I want to talk about not just our gifts and abilities. I want to talk about using all that you are, everything about your life God wants to use to impact other people. Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory, where we feature the teaching and preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard.
So great to have you with us.
Well, last month we shared several messages with you about what it looks like to be good stewards of our time, our treasure, and our talent.
So today we want to pick up on that series where we left off. As you follow along, consider the gifts God has given you. Your own unique skill set, and really everything that you are, including your own personal experiences. And then ask yourself. How can I use all that I am to honor the Lord and bless others?
We hope you'll stay tuned. But if you can't, visit pastorpaul.net where you can listen to any of our recent messages on demand, including today's. That's pastorpaul.net.
Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message: becoming excellent stewards of our talents. Over the course of this year, we started in January talking about becoming excellent stewards. The first area was becoming excellent stewards of our treasure, and we spent a few weeks talking about. How to manage our financial resources and material resources in a way that pleases God. Then we went from becoming stewards of our treasure to our tasks, the things God has assigned to our hands to do.
And we talked about the importance of those things. Then we went to becoming excellent stewards of our teamwork, meaning working with other people. You can't. Hear well done if you don't learn to get along well with people, because it's people you have to serve in the name of the Lord. You do know that you're not going to hear well done if you did nothing to help other people.
The kingdom is about people. God so loved the world, not just God so loved you. And so we talked about getting our relational act together. And then we talked about becoming excellent stewards of our time. All of us have a gift called time that is a limited quantity.
We cannot squander time because time is getting away. All of us know, just look in the mirror, you're getting older. Just the reality, you're getting older. And not only look in the mirror, look at your life. You don't have the energy you used to have.
Ah, come on, some on y'all. You just, some of us, we just took so much for granted when we were young.
Now I'm realizing, boy, oh boy, I got a plot to do certain things. I gotta schedule it. I gotta actually... You can't just jump up. We used to just jump up and go.
You can't jump up. You better sit up carefully. Yeah. And sit there on the side of the bed and say, okay, now what do I really need to do? And you got to get yourself coordinated.
So Let's make sure that happens because time is getting away. And so we must be about our father's business. And so now the fifth area of stewardship. Is where I am currently, and that is becoming excellent stewards of our talents, the resources with which God uses us to impact the world. And I said this time: usually when I preach on talents, parable of the talents, Matthew 25, and all that, we're talking almost exclusively about our spiritual gifts and our natural abilities.
We are talking about those, but I want to broaden. The concept, as I said a few weeks ago. And I want to talk about not just our gifts and abilities. I want to talk about using all that you are, everything about your life God wants to use to impact other people. He wants to use, in other words, to use the Rick Warren paradigm: your shape.
S stands for spiritual gifts. But H stands for heart.
Some of you have a heart. That God wants to use in a certain way to impact certain people for His glory. A stands for abilities and aptitude. And God wants to use some of you have a certain set of abilities. God will use them.
for his glory. And then P, your personality. You are unique. You were born an original. Yes, you have a temperament.
There are certain temperaments, but you are a unique person. You were born an original. Do not die a copy. Don't spend your life trying to be somebody that God did not make you. You gotta be you.
You need to get good at being you. You are the best you on the planet. And so you've got to exercise that. And then E stands for experiences. Your experiences are unique, and God wants to use you to impact.
The world based on your experiences. That's why it's important for Christians to understand that Romans 8:28 is far more powerful than we've ever imagined. When the Bible says God takes all things. And works them together. That's really important.
Not some things, he takes it all. The stuff that shouldn't have happened to you. The abuse that you've been through, the molestation, the unkind acts, the whatever you have run into that was not God's will or his fault. God will use that. If you will give it to him, if you will let him sanctify it.
God will use you to impact other people. God didn't have to want it or will it to use it. God will use the stuff that shouldn't have happened. For his glory. And so, with that in mind, I started talking about that principle when it comes to talents, not just your abilities and gifts, but I want you to look at your experiences and realize God wants to use them for His glory.
Now, let me just set this up and then I'll get back to some biblical examples. Go to Ephesians 4, verses 1 and 2. You already know it. As a prisoner of the Lord, then. Paul said, I urge you to live a life worthy.
of the calling You have received. Of the calling you have received. God has called you to impact the world, and so He wants us to walk worthy of that. calling. And then Second Corinthians four, verses five through seven, Paul said, For we preach Christ we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
Then he says, For God said, Let light shine out of darkness. He made his light shine in our hearts and give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. Watch verse 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay. To show that this all-surpassing power is from God.
And not from us.
So, I want to help you this time as I talk about giving God a good return in terms of your talents to say, far beyond your talents, He wants to take all of who you are, even though you are a pitiful pot. That's what Paul said. He said, We have a treasure. That's God's work in us, but he puts it in a pot. We the jars of clay.
We pot. Pitiful pie. Ordinary pot. Not a fancy pot. That's what Paul's suggesting.
Nothing special about the pot. What's special is what's in the pot. That's what God wants. He wants you to use your pitiful self. to show forth his praises.
He will show the world what he can do with somebody like you. That's what this is about.
So, with that in mind, you look at certain things in the Bible and it comes alive. That's why God waited until Abraham was old. He was Abram at the time, was old, said, I'm going to make you a father.
Well, this man has never fathered a child. And now he old. God waited for that. 'Cause he wanted to get the glory. He wondered, where Abram walking around all in his prime?
Bible called him old. When the Bible called you old, you old. And his wife. was 10 years younger than him. But he was old and she was well advanced in years.
Well advancing years. And so when the Lord spoke. Abraham told Sarai, which she was called at the time. What God said, and she said, Are you crazy? You see how old I am?
And so they tried to figure out what God was possibly going to do. And so Sirai said, Well, tell you what. I'll give you my handmaiden as a wife for childraising purposes. That was in that dispensation where they did that. Brothers, that day is no longer.
I got to think, keep things clear.
Well, that's in the Bible. Ah Not your part of the Bible. It's not in your part. That's the other people's part of the Bible. Still ahead, more on Abraham and Sarah, plus a second Old Testament example that shows us how God uses our unique talents and experiences for His glory.
Stay with us. The second half of today's Destined for Victory message is coming right up. But you'll be glad to know that we archive all of our recent messages, including today's, at our website, pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.
You can also listen and subscribe to the Destined for Victory podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Destined for Victory is committed to bringing the timeless truth for a victorious life to people all over the world. And we have listening friends and partners like you to thank. You're the ones who provide all of our financial support, and we're so grateful for all you've done. To give a generous gift now, please visit pastorpaul.net.
That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500.
Now, with more from the life of Abraham and Sarah and how it applies to your own journey with Christ, let's get you back to today's message: becoming excellent stewards of our talents. Sarai was the one who came up with the idea. Did she not? She said, Tell you what, I'm gonna give you Hagar. As your wife, for the purpose of raising me a child, she pretty much made another woman a surrogate.
But made her a wife to do it. And that was her idea. I've read the book from cover to cover. There's nowhere where Abram came up with that. His wife said, Here, this is what we're going to do so that God's will can be done.
She meant well. She had to mean well. What woman do you know gonna put a younger woman in her husband's arms? That doesn't happen. I met a lot of y'all godly women.
None of y'all would ever come up with that one. You'd be like, if God's gonna do something, I'm his girl right here. Yeah. I'm the one. But that's how eager that she was to obey God.
And Abraham, like, well, okay, baby, that's what now this is. I I want you to be pleased now. I want you He didn't want that coming back on him. And sure enough. Ishmael came.
Not the child God promised. But that's in there to show you God uses people like us who make stupid decisions sometimes. Even if well-intentioned. Anyone in here ever made a I meant well, but now looking back on it, it was dumb. Anyone, any dumb folk willing to be dumb?
All right. Yo online, there's a good number of dumb folk in here. And says, Some of y'all, we can't see you, but y'all should have had your hands up, too. That's just the way life goes. God doesn't pick.
Special people to use. He picks people like us. They came up with that And it wasn't God's plan. And God waited a good long time, 13 years. They raising Ishmael in the house and all that.
You know the changes that Sarah and and Hagar by changes they went through? And all that's all that mess that wasn't God's will. And God put up with it? And said, I'm gonna use it. And so 13 years later, Abraham now show nothole.
And Sarah. Is sure enough old, and God speaks up and says, Now, are y'all ready to have the child I promised? You know Abraham like The boy is here now. Why don't you just transfer whatever your will is for my child? Transfer it on to him.
God doesn't, God is like certain airline tickets, non-transferable. I'm not going to take my will and transfer it to somebody. God is sovereign, He doesn't do that. And so he said, No, if y'all are ready. We gonna do this.
That's why, Saints, let's pass the first test because the makeup is harder. How many know God's makeup tests are harder than the original test would have been? If we had just gone on and believed him the first time, we could have done, no, now, now. 99, 89, God talking about y'all getting pregnant. And he said, Don't even bring up no other lady.
I never said anything. If I wanted Hagar, I would have said her back then. The two of y'all. are gonna bear a child. Sarah said, All right, I got you, Lord.
And although she was surprised, she's like, okay. Run down to the mall, go to Victoria, don't tell nobody. Get herself something Bring it in. All right, Abraham. This is it, Jack.
Let's go. And they got it done. Because they finally believe God. Yeah. You got to do that in your life.
If you want to give God a good return on all that you are, not just your talents, you got to say, This is who I am, but I want to do it God's way. I've made a bunch of mistakes, but I want to do it God's way. And so, if you do that, God will be pleased.
Now Then you got to move on to the next example, and I mentioned it briefly the last time. Not only did you have that, but then you had Jacob and with his tricky self. Jacob. I mean, the boy's name was Saplanter. Deceiver.
Con artists, that's what Jacob means. Get over in a minute.
Some of y'all are like that. In your natural self, not in your, when you're walking in the spirit. But how many of y'all are willing to admit when I'm not in the spirit, when I'm in my flesh? There can be some situations. That's all I'm saying.
That's us. Stop pretending. Then to be who you're not. We are folks. We have different areas of jacked up to ness.
We just do. No, neither us pretending like we're a special breed and God only calls special people. No, no. We are the kind of folks right here in the same Bible. You know the story?
He deceived his brother out of his birthright. Over stew. You know you a con man when you can make stew.
Sounds so good. That somebody is going to turn over a lifetime of blessing and provision. For it. And then later on, he and his tricky mamma Got together. And Stole the boys.
Birthright. Our blessing. He stole the birthright first, then the blessing. The blessing was what you got from your dad. Before he passed on.
And that was a unique blessing that was earmarked for the firstborn. And because Esau was the firstborn, he should have gotten it. But Jacob and his tricky mama Some of y'all just came from chickenest. Come on. You weren't the first tricky one in your family.
I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands. Down in your hearts, you know, I was not the original tricky person in my family. But God has Had a meeting with him. Based on the calling. God called you before you showed up with all of your stuff.
The calling predated your miss. The calling predated your foolishness. The calling predated everything that makes folks look at you and say, What is wrong with him or her? Your calling predated that. And That's what happened.
So God had a meeting one night. and sent a heavenly messenger. And you know the story, you've read it. Jacob said, Oh, this is my chance, and he wrestled with that. Angel?
And he said, I will not let you go till you've done something to change who I am. I made a royal mess of so much. And I need to get my act together. And the angels are like I gotta get back before they closed the gate or whatever is one of the And you know the story. He said, nope, not till you bless me.
And the angel smote him in the thigh, in the hip. And he had a limp after that. But he got his life changed. God changed them from Jacob. To Israel.
The nation of Israel is named after not a wonderful person. But a tricky dude That God got a hold of. That's the God we serve. He already knows who you are. But he's got a plan for your life.
Now Joseph the son of this man Is also in that same Line of dysfunction. And you know the story of Jacob's sons. You know the fact that here you got Joseph, who is young among these boys. And you know that he was favored by his dad.
Now that's dysfunctional family and I told you before. When I was just gonna introduce this, we shouldn't love one child better than another. That's not God's will. You love them differently based on their temperament and that sort of thing. You love them uniquely.
Certain kids need to be treated certain ways. But no one should be favored. And so he was favored, straight up favored. Here he was, this young boy. Walking around in a Versace coat.
Coat of many colors. No young boy should Be able to wear something like that. Unless he's on stage with his four brothers. Y'all get that later. I grew up in the Jackson 5 days.
And so Here he is walking around. None of the other brothers have anything like that, and they are all out in the field working. Read Gen Genesis 37 when you get a chance. They in the field and Jacob Said Go out there and check on your brothers. Are you kidding?
You're gonna send a young spoil rotten boy Who ain't working. To go out there and act like the supervisor. Dan told me, come and check on y'all. How many know in a family dynamic? That's not gonna work.
I don't care how wonderful the family is. That's not going to work. They saw him coming. They said, ah, we got him away from home from dad. Let's kill it.
First the plan was to throw him in a dry cistern. and let him starve to death. But when you are called according to purpose Like all of us are. God Make sure that the worst that would happen to us does not happen. Thanks so much for joining us for today's Destined for Victory message: becoming excellent stewards of our talents.
Let me ask you, how is your faith life going? Is it maturing and growing the way you had hoped, or has it become stagnant? In our booklet, Grown-Up Faith, you'll be challenged to move beyond any childish habits you may have formed and begin to embrace the kind of maturity that honors God and blesses your life in the process. This practical biblical guide will help you stop living on impulse and start living with greater wisdom and purpose. Again, it's called Grown Up Faith, and it's our thank you gift today for your generous donation to Destined 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 1767-457. Fremont, California, 94538.
Psalm 34:17 says that when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. If you need prayer today, our ministry team would be happy to pray for you. Use the contact feature at the top of our homepage, pastorpaul.net, and share your prayer request with us. PastorPaul.net. God called you before you showed up with all of your stuff.
The calling predated your miss. The calling predated your foolishness. The calling predated everything that makes folk look at you and say, What is wrong with him or her? Your calling predated that. That's tomorrow in our continuing Destined for Victory message: becoming excellent stewards of our talents.
But until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
