Knowing What to Claim (cont'd)

I've heard people focus on those two sentences in there. He'll give you the desires 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. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. That's Psalm 37.4, and this is Destined for Victory. Hello and welcome to another day of teaching with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. You know, when you truly begin to delight yourself in God, when you make Him and His will your top priority, the desires of your heart will begin to change.

So will your perspective on the past, including the most painful parts of it. Today Pastor Paul wants to help you shift your focus away from the past and towards the promise of your destiny in Christ. Stay right here or visit pastorpaul.net to hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also listen or download the podcast at Stitcher or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Now, here's Pastor Paul with today's message, Knowing What to Claim. You can't claim any old thing. You can claim what He's given you to claim. We do that with a lot of promises. Psalm 37, 4 and 5. Delight yourself also in the Lord. He'll give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. I've heard people focus on those two sentences in there. He'll give you the desires 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. Delight yourself in the Lord and He'll give you the desires of your heart.

Watch the next one. Commit your way to the Lord. Meaning, I don't go where I want to go. I commit to Him. Lord, you lead me and I'll follow you. And if you do that, trust also in Him, it says, then He will bring it to pass.

A lot of folks do that with Mark 11, 23 and 24. You know, one of the Bibles that Jesus said, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea. Don't doubt in your heart, but believe that those things that you say will come to pass. You will have what you say.

And then it goes on, and whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. Yes, Jesus did say that, but keep reading. He said, when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Heavenly Father may also forgive you. Because if you don't forgive, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you.

Same context. You can't move mountains and hold people in unforgiveness at the same time. God says, forgive them. Even if they don't come to you and ask for forgiveness, have forgiveness in your heart toward them. So should they ever come, you extend it to them. Even if they don't come, you give them to God. I've taught that many times before. You can only truly express forgiveness to people who request forgiveness.

But just because somebody doesn't request it and therefore I can't express it to them doesn't mean I'm stuck. I just release them to God. I do what Jesus did on the cross. He said, Father, you forgive them because they don't know what they're doing. The deacon in the early church, Stephen, when he was being stoned, he said, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Fact of the matter is, Jesus said, if you want mountain moving faith, you better make sure to have mountain moving forgiveness. Because if you want to hold people in unforgiveness yet claim everything God has given you, then you are misunderstanding God's plan for your life.

Just give you one more example. John 15, 7, I preached it in my Fruit of the Spirit series. Jesus said, ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. That's the second part of John 15, 7. But look at the first part of the verse. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, then you can ask what you will.

So you got to understand God's plan is always for us to claim what he has ordained for us, not what we want on our own. Well, let me spend this last part of the message walking you through what I call the there factor. The reason why I entitled this message in the series, are we there yet? Well, first of all, if you're a parent and you've ever taken your children, especially when they were young on a road trip, you probably know what I'm about to say with the question, are we there yet?

Fact of the matter is if you've ever been on a road trip with little kids, y'all driving to Disney World, Disneyland, driving somewhere, some campsite that's hours away or whatever the case might be, children get restless in that back seat of the car very, very quickly. And many of us have heard over and over and over again, are we there yet? Well, the reason I'm calling this message are we there yet is because some of us have to learn the there factor when it comes to claiming God's plan for our lives.

The there factor is knowing where fulfillment actually is going to land you. Now, I've already talked about in Genesis 12, God said to Abram, get up and go, I'll show you where to go and where I send you that I'm giving to you and to your descendants. The there factor, God didn't say go anywhere you want Abram, and I'll give it to you. He said, go there. That's what's being claimed here in Joshua is the there that God spoke through Moses.

So in your life, what is the there? Let me give you some other examples. Remember Elijah back in 1 Kings chapter 17, Elijah went to King Ahab, gave him the word of the Lord and told him, I'm going to shut up the heavens because God is displeased with your idol worship and you letting this woman Jezebel lead his people astray. And so God said, I'm going to judge you by shutting up the heavens from rain or dew and it won't happen for years when it rains or when there's dew again, it'll be because God releases me to pronounce that the famine and the drought is over.

You know the story for three years plus there was no rain or dew. Even Elijah, who was the mouthpiece, the prophet of God, he suffered because after he pronounced that and the heavens were shut up, he had to find where his provisions were going to be too. So the Lord sent him first to a brook and he drank the water from the brook.

God always provides for us naturally. That's one of the ways he provides, but he also provides supernaturally when he has to. And he did that by commanding ravens to feed the man of God all that time he lived by that brook. The ravens would fly in and actually drop off food for the man of God.

And a raven is a scavenger bird. There's no way they would have done that, but that God ordered it to happen. So they dropped off food.

They couldn't eat. No doubt God said, I'm not going to let y'all eat till you feed my servant. And they would drop off, fly in there, drop off his food, and then they could go on and enjoy what they were going to do the rest of that day. But God sent him to the brook because that's where the provision was. Elijah couldn't just go anywhere and God provide for him. God said, go to the brook.

There you're going to drink and there I'll feed you. And then years into this thing, the brook has dried up and the ravens one day stopped flying in. When the brook dried up and when the ravens stopped flying in, Elijah had to be saying, okay God, I've done everything you said and now I'm not getting fed because the ravens stopped bringing me my food. What's up with this? Then he heard the Lord speak to him and here's what the Lord said, I want you to get up, go to Zarephath because there is a widow there and I have commanded her to feed you there.

Do you see this there factor? Abraham said, get up and go to a place I'm going to show you. That's what I'm going to give to your descendants, there. Elijah, go to the brook. He goes and is there for a while. Then God is now saying, now get up and go to Zarephath and there's a widow there, I've commanded her to feed you there. He couldn't go to any old city and believe God for food. He had to go there.

Let me give you one more example. Stay with us. The second half of pastor Paul Shepherd's message is coming right up, but right now we want to thank all of you who support Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support. Destined for Victory is a listener supportive ministry and as we find ourselves still walking through a season of uncertainty, your support is even more critical today because in times of crisis, people are looking for a reason to have hope.

Please prayerfully consider making your best gift to Destined for Victory and when you do, we have a very special gift of our own we'd like to send your way by request. I'll tell you all about it at the end of today's program or you can give online right now from our website, pastorpaul.net or you can call 855-339-5500. Has God ever asked you to do something that doesn't make sense? Well, coming up next, the familiar story of someone who received a word from God and obeyed it even though she may not have fully understood it.

Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, knowing what to claim. We've all read the story of Ruth. Ruth was a daughter-in-law of a woman named Naomi. Ruth was married to one of Naomi's sons but while Naomi and her family lived in Moab because there was a famine in Bethlehem, they, the sons, married but both sons died and Naomi's husband, Elimelech, died. All of them died in Moab but you have these two Moabite women, Ruth and also one named Orphah and they were now husbandless, all three women, Naomi and the two girls, are husbandless and they really don't know what life holds for them because in those days they weren't able to be landowners, especially in Israel and so Naomi is really not sure what's going to happen at all but the word comes to Moab, God has come to the aid of his people in Bethlehem, there's now food and provision, the drought, the famine is over and so she says, well, I'm going to get up and go home. I can't own in my name my husband's property in Bethlehem but at least let me go home and then I'll see what happens from there and at first the two former daughters-in-law, because their husbands are now dead, technically these three women aren't related by blood in any way, just by relationship, they start out together but when you read there in the book of Ruth, Naomi says, you know what, y'all need to stay in Moab because these are your people and perhaps you'll find a home in the life of a husband here and she blesses them to stay.

One woman, Orpah says, you know what, you got a point, if I'm ever going to get married I need to marry a man here in Moab and she cries and kisses her and walks away but the other woman, the young woman named Ruth says, you know what, I'm going with you. I know I don't belong to your people, I know I'm not an Israelite but something in me tells me that my destiny is with you and so against all logic Ruth says, your people are going to be my people, your God's going to be my God, I'm going to live where you live, I'm going to die where you die. Sometimes God puts a word in you and you don't even understand it yourself but it is a word from the Lord. If God tells you something, it doesn't make sense but you're sure it's the Lord, I'm here to tell you my brother, my sister, go ahead and follow it because it's your there, it is your there. God wanted Ruth to accompany Naomi to Bethlehem, a place Naomi has never been, a place whose people she does not know but it was the will of God.

So these two women journey to Bethlehem. When they get there, Naomi is crestfallen. In fact, when the people who knew her from ten years ago when she first moved away from there, they still recognized her but then they said wow, but could this be Naomi because she looks so bad. They said she looks like Naomi but something is so different and you know the story if you've read it. She said don't call me Naomi, call me Mara.

Why? Because her name Naomi means gracious or pleasant and she said call me Mara because that means that she is not gracious or pleasant, let me just put it that way. It means bitter. Fact of the matter is my brother, my sister, never name yourself after your circumstance.

Just because you don't feel gracious or pleasant, God has made you with a set of promises that are going to bring you fulfillment and all you've got to do is when you're going through a tough season, say I don't like my life's circumstance right now but I believe God. Well, the bottom line is you know it as well as I do. When they got back to Bethlehem, they're living at the property that was owned by her husband but they cannot claim it in the sense of ownership and there are no men in their lives so right now they don't even have a man to provide. Remember we're talking about a different era. You who are feminists, don't get your back all up because this is not about the feminist movement and all that stuff. Back in those days, y'all couldn't own the land but today you can own whatever you want.

A lot of y'all got more than the brothers anyway so you good. Fact of the matter is they couldn't own the property and they didn't have providers so Ruth said, well, tell you what, we're here until we get this whole thing figured out, we need to make sure that we can just make it physically. I've got to go out and get food. She said, would you give me permission to go out and glean in one of the fields that has harvesters in it and I want to do like some of the other servant girls that I see here in town. They go behind the gleaners and they pick up what has been left behind and she said, would you give me permission to do that and Naomi said, okay, I'll let you do that. You know what, God blessed them.

Why? Because when they went to Bethlehem, they were going to their there and there God had bigger plans for them than they could have ever imagined. In fact, watch this, so Ruth having gotten permission from Naomi to go out and glean in a field, she didn't know anybody in Bethlehem, she didn't know what field to glean in, she's just trusting God is going to provide and she went into a field and I love it. I think it's chapter 2 verse 3 in the book of Ruth.

It says as she goes out and gleans, she happened to be gleaning in a field belonging to Boaz, who is akin to Elimelech, Naomi's dead husband. She didn't know where she was, but as she goes out in to find a field to glean behind the harvesters in, she happened to find herself in the field belonging to Boaz and you and I know because we've read the whole story, God had ordained that Boaz is the man that Ruth is going to end up being married to and out of that union, God is going to bring a redemptive history to pass so much so that one day when Ruth and Boaz get married and have a baby, that baby's name is going to be Obed and when that baby grows up and gets married, they're going to have a baby and that baby's going to be named Jesse and when Jesse grows up and gets married, he's going to have a bunch of babies and the eighth son of Jesse is going to be a man named David and that is what led to salvation. These women had no idea that when they're going to Bethlehem, this is far more than just having somewhere where you can get food to eat.

This is far more than God allowing you to be physically sustained. They're going to Bethlehem was going to a there that resulted in your salvation and mine. Thank God Naomi and Ruth went there because by them going there, I'm saved. By them going there, you're saved. By them going there, the world has received a savior that if they put their trust in him, they will never ever be the same again.

I came to tell you, make sure you identify you're there. If God is sending you to a there that'll change your career, go with him because he knows what he wants to do in your life. If God is sending you to a there that'll put you in touch with a certain individual, go there because God knows what that person is supposed to be in your life. If God sends you there, it doesn't always have to make sense but there is what he has ordained and whenever you're at your there, you are at a place where God will open doors and make ways.

How many of you have known God to make a way where there wasn't even a way? That's the God we serve. God will give you favor. God will give you a job you're not technically qualified for.

If you don't believe me, ask Joseph in the Old Testament, how does a slave end up being not only a slave but a convicted felon of a slave and how does such a person end up being the second in command of a country he's not even a natural citizen of? That's because where God guides, he provides and when God sends you there, you might not even know why you're there. God knows why you're there.

So go ahead there. Don't let your brain get in your way. Don't let your brain make you think this makes no sense.

It doesn't have to make sense. If it's the Word of God, it's going to result in you being blessed. And so the bottom line, my friend, is you've got to discover the there. Lord, make us sensitive to where you're sending us. Make us sensitive to what this season of our lives is taking us toward because God always blesses you there. Where he guides, he will provide.

The question is, are we there yet? If you're not there yet, keep on walking by faith. Keep on walking in obedience. Keep on honoring the people God has placed in your life to give you guidance and direction. Keep on sowing financially and sowing in prayer and sowing in tears because the day is going to come when you reap in joy.

Everybody who sows in the will of God is going to reap a harvest from the will of God. Be not discouraged. Don't get weary in doing well because you will reap when your harvest time comes. Wait on the Lord, my friend. Be of good courage.

He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord, and wherever he leads you, be sure to go there. Thanks so much for joining us for today's Destined for Victory message by Pastor Paul Shepherd. You know, God has a unique purpose for all who have put their faith in Christ, but he also has a plan for those who haven't. Consider 2 Peter 3, verse 9.

God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is our primary calling as Christians, to go out into all the world and share our faith with others. And there's no better time than now to help Pastor Paul do just that. As we continue to walk together through a challenging season in our history, now is a great time to partner with Destined for Victory in an effort to lead as many people to Christ as we can. 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. Call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner for as little as $20 a month. Make your pledge over the phone, or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont California 94538. And you can also become our partner from our website, pastorpaul.net. Now if you can't become a partner, but would like to make a donation today, we'd love to send you Pastor Paul Shepherd's DVD message, Refocus, a sermon in which he offers three guidelines to help us work through the challenges we're facing here in 2020, and encourage us to continue fulfilling God's purposes in our lives. Again, that's Pastor Paul's DVD message, Refocus.

It's our gift to you by request for your most generous gift to Destined for Victory today. You've got to make sure you don't take no for an answer. You've got to make sure you have a response when foes come against you, when things rise up to try to prevent you from experiencing God's plan for your life. You need to be prepared to be so persistent that you're going to outlast and win over everything you face. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul shares his message, press the battle on. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.