In preparation, you're focused on acquiring knowledge and wisdom. In the sowing season, you're focused on developing discipline and faithfulness. Every Christian life has four stages or seasons: a season of preparing, a season of sowing, and a season of waiting, and finally a season of reaping. Hello, and thanks for stopping by for today's Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. In our last message, you heard about the season of preparing, a time where you can listen and learn so that you'll be ready to do the work that comes later.
Today we come to stage two, the season of sewing. This is where we roll up our sleeves and get to work, operating in the gifts God has given us and using them for His glory. Remember to come see us at pastorpaul.net to listen to Destined for Victory on Demand. That's pastorpaul.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast at Apple Podcasts, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcast.
But right now, here's today's Destined for Victory message: There's a reason for every season. Let's start in Matthew chapter 4. And look with me at verses twelve and seventeen. When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He returned to Galilee. Verse 17.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach, repent. For the kingdom of heaven. is near. From that time on, He began to preach. The kingdom of heaven is near.
John chapter 2, verse 1. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and all of 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. Verse 1 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 yet going up to this feast.
Because for me, The right time has not yet come. Having said this, He stayed. in Galilee. You can tell by these passages that I'm Talking about time. In the plan of God and Tymeen.
In the plan of God. These verses serve to help us understand that Jesus. Lived his life. not only purposefully But he lived his life with a very keen sense of God's timing. His life.
And I want to suggest, and am suggesting in this series, that if we want to truly follow Christ. Then we must follow his example and be familiar with the times in which we live and the seasons of God. In our lives, we have talked about the fact that time is a most valuable commodity. It's the second most important gift God gives us, second only to salvation. And we have explored that.
We've also talked about the fact that God gives us seasons to organize the use of our time. And so, seasons are not just the four seasons in nature, but there are seasons in all of our lives. And God takes us through seasons because. He wants to help us accomplish everything he has given us to do. And you need to know how seasons operate so that you can experience God's plan for your life.
So, I want you to know that when it comes to seasons, you need to recognize them, appreciate them, and maximize them. And if you don't learn to do the right thing according to the right season, you won't get the right results in your life. These passages are an example. Jesus said in one time, he said, It's not time for me to go up to the feast. I've got to wait until it is the right time.
You can do the right thing at the wrong time and miss God's plan for your life. And so we've got to learn to navigate the seasons of our lives. The Holy Spirit, the Word of God, will give us the keys, but we have to learn to appreciate and to recognize and to maximize seasons.
Now, I've talked about four principles that govern the law of the harvest. Let me just mention them to you. The first is. You reap if you sow. We're talking here when you're talking about seasons, you're talking about the law of the harvest: sowing and reaping.
You reap if you sow. If you don't sow, you shouldn't expect a harvest. Secondly, you reap what you sow. Be careful. How you sow because you're going to reap the same thing.
Number three, you reap after you sow. You reap after you sow. No sudden success. There is sowing, and then later on, there is reaping. And finally, you reap more than you sow.
You reap more than you sow.
Now, currently, and I want to pick it up here, we are looking at the stages. Of the seasons God takes us through. There are four stages that have to do with your seasons. There is a stage of preparing. In every area of your life, there are some things for which you have to prepare.
Then secondly, there is a season of sowing. Number three, there is a season, you don't like this one, of waiting. And then finally, there is the season of reaping.
Now, let's review preparing and then I want to move into sowing. When it comes to preparing, Jesus knew that his life was predicated on following God's timing.
So you see Jesus in his season of preparing, In Luke chapter 2, the Bible says he spent 30 years doing four basic things. Jesus increased in wisdom. In stature, in favor with God. And man. That's what he did in his season of preparing.
Jesus spent 30 years preparing for a ministry that would only take three years to fulfill. That shows you how important preparation is for any good work God's doing in your life.
Now, the reason why I have to teach this is because we are part of a generation that wants sudden success. We want God to just bless us overnight. Not you, but somebody on your row. Wants an overnight blessing, overnight manifestation of God's purposes in your life. Let me tell you something.
God is sovereign, and every now and then He blesses people in some sudden supernatural way overnight. But that's not His MO. God's MO is He'll let you go through a season like Jesus went through where you take years preparing for what is coming. And Jesus took 30 years preparing for a three-year ministry.
Some of us don't want to take three years to prepare for 30 years.
So we have to learn to honor the season of preparing. And I left off in the last message talking about when you see a skyscraper about to go up, they don't start building up, they start down. They'll put a fence around that area, and the next thing you know, heavy equipment is coming in and they start going down. They start digging down, they start excavating, they start blowing through the concrete and everything that is there and digging, and it is rough stuff. Yeah.
It's not impressive. You don't go to a construction site and admire the excavation. But in a matter of months, in a matter depending on how long it's going to take or a couple of years for a superstructure, a couple of years later, everyone will be standing from afar admiring this skyscraper. But in the first stage, the preparation stage, there's nothing impressive. It's just a lot of dirt.
I'm here to tell you, some of you got dirt in your life right now. The Holy Spirit is digging and He is excavating and He is working on your stuff. You come to church and get hit upside your head with the word. You get into your secret closet, and your Bible reading is convicting you, and calling stuff out of you, and dealing with your issues, and dealing with your junk, making Jack or Jackie come out of the box. And I'm here to tell you, you don't feel like it, but your season of preparing is a blessed season.
Because until all of that gets dug out and a foundation gets laid. You will not see the blessings of the Lord in your life. You got to honor your season of preparation. The season of preparation is marked by listening, learning, and being led.
Now, you've got to get good at listening, learning, and being led. During your season of preparing, and this is for any area of your life. If you want to get your finances in order, you got to listen to folk who know how to help you get them there. You want to grow spiritually, you got to get with folk and listen to them as they teach you the things of God. You want to build relationships, you want to do whatever it is that God is calling you to do.
There is a season of preparing where you let people speak into your life. Jesus was a carpenter by trade, and he was listening to his father as he taught him the trade. And he was just learning and growing, the Bible says, in wisdom, in stature, in favor with God and with man. Preparation season, wonderful season. Then there is the sowing season.
Now a sowing season In preparation, you're focused on acquiring knowledge and wisdom. In the sowing season, you're focused on developing discipline and faithfulness. Mm-hmm. discipline and faithfulness. Don't go away.
The rest of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard, is coming right up. Jesus said that if we followed His teaching, we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. That's why Destined for Victory is here and why we're committed to continuing the ministry that Pastor Paul started over a decade ago. You can help make that happen and be a great blessing in seeing to it that we finish the year financially strong. Visit our website, pastorpaul.net, to make a safe and secure donation online.
That's pastorpaul.net. or call 855-339-5500. In the kingdom of God, sometimes the way up is down. Joseph learned that lesson at the tender age of 17.
Now, let's get you back to the rest of Pastor Paul's Destined for Victory message. There's a reason for every season. When you are in your sowing season in some area of your life, You've done some preparation, you've been learning, you've been listening, you're being led. And then you have to begin to execute, you have to begin to practice. And in that season, God teaches you.
By developing within you discipline and faithfulness. When Joseph in the Old Testament Was preparing for God's plan for his life. You know, by his dreams in Genesis 37, you know that the plan of God was for Joseph to one day. Be in a place of prominence.
So much so that his family would be bowing to him. That's the dream. In fact, he had two dreams in Genesis 37. And those dreams showed him that one day he'd be in prominence.
Now, Joseph was a young, spoiled brat. When he got the dreams. And he was unwise, so unwise that he told his brothers. One day y'all gonna be bowing to me. I saw it two times.
One day you're going to be bowing to me. And in the second dream, mom and pop were bowing to me too.
Now how many know that's not a smart thing? When here you are, the young upstart. And you're telling your older brothers that one day you're going to be in charge of everybody. But it was a dream from God. But here's the thing.
What's the first thing that happened substantially after the dream?
Next thing you know, the boy is in a pit. I told you you start down before you go up. How's that for starting down? His brothers one day plotted on him and said, You know, we are sick of this little spoiled boy walking around with this coat of many colors. We are out here working hard, and he walking around with his coat.
You know, he wasn't doing any work with that coat on. The Bible says his father loved him above his other sons. Dysfunctional family. Dysfunctional families are all through the Bible. Your family didn't create that.
It beat y'all here. You ought to be encouraged by that. Thank God. They said, We're sick of him. Tell you what, let's throw him in the pit, leave him for dead.
Threw him in a pit.
Sometimes God's at work in your life. But you're what in the world am I doing down here? Let me tell you something. There is no pit that will prevent the will of God from taking place in your life. And so, what God did was, the pit wasn't God's plan.
That was his brother's plan.
So, God, being who He is, providentially set up something. Bible says Romans 8:28, all things work together for good when you love God and are called according to his purpose.
So, what happens? God said, No, no, he can't fulfill my plan in the pit.
So he sends along.
Some merchants. And one of his brothers looks up and says, You know what? Better idea. Rather than to leave him for dead and have his blood on our hands, let's take him out of here and sell him. All we want to do is get rid of him.
We don't want him dead.
Well, the truth was, God didn't want him dead.
So they pull him out of the pit, they sell him. And the next thing you know, he is a slave in Egypt. a different country altogether. Brothers thinks they're rid of him. But God is not through with him yet.
I'm here to tell somebody whose enemies are plotting on you. God is not through with you yet. He is taking you through some seasons. I want to show you his sowing season. He starts out in Egypt as a slave in the house of a man named Potiphar.
Potiphar was one of Pharaoh's chief officials. He was a big shot in Egypt. He starts out as a slave in Potiphar's house. You who have big dreams and big aspirations, and God is up to something big in your life, don't be surprised when you start out working for somebody else. Don't be surprised that we don't put you in charge of the ministry from day one.
Don't be surprised. You might come over from somewhere else, you got all this rich experience and all of that, and you think you're going to not necessarily. Because sometimes you have to watch a person and prove them. And the best way to prove someone is to prove them by allowing them to develop discipline and faithfulness in a new environment. This is good, you just don't know it.
So he couldn't show up in Egypt and say, well, you know, I'm used to wearing the finest of clothes, and I'm used to folk taking care of me. You're in Egypt now, brother. And you're a slave, you are property, you're not even considered a citizen. And he had this boy who didn't have much of a work ethic in Canaan, in his father's house, because his daddy spoiled him. had to develop A discipline and a work ethic and a faithfulness that he never knew.
God will shake up your circumstances to teach you some valuable lessons. And some of you right now are in a season of sowing and you don't know what to do. That's why the Lord sent you to hear this message. It's time for you to go to work. The season of sowing is characterized by a lot of work, a lot of diligence, taking something small and being faithful over it.
Let me give you the biblical principle. I'm going to leave you with the word. If you don't like this, you're going to have to fuss with the Bible. Luke chapter 16. Verses 10 through 12.
We'll give you a biblical context from the mouth of Jesus. Luke 16, beginning with verse 10. Whoever can be trusted with very little, Can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little. will also be dishonest With much.
Paul's right there. There's the principle. Jesus said. See, folk who have big aspirations, you see God doing something significant in some area of your life, you gotta understand there's a plan. God says, be faithful over what you have.
God looks at what you do with what you have. And he says It becomes known what you will do in the future with more by what you do right now. A lot of folks say, as soon as my ship comes in. I'm going to do this or that. The only indication that that's true is what are you doing right now?
You won't be liberal later in your giving if you're not liberal now in your little. It won't happen. You won't serve people. You won't love people. You won't treat people better when your circumstances change than you treat them right now.
And so, this principle is powerful. Whoever can be trusted with little can be trusted with much. Look at verse 11. If you have not been trustworthy, in handling worldly wealth Who will trust you with true riches, spiritual wealth? And if you've not been trustworthy with someone else's property, Who will give you property of your own?
The sowing season is when you prove That you can develop discipline and faithfulness.
So here's Joseph. A slave who didn't have a work ethic until he's thrown into the situation, now he's got to develop one. God can use circumstances to grow you, to mature you.
Some of you are going through hell right now because hell is what's needed for the next level of growth in your life. And so God is graciously allowing it to happen. It doesn't feel like it is producing anything good, but hear me when I tell you: if you are going through hell, go through it right. Go through it right. Because I tell you what, if you don't go through it right, you're going to find some more down the road.
I don't know about you. I don't want to go through new, unnecessary seasons of hell. I go through the mandatory ones 'cause I don't have a choice. But if you are faithful and disciplined and focused and learn the lessons in this season, you won't have to repeat it. And so Joseph has to learn the work ethic.
Circumstances will teach you. That's why the New Testament, by the way, you can read some of those verses and you say, Man, they were cold. For instance, Paul, when he wrote the church in Thessalonica, at one point he said, Listen, I hear there are people showing up at y'all's fellowship meetings just to eat. Apostle Paul said it right in your Bible. He said, Listen, y'all operate by the same rule that I gave you when I was there.
Whoever won't work, don't let them eat. You read that and say, man, that's cold-blooded. No, Paul was trying to help people understand that you've got to develop discipline. In order to get where God's taking you. And he said, as long as the saints are just feeding them and they just show up talking about praise the Lord.
He said they'll never grow and they'll never produce what God wants out of their lives.
Now, he's talking about people who had ample opportunity to do things and just chose to live on the goodness of others. He's not talking about, you know, there was a genuine challenge, and these days you face a lot of unemployment where people are doing all they can to find that next job and what have you. If you're in that season, don't feel guilty. You believe God and trust Him, He will supply your need. But I'm talking about not the needy.
I'm talking about the greedy. And that's what the Apostle Paul was talking about. And he said, that's why I put that rule in place. If folks will not be faithful and use the opportunities God puts in front of them, do not reward them. Because a season of sowing is meant to develop disciplined And faithfulness.
So, what did Joseph do? He had to learn how to work, and he got good at it. He learned to work so well that the Bible says the Lord was with Joseph. And he prospered the house of Potiphar for Joseph's sake. Do you know God will bless your job for your sake?
It doesn't have to be a Christian job. Potiphar's was certainly not a Christian house. God will bless your job, your department. For your sake. Isn't that good news?
I know some of y'all are not sure you want your department blessed. But I'm just giving you the principle. From the word. And whatsoever you do, do your work heartily as unto the Lord, and not for men. That's Colossians 3:23, and you've been listening to Destin for Victory.
We're so glad you stopped by for today's message on the life of Joseph. Remember, any of our recent messages, including the one you heard just now, are available on demand at our website, pastorpaul.net. And while you're there, be sure to check out our online store for some great resources to help you grow in your Christian faith. There, there are books and video messages from Pastor Paul, and it's all found at pastorpaul.net. And we have a very special resource to share with you today, something that is close to all of our hearts at Destined for Victory.
During the final year of his life, just before being called home to be with the Lord, Pastor Paul preached an excellent series on stewardship, one that we've aired right here on Destin for Victory, as a matter of fact. But right now we've put it together in a hardcover book, and we'd love for you to have your very own copy as our way of saying thanks for your best year-end gift of $25 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. It's yours today when you make your best gift of $25 or more to Destined for Victory.
You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That's eight five five three three nine fifty five hundred or 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. Do you need prayer today? If so, you're invited to use the contact feature at the top of our homepage, pastorpaul.net, and share your request with us.
Our ministry team is always happy to join you in prayer. That's pastorpaul.net. God's not going to bless you suddenly all the time.
Sometimes he's going to mature you through a season of waiting. You are looking forward to your next season, but he'll say, maintain your focus and your faithfulness now and wait on the Lord. That's tomorrow in our continuing message, there's a reason for every season. Until then, we want you to keep this promise in mind. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory.
