Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: There are some people; they are there to be blessed by you, not to be a blessing to you. You've got to learn this. You've got to learn it. Some folk, if you bless them, you've got to have the reward of knowing you did what God said and that one day the Lord will look at you for how you blessed them and He'll say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Guest (Male): It's not always easy to give without expecting anything in return, but that's what God did for us, and He wants to show us how to do the same. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard.

You know, sometimes we put our faith in people. We count on them, maybe even demand them to treat us the same way we treat them. Today, Pastor Paul reminds us that in obeying the command to love others as we love ourselves, our reward comes from Him and Him alone.

Before we get started, let me invite you to stop by PastorPaul.net when you have some time. That's where you can listen to any of our recent messages on-demand, including today's. That's PastorPaul.net. Now, let's pay close attention to our Destined for Victory message, "When Humans Attack."

Paul Sheppard: Luke chapter 10. I want us to look at verses 38 through 42. "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'"

I decided to call this message "When Humans Attack." I watch the Animal Planet a lot, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel. There's some good stuff on cable, on satellite. Not all of it is trash. You've got to find the good channels. Stay away from the trashy channels. Find the good ones. Animal Planet and those channels are great because they show you a lot about what happens in nature and in the world of things that God has created.

And you learn a lot just about the animal kingdom. I'm fascinated by it. I love watching those specials on the Serengeti and seeing how the prides of lions claim their territory and all of that. It's fascinating, and I enjoy many hours of watching those kinds of shows. On one of those channels, there is a feature from time to time called "When Animals Attack," where they'll show people encounters with wild animals.

Sometimes they'll show someone who was attacked by a bear. I told you all to stay out of those woods. Sure enough, there's always somebody. Man just says, "I was just walking, just taking my usual walk," all up in the mountains somewhere. Didn't even know that there's a mother bear with a cub or two off from the road. So she looks up, sees him. One of the things I've learned is you don't want to fool with a mother bear with her cub. You'd rather fight 20 men than to fool with a mother with her cub. So the man will get attacked and he'll describe the whole thing. You see how jacked up he is. It's just fascinating.

But anyway, these shows are called "When Animals Attack." So when I was preparing to bring this message, I thought, let me call it "When Humans Attack" because you find in this passage a very interesting encounter Jesus had with a woman named Martha. I'm fascinated by the people who had personal encounters with Jesus. I think it's worth noting to learn as much as I can from and about the people who had direct encounters with Christ during His three years of earthly ministry.

Some of them, such as Martha, not only had encounters with the Lord but actually had the privilege of being in His inner circle. Martha was one of just a few people you find in scripture who could rightly be called friends of Jesus. Jesus had different categories of people, if you will. There were the masses to whom He ministered. The Bible says that Jesus ministered to large numbers of people from time to time. The multitudes would come to Him, and He would teach them, and He would often minister to their felt needs. He healed the sick. He cleansed lepers.

He gave sight to the blind. He blessed people in many, many ways. He set free those who were demonized. He lifted from sin those who were bound in a sinful lifestyle and mindset. Jesus ministered to the "whosoever will." People who came to Him, He definitely ministered to him. So He had those He ministered to; they were the masses. Then He had those that He mentored, those that He trained, and He gave extra time to them.

So not only were they eligible for the general kind of ministry, but He took time. He would take His disciples aside and teach them and train them. Sometimes He would send them out on ministry missions, if you will, and to give them object lessons as they walked around. He would teach them by looking at a fig tree or by looking at things in nature or dealing with people encounters. They would learn a lot. There were people that He mentored.

But then there was a third category of people who He drew from, who He allowed to minister to Him. Those were His friends, and Martha was one of those. Martha is a woman who lived in Bethany, we're told here in this text. Bethany was a little village about two miles or so from Jerusalem. There, Jesus found these friends. We don't know how they first hooked up, but somehow or another, Martha and her siblings, Lazarus and Mary, became real friends of Jesus.

We know that because John chapter 11 states it that succinctly. We're told that when Lazarus got sick, they called for Jesus because He was their friend. In fact, verse one or so of John 11 says, "Now Jesus loved Lazarus and Martha and Mary." He loved them. Now, we know Jesus loved everybody. So when the text says He loved them, it was very significant. It meant that they had a special place in His heart beyond what the masses had.

So I'm fascinated when I read the gospels to learn as much as I can and to gain as much insight as I can from the people who had encounters with Jesus, especially those people who were considered real friends of Jesus because He spent time with them in ways that He didn't spend with others. Jesus lived with a keen sense of boundaries. Jesus knew why everybody in His life was in His life.

On my way to the point I want to make to you today, I want to parenthetically say: Be sure that you, like Jesus, are developing that sense of understanding as to why God has brought people into your life who are there. Don't make the mistake of blending everyone in and acting like everybody has the same type of purpose in your life. It will bless you when you learn to discern why people are in your life.

What you'll discover is some people are in your life only for you to be a blessing to them. Some people are only there so that you can give to them. I'm saying this because if you don't learn that, you will make the mistake of expecting to receive. I need somebody to hear me now. You will make the mistake of expecting to receive from everybody in your life, especially people you give the most to. I'm preaching already.

Some of you don't understand that, and so you get upset when you give and give and give and you don't have anything coming back from them. The reality is some folk are in your life because God equipped you to speak into their lives, to give into their lives, to sow into their lives, and your reward is going to come from God, not from them. If you don't learn this, you can end up a very bitter, frustrated, and disillusioned person.

I've seen it happen. I've pastored a long time. I've seen a lot of folk get bitter as they get older because they see the years that they poured into some folk and they look at a certain point, maybe when they're feeling needy, and they look and see: "I'm not getting anything back." But when you look at the example of our Savior, you will realize you weren't supposed to get anything back. There are some people; they are there to be blessed by you, not to be a blessing to you.

You've got to learn this. You've got to learn it. Some folk, if you bless them, you've got to have the reward of knowing you did what God said and that one day the Lord will look at you for how you blessed them and He'll say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." So don't look at everybody in your life as a potential responder. Don't look to have a reciprocal relationship with everyone. There were some folk, when Jesus blessed them, they went away blessed and He never saw them again.

But He wasn't tripping. He wasn't mad, had an attitude. I mean, if they said "Thank you," that was good enough. In fact, remember that time He healed the ten lepers? Only one even bothered to come back and say "Thank you." And Jesus noted that and appreciated the "thank you." He sure wasn't expecting anything else. And the fact is the nine that got their blessing and didn't say "thank you," at least they were blessed. And He knew He had done what the Father had called Him to do in their lives.

Some of us have got to get this right because if you want to live the life God's called you to live, you must understand your role in people's lives. Some folk are your masses, your multitudes. You're only there to bless them, to help them. You are blessed to be a blessing. On your job, don't expect to get reward all the time. Just be glad that you're gainfully employed and you do the work and other folk benefit from it. The corporation benefits, hopefully, and what have you, and you get your reward as your check.

Quit tripping when they don't give you a plaque and call your name in the corporate meetings and don't send you on a trip. Sometimes you just got to know: I'm blessed to be a blessing. You parents have got to learn that so that you don't get bitter with your kids. They're supposed to grow up and leave you. They ought to love you. They ought to respect you. But they're supposed to leave you. They came to pass.

You've got to look at the nature of parenthood. God gives children parents as a blessing to the children. Children are a heritage of the Lord; they belong to God. Your job is to take 18, 21, whatever years God blesses you to actively parent them, pour into them, help them get on their feet, tell them who they are, teach them the way of the Lord, train them in the fear and training of the Lord, and then send them forth in the Lord and don't expect a reward from them.

Because God didn't give children to parents for the parents to be blessed. It was for the parents to be a blessing. Sure, they ought to honor you all the days of your life. And it would be nice if they grow up later on in life and start feeding you back a little money, "I was thinking about you," whatever. That'd be cool. That'd be a nice bonus, nice little benefit. But my point is you can't show up with a bill. Trying to help you now. You can't show up with a bill. "You know now, you owe me 279,000." No.

God didn't give you children so that you could turn around and be blessed by them. If they honor you, that's enough because that's what the Bible commands them to do. While they live in your house, obey your parents. When they get out of your house, honor your parents. But until then, understand your reward for being a good parent is coming from God. Because it's a job He gave you. It's why you got to nurture your marriage, because your marriage is more permanent than your child-parent relationship.

I mean, you'll always be their parent in a sense, but it goes from active to passive. That's the plan. Even if you let them live in your home as long as they're single, let them have adult responsibilities. All this is going to help somebody if you let it. I've been pastoring a long time. I've seen a whole lot of situations. I know what I'm talking about. And you confuse yourself and you think they're there for you. They're not there for you. You were there for them.

And you then begin to handicap them if you don't understand the role you're to play in their lives. You don't enable them in the wrong ways. And so you got to get to the place where I understand, Lord, this is a calling from You. And so I've got to take care of this child, teach them the way of the Lord, and one day, my reward, hopefully, prayerfully, my reward is to one day look at a couple of adults, few adults, however many children you had, who have good sense, who are doing something constructive in the world.

And you look out and see: "I raised that child." That one that just got a promotion on that job, that one that's just doing good, that one that just started that business, I raised that child. That one that's now moving out into missions or ministry, I raised that child. That's your reward. Thank God that I was able now to raise them up to be a young man, young woman of God.

But even if you raise children who are right now in this season of their life acting like you put no good training in them at all, what you do is say, "Lord, I did the best I could with what I knew at the time." Some of y'all will have to say, "Lord, I went to abundant life too late. By the time I got there, I had already not understood some things, and so I got some vain regrets, Jesus, but I'm going to give them over to You. Did the best I could with what I knew, with what I had, with where I was, and now God, I'm turning them over to You."

And you let the peace of God guard your heart and mind. And you go on and live your life and enjoy yourself. And don't feel obligated to pay their bills. You grown. Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you. Oh, you'll be there to give a hand up, but not a handout. Hand up. Anybody who has a fall, struggle—I know what it's like; everybody knows what it's like to have a down season—and you ought to have some folk who can give you a hand up. But don't get in the business of handouts.

Because it will not bless their life. And so you got to go on and find the boundaries. And Jesus knew who His multitudes were, and He knew who His mentees were, and He was able to do it all because God blessed Him with some people who had a special role in His life, such as Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And it's those kind of people to whom He goes this day recorded in Luke chapter 10.

The Bible says Martha opened her home to them. Now, a lot of times when you hear messages on Luke chapter 10, this particular passage, it's a message that really bashes Martha. And of course, we do learn from Martha's mistake in this lesson, and the Bible gives us people's successes and failures to learn from. So we do have to learn from her mistake. But I don't want to learn from her mistake until we give her some credit. First of all, I like the fact that Martha really loved Jesus. I like it that she really, really loved Jesus enough to be a person He could trust enough to call a friend.

Do you know that not everybody who grins can be your friend? And so you got to discern. You got to be discerning enough to know the people who have your best interest at heart, who have the ability to give rather than to always receive. And so Martha had enough character to draw the trust of Jesus, and she loved Him. And so I love that about her. I love the fact that in loving Him, she also committed to acting not only in His best interest but the best interest of those that He mentored.

Basically, if you were in Jesus' inner circle, you were in Martha's inner circle. And that's why this text says He and His disciples were on their way and she opened her home. She opened it to Him, but obviously that included now the men that He was mentoring. And so she made a commitment: If I love You, then I love the people who are connected to You and I will act in all of your best interest.

She opened her home to them. In opening her home, she shows that she has a spirit of hospitality. I like that about Martha, that she was willing to serve the needs of others. You know, "service" has taken on a negative connotation in today's world. And we need to understand that there's a blessing in serving. There's a blessing in helping. There's a blessing in acting in such a way that it benefits other people.

We've got to recapture that mindset that everything is not about me. We live in a world today where there tends to be: "What's in it for me?" But some of us were blessed to live in days where we saw more of a service orientation, and people didn't feel demeaned when they went to serve others. People didn't feel that they were lowering themselves when they went to serve others. You didn't always have to have an obvious angle; it was just the joy of being a blessing to somebody.

She opened her home. Some of us grew up like that. We saw that, and we need to realize that there's a great blessing in that mindset. I certainly grew up in a home that was open. My dad opened his home. I'd come home from school any given day, wouldn't know who would be in that house. I mean, it was just always a surprise. You never knew what you were going to get when you went home.

Because the attitude of many people that raised us was if there's somebody who has a need for just a meal, just to come in and sit and relax, didn't have to always RSVP. "Well, I need to know now, don't just pop in now." Some of us were raised in an environment where you didn't have to have prereservations. It was just a ring on the doorbell. Come on in, have a seat. You need something to eat? And they'd go fix you something. And Martha had that mentality. I like that about Martha, that she just wanted to serve somebody.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message, "When Humans Attack." It's always a pleasure to study the Word of God with you. You know, the last thing Jesus told us to do was to go out and share His Word with the world, to make disciples of all nations. And to get that job done, it takes all of us working together.

So right now, during the busy summer months when donations to the ministry tend to decline, we're asking all of our listening friends and partners to prayerfully consider making a generous donation to Destined for Victory. When you do, we'd love to send you our latest booklet based on the message you heard today, "When Humans Attack."

Have you set out to be a blessing to the people around you and felt unnoticed or underappreciated? We find just that kind of story in the gospel of Luke. Martha is busy making preparations, but her sister Mary chooses not to help because she's chosen to spend time with Jesus. Pastor Paul Sheppard takes an honest look at this story in "When Humans Attack," showing us how unmet expectations can turn even our best intentions toxic.

He also paints a beautiful picture of the difference between distraction and devotion. That's "When Humans Attack," a gift we'd love to share with you this month as our thank you for your generous donation to the Destined for Victory media ministry. You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Or simply visit PastorPaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: And what you need to do is realize that you can't have an expectation of people and they haven't signed off on it. That's one of our biggest problems. We expect people to do what they haven't agreed to do.

Guest (Male): You'll hear that next time in our continuing message, "When Humans Attack." But until then, remember: He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ. You are destined for victory.