to know. Even though he's not speaking to you, he is speaking to the father about you. Jesus is praying. Now, I cannot say because the text doesn't say that while he was on the mountainside, he was at that moment including them on his prayer agenda. I sort of suspect he did, but even if he did not, and I'm not going to read into the text what is not there.

Even if he didn't pray for them on this occasion, we know by Jesus prayer patterns, if you've ever studied the prayer patterns of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels, what you will discover is Jesus often prayed for his followers. There are sometimes when you see it very specifically. For instance, in John 17, he prayed that high priestly prayer and he said I'm praying for these and I'm about to leave into the world and he prayed extensively for his disciples. He also prayed the night before he chose his 12 disciples. He went into prayer knowing that he was going to select these people and he prayed and talked to his heavenly father about those he should select.

So, we know he prayed on the front end. We know he prayed before he left this earth. We also know from Luke 22 that he prayed for them the night before he was betrayed. He had prayed for them. Here's what I'm referencing. He said to Peter, remember the night that he was betrayed and Peter was bragging about how if everybody leave you, I'm going to be there with you. And he says Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for permission in heaven to shake you up, to violently shake up your life, sift you as wheat, which in his time was a violent process.

But then watch what Jesus said. He said but I prayed for you. And when he said I prayed for you, he used the plural term in the Greek, meaning I prayed for you and all of the other disciples. He said and I prayed that your faith doesn't fail. Peter standing there bragging. That's why Jesus is telling him you're about to go through hell. Peter is telling him I'm going to I'm be there with you. Now, these other folk they going to forsake you, but you know I'm your boy. You know you my dog, Jesus. We going to go down together.

And Jesus wanted to show him you about to have a miserable failure. You're going to commit the worst sin possible, which is to deny that Jesus is your savior. He said you going to deny even knowing me. You're going to have a power failure at the worst time. He said three times you're going to fail and one of them going to be humiliating because it's going to be a little girl who says that's one of his followers. And you going to cuss in front of a little girl. Bible says he swore. He wasn't taking out an oath swear.

It was the other kind of swear. He swore. He didn't know him. In the hood they say he punked out. You ever had a miserable failure? Just when you thought you were going to be strong and do right. But here's what Jesus was telling him. I see the failure, you don't see it. I already see it and I've prayed you through it before it ever happens to you. Here's the word you need to leave this message knowing. When you're trying to get a word from God in the middle of your storm and he's saying nothing, he has already prayed for you.

He prayed for you for your win in. He prayed for you by name. The Bible says Jesus is at the right hand of the father making intercession for us. Jesus has prayed for you. And when you're going through it and you're trying to hear from him, he's not talking to you, but he 's talking to the father about you. Jesus was praying. And whether he prayed for them while he was on the mountainside or not, he had already stored up prayers on their behalf. I want to let you know God's got you covered. You're in the storm and you're not feeling great and you're not getting a new fresh word.

But he's got you covered. You don't have to hear something to know it. He's got you. He is already prayed for you. You're paddling for your life, but Jesus has prayed for you. You don't have to sense him, you don't have to feel him. You can know not only is he here, but he knew this was coming. And he has prayed that this storm wouldn't take you out. Now, the storm is crazy. We are told that these people can't make any progress because this storm is battering them. It is pummeling them. They are going through it.

I mean, imagine being on this ship and just going up and down and being knocked all over the place. Listen, I've been on a cruise ship. My wife and I were on a cruise at the tail end of Katrina. We were coming back to the port in Florida the day that Katrina was coming and we were coming from the Gulf side, which is where Katrina went uh into the Gulf of Mexico and then it slammed into New Orleans. And so it had passed, but the tail was still out there. And we ran into her tail.

Let me tell you something. It is no fun thing to be on a ship in the middle of a storm. They made everybody get off the deck. They made the crew get off the deck. The wind was blowing, the rain was going sideways. It was crazy. And we sitting in the cabin holding on and looking. Now, this was a great big cruise ship. Imagine being on a much smaller vessel that could house a couple of dozen people obviously. But we're not talking about some major cruise ship. They're out there feeling every bump, every wave, being knocked around.

Wind is blowing and howling. And these folk are scared. And they aren't sure in terms of their feelings that they going to make it. But you got to understand something. You are not going to be taken out by the storm. Oh, sometimes it feels like I don't know. Anybody ever been to that place? I don't know if I'm going to make it through this. See, you got to be honest to get this message that I know some of y'all that I never been there. I've always known I've always going to be there. Shut up. Shut up.

I want to talk to some folk. I don't need you and your super spiritual self right now. I want to talk to some folk in a boat saying my goodness, I'm not sure I'm going to get through this. It's the almost factor. You almost give up. You almost cash in your faith. You almost say what's the use. You almost say this is it. You almost say I can't take anymore. And what you discover is because Jesus already knew you were going through it and he had already said you're going to the other side that although you feel the way you feel while you aren't sure what's going on, God is holding on to you saying you're not going to go under.

You are not going to die in the storm. You are not going to give up your faith. Your faith will not fail you. Although you can't find me, I'm holding on to you. Oh, I love it that God holds on to me when I'm not even sure I can hold on to him. He's holding on to me. He won't let you go. The devil and the storm can do their best cuz you know the devil takes advantage of every storm and he's always telling you why don't you just go ahead and give up. No need of you still going to church, still confessing Jesus when when you going through all of this craziness.

You just need to give up. Or if you've been having trouble with somebody, he just tell you just need to shoot somebody and get it over with. Just go on and take them out of here. Take matters into your own hands. Listen, the devil is a liar. God is holding on to you. Lord, I don't know if I can get through this. You're not hearing from him, but the fact is he 's in charge. And you feel like you're almost going under, but he's in charge. You got to understand our God is in charge. He's not trying to be in charge.

Listen, listen, listen. Make sure you understand the difference between Bible and Star Wars theology. In Star Wars, you know you had the force. And the force had two sides. There's the good side of the force and then there's the dark side of the force. And in Star Wars, you had this epic struggle and the good is trying to triumph over the bad on the good. You know you have Obi-Wan Kenobi and and all of that, those good folk over there, Luke Skywalker and all those folk over there, Yoda with his ugly self. He over there.

And Hallelujah. He ugly but he had power. Oh, don't front. That boy has some power. See, I am talking about the first three Star Wars. See, y'all getting all these new ones, new next chapter episode and all that stuff. I didn't watch that. That stuff didn't have any anointing on it at all. The anointed ones are the first three. Come on from back in my day. Those were the anointed ones. Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Oh, that's where the oil was. That's where the anointing was. That's where Leia had her hair all curled up and That's where we learned the the Jedi mind trick.

Remember that? Luke had to learn the Jedi mind trick where you just project a new truth onto somebody and mess their mind up. Some of y'all trying to do folk like that right now. They know who you are and what you did and you just look at them and say I didn't do that. And if they dumb enough, they say no no, it wasn't you, it wasn't you didn't do Oh, but we learned some good stuff. That's good entertainment, but separated from your Bible. Cuz this is no epic struggle between good and evil. The devil is a created being.

When he was created, he was in harmony with the will of God. But somewhere he got full of himself and got some angels to join him. And they all got in rebellion against the almighty. And Jesus told his disciples one day I beheld Satan cuz he wanted to make sure they weren't scared of the devil. He said look, I beheld him falling from heaven, him and all them raggity angels that tried to rebel with him got kicked right out of heaven. The devil is defeated. This is no epic struggle. So, when he's coming against you, he had to go through God to get permission to even buffet you the way you're being buffeted.

And you got to understand you're not going under cuz God is in control. And you say oh, I don't know if I can make it through this. And there are times your feelings are like that. I don't know. Oh, this is the worst ever. When you get to feeling like that, you got to know his grace is sufficient. He's holding on to you. You're not hearing from him. You're not getting a new word, but he's holding on to you. He's got you. You're being buffeted, but he's got you. Feel like you can't take it, but he's got you.

You ever had one of those days you up late and oh God, I can't take it. This is it. I really this is it. I really can't take it. Then you go to sleep and you wake up and you taking it. And you go through the next day. Oh, this is it God. I ain't playing. I ain't playing. This is really it. Oh, I can't take another 24 hours. I ain't playing with you. This is really it. And you get it through that day and that night you crying and and boo hooing and I can't this is it.

This is really it now. And you go to sleep. And you wake up and you taking it. So, when I observe that in my life and others over the years, I said whenever people come to me now and say pastor, this is it. I I'm really on the verge. This is it. I can't take another thing. I say go to sleep. I got a word from the Lord for you. Go to sleep. His grace is sufficient. He going to get you through cuz he is the master of your destiny. He's the one who said you going to the other side.

You can't die now. You're not on the other side yet. So, you going to make it. Going to make it through. Elijah knows what that's like. Remember Elijah in 1st Kings? He had a wonderful experience one day calling down fire. Remember? Defying the false prophets of Baal. And after he showed who the true God was and he had those false prophets killed and they were all under control of Jezebel. And Jezebel didn't like it a little bit. So, one day this man's dripping with anointing, calling down fire, getting false prophets killed. I mean, he was so arrogant under the anointing.

He was mocking Baal. He said y'all going to call on Baal. He must not hear you. Call louder. Must be on vacation. Oh, he was down right cocky under the anointing. When that anointing hits you, there's nothing you can't do. But the next day when he got word that Jezebel had put a contract out on him. That's a bad girl. She said tell Elijah I'm going to kill him. Now, you know when you put a contract out on somebody, you don't want them to know. You just want the assassin to walk up on them, blow them out.

Bam. This girl so bad she said uh uh tell him that I'm going to get him. And Elijah anointed one day. Next day he believes her. He walking down the next day and he going to kill me. He told his servants stay here. I'm going to go by myself. Stay here. You know why he wanted to be alone? Cuz when you want to have yourself a shown enough pity party, you don't need some happy encouraging helper. You don't need somebody speaking truth to you. When you want to have you a shown enough pity party, that's when you don't want them prayer warriors, them encouragers around, them folk who always speaking faith and all of that.

You don't want to be confused with the facts when you want to have a pity party. That's where Elijah was. He wanted to be by himself. He don't want to hear a little happy helper. The Lord going to get you through this. Don't worry about it. The Lord Lord going to do it. So, he walks by himself. Bible says he goes to day's journey. Says Lord, this is it. Take me out. I'm I'm done. I'm the only one left. I'm tired of this. This prophet stuff ain't all it's cracked up to be. Just take me out of here.

I'm going to go to sleep, Lord. Don't let me wake up on this side. Let me wake up in your presence. He was serious. You ever been serious? Lord, this is it. I'm through. Just forget it. They know where insurance papers are. Let's let's just Just get me out of here. Elijah went to sleep, woke up, looked over. He had prayed to die. Woke up disappointed that God had answered that prayer. And he looked over and he saw that while he prayed for what he wanted, God responded by giving him what he needed. What he needed was strength because there was more journey ahead.

God wasn't finished with him yet. And he was going to get through this storm. Jezebel wasn't going to take him out. And he just needed strength for the journey. So, the Lord hooked him up. He looked over and he saw bread being cooked on hot coals and water. God had hooked the brother up. He said eat because you need the strength of this cuz there's more ahead of you.

Guest (Male): You know God has a long history of performing miracles in the midst of madness, of bringing calm in the midst of chaos, of turning grief into grace. Be encouraged today by these words from the apostle Paul. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. 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, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: Jesus doesn't delay responses for some of the reasons that some of us think. I wanted to spell some myths in this message. I want to make sure you don't have the wrong idea of why sometimes the Lord allows you to be in the thick of it and he isn't showing up with a quick deliverance.

Guest (Male): And that's next time as we continue our message a miracle in the midst of madness. I hope you'll join us. But until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ. You are destined for victory.