Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: You can't walk around saying it's just me and Jesus. Not enough. I said it's not enough. The Bible says it's not enough. You have to build faith partnerships. You have to find the people in the body of Christ who know how to stand with you in faith and believe God for his best in your life.

Announcer: Hello and thanks for listening in to today’s Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Always a pleasure to have you with us. Well, Satan is a master manipulator. He doesn’t just want you to be isolated; he wants to convince you it’s okay to be that way. But when we look back through scripture, we’re told again and again about the importance of surrounding ourselves with godly, like-minded believers.

Today, we’ll take you to the story of Mordecai and Esther, whose faith partnership went a long way in helping them overcome the worst crisis of their lives. That’s coming up, but we want to remind you that when you visit our website, pastorpaul.net, you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today’s. That’s pastorpaul.net. You may want to download our free mobile app so you can listen to Destined for Victory wherever you go. Search "Destined for Victory" in the App Store. Now, let’s get started with today’s message, “When Something’s Gotta Give.”

Paul Sheppard: Look at that prophet's widow. The prophet had died in Elisha's day, and she cried out to the man of God there in Second Kings chapter 4. She said, “You know my husband served you and he was faithful to you, and now he is dead. But he wasn't all that great with the money.” You know, some folk are good and spiritual, but they don't know how to handle their funds. Not you, but people I know. They know God; they just got to learn the money part.

He's a man of God, and he took care of Elisha and all that, but she said, “The creditors are about to come take my sons and make them slaves.” In Bible days, they didn't just give you a bad credit rating; they came and got your kids. She said, “They're coming after my boys, and they're going to make them slaves. That's the problem.”

But Elisha is a man of God. He knows better than to just look at a problem. So he said to her, “You need to look at the possibilities. What do you have in your house?” She said what we are used to saying: “Nothing.” Read it, Second Kings 4. She said, “I don't have anything. I have nothing,” and then she said, “except for a little oil.”

Our tendency is to try to evaluate what we have and to discount it based on the size of the need. She figured, “Well, I got a little oil, but what's the point of talking about a little bit of oil? That's not going to help anybody.” You don't understand. God doesn't need a lot to bless you. You serve a God who stepped out into nothing and said, “Let there be,” and there was. So if he had to, he could bless you out of thin air. But what he typically does is he blesses you based on what he's already given you, to teach you the importance of looking at the possibility and not just the problem.

So she said, “Nothing except a little oil.” He said, “Well, there's God's answer. You got oil, and another thing you got is neighbors.” He said, “So go to the neighbors. Borrow jars. Get as many as you can. Go to neighbors who don't even speak to you. Just get out there, borrow as many as you can, because the miracle is going to come in proportion to her ability to go out and get jars.”

The proof is when she brought them in the house, he said, “Now start pouring oil.” As she poured, God multiplied. Next thing you know, that little oil had filled up one whole jar. She set that aside. He said, “Grab the next one and go to pouring.” She said, “Look at that!” And she poured and filled that up, and then the next one, and it didn't stop until she had run out of jars. Why? Because God taught her through that, you don't just look at the problem; you look at the possibilities. I have set you up for victory, and you've got to look at what the setup is all about.

Same chapter, Second Kings chapter 4. The Shunammite woman had a problem. You know her story. The Bible says she was well-to-do, but she was also barren. She was getting up in age, and her husband is straight called “old.” Just old. That’s all they say about him; he's old. What happens? She decides, “No need looking at the problem.” What's the problem? “I'm a woman who has never had a child.” In her day, it is a disgrace for the married woman to not bear her husband a child, especially a son who will carry on the family name and take the heritage into the next generation.

To lose your name was worse than anything. To lose your heritage, to be wiped off the face of the earth, was worse than anything. And so in her day, they blamed that on the woman. They didn't stop to think he may have a problem. There's children, I can't go into that; y'all got to discern what I just said. I need some discernment going off in here. They blamed the infertility on the woman when it could have been her husband.

And so it was her. When she would go to the market in those days, folk would whisper, “Ah, that's her. God cursed her. Couldn't get pregnant for nothing, child. God cursed her.” Folk are good at pronouncing doom when God is good at restoring what the enemy has taken. They were walking around whispering and throwing off on her and acting like something was wrong and God was punishing her. She had to endure that for years during her childbearing years, and she still has to endure it now that she's old. She is a disgraced, unfulfilled woman, never had the privilege of bearing her husband a child.

But she does not walk in disgrace and unfulfillment. By other people's standards, they look at her and say she is disgraced and she's unfulfilled. Look at her; she refuses to live by her problem. She's living by her possibilities. What does she have? She has money. Sister had money. When the Bible says she was a great woman or a woman of wealth, it didn't mean she married money. Sister was not a gold digger. She did not marry money; he married money. If there would have been any prenup in that marriage, he would have been signing.

But there wasn't one in those days. I don't recommend them today. If you marry, the Bible says the two become one, and you don't have to guard your money from somebody God said you're going to become one with. Which is why you want to know who you're marrying, which is why you want to get some good counsel—not only good counsel before the fact, but walk in fellowship and accountability during the course of the marriage so it can go where God wants it to go. I just threw that in for free; that don't cost you a thing.

He married money. She had it before she got married. And now she wants to be a blessing. She's not walking in unfulfillment and disgrace. She's not accepting people's definition of her. I need somebody to make up in your mind you're not going to let people define you ever again. They can say what they want, they can call you what they want; it doesn't make you that because they said it was. Fact of the matter is you got to decide, “I am who God said I am. I can do what God said I can do. And if you disagree with God's definition of me, you're the one wrong.”

And so she's not walking in disgrace and unfulfillment. She can't do anything; she can't make herself pregnant. She can't change her past, but she's believing God for her future. So what does she do? She uses that money for kingdom purposes. She lets the prophet who comes through town, Elisha, know, “Listen, when you come the next time, there's going to be a room that we're building in our home just for you.”

I've told you many times in the past, I'm sure, she got her husband to work with her real good because she had the money. If she was one of those women who doesn't handle her marriage stuff right, she could have just gone—her husband come home one day from hanging out with his fellows and the contractors are all in the house. She knew better than that. I'm sure she partnered with him, said, “Honey, I'm thinking about building,” she brought the prophet in so he could meet the prophet and feel good about him and comfortable with him.

And then one day when the time was right—you know, you sisters know how to do it when the time is just right—she says, “Sweetie, you know I've been thinking about building a room on the house, an extension, so that when that man of God comes through town, he'll have somewhere to stay because he doesn't have anywhere to stay. What do you think? You think that's a good idea?” And I'm sure her husband, just like us, we don't know that we've been set up, he just standing there, “Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good idea, yeah.”

He don't know she already knew everything there was. She had chosen the contractor, all of that. She said, “Just wait till I talk to my husband and then I'll let you know.” All set up. She probably took him up on the roof. They built on the roof. Took him up on the roof, said, “Now honey, where you think?” She knew where the room was going to be. “Honey, where you think? You think we should build it on this side of the roof, or you think it need to be over there?” And he stand there thinking he making part of this decision. “Well, sun comes in in the afternoon over here, so I think over...” She knew it was going to be on that side. She knew where the sun was. She said, “Oh, honey, that's a good idea! Wow! I married such a wonderful man. Thank you, honey.”

And he down at the city gate thinking he building extension on the house. Down there bragging to his boys, “Yeah, yeah, wife and I decided we going to build extension on the house.” Y'all know how we roll, brothers. We don't know. It was a setup from the beginning. You have no idea what just happened to you. You got Jedi mind tricked. All right, y'all messing up my message. Where am I? Okay.

So what happened? They built a room for the man of God. Why? Because she's living by the possibilities, not by the problem. She will not let that problem grow by giving it time and attention and energy and effort. She's going to let the possibility grow. She's going to do what she can. “I can't make myself pregnant, but I can be a blessing to somebody.”

And as it turns out, the blessing was a setup. And one day Elisha was chilling in the room and the anointing of God came on him and he told Gehazi, his servant, “Go ask that woman what we can do for her. She's been such a blessing to us.” He gave a couple of possibilities and the answer came back. She said, “I'm fine. I have a home among my people. I'm good. Don't need anything.” She wasn't come—she didn't pop up with a list: “Well, since you brought it up...” Because when you're living by the possibilities and living in the grace of God, God gives you peace and grace. And even when you don't have everything you always thought you wanted or needed to be fulfilled, that grace and that peace are keeping you and blessing you and sustaining you.

And the servant had to bring up to Elisha, “Well, she won't say she needs anything, but I happen to know that she's never had a child.” And Elisha, operating under the anointing, said, “Tell her this time next year she'll be bouncing a baby boy.” She's past childbearing years and her husband is old. In other words, this is going to have to be a God thing. We are way past one enchanted evening. We are way past that. You got that Luther Vandross CDs are not going to help this situation. Oh, I'm trying to help somebody. You can set the mood all you want. I don't think Luther was out yet, come to think of it.

Announcer: This is a great place to take a quick break, but stay with us. We’ll be right back with the second half of today’s Destined for Victory message featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard. If you enjoy listening to Pastor Paul, you’ll be glad to know that we’ve archived all of our recent messages at pastorpaul.net. That’s pastorpaul.net. You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

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Paul Sheppard: Do you have the point? The point is we have got to discern the possibilities, not just the problem. Your blessing, your breakthrough, your answer is already within your grasp. You just have to discern what God is doing.

Number two: Develop faith partnerships. Do you see what Esther said after she got that word and he said, “Who knows but that you're in the kingdom for such a time as this?” It's a setup. Look at your possibilities, girl. You're the queen! Then how she responds is she says, “All right, you go send word to all the Jews everywhere you can. Send word; tell them fast for three days.” Turned their plates down for 72 and she made it clear: 72 straight hours. She said not this 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. She said, “I want 72 hours of straight-up fasting. If I'm going to put my neck on the line for y'all, y'all not going to be grubbing while I do it.” Oh, straight up. She said, “I want them fasting 72 straight hours.”

And she said, “I'm going to fast with you.” She said, “My maids are going to fast.” Now these are pagan women. These are Persians. They're not even Jewish young women. But she said, “I don't care that y'all don't know God. You're going to have to fast and pray anyhow because you work for me.” She developed faith partnerships. That's what that is. That's getting people in agreement and in sync with what you're believing God for.

Do you know one of the ways the enemy is tricking the body of Christ today is he's making us think it is fine, it is wonderful, it is okay to be a single, independent Christian? Listen, you can be single in your marital status if you so choose—all the single ladies, all the single ladies—all you want. You cannot afford to be a single Christian. I don't mean in marital status; I mean in Christian support.

You can't walk around saying it's just me and Jesus. Not enough. I said it's not enough. The Bible says it's not enough. You have to build faith partnerships. You have to find the people in the body of Christ who know how to stand with you in faith and believe God for his best in your life. You need to find folk who can speak faith and not doubt, people who can speak healing and not death, people who can speak provision and not poverty, people who know how to say what God says about you.

You need folk who know their Bible, who when you call them and say, “Here's what I'm believing God for,” they say, “Well, I'm in agreement with you because the Bible says...” You need some folk who are biblically literate, who know the word and not only know it but believe it and stand on it. Quit fooling with these people who tell you they got an uncle who died with what you have. How you going to get healed talking to those kind of folk? Quit fooling with people who tell you they know somebody who used to have all kind of money and now, honey, living in their car. How you going to get your breakthrough, your apartment or the house you believing for, talking to somebody who only knows about cars? You got to find somebody who says God is able. “I'm standing with you. I'm believing with you.” Develop faith partnerships.

Crisis is no time for being a Lone Ranger. Crisis is no time, a defining moment is no time to be walking around by yourself. Got the nerve to be alienating folk who love you. If they love you and if they know God and know how to walk with God, what are you doing letting the enemy let pettiness come between you and somebody who needs to stand with you in faith? And you know how the enemy does it? He tricks us. He'll take something small, insignificant. “You know they didn't call me that day. They knew I was hurting. They knew, they knew.” The devil love to tell you what somebody else knew. “They knew I needed them. They knew that was the worst day of my life, and they didn't ring my phone not one time.”

Esther's not sitting up in the palace talking about, “Y'all know this is the mess, I'm going for y'all and y'all ain't nobody even volunteering to fast.” Forget volunteering. Call them jokers up and say, “Turn that plate down. It's time to fast and pray and believe God. Quit eating them chicken wings and start believing God.” Oh, this anointing on me is rough today. You got to believe God and you got to find folk who know how to believe God. Develop faith partnerships.

One more point and I'll let you go. Decide that it's all or nothing. Esther said, “Y'all fast, I'm a fast. We're going to believe God.” What's she believing for? She's believing that somehow she won't lose her life when she goes uninvited into the presence of the king. And she's believing, not only will I not lose my life, but he's going to bless me with enough favor to get him to reverse a decision he allowed Haman to make.

He's impressed with Haman, and so God's going to have to work it out so although he's impressed with Haman, his uninvited wife comes into his presence and gets such a favor that that decision will be reversed and my people will be spared. She's believing for a miracle, and she decides it's all or nothing. God can't give you a miracle when you won't act. Miracles don't drop into your lap. Read the Bible. When somebody needed a miracle, they went after it. Why? Because the Bible says without faith it's impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that what? Diligently seek him.

You got to be like that woman who had the issue of blood. For years she bled. For years she was desperate. For years she went to every doctor she could, and they couldn't heal her. She was broke. She had no money. She had no hope through medical science. But she heard—she didn't just have a problem; she had a possibility. The possibility was coming down the street. His name was Jesus. She heard Jesus is coming that way, and she said, “If I can touch...” See, she didn't just stand up there and say, “You know, I wonder what would happen if I got there and touched. And I see I know I'm not supposed to because see I'm bleeding and the Bible and these people live by the law and the law told them when a woman's unclean and she bleeding she can't be out in public and can't be touching nobody and if they and they all know me, they know my condition.”

She'd have died. She'd have died standing over there going through all of them changes. She said, “If I can touch him, I'm not worrying about if they don't think I'm supposed to be out here, they can do whatever they have to do, but I'm going after Jesus.” Somebody needed to decide, “I'm going after Jesus. Y'all can do what you want, you can say what you want, you can object all you want, but I'm desperate. I'm going after Jesus.”

She went after Jesus, and when she touched him, all that crowd around him, but he felt something special when she touched him. He said, “Who touched me?” And you know Peter and them, “All these people, we can't even get down the street for all these folk and you talking about who touched you? Everybody touching you.” No, Jesus knew this touch is different. And he told that woman, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” When you don't have any choice, something's got to give. You got to make up in your mind to discern the possibilities, not just the problem. You got to develop faith partnerships. Get in agreement with folk who know how to walk with God. And decide that it's all or nothing. I'm going for broke. I'm going to believe God all the way, and you'll see God work out his purpose in your life.

Announcer: One of the things God calls us to do is to persevere through life’s challenges, and that’s one of the reasons why he won’t always solve our problems overnight. Because if he did, it would rob us of the opportunity to persevere and to reap the benefits of having done so. So glad you stopped by for today’s Destined for Victory message, “When Something’s Gotta Give.” If you joined us late or to hear the full message one more time, stop by pastorpaul.net. That’s pastorpaul.net.

Well, I’m sure you have someone in your life—a friend, a coworker, maybe a family member—and you’ve just never quite had the right words to say to them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. If so, you’re going to love this month’s Destined for Victory resource, *You Are So Loved*. This booklet is a short, readable gospel presentation that doesn’t feel like a tract, and it just might open a door you’ve been praying to have opened for years. That’s *You Are So Loved*, our thank-you gift today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. 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. Or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Paul Sheppard: If you are kingdom first, if you are fully surrendered to the will of God, if you get your life lined up with the will of God, there is no good thing that he will withhold from you. No good thing!

Announcer: That’s tomorrow in our continuing message, “God Will Fix It For You.” But until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ. You are destined for victory!