Making the Most of What We Have, Part 6 (cont'd)

You have to learn to say no to people who are trying to dictate to you things that are really not what God has called you to do at this point in time. You've got to be okay with saying no. Some of us have to learn to say no and not feel guilty about saying no.

Saying no may not always feel like the nice thing, but sometimes it's the right thing. You're listening to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd and thanks for stopping by. If you love someone, a child, a spouse, a brother or sister in Christ, and if you find joy in helping them whenever they're in need, sometimes you may face a dilemma. That's why I'm so glad you've joined us because today's message from Pastor Paul can help. Stay tuned as he talks about the difference between helping and enabling. As always, stop by pastorpaul.net anytime to listen to any recent message on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

And with today's Destined for Victory message, making the most of what you have, here now is Pastor Paul. You've got to say no. If you have relatives staying in your house and they're contributing and being a blessing and being a help, sure, let them stay there. But if you have folk just laying up on you, it's time to say no. It's time to say, look, my job in your life is to be a righteous influence. And what I'm doing right now is rewarding your dysfunction. So I got to stop enabling you and I got to make a tougher choice.

Love's got to be tough sometimes. And so some of us have to learn to say no. Some of you all built in babysitters for your kids, your grown kids, and you've got to revisit that. Is that working for what God wants you to do? It's your time.

If you say there are certain times and I'm available, but I will let you know. I'm telling you what happened when our kids were young before we had moved out to California. We live right next door for three years, right next door to my mother-in-law, right next door in a row home, could hear one another right through the wall. My mother-in-law was right there. And when we moved in, she came over and welcomed us.

Our kids were very young. And she, after welcoming us, she talked to us. And she said, now I just want to make this, since you're brand new and we're living right next door, I just want to make sure we're all on the same page. She said there will be times when my husband and I will be glad to have the grands come across the rail right there. We share the ports, just a rail.

You can hand them right over the rail. We'll be glad at times. She said, but do not assume that because we are in proximity that we are 24-hour babysitting. She said it's not going to happen. And she was right.

She was right. And some of you have folk taking advantage of your goodness to your own destruction. And now they're off doing their thing and you are saddled with something that God doesn't necessarily want you to give as much time to as you're giving.

And you've got to learn to say no. They're used to it now. I created this mess. Messes can be cleaned up. Sit them down and say, you know what, we all created quite a mess here.

But let's chip in and get this straight. Give them a deadline. Tomorrow midnight, we're entering into a new contract.

Tomorrow midnight, we're going to have some changes. And here are the ways. Here is the way we do life moving forward. You have to learn to say no sometimes so that the will of God can be done in your life.

Because remember, our goal is to hear the Lord say well done. Don't get in a popularity contest trying to get all your relatives and friends to say well done. Don't let them give you your report card. You're not my teacher.

I'm not working to get your degree of approval. You just changed. I'm walking with Jesus. He's changing me.

Exactly right. Thank you for the compliment. I'm changing. I'm becoming more like my Savior. I'm putting up with less foolishness from folk who aren't helping me get where God has taken me.

We can get this done. You've got to learn to say no. Learn to draw the boundaries. Learn to say this is the way it was, but it's not the way it's going to continue to be. Some changes have to happen here so that you can honor the time God's given you and do the will of God with it. And so we must learn.

We must learn the importance of saying no when it's necessary. And then another point or let technology help you maximize your use of time. One of the things I've learned and continue to rejoice in is that technology can be a blessing once you get your priorities straight. I've already talked about voicemail and answering machines. Just that simple feature can really help you do the will of God. Because it allows you to get to people, hear what they have to say, put them in priority based on what you're doing. You know one of the blessings in my life is TiVo. It's a blessing.

You know why? Because I can say there's something I want to see, but right now is not a good time for me to stop what I'm doing and try to view something live. TiVo it. It'll be there waiting on you so that when you get to your time where you say I'm going to sit down and relax or if it's something educational, I'm going to sit down and focus on this and study. It'll be there. Now TiVo isn't giving me a cut.

I don't know those folk. But it's the kind of thing, a simple thing that can help you. You can focus. You can get to it when it is time to as opposed to live. Now we grew up back in the days where if you missed it, you just missed it. You all remember that?

You who are, you know, 35, 40. You know, I mean, back when we were growing up, we were kids, if something was coming on that you really wanted to see, you tried to move heaven and earth so that you could see it because that was it. Live TV was all there was. In fact, we grew up in a time where you didn't have all these channels and stuff.

Now you can sit there and have all this, the list will give you a headache of all the things that are available to you. But we grew up in the days when in your city there was five, six, seven stations. That was it.

Live. You had an antenna on the top of your TV. That was the way you pulled it and there was no cable, nothing coming through the wall, nothing sitting up on your house, a dish, you got to point it to this satellite. None of that.

We didn't grow up with any of that. Grew up with an antenna. If your antenna was broke, you got yourself a hanger. Come on, somebody.

Got yourself a hanger and twisted it all up, bent it and all that, stuck it in the little thing. You waited until you got a little bit of the snow off. Oh, there it is, there it is. Sometimes when the picture would only be clear when somebody was holding a day over there fixing it and you say, there it is right now, so they'll tell you, no, no, put your hand back on.

And they say, now I'm not going to stand here all day. Y'all remember that? Just several stations, that's all. Now you got all this ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPN News, ESPN used to be ESPN. Golf channels and basketball channels, football channels and baseball channels. Y'all know back in the day it was Wide World of Sports, that was it. Wide World of Sports was it. Other than a live game itself, we live for Wide World of Sports. You could get caught up, it would come on with that opening monologue and the man would talk about the thrill of victory.

And y'all got it, the agony of defeat. And look at us now, we're now blessed with technology where you don't have to be there live. You don't have to change your whole life around. You can record something, say I want to see that later. A lot of good Christian programming on now. Now you got to be careful, not everything on a Christian station is good. I promise you, I've seen some of it. Some of that stuff, the best thing you can do is keep it off of your TV.

You mildly confused now, when they get through with you, you'll be gravely confused. But in the midst of that you can find the right show. Some of my friends and colleagues have broadcast and I can tune in and let them preach to me. I'm always preaching and so I can sit down. So one of the members asked me the other day, pastor how do you get fed? I said I've got some colleagues and I make sure to tap in and listen to what God is saying through them.

And I'll sit, but I can do it on my schedule rather than having to live with the tyranny of the right now, of the live moments. So let technology help you. Email can be a blessing if you regulate it. If you regulate it, you don't have to be live with email all the time.

It doesn't have to be instant messaging. If you, like me, I've had some folks get mad because they emailed me one day and I didn't respond within that 24 hour period. And when I hear back from them they got an attitude. I've got an attitude, you know you can read an attitude right in the email. Y'all ever got attitude emails?

Is it just me? Attitude. Now I wrote you yesterday. I don't know what your problem is.

My problem is I'm doing the will of God. And I read your raggedy email. And I couldn't get to it that day. Probably won't get to it today.

Because it's in the quadrant of you think it's urgent, but I know it's not important. And so I will get back to you. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd, who is Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Now to listen to any of Pastor Paul's recent broadcasts, be sure to stop by pastorpaul.net and listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. And stay with us after today's message when Pastor joins me from his studio in California. But first, let's tune in to the rest of his teaching, Making the Most of What You Have.

Once again, here's Pastor Paul. And so you have to learn. It can be a blessing, but regulate it. Don't live under the tyranny of it.

Regulate it. When it's not email time, turn it off. It'll be there when you get back to it. Some of you singles can hardly go on a date. How are you going to know when God sent you somebody? You always just always communicate and can't even focus on one person who's trying to get to know who you are. And you're showing them you're paranoid. You're paranoid. You're scared to lose touch. Can't even sit down and have dinner and talk in fellowship. Something wrong with you?

So pastor loves you. I'm trying to help you now. Put it up. Put it up.

You get to it later. Some of you all can't drive for doing things in your car. When you get behind the wheel of the car, there's one thing you're supposed to do.

Drive. I was coming to church today and saw a lady kind of wobbling. And she wasn't doing much speed.

So I said, I don't like this wobble. Let me get around her. I don't know if she drank something or whatever. And so I was going past her.

And I looked over to see if I could kind of discern what the problem. And the problem was that she down there Texan. On the freeway.

Texan on the freeway. Just down there. Head down.

And I said, the blood of Jesus. Let me get out of here. Out of here, going to dent my car up because you don't know why you're behind the wheel. You're supposed to be driving. But we get caught up quickly.

It caught up quickly. It's technology for you. And so we have to learn to let it be a blessing. But you dictate to it. Do not let it dictate to you. You decide how you're going to invest your time to make sure you do the will of God in every area of your life. When it is time to worship, you worship. When it is time to work, you work.

And work again is outside of the home and in the home. When it's time to build relationships, you build relationship with other people. And you give them your time and your attention. When it is time to rest, you rest. When it's time to relax, you do that. Do it well.

Find the fillers. When it's time for you to enjoy yourself, don't let anything come in that's not enjoyable unless it is truly urgent and important. You've got to master your own schedule. Some of you, the best thing you can do is take a good break, good vacation, good rest. Get your mind cleared. You're uptight and you're antsy and you're cranky and you're nervous.

And the people in your life are wondering what's wrong with you. And you need to honor the fact that there is an important thing that needs to happen in your life. Relaxation. Have some fun.

When I see pent-up people in the fellowship, I know that it's not necessarily they need more of the Spirit. Sometimes you just need to go somewhere, take a break, and give your family a break. And find the right ways to utilize your time. You know, and you've got to find what works for you.

Find what works for you. Some of you all like the mountains. Go to the mountains. I'm not going with you.

I told you that. But if that fills you, go to the mountains. We've got campers and people who just love that.

That's where you get rejuvenated. Go. Quit inviting me and just go. I don't do the woods.

Nothing out there I want. He didn't call me to the woods. He called me to the beach. I promise you, God called me to the beach.

The Caribbean, Hawaii. That's where you find Pastor Paul. He ain't going to find me somewhere out in the woods zipped up in some bag.

That does not work for me. And people have tried, but no, no, Pastor, it's really exciting. The air is so fresh and what have you. It's really exciting. And no, no, we're secure. We're in the tent.

I don't do tents. And, you know, people get excited about the wrong thing. Oh, you know, there was a bear in the campground the other night. And they're like talking like that's a happy thing. What's the matter with you all?

That's not good news. No, no, you'll find me at the beach. Find me on a cruise. That water just speaks to me, just ministers. When I hear the waves, I just minister. I'm on the cruise.

I get a little room with a balcony, just sit out there and just listen to the water and feel the warm breeze. I can get born again out there. You find what works for you and work it, baby, work it. Because God is going to call us all into account for the way we used our time. Did you do the things that pleased me with your time? Did you make sure you honored the moments I gave you? God's given you moments every day.

You can't take them for granted because one day they will cease. Did you do with this moment? Maximize your moments in the will of God.

Maximize your seasons. Do the right thing in the right season because it will get you the results that God has ordained for your life. I want to encourage you to understand that we are stewards of God's time. You have no time to waste, none to waste. Don't let folk kill time with you.

When they call and say, what you doing? Oh, I'm just killing time. No, no, I don't kill it. Even when I'm relaxing, that's not killing. That's rejuvenating. That's purpose driven. Don't let people drain you if it's not your time to minister.

If it's your time to be filled rather than drain, then find your fillers. Not everybody's in the filler crew. Look at what Jesus did. He ministered to the masses when it was that time. But there were times you will find in the gospels when Jesus actually sees the crowd and he withdraws. Because Jesus looked at some of those folks some day and said, uh-uh, no, not y'all today.

Nobody, uh-uh. And he withdrew to a solitary place. There were times his disciples, he sent them away. But he knew his primary job was to speak into their lives, but he didn't do it 24-7. There's one occasion when he was going to cross over with them to the other side of the lake, and he said, I tell you what, y'all go.

I'll be on. But we had the only boat. Don't worry about it. Y'all just go. Sometimes you got to send people away.

I love you, but goodbye. You know I'm with you. You know we right here.

But not right now. You got to learn. You got to learn to do it. Live it like Jesus. So that when you see them, you're really there. You're prepared.

You're engaged. I'm not a grandfather yet, but all the grandparents said, pastor, you're going to love that season. Because you know when you're raising kids, that's your job.

24-7, 365, 366 in leap year. That's your job. Best you can do is get a little camp or something every now and then. Other than that, you're with them. They said, but old grands, you send for them when you want them.

And when you're through, you send them on back where they came from. And I would encourage you to do that with every area of your life. Discern your seasons so that one day, with regard to the use of your time, you'll hear the Lord say, well done, good and faithful servant. Thank you so much for being here for today's Destined for Victory message.

Making the most of what you have. I'm always glad to have you with us. And I'm pleased to welcome Pastor Paul Inn, who joins me now from his studio in California. Well, Pastor, we are excited about the opportunities the Lord is giving us to expand our ministry this year. Let's make some news here, though.

Let's talk about this new digital platform we'll be launching later this year. And share with us your heart as you look toward the future of Destined for Victory. I thought way back to the 80s when I was an associate pastor in my dad's church in Philadelphia. During those years, the Lord gave me a vision. He sort of downloaded a vision into my heart and mind about the pastorate I would have when he would send me away from my home church somewhere else in the country I didn't know where.

That ended up being Northern California. And I went there with a vision to reach thousands. And I knew that reaching them by means of media would be extremely important. I knew that then, but then that translated into I got to get on the radio. And so when I came to California, I had a real small church but a real big vision.

And I said, well, let's get on radio. Eventually the Lord blessed us to do that. And it went from a local broadcast to eventually a national broadcast. And I was so excited to see God fulfilling the vision in that way. Well, these days, that vision still lives.

I still want to see thousands more discipled and come to Christ. But I realize that it can't just be radio. I'm grateful for radio.

I don't plan to leave radio. But I want to reach people by all means possible. And today, that means we've got to get involved with new digital platforms. I'm excited about what's being developed, the infrastructure we're creating. We're going to have a fresh, new, attractive presence online. We're going to use many social media platforms.

Everything at our disposal so I can keep doing what God sent me to California to do back in the late 80s, which was to make sure people understand how to know God's Son, how to apply God's Word, and how to fulfill God's purpose. And I know we're going to do that even bigger and better because of the support we're receiving from our listeners and donors. I look forward to reaching far more people for Christ. That sounds so great. What if God gave us all this technology for the express purpose of his Gospel message?

What do you think? That's an exciting thought. I truly believe that the Church has got to become all things to all men, that by all means we may win some. And in today's world of technology, instead of cursing it, we need to use it for the Kingdom of God. And I'm excited about those possibilities. And that's what it all comes down to, reaching as many people as we can with the Gospel of Jesus Christ by any means necessary.

This new digital platform is set to launch later this year, so stay tuned for more information. Did you know that there is some rather compelling evidence in support of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Pastor Paul shares that evidence with you in his booklet, He's Alive. That's He's Alive, a brand new booklet from Pastor Paul Shepherd and our gift to you by request for your generous donation to Destined for Victory this month. So call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Once again, our address is Destined for Victory, box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. I want to help us understand that not only is our treasure a trust given us from God to give Him a return on that investment, and not only is our time a trust from God, but we need to see that our talents, our abilities are also a trust from God. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Making the Most of What You Have. But until then remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.