Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: All assets and strengths are subject to change, either in a moment of time or over time. What will help sober you is when you realize that what you would brag about can be lost quickly. Don't brag because you might not have it always.

Guest (Male): Finding the center of God's will on today's Destined for Victory featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard. Hello and thanks so much for spending part of your day here with us. One of our biggest struggles is discovering God's specific will for our lives, but it's far from impossible.

If you follow the right steps, it doesn't even have to be difficult. One of the most important steps is to learn to walk in humility, to be teachable even when you're older. The surest way to find yourself outside the will of God is to think you've got to a point where you know all the answers.

Remember, visit us at pastorpall.net where you can hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today's. That's pastorpall.net. Now let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, The Center of God's Will.

Paul Sheppard: It is amazing that God's the one who gave us the ability, then He sends us out to maximize it, and when we do, He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." God could just act like that's what you were supposed to do, but we serve such a benevolent God until He says to you, "If you give me a return on my investment, if you work out that which I worked in, one day I'm coming and my paycheck is in my hand, and I'm going to reward you for what you've done on this earth."

I want to let you know it is amazing that we have the opportunity to maximize gifts that God gave us, abilities that God gave us, and when we do, He will actually give us a reward for doing so. So you've got to aid sober thinking by reminding yourself that everything praiseworthy about us is a tribute to the God that we serve. That's exactly why God resists the proud.

Do you know that the Bible says God resists proud people? He resists. It offends God when you're stuck up. It offends God when you think you're all that. Here you are, just a little breath in breeches, my mama used to call it. That's somebody walking around thinking they're something. They don't understand how limited they are, how fragile they are, how frail they are, walking around thinking they're something.

Old folk just look at them and said, "That's breath in breeches." They need a reality check. Some of us need a reality check because God resists the proud. You're told that in James chapter four and verse six. The Lord actually resists those who are proud. Proverbs chapter six, verses 16 and 17, talks about seven things that God hates, and the first thing on the list is a proud look. God hates folk looking proud. He hates it when folk look haughty.

Now if He hates it when you look haughty, you know He hates you being haughty. So you've got to decide to aid sober thinking by reminding yourself to give God glory. Whatever you do that is good, for which you get congratulations from other people, humbly accept it and say, "Thank you for honoring me in that way. I appreciate it." Then say to yourself, or say sometimes to them just to remind them as well as you, "To God be the glory." God deserves the credit for all that He has done for me.

See, the Bible says let everything that has breath praise the Lord. If you're breathing, you owe Him praise. You don't even have to be saved, you owe Him praise. You ought to get saved too, but you owe God praise in your sins for letting you wake up to see another day and another opportunity to experience His mercy. To God be the glory.

If you're a teacher, the knowledge you've attained is because of the ability to attain it that God gave you. So you give God glory as you teach wonderful concepts and all of that. If you're a physician or a nurse or someone in the healthcare industry, when you help to bring relief to someone, medical science is only tapping into the wisdom of God.

So when you bring relief, don't be like your atheist counterpart. Say, "To God be the glory." When you work on someone, operate on someone, take them down to death's door while you operate and then bring them back, you owe God praise. Whatever you do, if you're one of these technological whizzes—folks are creating stuff, it's amazing. You buy a computer and in six months it's obsolete. Now they got a new version.

People look at your machine and act like it's such a dinosaur, and you just bought it last year. Isn't that something, how quickly things are changing? What you have to do at a certain point is make up your mind you don't need the latest and the greatest because they keep making it too fast. Say, "I'm going to just hang out with this one for a while."

But if you're one of those who can build all of that and you're working in these high-tech companies and doing all kinds of innovation, you owe God praise. Don't be like your atheist counterpart who's just sitting up there swirling around in a big chair thinking they're somebody. You know that God is the one who blessed you with the wisdom you have. To God be the glory.

You have to understand that everything praiseworthy is a tribute to Him, and God resists people who rob Him of His glory. The second point that aids our sober thinking is our assets and strengths are subject to change, either in a moment of time or, certainly, over time. What will help sober you is when you realize that what you would brag about can be lost quickly. Don't brag because you might not have it always.

Some things can be lost quickly, overnight. Other things will definitely be lost over time. Isn't that right? Think about these assets and strengths I talked about. They all wane over time. You can't do some things permanently well. You have a season where you kind of hit your apex, where that's it, you've hit that zenith, there it is. You're at the top of your game. Well, enjoy the sight real quick because it's the nature of life on Earth.

What goes up must come down. You who have physical, athletic ability, you don't have that always. When we were young, running around in the playgrounds, you could just run and jump and play all day long. I mean, we would hit the playground early, just take a quick little lunch break, and then go right back to playing, just game after game after game. Your mama sends somebody down to tell you, "Come on in this house." You come in, she says, "Get out of here, go get a shower. Good Lord, been out there ripping all day long, running and jumping."

Oh, just give it a little time. Isn't that right? Just a little time. You say, "One game, I'm playing one game, that's it. Give you all my best game and I'm out of here." You young boys who are dunking now, you won't be dunking always. Dunk while you can. Skywalker while you can. After a while, you're going to be shooting jump shots. That's what you're going to be doing.

It fades. You're not as fast as you used to be. Don't challenge your kids to stuff you can't win anymore. Be sober now, think right about this. Don't let your mind write a check your body can't cash because it's subject to change over time.

Some things are subject to change in a moment. For some people, wealth was gone in a moment. Just a wrong series of events and there it goes. Tragedy strikes in a moment. Good-looking people, face, body distorted in a moment. What that does is helps you to keep it in perspective. You can lose it just like you got it, and you will lose it over time.

Growing older is one of the best ways for us to sober our thinking and to prioritize our lives. Here's the way Moses put it in Psalm 90. He said, "Lord, teach us to number our days, that we might apply our hearts to wisdom." Lord, teach us to realize every day cells are dying in my body. Every day things are happening. You ought to get smarter as you grow older.

You don't automatically get smarter, which is why you've got to sit under the word of God and let it speak into your life. But the aging process is designed to help you realize, "I've got to get my life's work done because night is coming when no one can work." Whatever I'm going to do for God, I better get it done because time waits for no one.

You're growing older and you're getting into different seasons of life, and every season is designed to bring new praise to God, and it ought to bring new wisdom and depth to your own life. You ought to be smarter than you were 10, 15, 20 years ago. You ought to know some things you didn't know when you were so young and cocky. Now you've learned some things.

You've got to keep it in perspective. You must understand that our assets and strengths are subject to change, either in a moment of time or, certainly, over time. That's why James said in James 4:14, "What is your life? It's just a mist, it's a vapor. Here today, but it's gone." Before you know it, gone.

I tell you what, when you see the pace of life today, isn't it amazing? It just seems to me like life has sped up. Anybody else feel that way? It just feels like life has sped up. I know it's still the same 24 hours and all, but it just seems like months just shoot by. Just zoom, there it goes. We're in another month. Looks like Christmas comes about two, three times a year now.

When you were kids, it never got here. You were waiting on presents and what have you. So it will aid our sober thinking to realize that what we have we won't always have.

Guest (Male): Don't go away, we have more of today's Destined for Victory message coming up next. We want to thank all of you who support Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that help us keep this media ministry going. If you'd like to join us in our mission to preach timeless truth for a victorious life, please consider making a safe and secure donation at our website, pastorpall.net. Or give us a call at 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500.

When it comes to the blessings of God, almost all of them are preceded by humility. Now here's the rest of today's message, The Center of God's Will.

Paul Sheppard: Jeremiah chapter nine, verse 23 says, "This is what the Lord says: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord."

Take that with you through life. Don't boast in anything except knowing God, and remember you don't know Him because of you, you know Him because of Him. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. So we must understand that God alone is the one who deserves the glory for our lives.

You've got to get to know Him. What does it profit a man, Mark chapter eight, verse 36 says, "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" So you want to understand that God alone is worthy of praise, that what you have you won't always have, so knowing Him is the most important thing.

If you really want to live in the center of God's will, it's governed not only by the principle of surrender to God, but it's governed by the principle of sober thinking about self. Now before I get off this point, I need to tell you something else, which is that this exhortation of Romans 12, verse 3, also has implications for those who think more lowly of themselves than they ought.

I want to speak a word to some of you who wrestle with low self-esteem because the word said don't think more highly, but think with sober judgment according to the measure of faith God has given you. Some of you don't think with sober judgment, not because you're conceited, but because you have low self-esteem.

Do you know that low self-esteem is the same problem inverted as conceit? Conceit and low self-esteem are inversions of each other. Now here's what I mean: the common denominator is self-preoccupation. For one person, self-preoccupation makes me feel great. I'm the bomb. For another person, self-preoccupation makes me feel I don't measure up. I'm not as good as other people.

They all run faster, jump higher. They're all smarter, they all get better grades than I do. They all have more money. Look at the car they drive, look at where they live. Look at the chances life gave them. Then you sing your sad song and you talk about how you came up the rough side of the mountain and how you were disadvantaged and disenfranchised and disinherited and all of that.

Now listen, my friend, you've got to understand the problem is not your circumstances, the problem is what you think about your circumstances. Just like the person conceited, the problem isn't them being aware of strengths, the problem is what they think about it. When you struggle with low self-esteem, you too insult God because you're not recognizing the treasure He put in you.

You're looking at the wrong things. You're evaluating yourself based on a false standard. You say, "But it is the world's standard. The world does judge me by the way I look or how smart I am, what schools I went to and what I have." We're not talking about the world. We're talking about living in the center of God's will. Remember in part one of the series, I said the best way to live is to please God and see who else is happy rather than to try to please people.

Please God, because you can't please all the folk. So please Him and find out who else likes it. Guess what? When you live that way, my friend who struggles with low self-esteem, you'll begin to see yourself through the eyes of God. Do you know what God says about you? He says you're His child when you accept Him as Lord and Savior.

When you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, you become a child of God. Beloved, First John says, now are we sons of God. Ladies, don't be offended when the Bible calls you a son because it's talking not about gender, it's talking about standing. A son of God is the highest calling you can have. It means that you not only are a sibling, a child, but that you are an heir.

In Bible times the son was the heir, and we are called joint-heirs with Jesus. So you need to understand, now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be. God's got plans for your life. Oh, but you've got to get your thinking right. You've got to get this inverted self-preoccupation straightened out because God wants you to know who you are.

How am I going to find out who I am? Read your Bible. I am who God says I am. If God says I'm more than a conqueror, that's who I am. If God says I can do all things through Him who gives me strength, that's who I am. If God be for you, who can be against you? So you have to understand that your definition of life comes from your creator. Stop comparing yourself to people.

The Bible says in one place that's not wise. Not wise to compare yourself to other people because God didn't call you to be them. Furthermore, you don't know them. You look at what you like about them and wish you had, that's called envy. Envy is when I look at you, you have what I want, and so I feel bad towards you, sometimes I turn it against you, but I burn with envy because I want what you have.

When you envy, you insult God because God says if I wanted you to have it, I'd have given it to you. And if I didn't give it to you, you don't need it in order to please me. You don't need it in order to live a life that brings me glory. God gave you everything you need to do His will. Nothing you need is missing from your life. God gave you every single thing you need to do His will.

So don't envy other people, fret not yourself. Free yourself. You say, "How can I do that?" By saying, "Lord, from this moment on, I will let you and you alone define me. Not my culture, not my friends or family. Don't be the black sheep in your family anymore." If they called you the black sheep, don't accept that designation anymore. Say, "No, I'm special to God. Special to God. I'm called according to God's purpose. I live to do His will."

If you notice your Bible, have you noticed that God often will take the lowly things and do the most through them? Have you ever noticed that? See, we love to think that the Bible is full of heroes, but these are people. The only thing heroic about them is that they surrendered to God. I mean, look at Moses. We say, "Oh, Moses, great lawgiver." We picture him like Charlton Heston.

You ever see Ten Commandments? He walks with that nice strong... I mean, he looks like a man of God. Moses didn't start out that way. Moses spent 40 years growing up in Egypt and then another 40 years on the backside of the desert, tending to his father-in-law's sheep. Moses had a speech impediment. He stuttered.

And when God said, "I'm sending you to Pharaoh," he started stuttering. He told God he couldn't. Now don't you know God knew who he was when He called him? Don't tell God you stutter. Don't tell God you have a learning disability. Don't tell God you lack resources. You think He doesn't know that? It's the reason He called you so that when He gets His will done through you, other folk will say, "Look at that!"

So you have to decide, you have to make up in your mind, I am going to give my life over to God in such a way that He helps me to think soberly about myself, whether I tend to be conceited or whether I tend to suffer with low self-esteem. It's the same problem inverted. I'm too preoccupied with me, I need to become more preoccupied with Him and with His call on my life because you can successfully fulfill His call no matter who you are, how far behind others you think you are, God can take you. See, it's not about you, you're the pot. He'll put a treasure in the pot and get glory for Himself. My friend, think soberly. Don't think more highly of yourself than you are, but think soberly according as God has given the measure of faith.

Guest (Male): When we humble ourselves and serve others, the Lord always gives back to us. He fills us with a joy and peace that cannot be found anywhere else. Destined for Victory could not exist without the faithful prayers and financial support of listening friends and partners. You've always been the lifeblood of this media ministry, and it's because of you that we can share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people all over the world.

We hope you'll consider sending a generous gift today. When you do, we've got a great message to share with you as our way of saying thanks. It's our new booklet, Improving Your Serve. When Jesus was here with us, His was a life of service to His heavenly Father and also to us. He gave His life away long before He hung on that cross. Improving Your Serve will help you understand the keys to developing a lifestyle of service.

Again, that's Improving Your Serve, our gift to you today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. Now you can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpall.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538.

Paul Sheppard: God put you in a perfect position to do His will. Whatever you don't have, you don't need. God made you just the way you are. He can use you just the way you are. He can get something done through you that He can't get done through some of the cute folk.

Guest (Male): That's next time in our continuing message, The Center of God's Will. Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.