Listen, you are the work of God. Even your haters work for God. Because he will use their hatred to position you to put you in the place that he's destined you to be. Don't believe me? Ask Joseph.
Joseph may not have known it at the time, but the betrayal he suffered led to a blessing no one could have expected. Hello, and welcome to another great day here on Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard.
Well, it's one of the most amazing stories of faith and perseverance you'll ever hear. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, and eventually thrown into prison. but God was positioning him to be used in a mighty way. There is an important lesson here for all of us, and it comes your way next. Remember to come see us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today's.
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Now, here's today's Destined for Victory message, designed by God. John said, Beloved, now are we the sons of God? It does not yet appear. What we shall be. But we know.
That when he shall appear. We shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. That's the destiny of every believer. That's the wonderful thing about the Christian race, it's a tie.
Don't sweat Christians who seem to be farther down the road than you. Who don't have the issues you have, who don't have the struggles you have, who don't have the idiosyncrasies you have, and ignore the ones who think they're better because of that. Because the truth of the matter is, all of us are having some things worked on.
Some are more conspicuous than others, but all of us are works in progress. And when we see him, we will be like him. And you're not going to beat anybody else to the finish line. We shall all see him face to face. And in fact, it is the work of God that.
Is being done in our lives that makes us the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And then, verse 30 of Romans 8 says, This: And those he predestined, that's us, he also called. And those he called, he also justified. And those he justified, he also glorified.
Now, you know as well as I do, we're not glorified yet, but look at it, he's calling you what you are by concept. I designate that brother, that sister, will be glorified. And it hasn't happened yet. In the physical realm. But trust me, it is so.
Amen. conceived us to be before we ever literally become that. In fact, it is on the basis of those verses that you can really appreciate Romans 8, 31. The next verse says, what shall we say to these things? If God Please!
For us. Who can be against us?
Some of us give entirely too much attention to our critics. And to those who don't like what Whatever it is they don't like about us. And some of us are sweating our haters. Listen, you are the work of God. Even your haters work for God.
Because he will use their hatred to position you to put you in the place that he's destined you to be. Don't believe me? Ask Joseph. God used his own brothers. To hate him.
Imagine now, the whole family is called of God, all of them called. You gotta understand some of your haters are Christians. Don't consign them to hell because they don't like you. They're Christians, they're believers.
Some of the greatest battles I'm fighting are not from unbelievers. It's from believers. You gotta understand, that doesn't mean they're not in the family. It just means God will take their position, their point of view, their attitude, whatever it is. That is working, that seemingly is working against you.
God said, Don't sweat it. You're called according to my purpose. I got the design, I got the concept. And so he used Joseph's brothers.
Now understand, this is a family living in Canaan. Joseph is fourth generation called. First Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, now Joseph and his brothers. Fourth generation called to be his exclusive people in the earth. And God knows that my plan for this family is ultimately to get the Savior into the world.
And so God is thinking in generations. He's just using them, but he's thinking generations down the road. And God says, Well, I got to get them from Canaan to Egypt. How am I going to get them from Canaan to Egypt? Egypt is run by a Pharaoh who doesn't know God.
And so there's no natural progression for them to go from Canaan to Egypt. And so God says, no problem, I'll use their haters. I'll use his own brothers. When his brothers got through with him, first they threw him in a pit. We're going to leave him there.
And then God touched one of their hearts, Reuben. He pulled him out. He said, No, we can't shed innocent blood. Let's just tell our daddy that an animal killed him. We see some merchants coming down the road.
Let's just sell them. And they sell him, guess who they sell him to? Merchants who are on their way to Egypt. All Joseph's haters did was paid for his transportation to the place of destiny. That's all they did.
Some of your haters, they don't understand it, but they are elevators. Your haters are elevators. What's an elevator do? Take you to the next level?
Next time your haters get to fooling with you, just say floor two, please. They say, What'd you say? Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm sorry.
Sorry. Florida, would you push that button for me? I'm going up. That's all your haters can do, take you where God has destined you to be. They don't dictate where you go in the will of God.
So he said, What can we say to these things if God be for us? Who can be a gay who? Are you worried about that you have no business worrying about? Oh, it can be hurtful, it's painful, and all of that. Joseph cried a mini-tear, but in all of it, he was in the center of God's hand.
When we We are rebuked and disciplined by God. We are in the center of his hand. I've come through a season where God has severely yet appropriately disciplined me for disobedience and sin. But the whole time I've been in God's hands. When you're his kid, you're his kid when you're acting right, and you're his kid when you're acting wrong.
You belong to him and there's nothing anybody can do about it. And you know you know when a parent that well their discipline has a whole different concept these days. But you know, some of us knew in growing up it included corporal punishment. I know it doesn't anymore. I know it doesn't.
Relax. I'm not saying it does now. I'm just saying in the old days It used to include Corporal punishment. And so, in the old days, they understood: even if I have to get you. You're my child.
In fact, I'm not getting you because I hate you, I'm getting you because you are my child. If you weren't my child, I would ignore you. you I'd let you kill yourself. I'd let you destroy your own life. But I gave birth to you.
Some of y'all can hear your parents saying that kind of stuff right now. They would take a fit and go to telling you. I'm the one gave birth to you. My grandmother was worse than my mother. My grandmother would tell my father, he said, when they were kids, and she would start in on them.
She said, I went down to death's door to bring you in this world. You know, the old saints, they would really paint this horrible picture. I went down to death's door. I didn't know whether I was going to be living or dead when you got. And you think I'm going to let you come in this world and I pay all that price and let you act a fool, and I stand there and watch you, you got another thought coming.
He said, then she would go to spanking them and she would talk about anger. People say it's anger. No, my grandmother spanked my dad and them and would be singing a hymn while she was spanking. 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.
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Listen and subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All of us destined for victory are grateful for your prayers and financial support, gifts that help us keep these messages coming your way all year round. People all over the world are finding hope and encouragement through our media ministry. Many have come to faith in Christ, and we want you to know your donations do make a difference. To give your generous gift now, please visit pastorpaul.net.
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Well, it's never fun to be disciplined, but sometimes it's necessary.
Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, designed by God. Back in the old days. It used to even include corporal punishment. When you had to be severely disciplined and shown you can't act like this and be my child, I will not accept it. And some of us knew that in our days.
That's why our parents would take us out in public. In our day, they didn't mind taking us out in public. Today, there are a lot of parents who really got to get a sitter if they're going to go down to Macy's. They got to get somebody. Because they just can't, they don't know what's going to happen with their child, and so they don't take them.
And a lot of them say, you know, I can't take my child out. They'll embarrass me in public. A lot of us were taken out because if there was going to be any embarrassing going on. Our parents were going to embarrass us. If there was gonna be any.
They were going to embarrass us. And when we were coming along, we would be out in the store or something. And if you saw some kid say, Mom, I want that. No, no, you can't have that. Didn't come here for that.
And come on down this. And fall out and say no to everything. In my day, I'm not talking about today, I'm talking about in my day. If we saw that in my day, And we were kids with our parents when we saw that happen. We just stopped and backed up.
We stopped it back down because we knew what was getting ready to happen. Nobody was going to call child protective services. on your parents. In fact, when I was growing up, I didn't know there was such an agency.
Now, come on, be honest. Did y'all who are in my age bracket? Did you know? I never heard the term. In my day, I didn't know there was a number I could call.
Go.
So, in my day, we just stopped and backed up because we knew what was getting ready to happen. That mother would say, no, you did not. Fall on the floor out here in Woolworth. Oh, come on, somebody knows about Woolworth. F Woolworth.
Before there was Walmart, before there was Kmart. Before all of that stuff Everything you needed was at FWO Work. And they said, no, you didn't fall out here in aisle number two. And when she got through with you. You got saved.
Nothing left to do but give your life to Jesus. Altar call right on the spot. Nobody was singing just as I am. But it was all in the context. of You are my child.
And I will not allow you to act that way. And so, even when we are under severe discipline of the Lord. The writer to the Hebrews said, whom the Lord loves. He chastens. In other words, when you're called to God, you can't escape it.
You're going to be what he said you were.
Now you can get there the easy way or you can get there the interesting way. But when God calls us a thing when he creates the concept of our lives. Yeah. that concept is going to come to pass. No matter what we do or don't do.
He has begun a project. And it starts with the concept that is in his mind. I want you to leave here knowing that your life has been divinely designed. God knows what he wants out of you. And what you're going through now, he is going to navigate you from where you are to where he has destined you to be.
And there is no force in earth. Earth or under the earth that can prevent you from becoming what God has destined you to be. The concept. The concept. You go by the construction site.
At first, it was just an empty field, just looked like nothing ever good was going to be there. And then finally, you see that there's an owner because a fence goes up. God fences in his people. Listen, a lot of us are upset over what God has allowed to come into our lives, but trust me, the owner has not allowed anything that he's not aware of. And truth be told, you might be upset because God's allowed unemployment or God's allowed family trouble or God's allowed personal crisis or God's allowed whatever to come into your life, and you're really upset about it.
What you need to do is be praising God for what He has not allowed. There's some things he's kept out. He has fenced out of your life. He has hedged you in. There were some ways the devil wanted to take you all the way out.
Or the devil tried his best over this season of my life to take me all the way out. One of the saints said, I heard a demon speak in my ear and say, I'm taking Pastor Paul out. They heard it. The voice of the enemy. But the enemy doesn't hold the blueprint to my life.
He doesn't hold the blueprints of my life. Oh, he took his best shot. And I cooperated, unfortunately. But he doesn't hold the blueprint. God didn't say, I'm going to take you there if you do everything the way I want you to do it.
And so sometimes God will take us in spite of ourselves. Yeah. And he'll fence some things out, but he never. What does the Bible say that there is no temptation? That overcomes you.
That God Himself has not allowed. He makes sure there is a way of escape.
So that it doesn't utterly destroy you. The Bible says the righteous sometimes fall seven times. See, we're in the business of counting. Seven is the number of completion. It means the righteous can fall constantly.
on their journey. That's why God's not the God of a second chance. If He's the God of a second chance, I'm done. Y'all aren't just me. I'm done.
If he's only the God of a second chance, I'm done. But I found out he's the God of another chance. He's a God who when the clay mars in his hand He says I'm not finished making this And he starts putting it back together. Again. And so you got to understand the concept belongs.
In heaven, the concept is that God Himself has created He said, I know what I want to do in your life. And I'm going to get you there. Listen, if you're struggling with an addiction, if you're struggling with a besetting sin, if there's a habit you haven't been able to break to save your life, I want you to understand that God has a design. And he says, I'm going to break it. I'm going to bring you into conformity with my will.
I will make sure that whatever's going wrong in your life, I will get you from where you are to where I've destined you to be. And in the process, I'm going to teach you how to humble yourself. I'm going to teach you how to confess your faults and sins one to another. I'm going to teach you that my body is to be therapeutic. And this church, God has destined this church to be a therapeutic body.
Where folk don't have to have their act together. I said, well, they don't have to have their act together.
Now that doesn't look too pretty as a church. Cause we like real nice cutesy churches. Where everybody looks like they're not only saved, but they got most of the act together. Might have a few little issues, but nothing really big. That's the way we typically are comfortable in the church where I grew up all my life in church.
And we're very comfortable with that. God needs churches where folk can show up just like they are. Jacked up, messed up, messed up. Bound Sometimes don't yet know if they want to get out of bondage. But if you see the hand of God On them as a sign he has started something.
And if he started it, you don't have to worry about it. All I need to see is the grace of God on you. A grace that made you come and say, you know, I need Jesus in my life. I was preaching a few weeks ago after I was recommissioned. People started asking me to preach around the country until they said, Well, he's not going to start his church till the fall.
We hurry up and get him in here. And I've been going around the country preaching, filling as many of those requests as possible. I was preaching in St. Louis a few weeks ago, and when I got through preaching a message, I said, Listen, you're here, and I don't care who you are and how you are, how messed up you are. I got one word for you: God loves you, and He has started something in your life.
The proof is that you're here, and you need to come and give your life to Him. And a man who had obviously just his appearance showed you his life was way messed up. And he came and he was the first one to the altar. And he showed up looking just as messed up as he could.
Some of the church folk kind of looked at him. And I grabbed him by his shoulder. I said, Do you have any idea how much God loves you? And he began to cry. Because folk are used to the church telling you, you ain't right, you're going to hell.
Somebody got to tell you, God loves you so much that you don't have to go. And that he's not offended by how messed up your life is. It's because how messed up your life is that Jesus came in the first place. And that man was the first one to bow his head. He said, Lord.
Giving my life to you just like it is. And we've got to be churches that embrace. Any and everybody upon whom we see the hand of God. You don't try to get folks straight first. You don't get straightened out, then get saved.
you get saved and along the way you're going to get straight. Because God has has begun the good work. And he will bring it to completion. Hallelujah. How's that for an encouraging reminder?
You don't have to be worthy of God's salvation to receive it. He'll save you right now, just as you are, no matter what you've done. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message designed by God. If you join us late, or if you want to hear the full message one more time, stop by PastorPaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.
Well, as you know, summer is a time when donations to ministries like Destined for Victory often decline, and it's why your financial support is so needed and appreciated today. When you give, I'm pleased to tell you about an outstanding resource from Destined for Victory, our brand new booklet, Rising Above a Fence. We've all been wounded from time to time, even by the people who love us most. What does God say about how to handle these situations? You'll find out in Rising Above Offense, something I believe everyone should read at least once.
If you want to discover the right way to respond when someone offends you, if you want to learn all about the beautiful and amazing power of forgiveness, request your copy of Rising Above Offense when you make your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Do that by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can also mail your gift, our address destined for victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. And here, Destined for Victory, we believe that prayer can move mountains.
Today, we'd like to pray for you. Please use the contact feature at the top of our homepage at pastorpaul.net and share your request with us today. That's pastorpaul.net.
God knew what he wanted out of you before you ever got to the planet. Today, we live in days where a lot of people are trying to figure out what to do with their lives. I came to tell you: you don't have to figure it out, all you have to do is talk to the Creator. That's tomorrow in our message, God's Property. Until then, remember.
He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
