Seek wisdom. as you live your life. Men and women of God, seek wisdom. Don't just live. Learn.
And let me tell you something. If I see you wreck your life real good.
Some ought to tell me.
Okay, avoid that. You don't have to burn your hand on a hot stove to learn that a hot stove can burn your hand. Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
Well, it's true that we can learn from our mistakes, but if we read the Bible closely, we see that wisdom comes just as easily by request as it does by experience. As James 1:5 tells us, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who freely gives it. Today, Pastor Paul reminds us that we can become wiser and more spiritually mature without having to endure the self-inflicted wounds that come with rebellion. Remember to come see us at pastorpaul.net to hear any recent Destined for Victory on demand, including today's. That's pastorpaul.net.
Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's message: weighing in with God. Seek wisdom and embrace it. Look at some key verses here in Daniel 5. Look at verse 18.
Now this is uh Daniel. Explaining to Belshazzar what that whole writing on the wall thing was about. Verse 18, O king. The Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory. and splendor.
Verse 20. But when his heart became arrogant, and hardened with pride. He was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
Now, I point out these verses because Daniel was explaining to him, your grandfather, technically, Nebuchadnezzar. was given so much by God. But because of arrogance and pride, he was deposed. And you, if you were with me in that message, you know that God sentenced him to seven years of living like an animal. And then in the seventh year, at the conclusion of the seventh year, he lifted his eyes to heaven.
And he acknowledged God for who he really was. And God restored his sanity. restored his dignity. God even gave him the throne back. And Belshazzar heard these stories.
as he grew up. He already knew that this had happened in his life. And so, what he didn't do was respond accordingly.
Well, if my granddaddy ran into God like that, I'm not going to give God any trouble. That's what you're supposed to do. When you hear your grandfather, the king spent seven years crawling around, had nails like claws of an eagle. had hair like feathers of some bird. That's not a long shot for you to figure that one out.
If God took a king off the throne of the greatest earthly kingdom of his day and put him on all fours, Something ought to tell you. That God is not to be messed with. Are we all there? And you don't even have to have that much sense. I grew up here, and common sense ought to tell you some things.
I heard that all my life. Common sense ought to tell you some things. And common sense oughta told that dude. I don't know this God, I didn't run into him quite like my granddad, but I know he's bad.
So that stuff that they stole out of his temple We're going to keep that right there. That's what you're supposed to do. Seek wisdom as you live your life. Men and women of God, seek wisdom. Don't just live And let me tell you something.
You know how people say experience is the best teacher? I don't believe that. It's a good teacher. I don't think it's the best. I think the Word of God is the best teacher.
But experiences is a good one. I'll give you that. But here's what you need to learn. It doesn't have to be personal experience. If I see you wreck your life real good.
Something ought to tell me.
Okay, avoid that. Are y'all hearing me? I mean, that's a no-brainer. You did it. And the classic Dr.
Phil question is, how'd that work out for you? If I see you make a complete mess of your life, Because of the decisions you made? I'm supposed to look at that and say, oh, okay. All right, well we'll avoid that. If I see you burn yourself real good, I'm staying away from the stove you went to.
Come on. Come on. Well, it won't happen to me. Seek wisdom. Here's the way Dr.
John Maxwell puts it in a book of his that I love: sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. He doesn't talk about losing.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. If you didn't win, at least you ought to learn. Is that good?
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Make sure you are not. Not winning and and not learning.
Okay, so I missed it this time.
So I blew it this time. At least let me learn. When a team has a bad I mean, they lose horribly when they were expected to win, favored to win. They're supposed to go back. and look at the film.
And say how in the world Did we lose to them? That's what you're supposed to do? You don't fuss and get on the microphone and talk about the rest didn't get this call right and they blew this and all that. No, y'all lost. Humble yourself.
Seek wisdom. Wisdom is how. How did we get this wrong? Figure out what happens.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Make sure that losing is not something that you don't take advantage of. Take advantage of every loss. Take advantage of every failure. Take advantage of every wrong decision because we've all done it.
Every billionaire Has some place early in their life. where they made horrible wrong decisions. But they learned. They didn't curse money. Money wasn't the problem.
It was their mishandling of it, some poor decisions they made early in their life. They are billionaires who were once in bankruptcy. But they learned. And sometimes we have to make a commitment that. Failure.
and wrong decisions are our schoolroom. And they gonna help us get a degree.
So that later on we excel where we once messed up. And here's the good thing about it. Once you learn, once you gain the wisdom of it, you can now teach people. And if they will listen. They'll avoid What you went through.
I have some pro-athlete friends. who dedicate part of their time to meeting with other young rookies. just got their first contract. And they so excited about the first contract. Look at these millions of dollars they're going to give me for doing what I grew up doing for free.
And they're so excited about that. That if they're not careful, and if they don't listen to these guys who have been there, done that. They won't know what to do. with what's in their hand. other than by Bentleys.
Come on, come on. Bentley's in designer clothes. go on fabulous vacations, fly first class everywhere, and don't know the first thing about money. It happens all the time. And so some of these guys now are going around teaching them, giving them free workshops, not even charging them.
And teach them, here's the right kind of financial planning you need to do. Here are the kinds of resources that'll help you. Here, you got to avoid these people who will take advantage of you and your money. You got to avoid these little raggedy women who make their living hanging around your hotel. And so I'm going to go to the next one.
Because all they see is somebody looking all foxy and winking and blinking at them. You'd wink and blink at them, too, if you knew they had all that kind of money. And they were stupid. And so here you got this old dumb ball player. Hardly have home training.
He sure don't have the discipline to turn down them mini skirts and stuff. And he got money. And see the gold digger. Bad combination. Best you call him a gold digger.
All right, I'm not saying she's a gold digger. But she ain't messing with them. Y'all are gonna have to Google that. I'm not going any farther. Pastor, just Tell us the rest.
No, that's all right. And so somebody had to teach him. Because the statistics are alarming. The number of guys coming out of professional baseball, football, basketball. And within five, seven years, of leaving the league.
You would never know financially that they ever had those kinds of contracts.
Some of them end up homeless. After having had millions of dollars at their disposal. and end up homeless. Because you gotta seek wisdom. Let somebody who knows tell you what you don't know.
In every Yeah. of your life, your love life. Find people who made it work. Let me tell you what's going on with us. Would you tell me what I'm doing wrong?
It will save you. Because we who have been that done that. Part of our stewardship obligation is to help folk. who are ready to learn. That's our job.
It's our job. I'm like my grandmother used to say, Boy, listen to me. I'm coming back from where you're going. Coming back from where you going? I've been there.
If you would just stop. And let me tell you something, then as you continue on your journey. You'll be better off. But if you are you, oh, you don't know what you talk about. Going down the road.
And when you run into the lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. As always, you can hear any of our recent messages on demand at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.
Listen and subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And all of us at Destined for Victory are so grateful for your prayers and financial support. Many have come to faith in Christ through our media ministry. Others have been encouraged to persevere through painful circumstances. And we couldn't do it without the prayer and financial support of friends like you.
To give your generous gift now, please visit pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. Also, if you need wisdom today, you can learn just as easily by request as you can by rebellion. Here's Pastor Paul with the second half of today's Destined for Victory message: weighing in with God. Gotta stop and let somebody tell you something.
Don't avoid somebody because they made mistakes. They can tell you what not to do now. Hopefully they learn something. And they can help you out. Find somebody who knows what you don't know.
Sit at their feet, is the Bible terms. It doesn't mean literally, but it just means you are there. You're at a low place. I'm open. I'm ready to receive.
You younger women would be better off if you partner up with some of these older women. And say, I know you're busy, but can we find every week, every other week? Can we sit there? Can we have a talk? Can we have tea?
Can we have lunch? Whatever it is. Can I just come sit in your house for a little while and you just give me an hour, hour and a half? I have found out that people who know what you don't know and they have a keen awareness that God has made them stewards of a treasure house of information, they will give you time, and the payment is your hunger. I just said something and you missed it.
I'm at a season in my life where I'm looking for hungry young men, especially these young preachers, want to be world beaters and all. I'm looking for folk who are hungry. Don't come to me with your resume of how great you are.
Well, I don't have time for you and your greatness. I got time for hungry people. How do I do this without getting caught up in traps? How do I keep my head on straight when people are making me feel conceited and special? How do I keep my wife in a place of honor instead of being a falling prey to what's out here?
I can help you. But I'm looking for hunger. I'm not looking for people who feel satisfied with what they already know. Got no time to compare victories with you. I'm busy.
Yeah. But I have time to help you keep from making a mess of your life. Because that's part of what I'm a steward of. I remember in 1989 getting ready to come out here. Big vision, but the reality was, I didn't know the first thing about how to grow this church.
that I had in my vision. And I went to a local pastor there in Philadelphia who had a mega church. I said, sir, can I just meet with you if you can just give me an hour, whatever you can give me? And he said My secretary will give you my address. Come to my house.
Such and such a day. I said, All right, be glad to. And I hung up, I said, Well, I'm going to his house for. I want to meet in an office. I'm going to go to your house.
I found out because he wasn't planning to give me an hour. He had cleared a whole morning. Because he found a hungry young man. Clear the whole morning. I sat there and had breakfast with them, servants.
I mean, something bells. I look at. I know y'all rode like this. And they bringing in the breakfast and we're sitting there eating and chatting. He said, Tell me about your vision.
Where are you going to California? I just laid it out, just everything I saw. He said, all right, then you're going to need this and this. And he started pulling out resources and talking me through some things. And next thing I know, it was lunchtime.
And I've been sitting there at his table all morning. Gleaning. Could hardly eat from taking notes. Gleaning. Same thing later on when I'm a successful pastor, I still know that there are folks who know what I don't know.
When I got to my first NRB National Religious Broadcasters Convention, and I was beginning to have some notoriety as a broadcaster, what have you, and I went to dinner, went to a dinner. One of the guys said, I'm taking you to a dinner where you can meet some of your other guys. And he sat me next to Chuck Swindall. And in the next meal, he sat me next to Adrian Rogers. He was alive then, he's passed since then.
And I'm sitting there with these giants, these people who's, you know, I'm so glad I'm on a few hundred stations. They're on 1,500 stations and television all over the world and all that. And I'm sitting there, and I was like a kid in a candy store. And I was sitting there just looking around. I wanted to have an autograph book said, please, can you?
And I'm sitting there, and Chuck, we're sitting there eating. I could hardly, the poor man, I feel so sorry for him. He never got Damned. I'm just picking his brain. How did you do it?
When you were at my size, how did you get to the next level? And how did you do this? And what's that like? And he's trying to eat, and he said, well, uh-uh. I get to sit next to him.
I don't need to tell him who I am. He doesn't care. I need to download. My little emotional, my little mental removable disc, I stuck it right in. Give me everything you got.
So now when folks come to me, all I'm looking for is hunger. I know what it's like to be where you are. I know what it's like to have a big vision and no money. Big vision to know people. But you got a huge vision though.
And if this thing ever comes to pass... It's going to be great. In the meantime, let me find the people who know. Been there, done that. That's what you need to do in your life.
God's ready to bless you. This man had no business wrecking his life. His granddaddy, single-handedly, should have kept him from doing that. Just the example of how his grandfather messed up. But you need to seek wisdom.
And finally, clothe yourself in humility. Look at verses 22 and 23. But you, his son, this is Daniel still talking to Belshazzar, but you, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. You knew it all and you still full of yourself. He said, You knew this.
Some of us old heads, that's what our parents said. You know better. Y'all remember them three words from the old school? You know better. That's when they really got you.
Because there's one thing to not have had the opportunity, it's other things that you know. He knew what his grandfather went through. And he said, instead of humbling yourself, verse 23, you set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives, your concubines, your jump-offs, but I'm just trying to. Keep it in 21st century.
All right, I got to finish. You praise the gods of silver and gold. Of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand, but you did not honor the God. Who holds in his hand your life Isn't that something? He said, What's the matter with you, boy?
You had an example. All you had to do was avoid your granddaddy's mess. And by the way, your granddaddy got restored. Because after seven years of hell Just read the end. If you missed that message, read the end of Daniel chapter 4.
Nebuchadnezzar died. Praising God. Last we hear from him, he's like, God is a good God. Yes, he is a God. Yeah.
He went to straight black church. Nebuchadnezzar didn't die a pagan. He lived a pagan. He died a follower of Jehovah God. And then his crazy grandson.
Who saw that whole journey? Ignores it. And as a result, You know what happened to him? God wrote on the wall, and the writing meant God has numbered the days of your reign. and brought them to an end.
you have been weighed on the scales. and found wanting. And your kingdom is now divided and given to the Medes. and Persians. And do you know that that night, that very night?
Belshazzar was killed. You see him at the end of this chapter being slain. Cause the day he was throwing that banquet. outside of the walls of Babylon. were the Medes and the Persians.
Waiting to besiege Babylon. And he knew it. History tells us he knew they were there, and his arrogance said, They can't penetrate these walls. It was a very sophisticated defense system in the city of Babylon. And he said, oh, they can't get in here.
We're good. Let them sit out there. And when God saw his arrogance, God let them find a way. Don't be a mocker of God. Because what you think Can't be penetrated.
I promise you, God knows how to bring you down. I've seen people come down. From a high place in nothing flat. One day they apply, next thing they, did you hear? And it can happen.
So we have to learn, honor God. In all of your ways. Seek wisdom and embrace it when you find it. Make sure That you're clothed in humility. You see a person's clothes really before you see them.
Sometimes you just see, wow, look at that. You haven't really looked at their face in that moment. You just were struck by the clothing. That's the way humility ought to be with us. You see our humility before you see us.
I'm not full of myself. My daddy is saying anybody wrapped up in themselves is a small package. Not full of myself. I'm so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message, Weighing In with God.
Now, if you joined us late or if you want to hear the full message one more time, stop by pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul. The summertime is a great time for most of us, a time for us to enjoy better weather and enjoy vacations with family. But for ministries like Destined for Victory, this can be a difficult season when giving declines. That's why your faithful financial support is so appreciated during these months.
When you give your generous gift today, we do have a very special resource to share with you, our brand new booklet, Overcoming Bitterness. Based on some of Pastor Paul Shepard's best sermons, this message offers key strategies to removing bitterness from your heart. As you follow along, you'll gain strategic insight into ways to cultivate hope and reclaim the joy of the Lord's salvation. Again, that's Overcoming Bitterness, a helpful booklet for anyone who still struggles to let go of past wounds and press on toward his or her victory in Christ. Request a copy today with your generous gift, which you can give by calling 855-339-5500.
That's 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. One of the problems we have in the church is that we use our faith for anesthesia only. Come to church to feel better.
And so you get a shot of anesthesia to deal with all the hurts in your life, all the pain in your life, all the suffering in your life. But anesthesia only works. Ask any doctor, they'll tell you: anesthesia is only as good as you use it to deal with the core problem. That's tomorrow in our next Destined for Victory message: Let Courage Take the Wheel. Until then, remember.
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
