Taking Only What God Gives Us, Part 2 (cont'd)

Hello, and welcome to this Monday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California.

Thanks for making this part of your day. Now, we're just moments away from today's message, taking only what God gives us, but right now, Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California. And Pastor, in just a few short days now, we'll be coming up on a presidential election. We're not going to tell people who they should vote for, but would you share some words of wisdom for those listening about how we should exercise our right to vote?

Yeah, I'm happy to do that. I think the key truths to following Jesus are reminding ourselves that elections don't change what we're called to do and how we're called to live. Here's one of the things I think we need to keep in mind. You know, I grew up on the old hymns of the church. I grew up in a church where we sang gospel and had fun songs.

We sang hymns and anthems a lot. And so, I love the hymn, and I'm thinking about it now in answer to your question. My hope is built on nothing less but Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

And come January 20th of next year, whether you're happy about who's being sworn in that day or whether for you it's a day of sackcloth and ashes, the fact of the matter is I think you need to make sure that your hope lies firmly and solely in Jesus Christ. It can never be in the White House. It can never be in a party. It can never be in Congress. It can't even be in the decisions made in the Supreme Court. It has to remain in Christ.

All other ground is sinking sand. And I think if our listeners put their hope in Jesus Christ, then we will continue looking to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. It reminds me of Psalm 20, verse 7, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Thanks for sharing your heart with us today, Pastor Paul. Great words of wisdom. Some of us have people in our lives who are good, so we see or assess. But it's not God's plan. Every good idea is not a God idea. Every good person is not a God person.

Every potentially good partnership is not a God partnership. Any good military strategist knows the difference between a good plan and a bad one. But what about a good plan versus a God plan? As we read about some of the noteworthy battles in the Old Testament, one thing is clear. Most of God's battle plans would be rejected by every general who ever led men into war. It would have been true at the Battle of Jericho, and it would have been true when Israel went to war with the Midianites under the leadership of Gideon. Now, here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, taking only what God gives us.

All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. Look at what happens when this doubt and unbelief infects the assembly. They first assemble to hear this report. If the reporters had come back with a strong word of faith, we certainly can go, let's do it.

Then faith would have spread. But they come back saying, well, you can't go over there. And even when Caleb tries to give a contradictory report, the negative folk come right back behind him and reiterate their negative feelings. The result is the people cry, weep aloud, oh my goodness, we gonna die. Now, these are folk who have seen God part a Red Sea.

Come on, somebody. These are folk who have seen the work of God. They saw the plagues of Egypt. They saw God humiliate and then harden Pharaoh time and again. He would humiliate him, then he would harden him so that Pharaoh would resist so he could break him down again.

Then he'd harden him so he could break him down again. Why was God doing that? To show his people.

There is no enemy that can stand up against my purpose. And he hardened him time and time again so that he could show himself mighty on behalf of his people. Now, anytime you are where you are in the wilderness, because God made a highway in the middle of a sea that ought to cure you of doubt and unbelief for the rest of your days. You are some men you ought to say, well, the same God, if God was that interested in getting us away from Egypt, that he worked such a miracle, then obviously that same God knows very well who lives in the land that he promised to give us.

So if he can take care of Pharaoh in Egypt, I suppose he can take care of giants and walled cities. That's what you ought to say. But when you have the wrong folk in your inner circle, you can have seen the glory of God. And now you fooling around talking about we gonna die in this wilderness.

You better get rid of those folk. Deuteronomy 20. When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots, and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them. Because the Lord your God who brought you up out of Egypt will be with you. Why shouldn't you be afraid of what you're facing in your life right now?

Because the Lord's with you. See, it's not because it doesn't exist. Unemployment does exist at alarmingly high rates right now. You know, economic downturn has impacted a lot of people, a lot of situations.

That's the reality on the natural side. But God said through Moses, don't be afraid. Why? Because the Lord, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt will be with you. He says, when you go about into battle, the priest will come forward to dress the army.

Here's what the priest will tell him, hero Israel, today, you're going into battle against your enemies. Do not be faint hearted or afraid. Do not be terrified. Don't give way to panic.

Why? For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. Then the officers shall say, now if you built a new house, haven't dedicated it, go on home. Look at that, another sifting.

Before Gideon, another sifting. Go on home. Otherwise you might die in battle somebody else dedicate your house. Has anybody planted a vineyard? Hasn't had a chance to enjoy it? Go on home.

So you make sure to enjoy your little vineyard. Has anybody been pledged to a woman and not married her? You engaged? Been living right? Looking forward to celebrations?

Y'all missed that. Been living right? Been hanging on?

Believing God? Oh Lord. I heard one Christian comedian. He was a virgin at the time. He said, he said, I've been holding on. I'm believing God.

I'm virtuous by God's grace. He said, but I'm telling all of y'all soon as I meet the woman God is ordained for my life. I'm a tell her, baby, you don't even need to go out and buy one of these expensive Vera Wang dresses and all that.

We going to get some with Velcro where I can tear it right off. Let me get back to my message. Y'all messing it up. He said, if you're pleased to be married, haven't had a chance to get married yet, go on home. Then look at verse eight. Then the officer shall add, if anybody's afraid or faint hearted, tell them to go on home. You can't have fearful people with you when you're in the fight of your life. You can't do it.

I'm prophesying. You can't do it. Get rid of them. Push them out to the outer circles of your life. I'm not saying you'll never have to speak to them again, but your inner circle, the people you roll with, the people you're believing God with, the people who are standing with you in the faith fights of your life can not be people who don't know how to believe God. Now back to judges seven.

That was the first sifting. Get rid of all the faint hearted people. Let them go voluntarily.

Honorable discharges. Now he's left with 10,000 judges seven left with 10,000 verse four. God says, still too many folks. Take them down to the water and I will sift them there. He says, if I say, God says, if I say to you Gideon, this one shall go.

Put them to one side. If I say, this one shall not go. He said, he can't go. I don't care what he looks like.

Can't go. But, but, but he said, I don't care what he said. God said, if I say, somebody better hear this. God said, if I say he can't go, don't let him go.

Looks like a potential mate to me God. I know this isn't legal money. I know this is under the table, but the IRS in our pockets too much as it is God. I don't think we should worry about whether they would approve. God said, if I say you can't do it that way, then you can't. Some of us have people in our lives who are good. So we see or assess, but it's not God's plan. Every good idea is not a God idea. Every good person is not a God person. Every potentially good partnership is not a God partnership. This is a season in your life says the Lord, where if I say this one shall go, put them to one side.

That's what you're going to work with. God says, but if I say this one shall not go, which means you got to listen to God in this season. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepard. Remember, you can always listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net, where you'll find a host of great resources at our online store.

You can also download the podcast at Google podcasts or wherever you get yours. Well, it's a good idea to seek wise counsel from a pastor, a spouse or a close friend, but not at the expense of something God has told you himself. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, taking only what God gives us. It's not about what you think.

It's about what he said. You can't be a Samuel standing there looking at all of Jesse's sons, assessing them from a natural point of view. Well, he looks big and strong. This one looked like, oh yeah, this one looked like, yeah, he looked like the next king of Israel. I could see this one being the king.

I can picture the crown on his head right now. As Jesse's boys came by Samuel, the Lord said, not him, not him. Another big strong one come by, not him. Next thing you know, Samuel standing there and all he heard God say repeatedly was no. Finally, Samuel said, you have any more boys? Cause Jesse wasn't even thinking about David.

When your own daddy don't even see you as a candidate. Samuel said, you got any more? I know this is where God sent me. Jesse said, well, I've got my youngest, but I mean, he's out there in the field with the sheep. Samuel said, I'm going to stand right here. I won't even take a seat until he's in front of me. Go call David.

Somebody run to the pastor. Eventually David shows up, a little staff in his hand, a little ruddy boy. The Bible says just a lad stands in front of the prophet. God said, that's him. Doesn't look like much, but that's him. You can't see a whole lot of potential, but that's him. God said, Samuel, get out your horn of oil and pour it on that boy.

That's the next King of Israel. And along the way he told Samuel, he said, I don't see things the way y'all do. God said, man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart.

You know why I can hang just fine in this new season? Cause all through the journey of restoration, all through the journey of renewal, all through the journey of being examined by godly people and walking with them through this whole process, all listening to God, I have heard God say, don't look at it from your perspective. There's a whole lot of people who are doing natural assessments of things. They don't know what they're talking about. God said, I want you to stay focused on me and listen to me.

Who cares what other folks say, who cares what they think. This is a season to listen to me. I know the plans I have for you. Plans to do your good and not harm plans to give you a hope and a future. This doesn't look great, but God says I'm up to something. This isn't very impressive, but God says I'm up to something. You wouldn't bet on this, but God says I'm up to something. Oh, it's time for somebody to make up in your mind that you're going to stop listening to folk who don't know what they're talking about about your life.

You've got to decide if God is for me, who can be against me. This is the time where you can't just be hung up on folk telling you what they think. This isn't a what you think season.

You know, generally speaking in our lives, you know, folks say things off the wall, don't know what they're talking about. We say, okay, I hear you. This is a season where don't even bother hearing them. This is a season where don't even bother, you cut them off in the middle of a sentence if you have to. I don't have time for this conversation. Oh, I'm telling you what I'm doing in this season. Sometimes I don't even let them get through it because on this where the faith fight is, I got to listen to him. He's telling me who to take and who to leave.

He's telling me this one rolls with you. This one done, but they said don't let do what they said. The first sifting was voluntary. Tell him if they're scared, they can go.

The second sifting is mandatory. Some of you are in a place right now where God is in a mandatory fashion, removing props, removing comfort zones, removing people who don't know what they're talking about, but they won't stop talking and God's just removing. You got to understand God's will is not only general. The Bible gives us God's general will. The 66 books of the Bible gives us God's general will for our lives. Once you rightly divide the word of truth, you have contained in the scriptures God's general will for your life.

But the reason why God gave you more than the Bible, he gave you the Holy Spirit is because the spirit without ever contradicting the truth of scripture will take the general principles and apply them in specific ways to your life and you need both. Acts 13, the teachers and prophets in Antioch are praying, fasting, seeking the Lord's direction. How is this church going to spread? The Holy Spirit speaks up, perhaps through a word of prophecy through one of them. Holy Spirit says, separate Paul and Barnabas for the work where unto I've called them. You've got to discern who's called. If you draw closer to God, I promise you, if you draw closer to God, submit every area of your life, submit your money to him, submit your relationships to him, submit your habits to him, submit your practices, be kingdom first, seek first the kingdom of God.

I promise you the Holy Spirit will start talking to you about the details of your life. Other day we had trouble with one of our vehicles and went online to see where to take it. And I saw a prominent place that fixes that kind of problem. And I called him and the guy said, yeah, bring it in tomorrow. You have to leave it. And I said, okay, I'll be there. And then for some reason I kept looking and I saw this little place, a little bit farther away than the big prominent place.

But it jumped out. I said, let me call this guy. Called him, phone rang forever. Not all that fancy, got employees and folk in offices and dial three for this and five for that.

None of that. Just rang, had the ring till he could get back to the phone from up underneath a car somewhere. He got on, I said, told him the problem. He said, oh, run it on by.

Let's take a look at it. He said, all right. And went there instead of the big place and had to wait on him. He's doing some other stuff. I'm still standing there. I said, oh, take your time. I'm good.

I'm good. Finally came over, popped the hood, looks in. He said, oh, here's your problem. He said, all right, try it now.

Try it. Perfect. He said, yeah. And he explained to me what it was, what have you. He said, all right, all right. I said, okay, good. Grab my wallet. He said, no, no, no, put your money away. I'm not used to putting my money away. I'm used to folks saying, all right.

This way I make my living. He's no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Put your money away. Just few minutes. Don't know me from Adam. Wasn't a pastor Paul hookup. Just no, no. You're good. That's your hold.

You're fine. If you have another problem, give me a call. Drove off the other place where I'd had to leave it. They could have put that thing on a rack, saw the same problem that could be fixed in 30 seconds and call me back. Well, see, it's your, uh, decalculator and your forebulator and your, and you know, I wouldn't have known the difference and I'd have been like, okay, well how much is it going to take to take the all?

Oh, this is a $725. You understand what I'm saying? Listen to the Holy Spirit. He's got a lot to say to you about the everyday details of your life. Some things are good things, but other things are God things. This is a season where you want God people, you want God assignments, you want God relationships, you want God directives and I don't care that it boils you down and you feel like, God, I don't have anything. How you reduce me from 32,000 to 300.

What are you doing? God is saying, I'm setting you up and it doesn't feel good, but when I get through, next message is the last message in the series and we're going to see what God can do with the little pitiful, meager, but called 300 in your life. As you seek to follow the Lord's will for your life, be wary of all the good ideas that come your way. Seek God's plan, seek God's will and follow it no matter how scary it seems. It's the only way you'll find true and lasting victory. You know, Jesus told us to love others as we love ourselves.

That's the second greatest commandment and there's no better way to obey that commandment than by sharing with others the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we continue to walk together through a season of uncertainty, people are looking for answers, which makes now a great time to partner with Destined for Victory. As our way of saying thanks for your partnership, we'll send you a few thank you gifts, including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, the best of Let My People Smile. Call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner and make your pledge over the phone or mail your gift, letting us know you wish to become our partner.

The address is Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. You can also become our partner from our website, pastorpaul.net. Now if you can't become a Destined for Victory partner but would like to make a generous donation today, we'd love to send you Pastor Paul's booklet, Little is Much When God is in It.

If you've ever felt like what you have, whether money or talent, is too insufficient to be of any real use, this booklet was written with you in mind. It's a great reminder that God can take the limited and do the legendary. That's Little is Much When God is in It, our gift to you by request for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. The reason why the devil has picked on you for as long as he has in your life is because you haven't gotten it yet. You don't know who you are. You are a child of God. You are a joint heir with Jesus, meaning whatever Jesus has, he won that victory for you. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, taking on our new identity. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.