Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepard. It's our pleasure to study the Word of God with you. Coming up in just a moment, we continue our journey through the book of 1 Corinthians with our message, Spiritual Quality Control. But first, our Executive Director Alicia Shepard Greer shares her thoughts about this important time of the year. I hope you're excited for summertime.
I know I am. And for all of you who, like me, have kiddos out of school, may God's grace abound to you in this season. But I do pray that it's a fun time of bonding or taking a vacation, whatever it is that you may have planned.
So I just wanted to stop by and remind you to please prayerfully keep in mind ministries like Destined for Victory during this season. Pastor Paul would always do this, and the reason for that is giving tends to drop the most during this time of year.
So I just wanted to ask you to prayerfully consider sending a special gift to Destined for Victory to help us continue airing these teachings during the often challenging summer months. And when you do, we're pleased to make available a special thank you gift in June. It's a video collection of Let My People Smile, and it's available to everyone who sends in their most generous donation of $25 or more. Thank you so much, and God bless you. Let my people smile as Pastor Paul at his very best, combining biblical wisdom with his unique style and humor.
And for the first time, we're making it available on video. You can choose from DVD format or a streaming link when you make your most generous donation of $25 or more in June. Visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. or call us at 855-339-5500. Once again, that's 855-339-5500.
Now if you prefer, you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box seventeen sixty seven, Fremont, California, nine four five three eight. Uh God can get you from where you are to where you ought to be. I know you made some mistakes. I know you messed up in some areas of your life, but God loves you in a ridiculous way. And he's going to get you from where you are to where you ought to be.
Oscar Wilde said it, God's word proves it. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. If you've ever been so preoccupied with your yesterdays that you were robbing yourself of your tomorrows, then you'll want to stay with us today for Pastor Paul Shepard's Destined for Victory message: Spiritual Quality Control. It's a great reminder that the Lord wants us to live life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror. That message starts right now.
Let's listen. Mm-hmm. When you owe multiplied millions of dollars, your next check is not going to cut it. You know why that servant in that parable asked for time? He asked for time so he could get a passport.
That's what I believe. He wants time so he can get out of town. Get yourself a disguise, sneak out of town, start a new life somewhere else. This is a bogus request, but look at this. Jesus said: instead of giving him time, the king gave him forgiveness.
Do you know that you and I are the recipients of more than time? Jesus solved our problem by giving us forgiveness. That's what the parable is all about. God has forgiven you for sins past, present, and future. Your future in Christ is secure.
It's forgiven. But now the parable goes on to say: since you've been forgiven, look at the rest of the story. This man walks out of the king's palace having just been forgiven. Multiplied millions of dollars, and he goes out looking for somebody who owes him. The literal translation is a few dollars.
A few dollars. The Bible says he's looking. This is unforgiveness. Looking for something. He's cruising the streets.
And he sees and pulls his car over, jumps out, runs over. Read it when you get a chance, grabs the man by the throat. You know you've been that angry. I know you got your big Bible, but come on, be real. You've been that angry with somebody, grab them by the throat.
He said, you Owe me twenty bucks? And you've been running from me, but I got you now, and I want my money. And the guy said, okay, just give me time.
Now, when this guy asks for time, that's not a bogus request. You'll get $20. You can borrow somebody's lawnmower, go around the neighborhood, get $20. If you live in a snow area, you can borrow a shovel and get $20. Even if you're not that industrious, you can stand in front of 7-Eleven, get $20.
You can make this happen. You know what that part of the parable means? It means when people owe us, we need. To juxtapose it against how much we owed God. Why should I get all bent out of shape?
Because you did something nasty to me. that did not Cancel my life. That did not get me off track of what God wants to do. Watch this one. Because I'm a child of God, even when you try to harm me, the Bible says no weapon formed against me.
Will ever prosper. Yeah, you tried to mess up my life, but it didn't work. Yeah, you tried to destroy my reputation, but it didn't work. And somebody would say, No, no, they did actually do me harm. They got me kicked off a job.
You got to know something. You're a citizen of the kingdom. Romans 8:28 applies to you. All things work together for good. I don't care if they got you off of one job, God's got another one in mind for you.
There isn't a human being on the face of the earth that can destroy your divine purpose. God has begun a good work in you, and there's no one so powerful that they can alter God's plan for your life. God's going to get you where He wants you to be. I've told you times before, I got that revelation when I got my first car with a navigation system in it. Oh, I'm a Navy brother all the way from here on in.
That was such a blessing, I couldn't imagine. I got it because it was, people say, get a navigation system. I said, okay, that's cool. I didn't know the joy. I had spent years following people's bogus directions.
You know how folk do. You're going to something at their house, sends you these whack directions, and you're sitting in the car reading, trying to interpret their tongues, and what have you. And you get tired of being lost enough You need a change. And when I got my first car with a navigation system in it and learned how to operate it, oh, it blew my mind. The thing just said, what is your destination?
And you punch it in. Here's the address I need to get to. Never been there in my life. I hope y'all know where it is. Punch it in.
I'll never forget the first time I had that experience and put it in, and then it said, you know, something like start guidance or whatever, and you push that button. And it said calculating. Right. Your root. I said, thank you.
And then a lady. Spoke to me in the car. Oh, it was wonderful. She said, proceed to the next light and turn right. I said, all right, sister.
Went there, turn right. Watch this one. Watch this one. She didn't tell me anything new till I had done what she told me in the first place. I'm trying to tell you, God's not going to give you more direction until you follow Him right where you are.
She said, turn right. Once she saw I turned right, because you know it's a global positioning system, so they knew when I was going right. And then she gave me the next instruction and put you on the freeway and tell you which exit to get off and tell you where to go. Oh, it was wonderful. And then I had an even greater joy.
One day I was so busy listening to my music. I had it up. Meredith was not in the car. I got two levels of music: Meredith level and my level. Hallelujah.
When I'm in there by myself, all bets are off. I love music. I love to not only hear my music, I love to feel my music. And I was in there jamming, having myself a good time, and the lady would speak up, you know, over the music and tell me where to go. But at this point, I was so enjoying the music until I didn't pay attention to what she told me.
And I shot past a place where she told me to make a turn. You and I have had that experience, whether we did it ourselves or whether an enemy got us off track in some way. But watch God's navigation system for your life. God's Romans 8:28 navigation system. When you go past, when you don't obey, when you're off course, God's not finished with you yet.
And I realized, oh my goodness, I'm not where that lady told me. And I looked down at the screen, and it said, recalculating. I looked down, and the system was saying, now we've told him where to go.
Now where in the world he called himself going? I know they were doing all that fussing behind the scenes, but in the midst of that, they were recalculating. And the next thing I know, she came back on and she said, turn left. In other words, we see where you are, you're not where you're supposed to be, but we can get you from where you are to where you ought to be. Oh, I feel like shouting.
God can get you from where you are to where you ought to be. I know you made some mistakes. I know you messed up in some areas of your life, but God loves you in a ridiculous way, and He's going to get you from where you are to where you ought to be. And I want to tell you that we can't afford to be worldly. We've got too much of a calling on our lives.
God's got too much He wants to do through you. He's got big plans for your life. And when we are worldly, we're missing out on God's best. You got to understand when you let the devil talk you into having worldly values, you're missing God's best.
Now the enemy has a way of flipping it. He has a way of making you think that his plan is the best. And he's been doing that for a long time. He started that back in the garden. God had told Adam and Eve, have the run of the garden, enjoy yourself.
I've provided so much for you. He said, Now here's a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the midst of the garden. I want you to leave this one alone.
So, what does Satan do? Satan comes along and gets them to ignore all of God's provision and blessings. And to focus on what God said to leave alone. And if you would pay attention, you'll see that the enemy is doing the same thing in your life. There's so much God's blessed you with.
He's blessed you with salvation and life and joy and peace. The ability to eat the fruit of the Spirit and cultivate it in your life. The ability to live a purpose-driven life and bless others. He's given you the ability to prosper, work hard, and he'll bless the work of your hands.
So much God has blessed you to do. But no, the devil's got you looking at something God said to leave alone. And he talked to Eve. And so let's talk about this tree that God is keeping you from. See, you don't want to serve a God who's trying to hold you back.
Who won't let you do what you want to do? You don't want to serve a restrictive God. In fact, the reason why He wants to keep you from this tree is because He knows that the day you eat of it, you will become like Him. You will have knowledge and power and sovereignty. Satan is a liar.
And Eve saw the appeal. Worldliness has a lot to do with us following things that have appeal but don't have divine purpose. And Eve saw the appeal, saw that the fruit was good. We call it an apple. The Bible didn't call it an apple.
That's right. Said fruit. We don't know what was on the tree, but whatever it was, it looked good. And Eve said, I think I want some. And she ate it, and then the Bible says, and she took it and gave to her husband who was with her.
I don't believe in beating up on Eve because Eve had a silent husband standing right there who should have interceded, who should have said, No, baby, this is not God's plan. Let's go another way. In case you joined us late, you're listening to Destined for Victory, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepard. Stay with us the second half of today's message is coming right up. One of the things we love to do for friends and listeners like you is to pray for you when you're in need.
So if you do have a prayer request, please visit pastorpaul. net and use the contact feature to share it with us. Our ministry team is always happy to lift you up in prayer. And of course, when you stop by our website, remember that's where you can listen to the broadcast on demand at your convenience, pastorpaul.net.
Now, attention, all men. God has called you to be the spiritual leader in your home. And in case you've forgotten, God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
Now let's get you back to the rest of today's message: Spiritual Quality Control. I'm calling some men to stop being in the spiritual background and get in the foreground and let God use you in your family. Calling some men out of the lazy chair. Let any old devil walk up in your house and do whatever they want. And you just hear the doorbell ringing.
Go on and get that, baby. And she at the door, honey, it's the devil. Go on, let him in, whatever it is. Oh, look at Kobe. Lord have mercy.
Watching sports and instead of interceding and making sure that the enemy doesn't have an inroad in your house. There's a time for everything, but there's a time for you to bear down. That was the time Adam's macho should have kicked in. That's the time Adam should have stepped up. You know, brothers, we had that little macho thing that kicks in.
Make sure it kicks in at the right time. You see the enemy trying to make mockery of your family? That's the time to jump up in there. When he saw Eve being enticed by the enemy, he should have stepped up and said, Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I got this, baby.
You just hold on, hold on. Just take that strong arm and just gently guide her behind you. I'm standing between you and the devil. I got this.
Now look here, man, anything you got to say, I'm your man. What up. Do we have a problem here? Is there a failure to communicate? Do we need to step outside?
What exactly is the problem? See if Adam had done that. Eve, uh, you know, sis sisters or something, they like all they sing all these independent songs, but when they see a man step up and be a man of God. May step up and see a man. Be a man for God.
I don't care how independent they are and all singing Destiny Child and all that stuff. When they see a brother step up and handle his spiritual business. She be back there behind you, smirking. Look at him. Let me tell you something.
It's about fulfilling divine purpose. Paul said, no need of dividing over preachers because all of our goal is to make sure that God is fulfilling his purpose through us.
Now, I want to let you know, God wants to fulfill His purpose in your life. You can't afford to be worldly. And then he wraps up the passage by saying that God is at work in us. He said, I built a foundation. When he came and established a church in Corinth, he likened it to laying a foundation of Jesus Christ in that city.
He said, I laid the foundation and now others are coming and building on the foundation. But watch this, he says, but you gotta be mindful of what materials you use when you build.
Some folk aren't fulfilling God's task and purpose. They're doing what's easy. They're doing what's convenient rather than what's right. He said that's like building with poor quality material. You ever seen a cheaply built house?
You ever driven in a cheaply built car? A lemon Come on. There's a difference between quality and lack of quality. And as it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. God wants you to have a quality control to your walk with God.
And the reason why is, he says in this passage, because one day it's going to be tested by God's fire of judgment. On that great day, everything we did in our lives is going to be put through the fire of God's judgment. And he says, You want to have built your life on God's purpose. Your foundation is Jesus Christ. The things you're doing are in God's order so that you're building with quality spiritual material.
He said, because when it gets tested by the fire Everything that is solid will remain. Everything that was cheap will be burned up. And that's why I want to tell you, that's why God's letting you go through some of what you're going through now. Because he is producing spiritual quality control. He wants you to see now what's going on in your life.
So he'll let you go through certain trials. To show you what you're made of. You ever say, God, why are you putting me through this? He's not doing it to destroy you, He's doing it to evaluate you.
So that you can see my life is not yet in order. I can't handle certain things that God wants me to handle. I can't take criticism yet. I can't deal with the enemy yet. I've got to learn how to be the person God wants me to be.
See, we're the blessed me generation, but I've told you before, God wants to do more than bless you. He wants to build quality into your life. And so you're just not going to be blessed. I know you're picking out all the blessing scriptures in the Bible, but you can't skip over the ones that talk about the trying of your faith. God is trying the faith of his people.
He will test you. He won't just bless you. He'll put you in the furnace first. And you want to be blessed, but God said, I'm going to do something else. And God will make sure that you are boiled, broiled, fried, stewed, roasted, baked, burned, barbecued, blackened, sautéed, and smoked.
God will take you through the furnace. He will cause some things to happen in your life where you say, God, are you finished yet? He'll say, no, not yet. I'm still doing something. Because he wants to get you just right so he can serve you up to the world.
So that when you go on your job, you have an anointing with you. You have the power of one who has been tried in the fire. You don't get shaken by this little baby stuff. You don't deal in petty details. Because you're spiritually mature, God can give you a tough task and you'll get it done.
Spiritual quality control. I want to let you know, God is trying to raise the level of our walk with Him.
So that we don't practice things like division. We don't deal in things that are not God's purpose for us. We don't get sidetracked by the enemy's little sideshows. We stay the course and say, God, not my will, but thine be done. I only want what you want for me.
I don't want a relationship you don't want from me, Lord. Did y'all hear that? I don't want a relationship you don't want for me, Lord. I don't care how good they look. If it's not you, I don't want it.
Oh, yes, my flesh is attracted. There's appeal, but I can resist it in Jesus' name because I know that I only want what God wants for me. God will make you like Joseph. Potiphar's wife around there trying to get his attention. You know that woman was fine.
You know, men of power have always had those pretty trophy wives on their arm. Sister Potiphar was bad. And young Joseph was single, he was a slave, he had been betrayed by his family, he's in a foreign country, the stage is set. For him to fall into temptation. But he knew that he was a young man of purpose.
He knew that this is no time for me to fall for the devil's tricks because God is taking me somewhere. And he told that woman when she said, Come on, go to bed with me, he said, I can't do it. My God is watching me. Your husband might not catch us, but God is watching me every day. And I want to be in the position where he, when he's ready, when he has tried me, I want to come forth as gold.
We're so glad you stopped by for today's Destined for Victory message: Spiritual Quality Control. To find out more about Destined for Victory's mission and purpose, or about the special gift reserved for you when you give generously today, please come see us at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. If you look at the men that raised you or the men you've seen, then your following that pattern assumes that that pattern is worth following. And the reality is that's not the way to accomplish a goal, to just follow the other folk who say they're going there.
The way to reach a destination is to find the one who set the destination and to find out from him, how do I get from where I am to where you have ordained me to be? That's next time in our message Fatherhood by the Book. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
