But even when you're in a valley, whether it's your choosing or outside. Of your choosing. When you are in a valley, Don't name yourself by something in the valley because that's just a passageway to get you to the next level God is taking you to in your life. God's people should never linger in the valley. We don't move in, we move through.
Hello, and welcome for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
Well, sometimes we choose to wallow in our misery a little too long. Instead of moving on, we move in. We unpack our bags, get settled, and stay a while. Today, you'll be reminded that if you handle life's challenges the way God wants you to, they are merely a temporary stop on your way to your destiny in Christ.
So stay with us now or come see us at pastorpaul.net to listen to Destined for Victory on Demand. That's pastorpaul.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Now, let's pay close attention to this important Destined for Victory message: getting bitter? getting better. You are called, and your calling is what dictates who. You are. What you're going through.
is just that what you're going through. You might be in a valley, but don't Name yourself Valley. Because you're not. Staying in the valley. When God lets you go through a valley, and frankly, we go through a lot of valleys because we're the ones that headed down there.
But even When you're in a valley, whether it's your choosing or our Outside of your choosing. When you are in a valley, don't name it. yourself by Something in the valley because that's just a passageway to get you to the next level God is taking you to in your life. She's defining her, redefining herself now. She says, I'm no longer pleasant, I'm no longer beautiful, I am now bitter.
God says, Sent me out full and he's bringing me back empty. Pause right there. God didn't send her out full and empty her out. Mayor. Ill-advised decision-making emptied them out.
God didn't tell them to go to Moab. They decided to go to Moab. When you Are not living like you're called according to purpose. Do you know what happens? You tend to start blaming.
Somebody else. For your life.
Some of you blame God.
Some of you are bitter right now. And mad at God. God, you did me wrong.
Some of you are absolutely convinced that you are the first person God did wrong. Absolute I mean just sure of it. You used to believe that God was faithful. You used to believe that no good thing will He hold from those who love Him. You used to believe all those scriptures.
And now you have decided to rework your theology based on your experience. And some of you think God cannot be relied on. Because he's doing me wrong. He sent me out full. And he brought me back empty.
Because we have mysteries, we have questions. We wonder why. And sometimes we reach our own conclusions. Not understanding. the purpose of God that has not yet been revealed.
God, why'd you let this negative circumstance happen? And before you realize that God is at work in your life, you decide you know why. And that it is somehow God has a problem with you, His hand has gone out against you, and you no longer have any cause to rejoice or to have hope. And I'm here to tell someone who is blaming God. That there is no problem except That you believe things are over when God says, no, no, you don't understand, I'm still working something out.
Some of you don't blame God, some of you are blaming other folks.
Some of us right now have a hit list. Oh, this, I know this message is ringing doorbells. When I was preparing it, I just heard him in the spirit just going off. All kind of doorbells just going off.
Some of us have a hit list of people. Who have disappointed us, have angered us, have mistreated us, have done something, and they are the reason why, in your mind, why your life is as messed up as it is. And some of you, the only little joy you have in life is a sick joy. Oh yeah. hateful thoughts.
about people on your list. And some of you love the joy of adding people to your list. Adding people. The next person, as soon as somebody else does something that you don't like, or mistreats you, or disrespects you, or whatever, you whip out your red pen and you say, uh-huh, and now you are on my list. And some of us.
If we spend as much time Talking to God. Worshiping him. Saying, I don't understand what's happening, but I don't have to understand it. All I have to know is, I'm called according to your purpose, and I'm going to hang on to you, God, until you reveal your purpose in me. And instead of spending our time doing that, we spend our time thinking about the folk who are on the list.
You spend your time looking at the folk who are on your list, hoping you catch their eye so they can see how angry you are at them. Few things more tragic. Than seeing a person whose life is becoming more and more bitter. Bitterness gets in your face.
Some of y'all are cuter than you look right now. You really are much more fine than you look right now. But you are messed up by bitterness. It's gotten into your face, it's gotten into your attitude, into your action. Questions.
You walk differently when you're bitter. You respond quickly. Your bitterness comes to immediate attention when somebody walks in the room who's on your list. You can be having a nice time. And somebody walks in on the list and instantly.
Bitterness takes over. Said, I know we've been having fun. This is no time for fun because I'm on a mission.
Some of us are mad at God, some of us are mad at. People. And it can be a variety of people. You can be mad at your husband, your wife. Parents Didn't raise me right.
I'm jacked up because of my upbringing. They mess me up. Can I help you? Your parents don't have that much power. God When he came into your life.
He knew who raised you. Yeah. What they Did he knew how messed up they were, and messed up folk don't do anything but mess up other folk. And God wouldn't have saved you if your parents had that much power. He'd have told you, you know, I would, like, do something with you, but man.
No, no, he knew exactly who you were. When he came into your life, he said, I called you, and I know where you've been, but it's no longer about where you've been, it's about where I'm taking you. You got to understand this. When you're called according to purpose, You no longer can afford to live With a circumstance mentality. It's not about circumstance.
It's now about destiny. When I live according to purpose. It kind of doesn't matter where God finds me. Because Purpose means there is a destination God has ordained for me. And wherever I There is a root from where I am.
to that destination.
Some of you have heard me talk about it. I got this revelation so clear the first time I leased my first car with a navigation system. And now thank God they have them portable. And even if you don't have a car with it as part of the equipment, you can go buy a Navvi. Get yourself one.
Believe God for the money. I'm telling you, it will not only bless your driving, it'll bless you spiritually. Go get yourself a navy. I'm telling you, when the first time that happened, the lights came on. I said, this is exactly what God does for us.
Oh yeah. What you need when you have a navigation system is The destination address. The navigation doesn't ask you where you are. It never says, put in the approximate location where you think. You know why?
Because it knows that some of us have no idea where we are. We don't have a clue. As to where some of you all are so directionally challenged. You can hardly put in your home address, much less anywhere else. But the navigation system is GPS driven.
Global positioning system. What that means is, all it does is ask you where do you want to go, it will locate where you are. And you put in where you want to go. And if you get one of the ones with the voice, Get one with the believe God for one with the voice. Oh, because see, that'll give you a new level of revelation because that's the Holy Spirit.
That's the Holy Spirit. See, you can get one without the voice, and that's like having the word alone. The word is good, and the one without the voice will get there, but you have to read it. You have to read it. You have to read the word.
Yeah. But you know what? God is so good, He gives us a duel. Method of getting where he's taking us. He gives us his word and he gives us his spirit.
The spirit never speaks anything that's not confirmed in the word. Don't go away. The rest of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard, is coming right up. In John chapter 14, Jesus said, He is the way, the truth, and the life. He said, No one comes to the Father except through me.
That's why Destined for Victory is here, to teach timeless truth for a victorious life by pointing people to Jesus Christ. To connect with what God is doing through Destined for Victory and to make a generous gift today, please visit pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. You don't have to know where you are to get where you're going, not if you let God lead the way. Here's Pastor Paul with the second half of today's Destined for Victory message: Getting Bitter or Getting Better.
First time I got an Abbey and I put in the destination where I wanted to go, the lady came on and said, Proceed to such and such a street and turn left. I said, Thank you. Went down there and made that left. And then, as you drive, she says, in a quarter mile, exit here and prepare to turn right. I said, I appreciate you.
And you look down on the screen, and the map is showing you what she's telling you. And I was really blown away. When one time In my first navy, I was driving along and it had me on a freeway. Going somewhere I had never been. And I'm driving along, and I have my music on, and I'm just enjoying myself, and the lady spoke.
But I wasn't paying attention to her at the moment. Just like you do with the Holy Spirit sometimes. She was speaking, but I wasn't paying attention. I was singing my song. I'm in my zone and I'm enjoying myself.
And she told me to take an exit, and I flew right by. And something told me. You haven't heard from her in a while. You know, the silence started feeling a little eerie. And I look down on the screen.
And I saw the word recalculating. And I learned that what happens is the navigation system doesn't beat you up. When you don't follow it. It just recalculates how we're going to get you to the destination.
So the lady didn't come on and say, See that? I told you. That's what's wrong with you now. You're driving. Listening all to the music, not paying attention.
Now you spent the money and got the thing.
Now she doesn't beat you up like that.
Some of y'all, somebody gave you a wrong idea about God. God is not beating you up. Even when he convicts you, it's out of love. The thing started recalculating, and then when I heard her voice, she was coming on with the, all right, it was clear that I had blown it. But she was coming on with a word of hope.
She said, proceed to such and such an exit. and turn here and before I knew it They had me back heading in the direction. of my destiny. Let me tell you something.
Some of you Are spending your energy blaming God? and blaming other people When the fact of the matter is, your life is not under their control. Your parents are not setting your destination. The folk who treated you wrong, that spouse who left you or mistreated you, or whatever it is, they do not hold your destiny in their hands. No person has that kind of power unless you give it to them.
And you've got to make up in your mind. I can't afford to redefine myself by how I feel. I can't afford to redefine myself by what I'm going through. And I can't afford to redefine myself by what other folk do to me. You meant it for evil, Joseph said.
to his brothers one day. You remember what they did, they threw him in a pit. And they were going to leave him for dead, but then God, who is providential, Said no, I have a plan for him. Y'all can't kill him. And so God sends some folk down the road and puts it in the heart of one of the brothers to say, you know what, we shouldn't shed innocent blood.
Rather than kill him and his blood be on our hands, all we want to do is get rid of him.
So let's sell him. That was a God intervention. Do you know the enemy would have killed you by now if he could have? Do you know why you're still alive? Because God says you can't kill him.
You can't kill her. I'm called according, they're called according to my purpose. I'm not done with them yet. You can, the enemy already. Had a bullet aimed at you, and God said, not so.
And so, whatever you've been through, I know it feels like hell, and I know you are saying, Oh my goodness, it is done. You are not done because God is still working out His purpose. And so Joseph's brothers couldn't kill him. They pulled him out.
Sold him. He's in Egypt. Foreign country. They're down in Canaan. They think all is well.
But God Is at work. The boy is a slave. in a foreign country. But God Is that work? Eventually, years and years later, He becomes the prime minister.
of a country he's not even a citizen of. Because God Is that work? And years after that, His brothers come to Egypt seeking food because there's a famine in Canaan. And when Joseph reveals himself to them, They say Oh man, we in trouble now. That's Jo do you believe that's Joseph?
Oh, he knows all the stuff we did to him. Oh, we are in trouble now. Joseph said, don't trouble yourselves. You meant this for evil. But God sent me ahead of you.
That's all He did. He used your junk, your hatred. to promote me. And you gotta understand, some of you need to go thank your enemies. When you get this revelation, some of y'all are gonna send an email.
To somebody and say, you know what? I just wanted to thank you. Because you made me pray. You made me seek God. You made me say, Lord.
Whatever you want to do in my life. I'm going to let you do it.
Some of your enemies pushed you into your destiny. You didn't know it. You had to get mad enough to go somewhere angry, acting crazy where somebody could witness to you, bring you to church. You got saved.
Now you walk in with God. You need to go back to whoever made you mad and say thank you very much.
Some of y'all, somebody walked out on you who was the light of your life. You know, I preached for years. Nobody's supposed to be the light of your life. Don't listen to that song. You light up my life.
You bring me hope to carry on. You light up my days and fill my nights with song. And some of y'all didn't hear that message in time, and you went and hooked up with somebody who was the light of your life, and they defined you and made you feel complete and whole. And one day they walked out. I told you: if somebody is the light of your life, they own the light bulb.
And some of y'all didn't hear that message, and they owned the light bulb, and you worked their nerves, and they unscrewed their light bulb, and they walked out. And you sat in darkness. Singing sad songs. But Jesus found you in the darkness, showed you I'm the light of the world. Lifted you up, lifted you out.
Put you on your feet, gave you a new nature. You need to find. That person with the light bulb. and say thank you very much. For walking out.
I'm glad you left me. Oh, I know I was. was snotting and crying last time you saw me. But I'm glad. you left me because I was blinded To the truth by depending on you, but now my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness, and I dare not.
trust the sweetest thing but holy lean On Jesus' name. On Christ a solid rock I stand. Because I found out that all other ground Even good-looking ground. Sweet talking grind. You make me feel like a natural woman ground.
All other ground is sinking sand. I'm here to tell you. If you'll put your trust in the Lord. Doesn't matter where you are now. Oh, I know it's dark, it's difficult.
But God is at work. When God is where you are. You are not hopeless. He has a plan, a destiny for your life. And he will not stop.
until he's completed his work in. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message: Getting Bitter or Getting Better. To hear any recent message on demand, stop by Pastor Paul dot net. That's pastorpaul. net.
And while you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some of the best Christian resources on the market, including books and D V D messages from Pastor Paul Shepherd. And we hope you're enjoying this season and all that summer has to offer. From media ministries like Destined for Victory, this can be often a difficult time when giving decreases. It's why your generous gift today is so needed and appreciated. When you make the investment into our ministry today, we'd like to say thank you with a brand new resource.
It's our latest booklet, Overcoming Bitterness. Based on some of Pastor Paul Shepard's best sermons, this message will show you some key strategies to removing bitterness from your heart once and for all. As you follow along, you'll gain strategic insight into ways to cultivate hope and reclaim the joy of the Lord's salvation. Again, it's called Overcoming Bitterness. It's 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 your copy today for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. You can give that gift by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-3555. 339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory.
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There are things that tend to position themselves between the right now. and the destiny we plan to arrive at. And I want to talk to that issue, especially because sometimes our opposition can be fierce. can be foreboding. The things that come against us.
if you're not careful, can cause you to live in fear. That's coming up tomorrow in our message when opposition comes. But until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
