Destined for Victory

Guest (Male): Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. It's always our pleasure to study God's Word together with you. Here at Destined for Victory, we've always believed in the power of partnership. It's a core value put in place years ago by Pastor Paul Sheppard. I once spoke with him about the power and benefits of partnership. Before we kick off today's message, we want to share that brief conversation with you.

Paul Sheppard: I think that we need to underscore that it is a win-win situation when a person is not only a faithful prayer warrior to undergird us with prayer, but when they are faithful in supporting our ministry financially. There is a real benefit to them. When you think about it, Jesus said in Matthew 6, "Don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth corrupts and things get eroded and all that." He says you need to store up treasures in heaven.

If people say, "How in the world do you do that while you're still living on earth?" the answer is you support things that make a difference not only for time, but for eternity. Ministries like ours are making that kind of difference. You get to directly benefit as a supporter because Jesus is saying in essence, "You share in the victory, you share in the fruitfulness of the ministries you support."

I know that to be true. God has blessed me over the years because of faithful listeners who stand with us every month. I can count on the fact that part of what they do is sow into this ministry so that we can continue to preach timeless truths in a timely way. That's making a difference for people both in this life and preparing them for the life to come. There is no Pastor Paul or any of the other ministers that God is using without those who faithfully support them. To you, I say thank you so much. To others, I'm saying please prayerfully consider becoming part of that support team.

Guest (Male): We say it all the time here at Destined for Victory: without you, there would be no us. When you partner with us today for as little as $20 a month, you'll receive a few thank-you gifts, including one of our most popular resources, Pastor Paul's CD, *The Best of Let My People Smile*. It's a compilation of some of his best and funniest moments, something the entire family can enjoy.

Call 855-339-5500 or mail your gift. When you do, please let us know you'd like to become our partner. The address is Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. You can also sign up by selecting "Become a Partner" at the top of the PastorPaul.net homepage. That's PastorPaul.net.

If you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift to the ministry today, we'd love to send you our latest booklet, *You Are So Loved*. For more information on this outstanding resource, please stop by PastorPaul.net.

Paul Sheppard: You can't disappoint God. Do you know that God, being omniscient, knew who you were before you knew who you were? Knew what you would do before you knew what you would do? And so you can't disappoint God because God knows you too well.

Guest (Male): It's true, you know. We can't disappoint God, but it's not for lack of trying. Even some of the greatest heroes of the faith—Abraham, Moses, King David—have made some serious mistakes. The list is endless, but so is God's mercy.

On today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard, an important reminder that we can't hear often enough: nothing can separate you from the love of God, not even your own mistakes. Now let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's message, "Trust Him."

Paul Sheppard: Some of us have to go from trying to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders to going back to a childlike existence. In fact, one of the definitions of this word trust that you find in Proverbs 3:5—it's the Hebrew word *batach*—it means bold confidence, it means careless reliance. One of the definitions is unsuspecting. I'm unsuspecting of God. I don't doubt God; I don't question God. He's never given me any reason to not trust Him. I'm like a child; I am unsuspecting of my Heavenly Father.

Some of us have to go back to a childlike state. Now as I wrapped up the first part, I said we have to be clear that childlike, that Jesus talked about in Matthew 18—where he said, "Unless you become like a little child you won't enter the kingdom of heaven"—childlike is different from childish. Childish you don't want to be. Spoiled, immature, those sorts of things. Got to have my way. If I can't have my way, I'm going to take my football and go home.

Childish, that's not what Jesus was commending. He was commending the attributes of a trusting child who has no better sense than to rely on the people they depend on that everything's going to be all right. I've come to let somebody know God wants you to know you can trust Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

We're currently making several points about trusting Him. Number one: trust Him with your failures. I want to finish that point and move on to number two. You have to learn to trust God with your failures. Some of us have blown it, and the quicker we acknowledge it, the better off we'll be. We have blown it in some ways. We have disappointed ourselves, we've disappointed other people, although let me hasten to say you didn't disappoint God because He knew you.

Whenever you're disappointed, please understand that's you. You can't disappoint God. To disappoint a person, they have to have a different set of expectations than you showed to them. Do you know that God, being omniscient, knew who you were before you knew who you were? Knew what you would do before you knew what you would do? And so you can't disappoint God because God knows you too well.

As I was explaining about Peter, Peter was bragging to Jesus, "I'm going to stand with you if all the other disciples don't." Jesus looked at him and said, "Before tomorrow morning you will have denied me three times." When it came true, Peter felt like a total failure, but Jesus spoke up after His resurrection a few days later and said, "Go tell my disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee."

He called him by name just in case Peter thought he was disqualified. I want to speak this word to some Peters who feel like you have blown it royally. You have messed things up in your life. I want to let you know you haven't made, and you're not capable of making, the kind of mess that will frustrate God. You can get yourself in a mess, but God has the ability to work all things together for good.

Here's what I want you to lock in on as we wrapped up part one: your failures, because of what Jesus did on Calvary, your failures are written in pencil. They're written in pencil. Don't you make the mistake of thinking your failures are written in permanent marker. God has a grace that will erase the negative impact and get you from where you are to where you ought to be.

This is a word for somebody. Don't put your failures up so high and magnify them so much until you think God Himself is looking at you saying, "Oh, I don't believe this." You haven't frustrated God. God's not in heaven panicking because of how you've messed up. God knows how to get you from where you are to where you ought to be. Peter found that out; Abraham found that out. Abraham and Sarah, you've heard me tell that story before of how they created an Ishmael when God promised them an Isaac.

They put their thimble-full of brains in God's business. God said, "I'm going to bless the world through your seed." Abraham said, "Okay, that must mean I have to have a baby. But I'm old, here I am in my 80s, my wife's in her 70s, and she's past childbearing, so it can't be her." Now if God had another woman in mind, God would have told Abram. He didn't tell him about another woman because Abram had one wife; that's all God needed. She was in her 70s, but so what? When God speaks, it is so.

Well, they didn't decide that that was the case; they decided they need to help poor God out. And so they came up with the idea of making Hagar, one of the maidservants, a second wife for Abraham. Back in those days, God tolerated, though never endorsed, polygamy. I just want to let the brothers know those days are over. Hallelujah, those days are over. Don't go fantasizing, "That must have been some living back in those days."

May I give you a word on the side, this is a sidebar word: you don't need but one anyway. You got your hands full with one anyway. Come on now, don't trip. Don't let your ego write a check that reality will not cash. If you got one, you're good to go. They came up with this plan to make Hagar a second wife, and sure enough, they came up with a child. That woman got Abraham inspired—you have to read between the lines now—got him inspired, and that old man woke up and came up with a baby.

But it was not the child of promise. He failed and God could have, if God was like us, God would have said, "Fine then, I'll just move on and find somebody else." No, God doesn't do that. When He begins a good work in your life, what He'll do is when you fail the exam, He'll give you a makeup. Now don't get too happy thinking, "Oh well, I'll fail whenever I get good and ready." No, it's not that easy because remember: when you make an Ishmael, God will forgive you for it, but you still have to raise him.

You don't want too many Ishmaels running around in your life. You have some Isaacs to focus on, you have some things God wants you to do, and you don't want to have a whole bunch of Ishmaels. Ishmael, Ishmaela, are you hearing me? Don't fantasize about doing your thing and God just constantly going behind you cleaning up your mess. It's not a pretty picture when we don't do the will of God. We can get ourselves into some awful predicaments, but my point is God's grace is able to supersede your failures.

So 13 years later, God said, "All right, if you all are ready, it's time for the makeup." Before, they had to believe God for a baby when he was in his 80s and his wife was in her 70s. Now they have to believe God for a baby and he's 99 and she's 89. So it pays; the first exam is the best one to pass. Pass the first one by God's grace, by His help. "Lord, help me to pass the first one," because the makeups get harder. But I want to let you know you can trust Him with your failures.

David found out you can trust Him with your failures. In 2 Samuel, you find the story of David having an awful failure in chapter 11 with Bathsheba. But you also find over in chapter 12 that after he had this awful failure with Bathsheba, here's the king among God's people, God's anointed, but he has a royal failure. He gets this woman pregnant and then he has her husband—who was at that moment of the conception on the battlefield fighting for David.

In desperation—failures can make you desperate sometimes—in desperation, he sent orders by Uriah. Have you ever read that? The man took his own death orders back to the battlefield. He was so faithful he didn't open them. When he got back, he handed them to someone else and said, "The king said give this to you." When the man opened it, it said, "Put Uriah on the front line and withdraw from him. Let the enemy kill him."

The man was so faithful he took his own death sentence back to the battlefield. That's a miserable failure for a man who was called God's anointed, who was called a man after God's own heart. He failed miserably, and he's hoping he can just cover it up by quickly marrying the woman. Oh, but God sees. Over in 2 Samuel 12, God sends His prophet Nathan. Nathan goes and tells him a story about someone being wrongly taken advantage of.

David gets mad and says, "Who is it? Bring him in here." The prophet looked at him and said, "You're the man," and then pronounced God's judgment on him. But here's what I've come to tell somebody: judgment is not a death sentence when you serve God. Judgment is discipline. Judgment is God wants you to know there are consequences for not doing His will. He's a loving parent. Whom the Lord loves He disciplines.

I've come to tell somebody who is under the hand of God's discipline, under the hand of God's judgment, that God is not finished with you. He is not pronouncing death on your life. He's disciplining you so when you get back up, you won't go back into the same mess again. The Lord sent Nathan with a word of discipline that there are going to be some consequences: there'll be all kinds of bloodshed under your reign, your family's going to have all kinds of family trouble because you visited trouble on another man's family.

He pronounced all of the consequences. But then he said, after David fell down and said, "I have sinned"—and that's what you have to do when you have a failure: acknowledge it—Nathan said, "The Lord said to tell you He's forgiven you, but the son is going to die. The child will not live." David fasted and prayed, begged God, "Please don't take the child." But you read in 2 Samuel 12 that the child died.

The people were worried as to what David's response was going to be. They're standing over in the corner: "Look at him. You need to go over there and tell him that his child's dead." "I'm not going, you go over there." David saw them huddled over on the side of the room trying to figure out who was going to tell him. He said, "Is the child okay?" Somebody spoke up and said, "I'm sorry, king, he's gone."

The Bible said the king got up. He had been fasting and praying, begging God, hadn't washed himself, hadn't anointed himself with oil. Looked a mess. The Bible says when he heard that, he got up, went into his private chambers, washed himself, dressed himself, anointed himself with oil, and commanded for some food to be brought. "It's time for me to break this fast and eat." I'm sure some of them saying, "He's gone crazy."

Somebody said, "Well, why the sudden change in your demeanor, king?" He said, "I can't withstand the will of God. If God has taken this child, I must bow in submission to His will, and there's no need of me staying in that old state of mind because it won't serve God's will now." He said, "The child won't return to me, but one day I can go to him. And so let me get back down to the business of serving God."

I have a word for somebody: it's time for you to get back down to the business of serving God. Stop beating yourself up and stop letting other folk beat you up. It's time for you to do the will of God because your failure is written in pencil. Now may I warn you: people have a permanent marker. Some of them. There are some people in your life who have a permanent marker. Before I get to my next point, I want to let you know some folk have a permanent marker.

When you mess up, they will freeze your mess-up in time. They will take a picture of you at your lowest point, and they will take it to Kinkos and blow it up. There are some people who will never let you live down your trouble, your worst day. They remember what you looked like, they remember what you had on. There are some folk who will never let you live it down. They have a permanent marker.

But here's the word: don't worry about the marker in their hand because they're not writing the story of your life. God is the only one writing the story of your life. The folk can talk about you all they want. You know what God will do? He'll just let it be free publicity. He'll turn it into free publicity. He is working out His purpose in you, and although the failure wasn't His will, He will work it together.

If you'll stay with God, He's going to bring you out in a good place. Folk can talk about you all they want; it won't even matter. It doesn't matter. You might as well practice that. Some folk get so messed up when they first find out that some folk are trying to write them off. Over the years, being a pastor, I've had folk come into my office crying: "Oh, Pastor, I found out the folk are talking about me, and they're just wearing my name out, dragging my name through the mud."

They're so hurt because they found out for the first time people are talking about them. Over the years, I have handed them tissues and let them get it all out, cry. As soon as they dry up, I say, "All right now, I have something to tell you: they were talking about you before you just found out about it. They have said worse than you heard they said." It's worse than that, and we need to understand that.

This is leading me into my second point, which is not only trust God with your failures, but number two: trust Him with your foes. Trust Him with your enemies. Trust Him with your detractors. Trust Him with the people who are tap-dancing on your nerves and glad to be. Trust Him with people who have set their purpose in life as wanting to bring you down. I know it hurts your feelings, I know it disappoints you, I know you wanted to have more confidence in people than that, but I have to tell you the truth: some folk have it in for you.

Some folk have it in for you for reasons they have come up with over the years. They don't like you, and if you asked them why, they could articulate why they don't like you. I know that hurts your feelings, but just swallow the pill real good, let it get down in there: there are people who don't like you, and if you give them half a chance, they will tell you exactly what about you they do not like.

There's another crew of foes you have who don't like you and they don't necessarily have a reason. They just looked at you one day and decided, "You know what? I don't like him. I don't like her." You just hit them wrong. It was your look or your shoes; I'm not sure what it was. Something hit them wrong, and they just decided one day they don't like you. They could just quickly tell you, "See that lady right there? I do not like her." Some folk don't like you. I know that hurts your feelings, but I have to tell you the truth.

Then you have a set of foes who haven't entered your life yet, but they are somewhere in line waiting to enter your life. You have foes you haven't met yet. They're standing in a line; one by one, they get into your life. The devil sends them in, or circumstances send them in. God might even send some of them in to help get you to another place of faith and trust and deepen your relationship. I don't know who's getting them there, but they're coming one by one. The others are in line, and when one gets in, they step up.

There are some folk waiting to come into your life. You have to trust God with your foes. You have to trust God with the people who are out to get you. Instead of hoping that you won't have enemies, get the right attitude about your enemies. That's a futile desire for you to say, "Oh God, just keep all the enemies away." He's not going to do it. Read your Bible. Everybody who's ever used of God has detractors. You can't be used of God and not have detractors. You can't live a life that counts and not have people who are against you. Just as sure as you set your heart and your mind to be something for God, to do His will, to glorify Him, you've got some enemies coming.

Guest (Male): Even Jesus, the most perfect, loving, and merciful man who ever lived, had plenty of enemies. So we can expect to have them as well. In fact, if we have enemies because of our faith in Christ, we should consider it a compliment.

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. When your enemies pick a fight, do you roll with the punches or throw a few of your own? Here's Pastor Paul.

Paul Sheppard: That's not God's agenda. And if you're going to trust Him with the people who have it in for you, if you're going to trust Him with the people who are out to destroy your life, I've come to tell you: you've got to let Him fight the battle.

Guest (Male): That's tomorrow in our continuing message, "Trust Him." But until then remember: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.