Maturity requires that we think beyond our appetites. Feelings and impulses. Just because you're saved doesn't mean all of your appetites, all of your feelings, all of your impulses can be trusted because you still live in a body of flesh. And we are not to be governed by our flesh, but we have to crucify it constantly. The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh.
That's Galatians 5.17 and this is destined for victory. Where we feature the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. We're always glad to have you with us. Coming up next, we'll take you to another Pauline epistle, the book of Ephesians, to explain how to make wise choices. Along the way, you'll be reminded that sanctification doesn't take place all at once.
It's a lifelong process that sometimes requires us to go back and surrender all over again. 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. And don't forget, subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcast.
Now, here's Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message. Choices grown-ups make. On the worst Day of betrayal.
Soon to come. Jesus gave Peter advance. indication of his love. Peter just got through bragging.
Now, some of these people, you'd pick Jesus. I can see there's something about to go down now, Jesus is about to be arrested. He says, I'm about to go down. I don't like the way this is looking. And some of these people you picked.
They're gonna run. But you did one thing right, Jesus. You picked me. He really believed it when he said it. And I got you.
When all the rest of them go away, it's going to be me and you. We go back to back. I take my sword. I'm aware I've the first man that come. Jesus is Simon Simon I love that second call.
That means Simon was still bragging on the first call. Simon, Simon. Satan has demanded permission You got to look at the Greek. It wasn't a mild request. He demanded from God the Father: give me permission.
to shake him violently as if he were wheat. And Jesus said, He didn't say, and he didn't get the permission. He said, but I prayed for you. Meaning God knew the shake-up actually is what this boy need. I prayed for you what?
That your faith. wouldn't fail. Oh, you're gonna fail miserably. But I prayed that your faith wouldn't wholly give away. That you would never be shaken from your dependence on me.
You get rid of all of your bragging and all of your self-confidence that needs to be shaken.
So I'm going to let the shake-up happen. And then Jesus said, and when you're converted. Then your job will be to strengthen your brothers. And I need you to understand, some of us still have some lessons yet to learn about the futility of self-confidence. At a certain point, you better not trust yourself.
At a certain point, you better learn what that hymn writer said when he said, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy lean. On Jesus' name, on Christ. The solid rock I stand all of the ground. is sinking sand.
And so you got to understand. We have confidence in God because He loves us and knows us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. And so You got to see just how it works with love. It's got to work in terms of this business of maturity.
You have got to let your maturity go to the place of information. Ignorance has no place in this. And so you're going to have to notice what Paul said here in verse 17. He called it the futility. of thinking.
that happens with the Gentiles. He said their thinking is futile. What does he mean by that?
Well, what he means is it's not Looking down the road to its consequences. When we live like the Gentile, we're believers. He's writing to believers. And he says, y'all have to stop. Acting like the Gentiles, living like the Gentiles in the futility of their thinking.
So it's possible then to be a believer. But you're living like an unbeliever. You trust in Christ for salvation, and he granted you the gift of salvation. But now you got to make the decision. He didn't save me just to take me to heaven.
He saved me to make a difference in my life in this world. and then make it make a difference in other people's lives. And heaven's the the reward after that.
So, how am I going to get there? He said, You got to stop. Thinking like Gentiles. You gotta stop that.
So, here's the next thing I want you to jot down: maturity requires that we think beyond our appetites. feelings and impulses. I told y'all this preaching series was going to be more like teaching, but you got to get this. Maturity requires that we think beyond our appetites. Feelings and impulses.
Just because you're saved doesn't mean all of your appetites, all of your feelings, all of your impulses can be trusted because you still live in a body of flesh. And we are not to be governed by our flesh, but we have to crucify it constantly. Do you know? I know, I believe in sanctification. There is no such thing as getting so sanctified, you never have to go back.
and surrender all over again. You have to die daily. In fact There have been some days in my life, probably in yours too, where I had to die about four times. In a single day. My surrender in the morning lasted till about 1130.
Something came along. And I had to freshly surrender. If you're going to become mature, you got to do that. You got to look beyond your appetites, feelings. and impulses.
Don't just look at what's in front of you. Look at what's past that. You have got to ask yourself to ask the right questions.
So that you can get the right answers. If I follow the way I'm feeling right now, Where does this road end? Come on, somebody, I'm trying to help you now. If I do what I just thought about doing, If I say what I just thought about saying, If I come back on him or her, like something told me to come back on him. Where is that gonna land me?
Does that glorify God? Where will this road take me? Where does it end? Don't just jump on the road because it feels good. There is a way that seems right to a person.
The Bible says, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So it doesn't matter if it feels good, if it looks good, if, oh, this just resonates with me. The wrong stuff can resonate with you. That's why you see all these road rage people. Like, are you kidding? It's not that big a deal.
Just let them go. Because your goal is to get home or to work or the store, wherever you're going. Your goal is to arrive.
So there you see him calling you out your name and all that stuff. Let them do it. Again, we boomers, sticks and stones. May break my bones. Words'll never hurt me.
Now they hurt your feelings. And so the only way you're going to get arrive every time is when somebody's cussing you out and calling you out your vehicle and all that stuff. Then what you're going to have to do is talk to yourself and remind yourself what is the goal here. And you can't have that kind of immaturity. They said, nobody disrespect me.
Well, actually they do. Let 'em.
So you can get where you're going. If you got so much pride, you got to always. Puff up.
Sometimes that's gonna cost you your life.
So it's just time to have enough humility on board. Where you just let them 'Cause at the end of the day, when you pull up, put your vehicle in park, you won. They off somewhere terrorizing somebody else. I won. Because I'm learning to think ahead.
Yeah, I could pop off real good in relationships.
Somebody make you mad? And you finally they pushed a certain button, y'all quit looking holy like you ain't never had a button pushed. Just quit. Your spouse can do it, your kid can do it, your parent can do it, your co-worker can do it, your roommate can do it, a stranger. You can get your buttons pushed.
Any old time. And it's kind of more challenging when they're close to you.
So, if it is your spouse, if it is your parent or your kid or something like that, then you really, and that's when the enemy sits on your shoulder and says, I know you ain't going to take that. Oh, I know you're not gonna let that slide. And you get loaded up in your mind with something you could fire back because you know where they're, if they're in a relationship with you, you know where their weak spots are. I know where to cut you. Come on, somebody.
Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. We hope you'll stay right here, but remember, you can always hear any of our recent messages on demand at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. 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 are reaching people all over the world with the love of Jesus Christ.
Let's keep that momentum going and let's do it together. To give your donation online, go to pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500.
Now, from the book of Ephesians, let's listen closely to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message: Choices Grown-Ups Make. Everybody who's in a relationship, you know where to hit them. You don't just swing randomly, no, I'm going for that. And once you hit that. Then the enemy says, see that you got him good.
But you don't know the same devil sitting over there on their shoulder.
So I know you're not gonna take that.
Next thing you know, you got World War III in your house. Over dumb stuff. At the end of the day, the Bible, and we're getting to it at the end of this chapter, Ephesians 4, is going to tell you how to handle stuff. One of the things we'll get to is: you have the right to be angry. But don't sin.
I can get angry with my wife. She can get angry with me. She doesn't need that permission, she does. Bible says you can do that. But don't sin.
There's a line. You have to look. I don't go past that. I don't disrespect an individual. I can be angry about an issue.
What you said that I don't like. All of that. I can tell you how I feel. But I gotta make sure I don't go past a line of disrespect.
So, we're going to have to learn that. Maturity requires that we think beyond appetites, feelings. and impulses. Because if you don't learn to live that way, you'll keep living like a Gentile. And look at what he says in verse 18, describing this.
If you stay on this current path, you're going to end up looking like somebody who doesn't know Jesus at all. Verse 18, they are darkened in their understanding, separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. If you don't let the Holy Spirit reel you in and teach you how to humble yourself, you, though a saved person, can develop a hard heart like a person who is a Gentile. I know Christians whose hearts are hard in a way that the Holy Spirit has a tough time getting through to them. And that is not to be the characteristic of a child of God.
We're supposed to have hearts that God can always. Break. Bunny Wilson used to say to single women when she would teach her courses. I had her years ago teach a couple of courses in my church, and she would come and teach the singles, and she'd say to the women, she said, I know y'all want big shoulders. I know y'all want a six-pack.
I know y'all want this and that, and the other man whose voice sounds like Barry White. She said, but what you need is a man who doesn't want to break God's heart. And he might not look like your fantasy. But the thought of breaking the heart of God troubles him. She said, that's what you need.
Because there are gonna come days when y'all are in a relationship and you can't get through to him. about what you think he really needs to know. But if you take him to God And ask the Spirit to help him understand what I've been trying to tell him. She said, then the right man will be in his devotion. And he'll come out convicted.
Because if breaking God's heart is important to an individual, that's somebody you can invest yourself. in relationship with. But if they don't care what God thinks You are in such trouble. Ah, but he loved me. He doesn't care about God.
If he can blow God off. Girl, you got nothing. I know you think you are everything, and everything is you. But that was the stylistics, baby. That's not...
Yeah. Oh, so I'm sorry, I just went back again. You are everything and everything is you. That's the stylistics. Young folks thought that came much later with Mary.
No, Mary got that from the stylistics. I don't care if you think you all that. If he'll break God's heart, he is destined to break yours. You are an accident waiting to happen. Because you put your trust in somebody who can blow off God Himself.
And so you're going to have to know that if his heart can't be. Dealt with properly, you're in trouble. Look at verse 19. Having lost all sensitivity, How do we go to maturity? How do we learn to make choices?
You've got to decide that you must remain sensitive to what God wants. And if you're building relationships with people, you have to learn to develop sensitivity to them. I've told you often, that's why one of the seven habits that Stephen Covey gave us of highly effective people is seek first to understand, then to be understood. If somebody is only trying to show you what they think and how they feel, this is a relationship. It's not all about you, boo.
I got thoughts and feelings here too. You don't know my history. I've got a history too.
So let's be Mindful of each other. Don't ask me to do all the giving. And to just expect you to do all the receiving, that's not gonna work.
So we have to learn to maintain sensitivity, he said, and they've given themselves over. Over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity. and they are full of greed. Greedy people? And that's what you want to be?
No, God says that's not my child. Because I take care of my kids real well. You don't need to be greedy. You do my will. I'll delight in blessing you with some things.
But God says keep your priorities where they ought to be. Let me bless you on the backside of your obedience. Don't come to me with your hand out every time you pray. You're asking for something.
Sometimes you need to say, Lord, I just want to sit here and talk to you about how much I love you. That's what God is looking for. I told you and I closed years ago. An evangelist. Friend of mine.
in New York. Died, she was a nurse. A mighty, mightily used of God evangelist. And developed cancer. It eventually went to stage four.
I think she didn't catch it early. And um it became Terminal. And she was a woman used of God in healing. She, and her mother, who was also an evangelist and prophetess, they got a lot of people healed. that I personally knew.
But when she got sick the saints around her were praying. And um At a certain point as she was getting going down and down and down. And she was a nurse. She knew what was going on in her body. And she said to them, I need y'all to stop praying.
No, no, we're gonna hold on. You've held on for us. She said, no. She said, it's clear the Lord's going to take me. She said, you all need to just keep fighting a good fight of faith, do the will of God.
She was in the hospital for that last time. And the nurse at the nursing station, who wa who was close enough could hear her in her room, said the night that she went, She heard him talking. And The nurse said to my friend the next day when they went to go that she was to hear that she was going. I've never heard anything like it. And they said, what?
said she. was talking And I thought This is the night shift. How did somebody slip into the room? And she is not in condition to be laying up there with some man. She said she was talking like a lover.
She was loving on somebody. Talking about how good he had been to her. and how much he admitted to her all these years. And she was just making, she said, I said, what is going on? She said, but I didn't want to get up and disturb it.
I said and then her voice fell off. And I said, Oh, finally she went to sleep. She worshipped herself right into the presence of the Lord. That's Maturity. Where she wasn't gonna hold out I want to live 120 years old.
No. I want to live till the Lord. Is ready to get me. And disappointments happen. All of us have said, I don't understand why God didn't do this.
We all have those. You know what those are? Mysteries. And you gotta let them go. Don't hold on to your mysteries.
Number one, because you don't need to have them resolve for you to do the will of God right now. Everybody can do the will of God right here, right now. Secondly, There's coming a day when we're in the Lord's presence and your mysteries won't matter. A lot of folks say, oh, when I get to heaven, I'm going to ask the Lord, I got a list. I'm not taking my list to heaven.
I'ma be so glad I'm there. Thanks for being here for today's message: Choices Grown-Ups Make. For more information about the Destined for Victory ministry or to contact us for prayer, please come see us at pastorpaul.net.
Well, as you know, sometimes there is a real meaning in a name, and that's the case with Destined for Victory. I once had a conversation with Pastor Paul about the importance of the name of our ministry, and before we leave today I wanted to share part of that conversation with you.
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 lamp 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 day on the broadcast, In Christ you are destined for victory. And our prayer is that you will live the victorious Christian life every single day until the coming of the Lord Jesus. 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 and those who can't always make it to church.
Just one more reason why your gifts to Destined for Victory are so critical to the cause of Christ. For your generous donation to day, we'd love to send you our latest resource as our way of saying thanks. It's a message called Grown Up Faith, and it's a book that I believe every Christian should read. Again, it's called Grown Up Faith, and it's yours today for your generous gift to Destin for Victory. Give by phone 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.
Some change happens without a corporation, but this passage says there are some things we have to intentionally do. In order to become the people God has called us to be, we must cooperate. with what God is doing in us. And that's what putting off the old self is about. That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepard's Message: Choices Grown-Ups Make.
Until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
