You have to have strong faith because you will go through trouble. The more you live in this world, the more you're going to go through some things. But if your faith is strong, God will bring you all the way through it. Trials aren't fun, but with Jesus they're formative. Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
I'm not sure you could have stopped by at a better time because today we're about to help you understand just how beautiful the trials in your life can be.
Now, you won't enjoy them, you'd never wish them on anyone else. But if you handle them with the right frame of mind, they will help you become more like your Savior. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen to any recent message on demand, including today's. That's pastorpaul.net. Subscribe to our podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy podcasts.
Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message, Becoming an Excellent Steward of Our Trials. You've heard my story. I've gone on fast. Oh God gonna speak to me. me Back when I first came out here and the people weren't showing up, I was really, I thought God said thousands were coming.
And our first year, we grew from 34 to 45. I said, 11 new people, and the Lord told me thousands, and I told them 34 people, thousands are coming. And they said, oh, this is exciting. 11 folk in 12 months. I said, what?
And then I'm going out to this banquet, and they want to celebrate, and they were all happy. I said, what we going out here to happen? I had an attitude driving to my first anniversary. I did. I had an attitude in the car.
Meredith and the little kids, five and three, Leisha and Aaron, and they're sitting in the back, they haven't got their little clothes on. We're going out here. What are we going to celebrate?
Now I gotta go out here and watch these grinning people and eat dry chicken. They were excited because they believed the vision. That I have saved. And I said, Well, I s wish I believed the vision 'cause I I don't see these folks, but that's our problem. Often we are calling the game too soon.
And the fact is, it took eight years before the real growth that the Lord had told me about began to happen in earnest. In the first seven years, the church grew from 34 to 250. That's wonderful growth. Most churches in America have far less than 100 people every Sunday.
So I was over I was more than double the average But the vision said thousands of times frustrated.
So I went on a fast God. You're going to show me what's going on. Went in that hotel. Three days and three nights. All I did was drink water.
Read the Bible. And pray, and when I had to, sleep. Four things I did for 72 hours. Of course. Read the word.
Pray. Drink water, sleep. That was it. Told Mary, pick me up on the morning after I left there, and she drove up and I got in the car. She said, What'd the Lord say?
I said just go home. Always asking questions. You know, you ever got an attitude, you're not getting the answer from heaven, so somebody's gonna pay for this. Go home and and I want some food when I get there too. And she had to end up encouraging me.
But in year eight, people started getting saved. And every week. One or two or three people got saved every week for 12 years. I'd be preaching on Revelation and folk got saved. Because God knows what he's going to do even when you don't.
So you have to know he's working despite. What you don't see.
So you can ask the why questions all you want. Don't be surprised when you don't get an answer. And that's what you need to understand. John 9, go to John's Gospel. I just want to flesh this out a little bit.
John's Gospel, the first three verses. As Jesus went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents said he was born blind. Look at Jesus' answer.
Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. See, we're always looking for white, and I see. Born blind, somebody did something. That's what the old-fashioned thinking was.
It was fatalistic. This happened because somebody did something wrong and God cursed them. And Jesus said, no. This isn't because of sin. It's an opportunity for me to show you my glory.
1 Peter 1 verses 6 and 7. First Peter twelve. Toward the end of the New Testament, one verses six and seven. Peter says in all this You greatly rejoice. He had just talked about God saving us and delivering us, and all the wonderful things God did for us in Christ.
He said, In all this, we greatly rejoice. Watch this: though now for a little while. You may have had to suffer grief. In all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith.
Of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor. When Jesus Christ is revealed, God has done all kinds of great things. He said, but that doesn't keep you from having to go through some trials. God's been good. we're going to go through trouble.
Both are true. You can't say, if God is good, he shouldn't let me have trouble. That's not your Bible? That's somebody who who sold you a fantasy. It's not consistent with the teachings of Scripture.
I've said all the way through this thing: you can't have a faith.
Some people that are hyper-faith, they think you can have such strong faith, you won't go through trouble. No, no, you have to have strong faith because you will go through trouble. The more you live in this world, the more you're going to go through some things. But if your faith is strong, God will bring you all the way through it. And that's why you'll find the Bible telling you what God will promise while you're going through troubles.
For instance, in Isaiah 43, verse 2. When you pass through the waters. I will be with you. Notice it said when you pass through, not if you pass through the trouble. through the waters.
But I got faith. I believe I believe in a waterless faith. No, you can't have that kind. You're gonna pass through some waters. Deep waters.
Waters you can't swim in. You're gonna need God to get you through them. And he said, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, anybody been in a fiery trial?
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. In other words, God said, Yeah, you're going to go through some stuff. But because I am at work in you, I'm not going to let that be the end of you. And so I need somebody to know today that your trouble is not going to have the last word.
Your trouble is going to be there, but God's going to have the last word. Even if He didn't send the trouble, let me encourage somebody: even if your trouble is your fault.
Now look come on, let's be honest. Not everything has been the devil. I need, come on, stop. Just stop playing. Stop perpetrating a fraud.
Not everything in your life has been, oh, the devil did this and the devil did that. Yo, y'all young people are too young. There used to be a comedian named Flip Wilson. And he Nothing makes me. And he played this little character, Geraldine.
And always talking about The devil made her do something. Uh-uh, the devil doesn't have that much power. He make you do stuff. If the devil encouraged you to do it, he is an encourager in the wrong direction. But guess what?
You had to sign up. You had to say sound like a good idea to me. You could partner with him and have no business doing that. But quit blaming the trouble in your world on the devil.
Some things he brings, but other things you brought it on yourself. How many of y'all would be honest enough to say when I think back on some of the dumb decisions I made, some of the choices I made, I I had no No business. Doing that. And so God Not only promises to bring you through when the devil did it and when circumstances did it, he said, even if you mess up. Remember what Jesus told Peter before he went to the cross?
He said, You're getting ready to mess up royally. Simon Simon. Satan had desired to shake you up violently. Like you were wheat. And he didn't say, I'm not going to let him do it.
And you're not gonna cooperate with him. He just said, when you're converted, when you come through. He said, I want you to strengthen your brothers. And God doesn't promise you that, well, if you do everything right, I'll bless you. If you do some things wrong, you're on your own.
That's not the God I serve. Because I'm glad I met the God of another chance.
Some of y'all talk about the God of a second chance. Second chance, what are you gonna do with second chance? You used up your second chance when you were probably three and a half. Second chance. I don't know nothing about no second chance.
How many of y'all know God at times? Time and time again when I have made some mistake, when I've done something I had no business doing, when I said something I had no business saying. I went somewhere I had no business going. And God bail me out. Time and time.
Time and time. And time of Again. And what you learn. those hopefully is God is merciful, but I have to pay for some of that stuff. 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. Once again, pastorpaul.net. Listen and subscribe to our podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. You know, the Great Commission has to be funded to be fulfilled. It always has.
And we're so grateful for the prayers and donations of friends and partners like you because you're reaching people all over the world with the love of Jesus Christ. Let's keep that momentum going, let's do it together. Make a safe and secure donation online at pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. God loves you, but He won't always answer your questions right now.
Sometimes He waits until you're ready for the answer. Here's the rest of today's message, becoming an excellent steward of our trials. See, it's not that God won't forgive you, it's that when you keep making certain mistakes, they got a price tag. And it's not that God, not forgiving you, oh, He forgives you and He'll bless you. But you still got a price you gotta pay.
And some of y'all know that all too well. You send in checks every month because of stuff Come on, let's just. I'm too old to play games with y'all. I'm way too old to play games with y'all.
Some of y'all, God is good. Write to check. Both things exist. God is good. I'm writing check.
So that's why you want to be honest with the generations following. And say to them some of this stuff I'm telling you because I made some of these mistakes. And y'all don't want to go through what I've been through. And quit pretending like you didn't have trouble. Let them kids know.
I know what y'all are going through. My grandmother used to say, boy, you better listen to me. I'm coming back from where you're going. These people are coming back from where you're going, young folk. They're on the return trip, they can tell you what's down the road.
Don't say all they old. They don't know what they're talking about before they got old They've been where you going? And they're trying to help you out. And so you can ask why, but you're not always going to get the answer to that question. Here's what you want to do.
Instead of asking why, You wanna ask how. Verse 5, James said in our text: if anyone lacks wisdom, Ask God. That's a how question. See, knowledge is what? Knowledge is data, knowledge is information.
Knowledge is detail, information, facts. Wisdom is the ability To act. Yeah. Lee. given the knowledge that God gives.
So knowledge tells you what. Wisdom tells you how. How do I handle what I have? have to handle. That's wisdom.
And James said, if you lack wisdom, if you don't know how, To manage your life, if you don't know how to make better decisions, if you don't know how to deal with the mistake you made, whatever it is, if you don't know how to get through this certain trial, I've never been through this kind of trial before. Then he said, If you lack wisdom, you don't understand how you ought to act. He said, Ask God. And he will give generously to all without finding fault. God's not going to beat you up.
Because you lack wisdom. He's glad you asked him.
Now let me help you walk through. your fiery trial. Pass through the waters without them overwhelming you. Let me show you how God is a God that will walk with you through what you have to deal with. And so God will readily answer the question: what or how should I deal with what I have to deal with?
And that's important because, in order to please God by going through our trials right. We need to partner with him in that. When you're going through difficulty, my friend, that's not the time for you to stay away from prayer. Not the time for you to stay away from reading the word. When's the last time you've been in church?
Oh, I don't know. I'm going through. Yeah, so why aren't you at church? I'm going through. You ought to be the first one out there.
You ought to be there when the security guard pulls up. You roll your window down. I've been waiting for you to get here. Like as though you striking. Against God.
Cause you're having trouble. No, no, no. That's the time to be the first one here. You need to be stretched out on the altar sometimes. Lord, help me.
Lord, help me get through this. Lord, show me how to deal with this. I don't know what I'm going to do here, Lord. Then you ask him the how. You lack wisdom, that's when you want to ask God.
So when you're going through your hardest trouble, Don't bother asking why, or if you do, it's fine. It's not like God is against you asking why. Just don't be mad if He doesn't answer. 'Cause sometimes he says I can show you better than I can tell you. And if you just give me some time.
And that's the thing about God. He's not in the Hurrediturian. You know, hold on, God is a right now God.
Well, sometime he is.
Sometimes he's a later on God.
Sometimes he he'll show you after a while. And that's what Jesus told Peter. He said, when you're converted. You're gonna go through some some changes But when you get your act together. Then that's when you're supposed to use what you learn and use what God did in you to bless other people.
I love the fact that just before Jesus died. He told Peter. You are going to deny me three times. Denying Christ, there's no worse sin than denying the only Savior. He said you're gonna do it three times publicly And he said, but when you're converted, strengthen your brother.
And Peter's like, man, get out of here. No God's gonna deny you. I'm ready to fight for you. I go. Just you and I.
Arrogant, he didn't know why Jesus picked the other disciples. He likes some of these people you pick, I don't get this. But you did one thing right, you picked me. And I got you. And it's gonna be you and me when it go down.
We're gonna be back to back. Fighting them all off. Jesus says, Simon, Simon. He was still bragging so we had to call him twice, Simon. You about to deny me three times.
And sometimes you'll have an embarrassing power failure. But God said, just know I'm not throwing off. I knew it was going to happen. And I knew what I was going to do. And later on.
God Not only shows that Peter was going to be restored. And Peter was going to be helpful to other people. When the day of Pentecost came. Which is after the resurrection of Jesus. When the day of Pentecost came, Who did God pick to preach?
the Pentecostal message. On the day of Pentecost, he overlooked all the folk who have never done this, never did that. I'm ashamed of Peter. He ought to be embarrassed. He don't even know why.
He's still in there in there with the apostles. He reached past all them. and anointed Peter to preach that day. Read Acts 2 when you get a chance. Peter preached so long.
That after a while, Luke, who gives us the book of Acts, he gave us some of the text of the message. Then he said, with many other words did he speak. Read it when you get to that. For many other words did he speak. I ain't writing all this down.
Let me end with this.
So our goal should be to go through our trials well. Asking God how. Go through them well. Because God's not going to let you go through without taking you to. Look at Psalm 43, verses 4 through 6.
Even though I walk through the valley of the... Shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And look at verse 5 and 6. You prepare a table before me.
in the presence Of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell. In the house of the Lord forever.
He's not only going to take you through, he's going to take you to. He's got somewhere he's taking you. Go with him. And you'll end up in the right place. Let's stand together.
Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory message: becoming an excellent steward of our trials. Always glad to have you with us.
Well, as you may know, the long-standing mission of Destined for Victory is to reach the world for Christ, a mission for which Pastor Paul had a great passion. I talked to him about that one time, and here's what he had to say.
Well, you know, when I think of Victorious, my mind goes back. I'm a kid growing up watching TV in the 60s, so my mind goes back to the wide world of sports. Oh, yeah. There was an announcer named James McKay, Jim McKay, something like that. He had this classic line where he talked about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
And I love just thinking about how thrilling it is to be victorious. I love in any game I'm playing, I want to be victorious. I tell people I don't care whether it's monopoly or something really serious, I want to win. And in life, we can win in Christ, and that's what the Bible tells us: that we are victorious in Him. And victorious means that we're following His lead, that we're letting the Holy Spirit take us where He wants us to go in life.
We're saved by His grace, and then we're simply following His. His direction, and of course, the Word of God is so key to following God's direction because the Word is a lamb to our feet. And a light to our pathway. And so those who tune in to broadcasts like Destined for Victory are really supposed to be receiving guidance so that we can walk in and live in victory. And that's what I pray is happening as people tune in day by day.
We say it every time here on the broadcast in Christ, you are destined for victory. Our prayer is that you will live the victorious Christian life every single day and that you might consider helping others do that as well. You know, the Destined for Victory media ministry can often go to places missionaries can't, into remote areas of the world that are often hostile to the Christian faith. We can also make it inside the homes of elderly shut ins or those who have no way of getting to church. It's why your gifts to Destined for Victory are so important.
And for your generous donation today, we'd love to send you our latest resource as our way of saying thanks. It's a message called Sometimes You Have to Encourage Yourself.
Now, it's never aired before on Destined for Victory, and it's not available anywhere else but here. But when you make your most generous gift today, we'll send you this exclusive message as either a DVD or a streaming video link. Again, that's sometimes you have to encourage yourself. One of the last messages Pastor Paul ever preached, and it's only available right here for your best gift to Destined for Victory. Give that gift by phone by calling 855-339-5500.
That's 855-339-50500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.
Now, you can also mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. If you want to change the way you behave, change the way you think. Here again is Pastor Paul. to your actions. You do what you do cause you think what you think.
And your thoughts lead to actions which lead to habits. Your actions, your repeated actions, the actions that get built into what you do become your habits. That's tomorrow in our Destined for Victory message: becoming an excellent steward of your thought life. Until then remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory.
