Taking Down Our Idols (cont'd)

Hello and welcome to this Wednesday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Today Pastor Paul shares his message, Taking Down Our Idols.

But before we get started, he's joined me from his studio in California. But the truth of the matter is that all of us have an obligation to share with those around us the hope that is within us. And I know you want to encourage those listening today to take advantage of the opportunities right in front of us.

Absolutely. I believe that these are days when we must all see ourselves as sharers of the good news. The evangelists are called and gifted to lead the body of Christ in evangelism. But we all are given the great commission, which is to go into the world. And we need to ask the Lord, help me to identify my world, my sphere of influence, and help me to be bold enough to share simply the good news.

I don't have to be an enlightened apologist necessarily, although it's good to learn how to be more effective when it comes to sharing our faith. But the one thing no one can take from you is your testimony of God's faithfulness and God's redeeming power in your life. So I want to encourage every believer listening to pray that God will help you, energize you, empower you to be an evangelist in your own sphere of influence. And that simply means letting people know who Christ is and what he's done in your life.

Thanks, Pastor Paul. I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in John 9, verse 4. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.

The night is coming when no man can work. You know, there's a growing number of people who not only need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, they want to hear it. And you can help by sharing that good news with those in your sphere of influence. But another great way to do that is through your prayers and financial support of Destined for Victory. As our way of saying thanks for your generous donation today, we'd like to send you a booklet called little is much when God is in it. Written by Pastor Paul, this is a great reminder that God can use you to impact those around you, and he can do it despite what you lack. That's little is much when God is in it. Our gift to you today by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone 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. The Bible says worship God, love people, use things. But some of us practice idolatry, and we end up worshiping things. We end up using people. Sometimes we end up even using God. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The question is, where's your treasure? Maybe it's your job. Maybe it's your husband or wife. Maybe it's the opera, your favorite sports team. Well, today on Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul Shepherd offers a word of caution.

Whatever it is that captures your interest, make sure it doesn't capture your heart. Stay with us now or visit pastorpaul.net to hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also download and subscribe to the program at Google Podcasts or wherever you get yours. Now from the book of Galatians, here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, taking down our idols. God has called us. Brothers, it's time for us to step up.

Time for us to step up and be the men God's called us to be. He should have stepped in there and let the devil know what was up. Instead, he's standing there, watch her head this whole conversation, just listen to him back and forth.

He's standing there. And then she takes, she sees it's good. She takes from the tree. He says nothing. She eats.

And then she said, oh, honey, this is good. Try some of this. Okay. What up with that? Our practices must be consistent with the Word and the will of God. Number two, our passions. Our passions must be brought into conformity to the Word and will of God. Now with our practices, we tend to ask the wrong questions of what do I think about it?

What do others think about it? When our passions are in play, we tend to ask the question, how do I feel about it? See, with passions you're dealing with the realm of the soul, the emotions, the psyche, the realm of feelings. And if you don't bring your passions, your feelings into conformity to the will of God, they will run you crazy. I came to tell somebody that our feelings, God made us soulish beings, your psyche, your emotions can play a wonderful role in your life, can give your life range and perspective, but you cannot be dictated to by your passions.

You must bring them into conformity to the will of God. Because all of us have learned by now, hopefully, that if you let them, they will drive you right outside of God's will. The world says silly things like if it feels good, do it.

Are you kidding me? Do you know how much trouble you can get into doing everything you feel like doing? Your feelings can't dictate your actions, your feelings will run you into a world of trouble if it feels good doing. Do you know there are days when your passions are running in the angry area and the mad angry and you're sick of people and all that and just try doing what you feel on those days.

There are days if you do what you feel like doing, you will end up not just in jail, you'll end up in solitary confinement. You can't be governed by your passions, your emotions, your feelings. You can't choose the people in your life by how you feel. Feelings are a nice feature of your life, but they're a horrible foundation.

They're not to be the foundation upon which we build our lives and the way we deal with other people. And we love romanticizing all the wrong things. I just felt, I don't know, it just happened. I just fell in love. Oh, you didn't fall into something as profound as love? Love is too profound for you to fall into it. That was lust, that was infatuation, that was something else.

It wasn't love, but we romanticized it. I looked across a crowded room. And although there were dozens of people in the room, when my eyes lit upon you, it was as though we were the only individuals. Everything else faded to gray and I just saw you. As my eyes gazed upon you, I knew that somehow I was beholding the person who would one day spend the rest of my life with me. No, you didn't know that. You saw somebody, they looked kind of good. You don't even know who that is. You don't know their name, don't know whether they paid their bills, don't know whether they were raised like they had some sense.

You don't know anything about talking about you fell in love from across the room. Your passions cannot lead. They must follow. Here's what the Bible says. You want to be in the will of God and you want to destroy the idol of your personal passions? You can't ask the question, how do I feel about it? Because your feelings will take you in the wrong direction. You have songs that say, how can this be wrong when it feels so right?

Here's the answer, easy. It's easy for it to be wrong when it feels right. The Bible says there is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. How can it be wrong if it feels right?

Easy. God said it's wrong is wrong. That it feels right, you have to take your feelings and bring them into conformity to the will of God. You have to say, yeah, this is how you feel, but here's what God said about it.

So we're going God's way. And you've got to bring them into conformity or else they will drive you right outside of the will of God. And you can get so quickly out of God's will based on your feelings, you never know what hits you. Your felt needs. Well, see, I just have some felt needs in my life and this will take care of it.

No, God shall supply all of our needs once we're living in faith and obedience. So we have to bring, we have to bring our feelings into conformity to the will of God. And really, when you think about it, you're used to living that way, you just don't realize it. You're used to not letting your passions control you, but you dictate where they are to go.

In fact, you dictate what they are. That's why the Bible says in Colossians chapter 3, set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. The Bible says you decide that heavenly things are more important than earthly things. That God's will is more important than anything else in your life. That you set that and he called it affections.

He said you make that the object of your affection. Doing the will of God, loving God, pleasing God becomes the affection of my life. I love to love God. I love to do God's will.

That's what Paul called us to do in the word of God. Set your affection on things above. And when you think about it, you're used to setting your affections on things. Why do you like the sports teams you like? Because one day you decided, that's my team.

It's no more spooky than that. Love for that team didn't just pounce upon you. I couldn't help myself. I just loved them. I just had to run out and buy season tickets. I just love them.

I don't know what happened. No, you decided one day, that's my team. It could be based on the hometown or it's my alma mater or whatever it is. I like to color their uniform, whatever it is. One day you said, that's my team.

You set your affection and then your passion followed. You know my philosophy. I don't do a single team. I have a portfolio of teams. I diversify my portfolio because I want to have somebody to root for throughout the season. So that's the way I roll. Some people say, Pastor, you are so disloyal to your teams.

No, I ride with them as far as they will take me. I grew up in Philly, so I'm always with the Eagles at the start of any NFL season. That starts out one of the teams in my portfolio by virtue of having rooted for them throughout the years of living in Philly.

So I start out with them. I came to California in 89. About eight years later, the first 49er joined our church. I think it was 97 when the first 49er joined our church. Since then, a few have joined along the way and what have you. And so I added the 49ers in the 90s to my portfolio. And so I go with them. They're always in there and I go with them as far as they will take me.

Sometimes the 49ers in the church come to me and say, Pastor, you need to be more loyal to us. I say, I'm with you, dog. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm rooting every weekend. I'm praying. God help them.

Bless them, anoint them. I ride with you all as far as you will take me, but there are some seasons you all don't take me too far. It's not my fault I'm doing my job. I'm praying for you all. I'm supporting you. I don't fool with the team on the other side of the bay. Just so you understand my portfolio, they are not in my portfolio. I have a few other teams in there. They are not in there.

But it's not my fault. None of them have joined the church. Now, I realize in this church we have some folks who roll with them. They show up in church with their silver and black. They show up in here and they ride with them through thick and thin. I mean, those folks stick with them. They got that ride or die philosophy.

They die more than they ride, but they still go on. If you love them so much, tell them about the church. Soon as they show up, a couple of them get saved. Come and bring them down. Meet me. This is Pastor Paul.

Introduce you. Once I know he's silver and black, I'll pray about putting them in my portfolio. But right now I don't have anything to pray about. They're just on their own.

But I have different ones in my portfolio, because I want somebody to root for all the way up to the end. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepard. Listen to the broadcasts on demand at PastorPaul.net.

That's PastorPaul.net, where you'll find a host of great resources at our online store. Now here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, taking down our idols. We set our affections on the things we decide. So the Bible says, set your passions, your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Our priorities, our priorities must be consistent with God's word and his will. The Bible gives us our priorities. The Bible says worship God, love people, use things. But some of us practice idolatry, and we end up worshiping things.

We end up using people. Sometimes we end up even using God, trying to get him to go along with a life that is mis-prioritized. I want to suggest to you that that's idol worship. I want to suggest to you that we've got to stick with the biblical order. God alone deserves our worship.

He is the one to whom we give deference in all things. Then we ought to love people. You can't hate people. You don't have the option to hate people and be in the will of God. It's amazing how many Christians want the right to hate anybody they feel like hating, want the right to mistreat people and somehow stay right with God. The Bible is too clear. We ought to do good to those who are not doing good to us.

Why? Because they don't dictate or determine what's going to happen in our lives. Your haters are just your elevators. So you don't have to get bent all out of shape because all they can do is bring forth the will of God in your life. If God be for us, who can be against us? And so you can't mistreat people because God says no. You can't misalign your relationship with things, with money or the things money can buy and be in the will of God.

God says no. The Bible says what is it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? You have to prioritize spiritual things above the money and things money can buy.

You're going to be in the will of God. The Bible says a man's life does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses. So the Bible says you cannot make a living without making a life.

And a whole lot of people spend all of their time worshiping at the shrine of more. I need more money. I need bigger promotion. I need a better career path.

I need more. I'm climbing the ladder of success and they haven't even stopped to realize that's not a ladder that God created. That's a ladder created by greed and selfish desire. Oh God will bless you. God will bless you even financially and materially.

He's proven it down through the generations. He will bless you. God can bless the work of your hands and the work of your mind in tremendous ways. But first he insists that we know that things are only to be used and not worshiped. So the Bible calls us you got to get your life in order. You can't think stuff is more important than it is.

You never saw a U-Haul follow a hearse. You're going to check out of here one day and you can't take any of that stuff with you. And so the Bible calls us to get our priorities in order. Worship him. Love people. It's about people. I know folks who have spent all their life, everybody in the house trying to make a living and make a lot of money. And then they can't stand each other.

Don't even have a Godly relationship. And in a home that is very well appointed because you've got a lot of money and you spend it appointing a house. But how many know in the words of that great theologian Luther, a house is not a home. And I've seen people spend all their time earning enough money where they can buy a fabulous house. But in the house nobody can stand each other. In fact I've seen them spend half their time accumulating the stuff so they can buy the house and then once they fall out with each other they spend the rest of their time fighting over the stuff in the house.

Why? Because our lives are out of order. We are mis-prioritized. Our priorities have become an idol because they militate against the will of God.

And so we've got to get them in biblical order. And finally our partnerships. Partnerships must be consistent with the word and will of God. Here's the question to ask about every relationship in your life. Is this relationship in its current form pleasing to God? Is this relationship in its current form pleasing to God? What you will do as you examine all of your relationships is you will find some of them are definitely not pleasing to God. His word is spoken too clearly by precept and principle against them.

Which means it either has to change drastically or it has to be discarded altogether. Some of us have people in our lives. There's no other way to say it.

They got to go. Now let me be real clear. I'm not talking about your spouse.

Got to be real clear because I've learned over the years folk can do some funny things with my quotes. I don't need anybody running up out of here. Talking about woo that was my word. That was my word. Go running up in the house to somebody who didn't come to church. I got a word today. The Lord spoke through Pastor Paul and said you got to go. I'm telling you right now don't bust up in your house talking about I said.

Have somebody come down here looking for me. Now I'm talking about your spouse. But some of us know there are some relationships that are so outside of God's will. People who have an ungodly influence and take us away from the will of God. And there's no need of deceiving yourself into saying I can get this straight in some cases you got to go. Jesus said in one occasion if your right hand offends you cut it off. You got to make some drastic decisions to be in the will of God sometimes. And you got to say no to those things that will drag you out of the will of God and the Bible is clear bad company corrupts good character. You can't run with the wrong folk and get the right results in your life. I can look at your crowd and determine what's going on in your life because your crowd determines your course. And so some of us have some people they just got to go. That's just the bottom line.

In the words of that great theologian Kenny Rogers. You got to know when to hold them. Know when to fold them.

Know when to walk away. And in some cases some of us got to run. And get away from those things those people those influences that have become idols taking us away from the will of God. Anything in our lives that God frowns on has got to go.

Why? Because you cannot make war with Midian until you make peace with God. You cannot be successful and victorious in your walk with God until every idol has been taken down. Every practice every passion every partnership every priority is lined up with the will of God. God says I'm going to give you victory but I will not compete with false gods.

I will not compete with idols. You must identify them. Notice Gideon was called to tear down an altar he didn't even build. It was his father's altar. But you got to get to the place where you say if my father goes wrong my mother does wrong. If my husband or wife is not in the will of God and my children go astray from what they've been taught.

Lord I'm going to do your will. Now a lot of people pick on Gideon because he tore it down at night. He didn't have the courage to do it in the daytime. He figured I didn't even build this altar.

What would they do to me if they see me in the daytime? So he waited for night. Don't pick on him at least he tore it down. Gideon said God didn't tell me what time to tear this down. He just told me to do it. I picked the time.

I decided to do it on the graveyard shift. But he tore it down. You and I are called to identify our idols and take them down. It's the only way the will of God will be done in our lives. Thanks so much for joining us for today's message, Taking Down Our Idols. If you'd like more information about the Destined for Victory ministry or if you need prayer, be sure to stop by our website pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net. Do you know why God is calling us to take authority in our lives if we're going to move forward into the things he has for us? It's because there are forces gathering against us. If you are serious about doing the will of God in your life, there are forces that are gathering against you as we speak. That's next time when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, Taking Authority Over Our Enemies. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.