Knowing What to Claim

You can't drive forward safely if you're looking in your rear view mirror. And so you take honor with you throughout your life, but you do not allow yourself to remain focused on what was. You've got to move into what shall be. Hello and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Wherever you are and however you may be listening, thanks for making this part of your day. Well, Pastor Paul continues a series of messages called Journey Towards Fulfillment.

Look for the full series online at pastorpaul.net. In recent messages, he's told us that the journey will require passion as well as a paradigm shift, which means making an intentional change in your perspective. Today we come to the third essential ingredient for living a life of fulfillment, precise focus.

What does that look like and on what should that focus be placed? Answers come your way next, so stay with us. But remember, you can listen online anytime at pastorpaul.net. You can also download the podcast at pastorpaul.net, at Spotify, or wherever you get yours. And stay tuned after the message when Pastor Paul joins me in the studio. But first, let's join him for today's Destined for Victory message, Knowing What to Claim. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Pause right there. In the last message, we talked about the mourning that they did. They spent 30 days mourning.

They honored Moses not only during those 30 days, but through the rest of their lives, they honored this great man of God. And they bid a final farewell to this man because you can't move into your promised land if you're spending your time looking backwards. At the end of the day, all of us who are going somewhere in our lives, we have to realize you take honor with you. You take all the appropriate steps about those God used to get you to where you are, but you do not allow yourself to park where you are when you're on a journey. At a certain point, you've got to put your life in drive and you've got to keep moving forward. And I want to encourage you as I move into this part of the message, I need all of you to be willing to say, Lord, thank you for those you've used to get me to this point, but now help me to not allow that to prevent me from moving forward.

I've told you all the time, you can't drive forward safely if you're looking in your rear view mirror. And so you take honor with you throughout your life, but you do not allow yourself to remain focused on what was. You've got to move into what shall be. Moses, my servant, is dead. Great man, but he's dead. Meekest man at that time on the face of the earth, but he's dead. Brought us out of Egypt, but he's dead. God used him in signs and wonders, but he's dead. At a certain point, you've got to stop focusing on what was.

Thank God for what was, but get your focus on what is and what is to come. Moses, my servant, is dead. Now I want you to look at the rest of verse two.

It says, Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land, note this, which I am giving to them the children of Israel. Why do I want you to pay attention to that? Because as we journey toward fulfillment, it's important for us to know what fulfillment is.

And here's the first thing I need you to see. The journey toward fulfillment is the journey toward moving into what God preordained for us. You know why I got to say that? Because a lot of people today think fulfillment is whatever they conjure up in their heads. That's when I'll be fulfilled, when I get this or that.

And where they got those ideas from was within themselves. But here's what I'm here to tell you. God is prepared to take you into the promises that he made to your life. He is not prepared to be a cosmic genie. He is not prepared to be a supernatural Santa Claus.

God does not exist so that you can figure out what will bring fulfillment to you. And then he makes it happen. That's not the way this works. Remember, we are followers of Jesus. We don't lead him. We follow him. He knows where he's going. He knows what he has ordained for our lives. He knows the way that we are to take. He knows the promises he has made to us. He began the good work in us. He's going to bring it to fulfillment and completion. And all we've got to do is follow him. And so I want you to understand that God said here, now arise, Joshua, and you and all the people go over this Jordan. And where am I taking you?

I'm taking you to a land which I am giving to Israel. God's plan for your life is from his mind, not from yours. God knows what he wants out of you. In fact, he created you for specific purposes, and he's taking you into those things. Remember, always remember who's giving you fulfillment.

It's coming from on high. God's promised land for you is to be claimed. But I need you to always keep in mind that that has been God's plan from centuries back. Think back to Genesis Chapter 12. God found a man named Abram. And the first time you hear about a promised land is in Genesis 12. And you hear God saying to a man named Abram, I want you to get up, leave your homeland, leave what you've been familiar with all of your life. And I want you to go to a place that I will tell you, and I'm going to give that to you and your descendants forever. That was an amazing word that Abram received.

You know why? Because when God said, I'm a give you a land I'm going to take you to, and I'm a give it to your children and generations to come. When he said that, this man doesn't have any children. He said to a man who has never fathered a child, I'm going to give you something that your kids, your children's children and generations to come are going to inhabit because that's my plan for you. That just underscores the fact that God knows what he's up to in our lives, even when we don't understand it. Have you ever had God give you a word or give you a sense of something? And you say, that doesn't make sense.

I can't imagine how that would happen. Well, you don't have to imagine it because if God speaks it, God has the power in himself to make it what he called it. If God said, I'm going to make you a parent, doesn't matter if the doctor said you're barren, God's going to make you a parent. If God said he was going to bless you with wealth, doesn't matter that you're so broke that you couldn't imagine your ends meeting. God is going to make it come to pass. Doesn't matter if God has called you to do something you can't even see yourself doing. All you have to do is take him at his word and believe his promise, because when God speaks, the power to bring it to pass is in his word. Remember, we serve the God who stepped out into nothing and said, let there be and there was the power was in his word. And so I need you to understand that God said, I'm going to make this happen and you don't have to bring it to pass.

Just follow me and I am going to bring it to pass. Now, keep on looking here in Joshua one. Look at verse three, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon. I have given you, as I said to Moses, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon. I have given you, as I said to Moses.

Now, if you read verse three in an isolated way, if you just zoom in on verse three, you will probably assume that what it means is God is giving you carte blanche. Now, carte blanche is a French term that years ago there was a credit card called carte blanche. That's when I first heard the term years ago.

I'm showing my age. But the fact of the matter is that term is a French term. And here's what it means. It means blank paper. Carte blanche means blank paper in French.

You know what that means in our day? Like being given a blank check or you can write the entire story or whatever it is. You get to be the author. You get to be the designer.

In the case of a blank check, you get to determine what amount it's made out to. And if you look at verse three, you don't look at before or after. If you isolate verse three, you would probably think that God promised them you can walk anywhere on Earth and I'm going to give it to you.

That's the problem a lot of people have today in the name it, claim it, blab it, grab it world that we live in. We're coming right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. You can listen to this program anytime on demand at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net where you'll find a host of great resources in our online store.

Well, you can't back your way into the future while staring at your past. God wants you to live life through the windshield, not the rear view mirror. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, knowing what to claim.

A whole lot of people think God, when he saved you, he gave you carte blanche and you just pick out what you want to do and he's going to make it happen. Pick out where you want to go and he's going to bless you there. Pick out what house you want to live in. He's going to give you the house. Pick out what kind of car he wants you to drive. He'll give you that car. Pick out your husband. He gave you that man. Pick out your wife.

He'll give you that woman. Bless your heart. I came to clear you up. I need you to understand that is not what God said to them and is not what God says to you and to me.

Yes, indeed. Verse three says every place the sole of your foot touches, I'm going to give it to you. But you've got to read scripture in context. A text without a context is always going to be a pretext.

It's going to be misunderstood because you're not giving it its proper connotation. Yes, he said, every place you walk, I'm going to give it to you. But then look at verse four. He tells them where to walk. He says, verse four, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and to the Great Sea, talking about the Mediterranean, toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. Do you see what God did after saying every place you walk, I'm going to give it to you? Then he says, now here is where you're supposed to walk, because here is my promised land for you. The implication is you can't just go anywhere you want on earth and think that I've given it to you. What I have promised you is what I said to Abram back in Genesis 12.

I'm going to give you a land and I've declared it belongs to my people. And that's what God is giving them now here in Joshua. That's why I'm saying if you're going to move into your fulfillment, you're going to need to have precise focus. Because if you don't focus correctly, you might try to claim something God didn't promise you. And in that case, you will be deceived.

Well, first of all, you won't get it. And some of you might be tempted to blame God and say, he let me down. He didn't fulfill his promise. Well, it wasn't that he didn't fulfill his promise. It is that you didn't understand what the promise was in the first place.

So if you're like me, you don't want to waste time trying to claim what doesn't belong to you. I only want what God wants for me. I only want to go where God has sent me. I only want to experience what God has destined for me.

I'm not trying to experience anything outside of God's will for my life. So let's apply what we just learned. We learned that precise focus is necessary to experience fulfillment in God's plan. God has a precise plan and some precise promises for you as well as for me.

And we've got to identify what those plans and promises are so that we'll know what to claim. I do not want to pastor a bunch of folk going around trying to claim something God never gave them. My job as a teacher, a pastor teacher in the body of Christ, my job is to do permanent damage to people's ignorance. My job is to make sure the folk under my ministry don't end up thinking, oh yeah, I can just go anywhere, claim anything, and God said he going to give it to me. Nobody under my ministry should ever be able to say that because they've heard me contradict that too many times.

Yes, he has wonderful promises for you, but you've got to have precise focus so you know what God has promised you very specifically. For instance, we have a lot of people in today's world who are just going around saying just claim it. I've seen folk go to a car dealer, they're broke, they got a hoopty, but they decided that they want a luxury car. And I've seen some folk with a hoopty go to a luxury car dealer, lay hands on a showroom model and say in Jesus' name I claim it. Well bless your heart if God did not give you a promise that I have that vehicle for you, you are claiming something that is not in his plan for you.

Now let me be practical. God blesses us if we have our priorities in order. God will bless you to enjoy many material things. If you have a heart's desire to drive a luxury vehicle, then I would first of all say well are you a good steward of what you have? First thing I want to know as your pastor or somebody who speaks into your life is how well are you handling things in terms of financial stewardship? Because the fact of the matter is if you have consumer debt and you have very limited resources and all that, why would you want to drive a luxury car in this season of your life?

If you're still getting out of debt, look like to me you need to be pouring all of your funds into being debt free so that eventually you can drive the way you want to drive and live the way you want to live. Don't try to claim luxury cars on a hoopty budget. Let pastor help you now. If this is your hoopty season, I'm not telling you what I don't know personally. I have had many a hoopty season. I know what it is to be a pastor in California driving the second worst car in the church in my early years. I know what that's like and I did it gratefully. In fact I did it thanking God for that hoopty because it was the answer to a prayer. I know what it is to not be able to drive the way I want to drive for years.

And so I'm not telling you what I haven't experienced personally. You need to know what season you're in. Don't try to jump over a season of sowing so busy trying to reap.

Do your sowing well. Do your delayed gratification well. Make sure that you do the best with what you have now before you believe God for something else. That's just an example.

I don't want to park there because I've got more ground to cover here. The bottom line is I need you to realize God's fulfillment for your life is not so materialistic as it is purpose driven. What is the purpose that God has ordained for your life?

That's what you need to be trying to focus on. For instance, I've heard a lot of people preach, you know, everybody needs to be rich, everybody needs to be a millionaire in the will of God. Well that's just not biblical. If you are in a season and you have that capability to walk in millionaire status, but you're generous and you're kingdom oriented and you help other people, according to 1 Timothy 6, Paul told Timothy, tell those who are rich to be rich in good works, willing to share, and generous in their giving.

That's what he told them to do. Now if you're doing all that and you can afford a nice car, you want to drive a Bentley, you can afford it, Bentley on. Pastor Paul's not going to stand in your way.

Go on and enjoy your Bentley. But keep it in perspective because at the end of the day, it is God's purpose that is to prevail in your life. It is not your lifestyle. God's not interested in giving you a mansion without a purpose or a luxury car without a purpose or, you know, a whole lot of money without a purpose. You need to know God's plan and purpose for your life. Because the fact of the matter is I've heard people say, well, if you just have faith, you can have all this stuff. I know people who have great faith, but they're called to a mission field where they minister to people in abject poverty. And in those settings, their calling has nothing to do with financial or material things. Their calling has to do with leading people into a rich relationship with Jesus Christ. And so you and I need to understand God has a plan and purpose for our lives. And that's what we need to focus on. To live a life of fulfillment in Christ, you'll need passion. You'll need a paradigm shift and you'll need precise focus.

Ask God what this looks like for you and then ask him to help you get there. Pastor Paul Shepherd has joined me now from his studio in California. Well, this Christmas season is a busy time for all of us. But we need to remember it's an important time for destined for victory, a time when we ask people to stand with us financially. And Pastor, why is it so important that we hear from listeners, especially this month? Well, it's because practical Bible teaching has always been important in the life of the church universal.

But here in the 21st century, it is more critical than ever that we hear clear, sound, engaging biblical truth. Today, there are seven generations alive in America, and they range all the way from the greatest generation, which are those persons born in 1927 or earlier, all the way to the current and still developing generation. Social scientists have named it Generation Alpha. These are the kids being born from 2016 to the present. My first grandchild was born just in May of 2020.

And so he's an alpha. And every one of the seven generations alive today need the gospel preached plainly, preached soundly and preached in a way that helps us engage with the issues of today. I want to keep doing that, and I can only do it because of the faithful and generous gifts of our listeners. I'm so grateful for those that do it. We need many more to join us because, like never before, we need to let these generations know that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is singularly the power of God unto salvation. And we hope you will be one of those. You know, it takes a lot of prayer and financial support to share the gospel with every nation on earth.

It always has. Even in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul encouraged believers to finance the advancement of the gospel. And your help is especially critical now as we continue to walk together through a season of uncertainty, a time when many people are looking for answers that only God can give. As our way of saying thanks for your best gift this month, we'll send Pastor Paul's DVD message, Refocus. He put this sermon together to help you work through the challenges that have been borne out of the COVID-19 pandemic. As you follow along, he'll give you three practical steps as to how you need to address the events of this year and move ahead into 2021 with your faith intact, knowing that God is moving you ever closer to your destiny in Christ. Again, this DVD message is called Refocus, and it's our gift to you by request for your most generous gift to Destin for Victory in December. Call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or mail your gift to Destin for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538.

You can also make a safe and secure donation from our website, PastorPaul.net. I've heard people focus on those two sentences in there. He'll give you the designs of your heart and he'll bring it to pass. But did you see the context?

There are conditions built in. Delight yourself in him, not in what you want him to do for you. Right there in the passage. That's next time in Pastor Paul Sheppard's message, Knowing What to Claim. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory. .