Destined for Victory

Announcer: Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Coming up next, our message from the book of Ephesians, Living as Children of Light. Before we get things started, though, here is a special word from Meredith Sheppard.

Meredith Sheppard: Hello, Destined for Victory family. This is Meredith Sheppard, Pastor Paul's wife. This is the first time you're hearing from me since my beloved husband went home to be with the Lord, and I want you to know your prayers have carried me. Your letters, your messages, cards, books, the ways you've reached out during these months—they've strengthened me through the shock and the grief in ways I can't fully express. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You know, Paul often said that he wanted to be the black J. Vernon McGee. He'd say it with that grin of his, but behind the humor was something deeply serious—a vision to create a teaching library that would outlive him, that would keep speaking biblical truth long after he was gone. And that's what he did. For decades, Paul poured himself into building Destined for Victory, not just as a radio program but as a legacy. He wanted to make sure that timeless truth would be available to help people live victorious lives, no matter what generation they're in.

That's why I'm talking to you today: because what Paul worked so hard to build needs your help to continue. Recently, we experienced a change in one of our major funding sources, and for the first time in this ministry's history, we're at risk of losing radio stations, of having to pull back from communities where people depend on this teaching. I don't want my husband's voice silenced. I don't want the work he dedicated his life to build to disappear because of funding. We need to preserve what Pastor Paul poured himself into creating.

So, I'm coming to you, this family that's already been so supportive, and I'm asking: will you help us? If Destined for Victory has encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you grow in your walk with God, would you consider giving today? A monthly gift would especially help us stabilize our funding and keep Paul's teaching on the air in every community that needs it. You can give at pastorpaul.net. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for standing with us. And thank you for your generosity in helping to preserve this legacy. God bless you.

Announcer: Thank you, Meredith. And we do want to say a special thank you to those that have already responded to this need. And to those who haven't, we want to make sure you know how much you are needed right now. When you make your generous gift today, we'll gladly send you a brand new booklet that will help you persevere through life's challenges or through a past you can't quite forget. It's called Keep Moving Forward, and it seems rather appropriate in this moment.

Drawing from Israel's transition from Moses to Joshua, this booklet will help you understand that God will go before you as your leader and your protector, even when you're facing new challenges. Again, it's called Keep Moving Forward, our gift to you for your generous donation to Destined for Victory today. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500, or visit 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: You can have the money, but you can't let the money have you. So don't climb the ladder of success only to find it's leaned against the wrong building.

Announcer: Your priorities have to be to do the will of God. If you want to overcome greed, make friends with its three main enemies: generosity, gratitude, and contentment. On today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard, some words of wisdom about handling our money God's way. The message is called Living as Children of Light, and it starts right now.

Paul Sheppard: Your intensity ought to be aimed at God. I've got to have the center of Your will. I've been outside of Your will; it's not fun out there. It's cold out there. It's isolated out there. I want to be in the center of Your will. And that ought to be your heart's cry: the center of God's will. Lord, I want You to be happy with me at the end of the day.

I don't want to have selfish and intense desire for wealth. I don't want to have that for power. I don't want to have it for food, either. Good food is great—wonderful—but put it in its context and don't make it the end-all. And so when the Bible talks about gluttony, about drinking or eating, it is when you have intense and selfish, inordinate desire.

As I'm in this case here in my 60s, I said, "Lord, I don't want to keep on the yo-yo." I've had my whole adult life up and down weight-wise, and I said, "Lord, now I want to land in a place and learn how to not go back up." I want to go there and stay there. And so I'm teaching myself right now just what are the little subtleties that will keep me from ballooning back to where I have been and am tired of. I've given away those clothes, and I ain't trying to buy no new ones.

I'll tell on me so you can be comfortable. You see, I'm telling on myself. Pray for me, because some of y'all don't know what it's like. But there are some of us here—I won't call them out—but there are other people here who know exactly what the pastor is talking about. There are some people in here who could tell you, "I know what it is to be big; I know what it is to be my right size." Right size is better, because you don't have to pray to go to the closet.

When I got to a certain size at the height of this pandemic, I was so frustrated with this new life. I hated these masks; I hated the separation. I hated those months of preaching to a camera. Oh my God, I couldn't stand it. And food said, "Come unto me." I'm the only one. And the refrigerator was my constant companion. Frustrated with these new changes and all that, couldn't travel. All my travel left. I stayed home. Do y'all remember when it set in, March of 2020? I had to start preaching to a camera. I said, "This isn't church."

I had to preach for one of the pastors I cover, a young man, Jeremy Dixon, and I preach for him annually as the church celebrates his anniversary. So they said, "Are you coming down to preach Pastor's anniversary?" I said, "Yeah, I'll be there." They still hadn't given us real license to travel; some folks were taking necessary trips. I said, "I've just got to get out of Northern California; I'm going to lose my mind."

Because they wanted to know was I going to send them the message on video. I said, "No, I'm sick of that camera. I will get in my car and I will drive down Five. If COVID's on Five, I'll just pray, 'Oh God.'" I drove all the way to Inglewood. I've got family there; his wife is my niece. They had a few necessary people in the sanctuary, and I preached. I just needed to do it in somebody else's. I was sick of this. So I went there and I preached to the camera and the few folks in there, and they said, "Amen." They made it sound a little bit like church, so we did the best.

And then after a while, I saw my family that I wanted to hug. I said, "I can't hug them." You know, those first months, we were all petrified. We didn't know what we could and couldn't do. I got so upset, I just got back in my car and drove back home. I texted them; I said, "I want to hug y'all so bad. I'm sorry that I'm gone. I can't do this." And I drove back that same day. But the fact is, food was with me the whole time.

All through the pandemic. So go up to January, New Year's Eve coming into 2022. We were now approaching just a couple of months from the second anniversary of being in pandemic world. And I was the heaviest I have been in my life, New Year's Eve of 2021 going into 2022. I had never been at that weight. If you recall, I said to the church, "Here's what I believe we should do as we move into 2022. I want you to ask and answer two questions for yourselves."

The first is: what do you want to experience or accomplish by the end of this year, December 31, 2022? What do you want to have experienced or accomplished? I asked the whole church to think about that. I said that'll help you set your short-term goals. And then I said the second question is I want you to think now: what do you want to experience or accomplish by the end of 2029? Meaning when we're getting ready to go into the decade of the 30s. If the Lord spares our lives, what do you want to experience or accomplish as you're on New Year's Eve getting ready to go into 2030? I said that'll help you set your long-term goals.

I challenged everybody to do that, and then I got home and the Holy Spirit said, "Okay, so what's your answer?" I said, "Oh, you want me to answer that?" I said, "Oh, that's easy. I've got to get this COVID weight off." And I sensed the Holy Spirit said, "Yeah, that's a good idea. What are you going to do?" And that's when I said, "Okay, I've got to get in the right head space." For me, it's different for y'all. Greed's never been a problem for some of y'all in any area.

But for me, because of the head space I went into in the pandemic, I wasn't thinking. I've always known how to yo-yo, get down to a weight I need to get down to, and then I balloon back up. But my head space, I wasn't ready to get down there and stay. And it took me the first nine days of 2022. I was wrestling and counting the cost and doing my work of intense self-talk and all the stuff I've learned to do.

By January 10, I woke up, literally, and I had been praying the whole nine days, "Lord, help me to get there. Help me to get there. Help me to get there." And I woke up January 10 and was able to do that. I stand here in September of the same year; I'm 30 pounds less than I was January 10. I don't say that to brag; I say that to tell you it is possible if we let God into the situation, whatever your situation is. For me, it was "Lord, You've got to help me." Because this pandemic will go away when it goes away. I think we're going to have to live with some things for the rest of our lives. But God, I can't wait for things to get better for me to get better. And I'm sick of it, of this yo-yo. And so help me to get there. I'm 30 pounds down. I've got more I want to do.

Announcer: Let's take a quick timeout, but don't go away. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard. If for some reason you can't stick around, or if you just want to share this message with a friend, visit our website pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. And when you stop by, make sure to click on the online store, where you'll find books and video messages that feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Sheppard. That's pastorpaul.net. Having money is one thing; money having you is quite another. Now from Ephesians chapter 5, here's the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, Living as Children of Light.

Paul Sheppard: I've got more I want to do, but I'm learning lessons. I don't need to lose it quickly; I just need to lose it permanently. So I'm learning lessons. I'm learning my patterns. I'm learning my triggers. I'm talking about me so you can think about you. I hope you get that. This is not just a testimonial. I'm giving you an opportunity to think about your life. Where have I been greedy? Has it been a lust for power? Has it been a lust for wealth? Have I spent so much time trying to make a living and get to the next economic rung of the ladder that I'm not making a life?

Some people are all about making a living; I've got to get my income to the next level. Good! In its proper place. But do it right. Do it for the right reasons. Do it in the right way. Do it for the glory of God. Then you can pray about it. I had to pray about getting these 30 pounds off, and I'm praying about getting the rest off. "Lord, help me to learn the lessons. I've got to learn my triggers." Because emotional eating is easy for me to go into. I know how to do that. Emotions can trigger some stuff, and next thing you know, you're grabbing for something that you know is not going to get you to your goal.

I even have learned to give myself intentional, pre-planned times of eating whatever I want. Talking about me. Some of y'all can eat grass all day, every day and be fine. Don't judge me, that's all I've got to say. "Oh, I just grab alfalfa sprouts and I'm just fine." Yeah, no. That won't work for the brother. Alfalfa sprouts don't work for me. That's not a snack I enjoy. I'm trying to help somebody. Every now and then, I need some cake.

And don't y'all judge me. Pastor, get your eyes on your plate. What you looking over here in my plate for? I've got what I want on my plate. I'm trying to help you work through this thing to understand, whether it's your lust for power, your lust for wealth, or your lust for food, greed is an intense and self-centered desire.

You can want money, but you can't let money have you. You can have the money, but you can't let the money have you. So don't climb the ladder of success only to find it's leaned against the wrong building. Your priorities have to be to do the will of God, to love and support the kingdom, and to take care of your family in a reasonable way while you're first prioritizing the kingdom. Seek first the things that matter to God, and then what He will do, He'll bless you on the backside of that. And we've got to understand that. That's not going to change. It's in the word of God. It's going to be there until Jesus comes again.

So seek first His kingdom. That'll keep your desires from being selfish when you are God-focused. "Lord, are You glorified by the way I'm eating? Are You glorified by the way I'm handling my money matters and my money priorities and desires? Are You satisfied by the way I'm going after positions?" Positions that some of which have power are not wrong, but if I'm going to use it for God's glory—Daniel, God gave him a position in a pagan country. And he and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were powerful young men in a pagan society. God's not against power. It's just that when the king loses his mind and builds an idol and commands everybody bow to it, you say, "No, no, I'm a child of light. That's darkness. I'm not bowing."

And they stood tall while other people bowed. And you know the story. Nebuchadnezzar heard about them because there's always a snitch somewhere. There were snitches in the Old Testament; there are snitches today. There's always somebody that, while they bow, they're looking around. You know you've got them in your family; you've got them on your job. And then they go run to the king. "You know who didn't bow? Four of your top men."

Called them in. Called in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. "I heard y'all didn't bow." "That's right." "About... okay, I'm going to give you another chance. Clearly, you forgot or something, something, because normally I can count on y'all." They said, "We are not slow to answer you. It's a priorities thing. We're not slow to answer you. The God we serve is able to deliver us out of your hands, but if not, we still won't bow because we're children of God. I know who I answer to, and it's not Nebuchadnezzar."

And you ought to know who you answer to, and it's not to anyone but God. At the end of the day, Lord, are You pleased with this, whatever the "it" is in your life? And let me show you something from the word. Go to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12. I want to show you especially about our pursuit of money because we're such a materialistic society. Luke 12, beginning with verse 13.

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? That's a family dispute. What you putting me up in it for?" Then Jesus said to him, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." There it is. What did Jesus say to everybody who was watching? "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed." And then look at the principle He gives. A man's life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

Then He told them this parable: the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I'll do: I'll tear down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. Then I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.'" But God said to him, "You fool!" You know when God calls you a fool, there's no doubt. You know, your boys can call you a fool when they're cracking up. When God calls you a fool, He's not laughing.

"You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you." Then God says, "Then who will get what you've prepared for yourself?" "This is how it will be," Jesus went on to say, "with whoever stores up for things for themselves but is not rich toward God." See that? You've got to come to grips with this. Jesus gave us that to say: do not go after stuff with lust, with intense and selfish desire. God wasn't against the grain; He was against this man thinking the grain is all there is to it.

Being rich toward God is what is more important than your style of living. And so you've got to make up in your mind, "If I'm going to rob God in order to drive what I want to drive, am I prepared to meet God like that?" where I was putting the money into what I wanted. Cash, cars, cribs is what people want now. But you've got to decide, "Am I ready for judgment?" being rich toward God, which means doing everything the way God wants it done. So that has to do with your material life.

We have members who say, "Pastor, just so you know, I'm putting the church in my... I'm doing my trust and my deed, my will and all that, and putting the church in it." That's a good thing. That's not just so they can get my applause. I say, "Oh, that's wonderful. Praise God. Thank you, I appreciate it." But it's not for me; it's for the kingdom. Greed—whether it's food, whether it is power, whether it is wealth, whatever it is—you've got to realize God is against greed. Selfish, intense is what God is against. The only intensity that's legitimate: I intensely, Lord, want to do Your will. Oh, I intensely want to please You. I intensely want to hear You say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You did it in secret; you didn't care who knew, but God saw it and He said well done."

So, we've got to get it right. God is not against stuff, not against food, not against power, not against wealth. He is against you having it with intense and selfish desire. And He said, "This is not proper for those of us who are people of light."

Announcer: Food, power, wealth—God is not against the things you have on the outside; He's against the selfish and greedy desires you have on the inside. Ask the Lord to cleanse you from any and all unrighteousness, because true and lasting change always comes from the inside out. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, Living as Children of Light. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you make your generous year-end gift, visit pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net, or call 855-339-5500.

Paul Sheppard: But you've got to take the truth of God's word, apply it to your life so you can live under the blessing of God being pleased. That's the goal. You ought to live wanting God to be happy. That's the goal. I want to serve a God who is pleased with me.

Announcer: And that's next time in our continuing message, Living as Children of Light. Until then, remember: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.