Seizing the Opportunities Before You (cont'd)

We all have good opportunities, but we all also have God opportunities. Fulfill as many of the good opportunities as you can, but make sure you don't miss any of the God opportunities.

When a thing is a God thing, you want to make it a priority. Better to pursue a God opportunity than a good opportunity, but even God opportunities come with challenges. Hello and thank you for joining us.

Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Destined for Victory. Pastor Paul Shepherd takes us today once again to the story of the Israelites' journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. They had a God opportunity, promised that he would give them the land of Canaan, and he did.

He delivered on his promise, but not before the Israelites allowed fear to rob them of their faith. Today's message is straight ahead. Stay with us here or visit pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Now here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, Seizing the Opportunities Before You. So fill as many of the good opportunities as you can, but make sure you don't miss any of the God opportunities. When a thing is a God thing, you want to make it a priority. And listen, a God thing can include making sure you raise sensible kids, because God has entrusted the next generation to all of us. And so part of what God wants you to do is raise some kids who have some sense. Come on, somebody. And if you never start a business, if you leave the world with a couple of decent kids, you have helped us. Come on, somebody.

We got these people out here. I don't know what they think God made them a parent for. Lord, I don't know what to do with this child.

Are you kidding? Talking about you don't know what to do with this child. See, you can't say that to my generation. You don't know what to do with this child. We can't even understand how you can form your words. You don't know what to do with something you brought into the world?

Oh, my goodness. We were raised by folk who did not play. You live in my house, you're going to respect me and respect my rules. That's part of your kingdom assignment. If you had them, raise them like they got sense. That's part of your promised land.

God has promised you the ability to raise your children in a way that they can live a fruitful and productive life. Teach them how to be responsible. Teach them some manners. Please and thank you still works. Just don't understand these young folk just grunting.

You know, we couldn't do that. You couldn't grunt to an adult. They speaking to you and trying to have a conversation with you. How are you? Sup? Sup?

Do I look like a sup? Form your words because, you know, it's a little bit scary. We're leaving the world to some of these kids whose parents didn't put anything in them. And so we got to make a difference.

You got to be a difference maker and it starts right at home. Teach them the values, just the simple values. That's why when we did our chores, that's why we got allowance. Allowance was, you know, them showing you early in your life. You do some things cause you're told to do them and then you get some money so you can spend it. When we were young, we were being taught that's what allowance is. I heard one person saying, I don't believe that allowance. You're teaching them a reward system.

I said, are you crazy? I don't believe getting paid for doing your chores. I don't know why. When they get out in the real world, nobody going to pay them cause they're cute. Have you figured that out by now? Cute doesn't earn money just in and of itself at a legitimate job. Where cute earns money, you got to teach them, no, no, that's not the way we make our money.

Come on somebody. You got to teach your children. No, no, we don't do that. No, no, no.

That's not how you earn a living having people make it rain. You're messing with my message. I'm trying to get this. So God set the land before Israel.

What did they do about it? Here's what I want you to see as I move into the second point. They request permission to check out the land. Look at starting at verse 22. Every one of you still in Deuteronomy one, every one of you came near to me. Moses is still talking and you said, let us send men before us. Let them search out the land and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up and of the cities into which we shall come. Moses said, the plan please me. So I took 12 of your men, one from each tribe. They departed and went up into the mountains and spied it out.

Now let me pause long enough to say something. God didn't tell them to go spy off the land. He said, I set the land before you go possess it. He didn't say go spy on it.

But sometimes we do things because we want to do them and God doesn't always check you on everything. Moses said, it sounds good to me. They came to me with the idea.

Sound good to me. And so I appointed the spies and they went over. That wasn't wrong. But here's my second point. Jot this down. Don't allow due diligence to morph into unbelief.

Don't allow due diligence to morph into unbelief. What does that mean? That means there are some things you say, well, I'm going to start a business. I need to do some work. I need to lay out a business plan.

I need to consult with some folks. Okay, nothing wrong with that. That's not a contradiction of faith. Just because God said he's going to bless you to establish the business doesn't mean you can sit around on your hands. So yes, there is due diligence to be done in every venture.

You got to do some work of preparation. I want you to understand that so that you don't get into false condemnation. Jesus even said, if you're going to build a tower, you got to count the cost. If you're going to get some things done, there's some due diligence that's involved. But don't allow due diligence to morph into unbelief because it can if you're not careful.

Here's what I mean. So they sent the spies over and the spies even came back saying, it is good the land which God is giving us. Look at the first word of verse 26.

Nevertheless, you would not go. Moses said, you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. See, they went over and they saw the land was good, but they also saw the challenges. The land is good, but there are giants over there. The land is good, but they have fortified cities over there. The land is good, but the nations are strong over there. The land is great, but we can't fool with those people.

That's where you're not doing due diligence now. Now you're expressing unbelief. God had set the land before them, had already promised it generations before starting with Abraham. God has said, this is yours. Go possess it.

Y'all go over spy it out and say, yeah, it's nice, but, and I came to tell you about your life. If you are going to get God's will done, you have to be fearless and stop worrying about the challenges and focus on the opportunities God has placed in front of you. Challenges are going to be there in any endeavor. Challenges are going to be there. Doesn't mean you can't get the work done. Sometimes you have to ignore the challenge and focus on the opportunity. Cause the challenge, yes, is going to be there. God didn't say, I'm giving you a land and all the giants going to be dead as soon as you get over there and they go give you the keys to the walled cities.

No, no, that's not the way it goes. The enemy says, I'm not going to let this happen. That's his job. When you have enemies coming against you, they're doing that job. When you have enemies, believe them. They don't like you or your assignment. And they will come against you. Not only that, but even people in your own ranks will come against you. Anybody ever tried to do something good and people who should have been supporting you were some of your worst enemies. People should be saying, good for you. Go ahead. God bless you.

They roll in their eyes, sucking their teeth. I don't know who you think you are. And you have to learn not to let due diligence morph into unbelief. They went over there and checked it out, but what they checked out was how big the people were, how fortified the cities were, things that God never told them to focus on. Your job is to possess, not to analyze. Because analysis never advances the kingdom when it is done from a place of negativity. If you analyze, say God is able to help me overcome this particular challenge I'm looking at.

I need some of you because some of you by temperament, some of you are given to the paralysis of analysis. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. We want to thank all of you who sustained Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that help Pastor Paul share the gospel all over the world. Destined for Victory is a listener-supported ministry, and that means we depend on the faithful prayers and financial support of friends just like you. So as God leads, please prayerfully consider making a gift to Destined for Victory today.

You can give your generous gift now at pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. And with the rest of today's message, seizing the opportunities before you, here again is Pastor Paul. Some of you, just your very temperament, some of you all, you're given to the paralysis of analysis. That's what you do.

You analyze. You have been on a committee with folks, they're about ready to go. They believe we've heard from God, this is a wonderful opportunity, we're going to help some people. And then there's some folks, oh, can I wait now? You haven't seen these people, they're just gifted to just slow it down, just wait, wait, I'm not sure. I can't tell you, and people with my temperament, oh, that's why we can't work on some committees. Because you got these people just analyze something to death. Just, okay, here's the opportunity, let's move forward, here's our plan, let's move forward. Oh, I got a question.

Okay, a couple of questions make sense, let's all cover a couple of big item questions, but here you come with some little minutiae. Just the paralysis of analysis, that's why I don't go to restaurants where people don't know how to order. Just some folks just sit there, just flipping pages, looking, ah, let's see. Four pages of food, pick something so they can go get it started, please. Let me see, ah, I can't. Even at the take-out place, you stuck in the line behind somebody, and they're looking from the left to the right, up on the wall.

Same food over here, over there. Let me see if you have, oh, Jesus keep me near the cross. You can't calculate your way into the promised land. The promised land doesn't operate by calculations. You can't figure out whether you can fulfill God's purpose.

You got to go and possess. Yes, do reasonable due diligence. If God's calling you to start a business, you do have to write a business plan.

Yes, you got some stuff to do. But it's not negative if you don't make it negative. When you go to the bank and they say, we don't do these kind of loans, say thank you very much. Don't stand in there and turn the place out.

Because that's not your only funding source. Say, okay, God is not coming from these folks. Now you show me where it is coming. You got to see everything as a positive. When these people turn you down, that's one less bell to answer, one less egg to fry. I'm not going back there. Everything is moving you in the right direction. Every no you hear that makes you closer to your yes. So come on with the no's because I don't want funding from the wrong place anyway.

I want the money God has for me. Don't make anybody feel obligated. It's not their job to support what God's doing for you unless he's raised them up as your partner. And so you and I have to learn to walk this thing out by faith. We walk by faith, not by sight.

And you can't get into this paralysis of analysis. Because those folks got so bad that God himself said, tell you what, I'm not taking any of them. I got a promised land flowing with milk and honey. And these folks are going to come back and look at all these obstacles and act like I'm putting them in trouble. God said, tell you what, since they love the wilderness so much, I'm going to let them all die here. And then Moses said, but your people, Lord, how are you going to fulfill your word?

The nations are going to say, God brought him out and he couldn't even take them into the land. They're going to mock you, God. The Lord said to Moses, okay, I hear you. Yeah, I don't want to put my name at stake.

He said, your name is on the line. How are you going to kill the folk and people are supposed to respect you as the God that we're all to serve? He said, okay, then I'm going to just let them die, but I'm going to raise their children up. Listen, don't let your kids do your work for you. Get your work done. Don't leave your work undone for the next generation to do. Get yours done because they got their own to do.

And whatever God's put on your heart, whatever business, whatever ministry, whatever volunteerism, whatever you're supposed to do to advance the kingdom and touch people, help us raise a generation that's coming behind us. We got to support these young folks. Old people, stop fussing about the young people.

We got to do this. Look, when I was young, I remember there were some old folk who were just death on us. Just always look at these young people.

And I'm talking about back in the days when they had plenty to complain about if they're looking for complaints. I say back when the little girls getting saved had miniskirts on, come on. And the young folk coming into church, they was getting saved with their miniskirts and all those old mothers in Zion. I don't believe that all these thighs are peeling in the church. And my dad was their pastor and he said, all right, we're going to help the young people kind of learn some things along the way.

He said, but just be glad they're getting saved and let's show them how much we appreciate that God is operating in their lives. You need to have enough Holy Ghost where you can handle thighs. Come on. For us young men, now I'm talking about back in the days when we was all wearing bushes, afros, you know. I used to have one. I didn't lose my hair all my life. I had it before I lost it. I had a big afro, one of the best in the church.

You plant it up at night and you get it and you rake it out. You put that afro sheen, ultra sheen. Oh, y'all don't know what I'm talking about. And I go out and it was glistening in the sun. And one of the mothers in the church came up to me one day and said, you know, the Bible says it's a shame for a man to wear long hair.

I can still remember that of all the things you can walk up to me here. I'm a young man trying to serve the Lord, learning how to play so as young people were getting saved, can sing the modern songs we like. Oh, happy day and the stuff like that and I'm learning how to play and here you worried about the length of my hair.

I always can count on Deacon. He going to help me get through this. And she worried about my hair. And she said that you just need to go and cut all that off. I went to my father who was my pastor and I said, I told him the mother, I said, she said it's a shame for me to wear my hair. She want me to cut it. Do I have to cut my hair for that lady? Because I had gotten saved. I want to try to be obedient. So I went to him.

I said, am I supposed to cut my hair for her? He said, no, son, just I'll have to have a meeting with some of the older people. And he did. He had a meeting with him and explained, y'all leave these young people alone.

Because if you run them back into the world. And so he let them know that clothes aren't all that you want them to be. But just tolerate it. We just had to figure it out. Well, guess what? We got new challenges today.

But the same principle is there. We got to figure it out. Don't run these young folk off. All these tattoos and all these piercings and all this. Nobody going to make you get a piercing? We're not going to tattoo you up. We don't have a tattoo guy at the door. Don't be a member of this church.

You got to wear destiny. You got nothing to worry about. So leave these folk alone. Focus on your assignment. Focus on what God wants you to do. If you get your work done you won't have a lot of time to go around policing other people.

That's where I am with mine. There's so much more I want to do before the Lord takes me home. I don't have time to look at y'all. Y'all going to have to go to God for yourself. I'm not going to be going to your house.

I'm just coming to check and just see what y'all doing. I'm going to give you enough word in here. When you go home I trust the word goes with you. But what you don't take in and what you're not living out, that's not my job. Our job is to advance the kingdom and don't get into the paralysis of analysis. God is at work in you and you got to work it out of you. Fear not. The challenges you face are not to keep you from fulfilling God's purpose. Fear not and don't be discouraged.

There's plenty of opportunity to get discouraged. But refuse to be discouraged. Move forward in Jesus name. If God has given you a promise for a ministry, a business, a marriage, you'll still face challenges. But no matter how big those challenges may be, God's promise remains. Be in it fearlessly and faithfully.

Well the last thing Jesus told his disciples was to go out into the world and make more disciples. And a great way to take part in this mission with Pastor Paul Shepherd and all of us at Destined for Victory is by becoming a Destined for Victory partner for as little as $20 a month. In light of some severe challenges these past two years or so, people are eager to hear about the hope we have in Christ and many are getting that message through the Destined for Victory broadcast.

Please prayerfully consider joining Pastor Paul and his mission to share the light of the gospel to all people even to those who have grown comfortable in the dark. As our way of saying thanks for your partnership, we'll send you a few thank you gifts including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile. So call 855-339-5500 and find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner. Make your pledge over the phone or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also become our partner from our website, pastorpaul.net. Now if you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift to the ministry today, we'd love to share with you a gift of our own, Pastor Paul's booklet, Trusting God in Scary Times. You want to start a business, you can't do it alone.

Come on somebody. You want to start establishing something significant, you can do it but you can't do it alone. So you got to find your right partners and God's going to raise them up but you have to discern who is the right person.

And one indication that you found the right partner is they know how to echo. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, thinning out your crowd. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ you are Destined for Victory.