If you want to prove what God's will is, if you want to live in the center of God's will, not only must you offer your body to Him, but then you must renew your mind. If you want to change the way you live, you first have to change the way you think. You're listening to Destined for Victory, where we feature the preaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Always a pleasure to have you here with us. It's one of the most frequently asked questions in the church.
How can I know God's will for my life? Today, Pastor Paul shares his thoughts and helps you learn how to listen to the right voice. As you follow along, keep Romans 12, verse 2 in mind. Be not conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Remember, 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 podcasts. But right now, here's today's Destined for Victory message: the center of God's will. You can't please everybody.
So you still end up having to pick who you want to please. And Paul says, tell you what. Rather than worrying about which set of people you please, why don't you aim to please God? Aim to please God and then see whoever else likes it. And when you Please God.
Some folk will rejoice in that with you, and others will be upset, but the most important thing in life is to live so that one day you hear God say, well done, good and faithful servant. And so you make up in your mind you're gonna please him first through surrender. That's the upward principle. I surrender to God. How do I do that?
I surrender first by offering my body. God, I will live a life that is holy and pleasing to you. When you call it sin, I'll call it sin. When you say it's not your plan for my life, by your grace and your help, I'll stay away from it. In other words, don't try to worship God on your terms.
That's not true worship. I tell you many times, true spirituality is not a smorgasbord. Where you go and decide. Have you ever been to hometown buffet or place like that? You pay your money, and then you go in, and they have food stations all over the place.
And you just take your plate and go to exactly what you want, and you can pile up as much of what you want, and then you can ignore everything you don't want. You see one station, oh, no, I don't like anything over here. And then you go over to a place you like.
Well, some people try to walk with God like that. I want to let you know that's not true worship. You don't serve God on your terms. You can't have it your way. This is not Burger King.
When you come to him, you offer. Your body as a living sacrifice, holy. and pleasing to God. He says that's our spiritual act of worship. What's the second way I surrender to him?
Not only do I offer my body, but secondly, I renew my mind. Look at what he says in verse 2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. He says, if you want to prove what God's will is, if you want to live in the center of God's will, not only must you offer your body to him, but then you must renew your mind. I want to let you know, one of the hardest battles you must win is the battle for your mind. There are all kinds of messages.
competing for your mind. There are all kinds of philosophies, there are all kinds of thoughts that want to dominate your life. And if you will be successful in enjoying the center of God's will, you must constantly win the battle of the mind. And I want to let you know, you don't live right until you think right. You don't live right until you get away from the patterns of this world, he calls it.
And let God transform you by the renewing of your mind.
Now, I want to submit to you that the way you renew your mind is by allowing the Word of God. To dictate everything that you believe and allow you to develop right thought processes. Because the only way to live right is to think right. And so you must allow the Word of God, which is the owner's manual for living, to dictate the process of renewing your mind. There are all kinds of messages out here in the world.
How do you discern which is right and which is wrong? How do I know which thoughts are legitimate? I have to run them all by God's eternal word.
So when my thought processes say, I want to take revenge on my enemies, I'm sick of these people picking on me. I go to the Bible and the world's way is you don't get mad, get even. God's way is love your enemies and pray for them because they're in trouble with your father. And so you don't have to take vengeance. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
I will repay. And so the Bible says you actually want to love and then pray for your enemies. And when you pray for them, don't pray that God will kill them. Wrong prayer. Pray that God will save them.
That he'll change them, that he'll cause them to know that they are in dangerous territory when they mess with one of God's kids. And see, how did you learn that? You learn that because it's in your Bible. We learn how to think right according to the word of God.
Now, if you're going to do that, there's going to be some arresting that needs to take place. If you want to know what I mean by that, go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, because this is an actual battle. And Paul is going to teach us here that to win the battle of the mind, you're going to have to be willing to take some thoughts captive. You're going to have to put some thoughts under arrest. Look at what he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you. I, Paul, who am quote unquote timid when face to face with you, but quote unquote bold when away. What he's talking about is the fact that he had some enemies who were trying to cause the people in the church at Corinth to doubt Paul's spiritual authority. They were saying things like, he's not a legitimate apostle, and you all shouldn't pay any attention to anything he says. And furthermore, he's bold when he's away from you writing, but when he's with you, he's timid.
They were trying to discredit him in any way they could. And Paul says, verse 2: I beg you that when I come, I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be. Toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. There are some people who don't understand that the church doesn't operate by worldly principles. When God sets people into place, when God calls an apostle Paul, you don't get to vote on him.
God made him an apostle. God anointed him. God called him. And whether the people liked it or not, he was God's leader. And so he makes the point that some folks Don't understand that this isn't according to the standards of the world.
Now, look at verse 3. He says, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments.
And every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, watch this, and we take captive. every thought to make it obedient to Christ. That's what I want you to see. Paul said, We don't fight with carnal weapons, we fight with spiritual weapons. And what we do, those give us power to demolish strongholds.
Can I tell you that if there's a stronghold in your life that is opposed to the will of God, God has divine power to demolish it? I want to let you know. That you don't have to stay bound. If there's a bondage in your life that is against God's will, there is power to set you free. The world will tell you you can't ever get free from that kind of addiction.
No one ever gets loose from that kind of bondage. But that's a false message. The word said there's divine power to demolish any stronghold that would prevent you from enjoying God's will for your life.
So I want to let you know. Don't plan on staying bound because God intends to set you free. And in the process of making the point, he says, We have to learn. to take captive. Every thought.
That exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You have to do that on a daily basis. When a thought comes to your mind, that is opposed to the will of God, you have to put it under arrest. Pull out your spiritual handcuffs. Put it under arrest.
Take it to jail. Not God's will, and you are not going to run free and loose in my mind. The way to live right, the way to surrender to God is all for your body. But also to renew your mind.
So you have to take thoughts captive. There are all kinds of messages out here, and you have to discern which message is right and which is wrong. And every message that is exalting itself against God. And opposing his best for your life, you have to take it captive. You gotta be careful what comes into your eye gates.
And your ear gates. Don't just swallow it because you heard it or saw it. Run it. By the word of God. See if it's legitimate.
Don't go away. The rest of today's Destined for Victory message, featuring Pastor Paul Shepard, is coming right up. In John 8, 32, Jesus said that the truth could set us free. That's why Destined for Victory is here, to share timeless truth for a victorious life, and to show as best we can that Jesus Christ is exactly who He claims to be. And that's why Pastor Paul wanted Destined for Victory to continue for years to come.
You can help by sending a generous gift today. Visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. That's pastorpaul.net. Or call 855-339-5500. Let this timeless truth sink deep into your spirit today.
When you go through life's lows, Jesus Christ is still the Most High.
Now, let's listen closely to the rest of today's message: the center of God's will. May I say something to you? You gotta be careful what music you listen to. Got to be careful what music you listen.
Now, I'm a musician, love music, and I'm not one of those who says you can only listen to Christian music. Never, ever listen to anything that's not Christian. There are some believers who take that approach because they've seen the negative impact of music, certain types of music, on themselves or others.
So I respect you if you hold that position. But I am of the. Thinking that it is less about whether it is a secular song and it's more about what is the message and how are you filtering the messages that come into your life. Because there are some wonderful songs that weren't written by Christians, but they have a good message which in its context can actually bless you. There are some love songs that Married folk can enjoy.
See, songs that express love for God, that's worship. But if you're married, you worship God, but then you want to get another relationship lined up too. Right? And so, when you're trying to create intimacy and what have you in your marriage, you don't pull out praise and worship music. Are you all tracking with me here?
I mean, no, let me take it back. If that's the way y'all roll, go ahead. Far be it from me to take that from you. If the way you all express personal intimacy in your marriage is you, you know, you play praise and worship, do your thing. But for me, Luther Vandros can get it done.
And some of those old songs, see, a lot of this stuff that they're doing now, they don't have much of a message. And the world is going so quickly in the wrong direction. Notice, very few pure love songs are written anymore.
Now it's just a bunch of junk, and it's focusing more on sex than on love. And so you're hard-pressed to find a good, so you got to go back to old school. You got to go back to old school. And I got, see, I have tapes from the seventies and And what have you? I'm not giving those up because that's the last of a dying breed.
When they were still writing songs about love. And sacrificing for a person and all of that sort of thing. And so I got a stash of things that'll work. And you know, sometimes you got to convert them if they're 'cause you know, back then everything was cassette. And so you gotta convert it to C D, 'cause now it's C D.
So get the right equipment and convert it to C D so you can have a nice long lasting version of it. But you can tell the difference between something good that'll serve a godly purpose in your life and some junk. By the message. And you have to be careful because music is a powerful medium. See, God created music.
And he uses it. For his own purposes.
So the enemy came along, took God's invention of music. And said, I know what, I'll feed them junk. through music. And let me tell you something. There are some songs that you know.
that you never learned. Because music introduced it into your life. Ever found yourself singing a song you never consciously learned? Watch this one. You ever found yourself singing a song you don't even like?
Some little jingle, some little commercial jingle. Music is powerful.
So you've got to watch. What it brings into your life. You have to make sure it doesn't feed you anything you don't plan on eating. Because even back in the old school days, we couldn't just listen. I learned early as a Christian: when you buy, when you hear a song, you say, Oh, I want to get that song.
And you buy the, back then it was albums, now it's CDs. And you buy it, you can't just listen to it because chances are eight out of the ten songs are junk. The wrong message. And I had to learn as a young Christian to tape the two that I like. that which message can get by the filter of the word of God.
And I had to ignore the rest, not even play the whole thing. And I learned to compile tapes of all the songs that served a good purpose. Why? Because you got to make sure the wrong messages. are being fed into your mind.
And it's a process, a sifting process. You have to do the same thing with the messages you hear, the philosophies. We have a world full of gurus and life coaches and all of that.
Well, you gotta sift what they say according to the word of God. Don't take it just because somebody on TV said it. Check Dr. Phil out with the book. Check Oprah out with the book.
Check all of the other folk who speak into your life out. Check your professors out with the book. And listen, when you go to church, don't check your mind at the door. Check the preacher out with the book. Because you got some junk being preached from the pulpits these days.
That is not according to the word of God. And so you got to make sure that what they're saying is according to God's word. God's call on those of us who preach is to preach His word. He called us not to tell the people what we think, but to tell the people what He said. And you know why that's important?
Because in the end, It's this word that's going to judge all of us. And so you have to sift. The messages. that come into your mind. And any of them that are against the will of God.
Put them under arrest. Say no. That exalts itself against God. That militates against what God says. And I'm rejecting it.
Not only thoughts. But your mind is the realm of your mind. Where your emotions reside. And so you have to check out your feelings. According to God's plan for your life.
Sometimes you feel full of despair.
Well, you got to look at what God has to say about it. Because every now and then you'll be going through a difficult time. And you said, I just want to leave this world.
Well, You gotta check out what the word says. And the word will tell you that God began a good work in you. And he's the one that's going to bring it to pass.
So, if you're going through a tough time, the enemy may be sitting on your shoulder saying, you know what, you just need to end your own life. That's a thought that has to be put under arrest. You don't end your life. That's not God's will for you. You'll know He's through with you because He'll take you out of here.
And so, when despair comes, and it does come, we have those moments when we're full of despair. Listen, the great prophet Elijah. Had one of those low times. Anybody, you can walk with God and have low times. In fact, you have to be very careful when you had a series of highs because a low is coming.
That's what happened with Elijah. You remember that? In 1 Kings chapter 18, you see him up on Mount Carmel, calling down fire and burning up, killing all the prophets, the false prophets of Baal. Man, he was full of power. The next day.
You gotta watch what I call the day after syndrome. The next day he had such a high But the next day, Jezebel Put a contract out on him. She sent word to him. You know, normally, if you're going to put a contract out on somebody, You don't want them to know. That you plan on taking them out.
This sister was so bad. That Jezebel put out a contract and sent him word. She said, tell Elijah. that by this time tomorrow, He will be as dead as my prophets. That's a bad sister.
Now here's the point. In chapter 18, Elijah's calling down fire. God answers from heaven, proves that he's the true God, and then has all those prophets slain.
So you would have thought.
Somebody with all that power. gets this message from one woman That she plans on having him killed, you would have thought chapter 19 would have said. After Elijah got word that Jezebel was plotting to kill him, the man of God said, Oh, please. Yeah. Isn't that what you would expect to read?
Elijah said. Tell that woman she better leave me alone before she gets burnt up. You know, something like that. Read it when you get a chance. When Elijah got word.
That she was out to kill him. Brother Man took off. He ran for his life. He told his servants, stay here. He went a day's journey.
by himself found a tree sat under it and prayed that he might die. How's that for being full of faith and power? But you know what happens? Every now and then. Your emotions.
began to speak. Things to you that are not God's will. He's a prophet of God, and he's asking God. Lord. I want to go to sleep.
And I want to die. I tell you what, Lord, I'm going to go sleep right by this tree. Please don't let me wake up. If I wake up, let me wake up dead. You know, sometimes you pray for what you want, and God answers by giving you what you need.
And that's what he did with Elijah. Elijah wanted to die, but that wasn't God's will. And when you have thoughts of despair like that, you've got to put them under arrest. And he woke up and he wasn't dead. Instead, when he woke up, he saw water.
and bread. God said, I'm going to sustain you because I'm not finished with you yet. I want to tell somebody who's thinking about suicide, those thoughts aren't from God. God is not finished with your life. And you've got to arrest those thoughts.
that make you feel like your life is over. And you've got to wait on the Lord and be of good courage. and know that he will strengthen your heart. Remember the words of King David after he was delivered from a long season of despair. God will bring you up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set your feet upon a rock, making your footsteps firm.
Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory. Remember, any of our recent messages, including the one you just heard, 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, including books and video messages from Pastor Paul Shepard. It's all found at pastorpaul.net.
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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. Don't think more highly of yourself than you ought. Let's get you in proper perspective. And if you can get yourself lined up where God wants you, He can do great things with your life.
But sometimes the biggest challenge to God using you is you. And that's next time in our continuing message, The Center of God's Will. I hope you'll join us. But until then remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.
In Christ, you are destined for victory.
