In order to become true followers of Christ, we must value time And we must learn to recognize, appreciate, and maximize seasons that God takes us through. It flies, it heals, it waits for no man. Let's talk about time on today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. Hello, and thanks for stopping by.
Well, we all want to mimic Christ in our day-to-day lives. The question is, how? And when it comes to the way Jesus lived, One of the things we seldom talk about is how wise he was in the area of time management. In fact, the Apostle John tells us that in just three days, Jesus did more than an entire world full of books could record. Stay with us now for a powerful message about the time of your life.
Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today's. That's pastorpaul.net.
Now, let's listen closely to Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message. There's a reason for every season. Matthew chapter 4 Verse 12 says this when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison He returned to Galilee, verse seventeen. From that time on, Jesus began to preach. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.
From that time, from the time he heard, that John the Baptist had been Thrown in prison. From that time, the scripture says, He began to preach, repent. For the kingdom of heaven is near. Verses one through four. On the third day, a wedding took place.
At Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples. had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. Dear woman, Why do you involve me?
Jesus replied, My time has not yet come. My time has not yet come. John chapter 7. Beginning with verse one. After this, Jesus went around in Galilee.
Purposely Staying away From Judea Because the Jews There were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish feast of tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, You ought to leave here. And go to Judea so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself.
to the world. For even his own brothers did not believe in him. Therefore Jesus told them. The right time for me has not yet come. For you.
Any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify. That what it does is evil. You go to the feast. I am not going up to this feast.
Because for me, The right time has not yet come. Having said this, He stayed. in Galilee. You probably picked up by these three passages that I want to talk about. The importance of time and timing.
In the life of Jesus. And of course In our lives as well. Jesus serves, we know, as a wonderful example. Recently, We looked at the Theme of following Jesus and spend several messages looking at what it means in practical terms to follow Jesus. Jesus.
And as we kind of continue to think along those terms of becoming fully devoted followers of Christ, I want us to notice. How Jesus moved and operated. With a keen sense of time and timeliness. Jesus didn't take any of his time for granted. But he knew that in order to accomplish God's purpose for him.
He had to value time. And he had to be precise about timing in his life. And what I want to suggest is that that is true for your life. And for mine. In order to become true followers of Christ, We must value Time And we must learn to recognize, appreciate, and maximize Seasons that God takes us through.
Let me just open this up for us to begin to kind of think through it. Jesus valued time. You see by these three passages, and I just selected these, but there are many ways in which you see the movements of Christ on earth. You see him very keenly aware of time and timing. I could have referenced John chapter 11.
Where you remember his great friend Lazarus was sick. And his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus and said, Your boy is sick. The one you love is sick. Your homie is sick. And the Bible says Jesus got the message.
But instead of rushing to Lazarus' side, he stayed where he was. And when his disciples asked about it, he said, No. We're going to stay a while because Lazarus is sleeping. And his disciples said, Okay, well, if he's sleeping, he must be getting better.
Okay, good. But the reality is, Jesus said, no, we're going to stay here because according to God's plan, he's not just to be sick, he is to be dead. He's not just to be dead, he is to be days dead. Before I show up, Jesus knew. That this was not the time for him.
To go. I want you to know that if you're going to be a follower of Jesus, you've got to learn to value time. Time is important. Time, I often say, is the second most important gift God has given to us. Second only to salvation.
The reason why salvation is more important than any other gift is because salvation is the one gift that transcends time. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, when you accept what He did on the cross as sufficient for your atonement of your sins to bring you into right relationship with God, the moment you receive that gift of salvation, you are set both for time and for eternity when it comes to right standing with God. And so, when you accept the gift of salvation, you are literally set for life and you are set for eternity. You can live another hundred years and be good. You can die the next moment and be good.
Because salvation transcends time. A gentleman got saved in our service years ago. On New Year's Eve. Got saved in a watch night service, and four days later, he was dead. But the moment that man gave his life to Christ, and his girlfriend's testimony was, for four days he was a new man.
And he died in a traffic accident. Got saved on a Sunday night, died that Thursday. And she said he was a new man, but the moment he died, he entered the presence of the Lord where he is now and where he will be for all eternity, because salvation is the greatest gift. If you are here and you're not saved, you need to get saved right now. I'm going to give an altar call at the end of the service, but tell you the truth, you can just come on up now.
and get saved because you want to be set for life and for eternity. You want to be good to go. You want to know that whether I live or die. I belong to the Lord. And so, anytime between now and altercall, just come on and say, Lord, thank you for that deal.
That's a pretty good deal. You want to swap my death for your life, my sin for your righteousness, my guilt for your justification? That's a good deal, I accept. And the Lord will change your life. Forever.
But apart from salvation, the best gift you have is time. Time's more important than your money. I said time's more important than your money. You know why? Because money comes and goes.
For some of us it is gone more than it has come. Money comes and goes. You can make a lot of money, you can lose a lot of money, you can make a little money, you can lose a little money, but if you have time. You always can recover. from your financial shortfalls.
You can make it again. I know people who have been up and down and come back up because they had time to do it. It's more important than your money. Time is more important than anything else in your life. It is the second most important gift there is.
You know why? Because you can replace stuff. But you can't replace time. You can replace stuff. You can get your stuff back.
You can have tragedy where you lose your stuff. I mean, of course, some things are irreplaceable. When people have an unfortunate fire or something, and some of their keepsakes are gone, and you know, their pictures and that sort of thing, they say, Oh, you know, my picture history is gone forever, but at least you have the memories. You know what happened. There is an extent to which you can recover from anything, and especially when you walk with God, there is the ability to begin again in Christ.
We can make it if we have time. Don't go away, we have more of today's Destined for Victory message coming up next. We want to thank all of you who already have made a special year and gift to help us conclude 2025 in a financially strong position. Your gifts help us keep this media ministry going. And if you'd like to join us in our mission to take the gospel to all corners of the globe, please consider making a safe and secure donation at our website, pastorpaul.net.
Now, when you make your most generous donation of $25 or more, we have a special gift reserved for you. Find out more at pastorpaul.net or give us a call at 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500. Money can't buy you love, it can't buy you time either.
Now, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message. There's a reason for every season. Time is the one Gift. The one commodity You can't buy more of. Can't get any more time.
You got your time set and you can't get any more time. We talk about redeeming the time. There's a scripture that talks about redeeming the time. All that means is make the best use of the time you have left. It doesn't mean you are literally buying back time.
Because you can't buy back time. Once it's gone, It is gone. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let me help you. You who sometimes say things like your killing time, don't say that anymore. You have no time to kill.
All of your time is important.
Now, that's not to suggest you have to be active and you have to be, you know, doing something, even in the plan of God, even when you are chilling. That is proper use if you're chilling at the right time for the right reasons. That's not wasting time. When I am recreating, when I am vacationing, because from what God has me doing day to day, I am not wasting time. Because we need to replenish ourselves.
Somebody needs that word right there.
Some of you have not used your time properly because you haven't taken enough downtime. Downtime in the plan of God is not wasted time. Downtime is necessary.
Now that assumes you're doing something. To get down from. Come on, let me help somebody here now. This isn't the word for lazy folk. That's my word.
No, no, this isn't the word for lazy folk, folk who aren't doing anything, who just get up about 11, 11:30, get something to eat, turn on the television, what have you, read the paper, go out, get the paper, read the paper, lay on the couch through the afternoon, wait for some other folk to come in from their job, and then eat dinner and then watch some stuff on it. No, no, you don't need a vacation, you need a life. Bless your heart. You need a life. You ought to be doing something.
You ought to be about your father's business. Even if you're in a family situation where you don't have to earn the bread, you can go out and volunteer. You can get involved in your church as a volunteer. You can go out and help some nonprofits. You can work with the poor.
There's all kinds of things that God wants you to do. Ephesians 2:10, remember, don't just get hung up on 8 and 9. We evangelical Christians love 8 and 9. Ephesians 2:8, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Wonderful. But you need to memorize verse 10 too. It says, For we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. to do good works.
Which God prepared in advance for us to do. Meaning God knew what he wanted out of you before you ever showed up on the planet. And he's given you the investment of his time and his gifts. and his calling on your life and he wants a return on his investment.
So, if you're not out there in the worker day world, you have a circumstance where you don't have to make money, other folk are taking care of the bills, you still have work. to do where the kingdom is concerned. See, don't judge work by a paycheck.
Some of the most important work done is volunteering.
Some of the most important work done is getting out, helping people, meeting people, serving the needs of people. A check is not an indication of whether or not you work. When I first entered full-time ministry, as an associate pastor, I was sitting in my office one day, and one of the men of the church came in and saw me. He said, Now, do you have a job or are you in ministry? And he didn't understand at that very time, I was working 14 and 15 hours days regularly.
As an associate pastor, Because my senior pastor was my dad. He wanted to prove to the church that I wasn't getting preferential treatment.
So the man worked me to death. And God told me, take it because I'm teaching you through it. And years of learning how to serve. God told me to be his Joseph to his Potiphar. To make it so that he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do.
And I sought to run that church so well and to organize it and work with the volunteers and work with the staff and all of that. My goal was to make it so all he had to do was show up to whatever meeting he felt like coming to and just stay home and pray and get ready to preach. And I was working my tongue out, but it was by God's plan. Listen, work and paycheck are two different things.
Some of us work and get paid.
Some of us work and our pay is coming from the Lord himself. And I'm here to tell you. That your time is valuable. You ought to be about a good work.
So that when you take a vacation, you have something to vacate from. But don't be fooled, downtime. Is ordered of the Lord when you're doing a good work. I don't have guilt when I take vacation. No guilt whatsoever.
Don't you think y'all be doing something? No. Because what I'm doing is something. This is chilling out. This is having fun.
When I finally had to take that sabbatical and went away for three months, pastors are still asking me, I don't believe you left the church for three months. I said, I don't believe it took me so long to leave the church for three months. I had gone years before I did that. Over 16 years pastoring this church and seven years as an associate pastor before that, without taking a sabbatical, just vacation time here and there. And I don't believe it took me so long.
I'm now trying to help some of them understand that you can do it. If it's God's church, it'll be there when you get back. And I went and came back refreshed and ready to get at it again. And let me tell you something. You ought to be doing a good work.
Value your time. Your time is a gift that you cannot replace. When it's gone, it's gone. And that's why we want to value our time. Jesus teaches us by His life.
He moved with a sense of understanding the importance of time and timing. We see in these verses that I read that Jesus knew when it was time to begin to do something, and when his time had not yet. Come to do something. He valued time and he valued timing. When you talk about timing, you're talking about seasons.
I've named this short series, There's a Reason for Every Season. There's a reason for every season. I want to let you know that God gives us time as a gift, and then He leads us through seasons. And your seasons are designed to help you organize the use of your time so that you can do the will of God. My goal is to help you appreciate, first of all, to recognize, then to appreciate, and then to maximize the seasons of God in your life.
Because you've got to remember, you are called according to divine purpose. When you get saved, God is the one at work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. God has started something in you. God started something when He saved you. That wasn't the end-all, that was the beginning.
He put you in the starting blocks to use track and field terminology. And that was when you were first beginning to run your race.
Now that you're off and running, you have to discern the seasons of God in your life. Jesus moved according to seasons. Luke chapter 2, verse 52, you'll find these words. And Jesus increased. In wisdom, In stature, In favor with God.
And man.
Now, look at that carefully. The Bible says. Jesus increased.
Now, what season of his life was this? When you look at Luke 2, you are looking at Jesus as a young man before his public ministry has been launched. In fact, and Luke chapter 2. Just before verse 52, that tells you what happens over the next 18 years, you're looking at a 12-year-old Jesus. A preteen But keenly aware of time.
Let me show you what I mean. Go with me to Luke chapter 2. God is going to Speak to somebody about this because you are in a place in your life right now where if you don't understand the importance of seasons, you will miss. The season you're in right now is designed to do. And you know what happens when you miss your season?
You end up having to go back through some things. That you shouldn't have had to go back through. Because that season was designed to accomplish a certain purpose. And the saying goes: if we don't learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat it.
So what about you? Do you find yourself having to learn lessons now that you should have learned years ago? Do you have any underlying guilt or regret as a result?
Well, if you are going through anything in life right now, regret from the past mistakes, or something new that has you feeling worried or anxious, our ministry team would like to pray for you. Please stop by Pastor Paul. net as soon as you can and use the contact feature at the top of the home page to share your prayer request with us. That's an open invitation every day, all year round. And we have a very special resource to share with you today, something that is close to all of our hearts at Destin for Victory.
During the final year of his life, just before being called home to be with the Lord, Pastor Paul Shepherd preached an excellent series on stewardship. One that we've aired right here on Destined for Victory. But now we've put it together as a hardcover book, and we'd love for you to have your very own copy as our thank you for your best gift of twenty-five dollars or more today. The book is called Becoming an Excellent Steward, and inside those pages, Pastor Paul walks you through what it means to manage every area of your life in a way that brings honor and glory to Jesus Christ. That's Becoming an Excellent Steward, available in hardcover form, and it's yours today when you give your best gift of $25 or more 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. And as always, you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California, 94538. As helpful as it is to know who you are and where you are, it's also important to know when you are.
Here's Pastor Paul. Timing. Timing is everything in the plan of God. And some of us right now are in a season where we have to discern. Where we are and what God wants out of this season.
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. That's next time in our continuing message: there's a reason for every season. But until then remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
