It's a Wonderful Life, Part 3

See, everybody loves a vision, but when you have a vision, you're seeing the end. What you don't see is what you're going to have to go through between here and the fulfillment of the vision. And that's what messes a whole lot of people up. Hello and thanks for being here for this Monday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Always glad to have you with us. Well, if you've seen the movie It's a Wonderful Life, you know how the story ends.

It's a happy ending, but it took a lot of pain and misery to get there. Real life works the same way, which is why we need to have genuine faith in God to get us through. We also need something else, and Pastor Paul shares that with us next. Stay right here or download the podcast on demand at pastorpaul.net, at Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And stay tuned after the message when Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California. But first, here is Pastor Paul Shepherd with today's Destined for Victory message, It's a Wonderful Life. I want to tell you everything that God wants to do in your life. Don't bother trying to figure it out or understand it. Just go with the revelation.

Just go with God being God and let Him show you how great and how powerful He is. But notice, she went to Elizabeth's house. Notice where she didn't go. She didn't go to Joseph's house. She is engaged to be married to Joseph. Joseph is a young man, a young man of integrity, and all of that, he has not touched her sexually.

They have done right as a couple and all of that. But she doesn't hear from Gabriel and go to Joe's house. Some of you all are not going to advance to God's purpose for your life until you stop talking to the Joes in your life. Some of you all are always waiting to get Joe to figure this out, to Joe to understand it, to Joe to co-sign it.

Imagine that conversation. She goes to Joe's house right after hearing from Gabriel, doesn't go to another woman who's pregnant with purpose. She goes to Joe who has no revelation whatsoever. All he knows he want to marry her. He put a ring on it. That's all Joe knows. He put a ring on it.

So imagine her had she gone to his house and said, not sure how to tell you this, but here goes. There's two things you need to know. Number one, I'm pregnant. Number two, God did it.

How does that go exactly? Does that make any sense to anybody? You can't give a spiritual revelation to a person who doesn't have that from heaven. Joe would have been like, no, she didn't tip out on me as good as I've been to that girl. You see that ring I put on her finger?

I'm bringing it up to modern time so y'all can understand. I put a ring on it. I did right by her. No, she didn't go out here and do that. She was going to hear that later anyway.

So she knew not to go to him first. When you are pregnant with divine purpose, you go somewhere and get built up in the things of God first before you have to come back and deal with the realities of your world. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? If you go straight to the realities and haven't been built up in purpose, you got a problem.

You got to find folk who know how to walk by faith. Elizabeth has been on this journey six months. She can relate to some stuff. In fact, she can help you with the things you're about to experience. So when Mary begins to experience morning sickness, for instance, let's say she experienced some of that very early on, weeks into the pregnancy, Elizabeth can walk her through that.

Girl, I know what that's like. And she could have said, morning pregnant, I don't know if it's this divine pregnancy thing, but it's worse when it's divine. You know, whatever she would have had to talk about, they both know we're dealing with a God thing. So you got to talk to folk who know the language of faith and who know the journey of faith and know that when you have a word from God and an end result from God, you got to have faith to go through the process to get to the end. See, everybody loves a vision, but when you have a vision, you're seeing the end. What you don't see is what you're going to have to go through between here and the fulfillment of the vision. And that's what messes a whole lot of people up. They see the great vision, but when they begin walking the journey, they said, nobody told me about these trials and tribulations and nobody told me how mad folk were going to be and nobody told me how broke I was going to be and nobody told me how impossible this was going to look.

And no, you got to have folk who know the journey of faith. So she goes to her cousin and cousin can talk to her about some things. Mary's not showing physically, but she's being built up spiritually. Now she's going to stay there three months. And the fact of the matter is she won't leave until she is showing, but she right now not showing can talk to somebody who is showing six months pregnant with John the Baptist. She's already gotten the revelation from God.

In fact, did you notice she called her on the spot? She hasn't heard from Mary about the encounter with Gabriel, but because of the Holy Spirit's revelation, did you see what she said? She said, but why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Mary didn't tell her she was the mother of the Lord, but by revelation, she said the Holy Ghost just said, you're going to bear the son of God. And I don't see how I got favored to be able to have this personal time with you. This is showing us that when you talk to the right people, when no one else understands folk who have walked the walk of faith will not only understand, but they will be able to build you up and strengthen you on the journey you're about to take. So you who have something in your heart that God wants you to do, you're not sure how you're going to pull it off. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. You don't have a lot of the questions answered in your mind and your heart. Don't worry about any of that.

Just make sure you get with the right company. Some of you need to examine your inner circle. Now, I'm not telling you to kick people out of your life necessarily, although a few of you probably have a few folk that just need to go.

Let's just start there. If you're going to get somewhere in life and you're fooling with people who are going nowhere, who are proudly going nowhere, have you met the kind I'm talking about? People who not only aren't going anywhere, they are very happy and very content that they're going nowhere and they're wondering why you think you're supposed to go somewhere. You ever met these people? These are professional bums, professional. You know you got some in your extended family, extended family, not in your household, not in your house, but in your family.

In fact, there's some here in the service, probably on your road. There's somebody who is a professional bum, ain't going nowhere, don't plan to go anywhere, life is good. What's the problem? What's all the fuss? So what?

I got a cell phone and no job. So what? So what?

I got designer clothes that I didn't pay for. Fact of the matter is there are some people who are proud to be going nowhere. Then there's some other folk who are going somewhere, but all of their dreams are things they themselves control. In fact, they won't let the Lord lead them outside of their sphere of control. There are some people who can only do the predictable, only do that that has been well thought through and has been planned and I know how I'm going to get from here to there. Fact of the matter is when God gets in your business, sometimes he's going to tell you to do something that on no level makes any sense, but if it's God, he alone can get you from where you are to where you're supposed to be.

Thus, let me introduce the last point and I'll pick it up the next time. She stays with her until Elizabeth is ready to give birth. So when she gets to Elizabeth's house, she's six months pregnant with John the Baptist. By the time Mary leaves, she's nine months. She's about to deliver. Elizabeth is and Mary now is three months which means she is showing.

Everybody get that? So Elizabeth is about to deliver and Mary now has that little pot. She's three months and she's got to go back home.

When she left home, she had a flat stomach. Now, three months later, she got the little pot. When she get back, everybody going to know.

Everybody. When she get back, everybody going to know. See, when God first speaks to you, you have to tell folk what's going to happen, but given enough time and enough on the journey of faith and after a while, people will tell you what's happening. And so that's the time we're at now. Three months after this visitation, she is three months pregnant, headed back home and Elizabeth is about to give birth.

That leads me to point number six in this series. Trust God with the things you can't control. We're coming right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Just this quick reminder, you can listen to this program or recent programs on demand at pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net, where you'll also find plenty of great resources in our online store. Now let's rejoin Pastor Paul for the second half of today's Destined for Victory message, It's a Wonderful Life. You got to understand when God is at work in your life, he hasn't asked you for your opinion about how this is going to work. I've gotten many words from God over the years that I've walked with him. I've gotten many words from him.

He has never yet asked me to figure out how he's going to pull this thing off. And you know, some of y'all have to get it. I know in your world, you're smart. Some of you are even finding yourself from time to time as the smartest person in a room.

Sometimes that happens. Depending on who's in the room, sometimes you say, I'm the smartest person in here. No, so y'all, y'all pretending to be humble.

I want honesty. How many of you have been in a setting where as you look around, you say, I'm about the smartest person up in here and pray for the folk that didn't raise their hand. They said, Ooh, that wouldn't be right to say, I didn't ask you what sounded conceited. I just asked you to tell the truth. There are times when you say I'm smarter than all of these folks. Therein lies the problem because God's going to put you in some places through his revelation, through his movements in your life where you have to trust, but you can't control.

You got to trust what he's doing, but he won't let you control it at all. Mary's got to take her pot back to town. What am I saying? Y'all see Mary? Come here.

Come here. Look at that. And you know, you know how folk do. They talk without words. Their eyes, their eyes are rolled and neck will get to moving. Sometimes they'll say, there was a whole lot in that one noise.

There was a whole paragraph in that one noise that mean. Now look at that of all the so-called holy people supposed to be so spiritual. That's why I tell you, you can't trust the church folk. Some folk love gloating, but she's got to trust God when she gets back home. I came to tell some of you, you got to learn to trust God with where you are and where he's taking you and quit trying to figure it out before you go. Sometimes God will do you like Abram.

He'll say, get up and go and he won't even tell you where. Just start walking. I'll guide you as you go. And that's scary stuff cause we all want a full plan. Lord, I need you to send me a full detailed description where I'm going, why I'm going there, what the best route is, how long the journey is going to be, who am I going to run into on the way? How are you going to fund this while I'm making this change?

That's the problem with some of y'all. You got all this information and you want to hold God hostage. As soon as you fill out this form, Lord, I will be happy to review it and then I'll get back to you.

I'm not saying right now I'm going, but I will check it out and I will be happy to let you know. I came to tell somebody God's not giving you that form. He's not going to fill out anything. He'll give you one word.

Go. He'll give you one word. Go to Sacramento or wherever your state registrations are. Go and fill out the form and tell him you're going to start this business and that's all he'll tell you.

And he waiting for you to go and you want the business plan. When he told me to start a church again, I said, okay, so I can't leave. I want to leave California. People saying, stay in California. All right. I had to figure out, okay, so I guess I got to go to Sacramento and tell him I'm going to start a church.

And you know, the Lord said nothing else. He waited for me to go to Sacramento. I had to go to Sacramento.

May we help you please? And I had to fill it out on the way. I had to say, we got to, we got to call it something.

All right. So by the time I got there, I said, we're going to call it Destiny Christian Fellowship. And then I found out there are so many destinies in the state. I said, I got to distinguish this one from the others.

So Destiny Christian Fellowship Bay Area Incorporated. And they said, okay, we got to run it through the computer, make sure there's none else like that. Ran it through.

No, you would be the only one. That's it. I said, all right, Lord, the name fits.

He didn't even say congratulations. You know why? Because he knew the name fit. Now I had to have a meeting. A few dozen people had said, if you're going to start a church pastor in 2010, if you're going to start a church, you've always been our pastor. You're still our pastor and thank God for what he's brought you through. But if you're going to start a church here in Northern California, let us know.

Cause we want to be part of it. And so those 30 some people who had said that I contacted them and said, okay, we need to have a meeting. And one of them said, I'll host a meeting. Great. Hosted the meeting.

We met and I told him about Destiny Christian Fellowship Bay Area. Where's it going to meet? I don't know.

Every question, the answer was the same. I don't know. One word, I don't know. You know, when you're walking by faith sometime, you don't even bother separating out the word. I don't know.

I said, but we're going to do it. So I called, I got a, a number from the IRS that will identify it. And I had a paperwork from Sacramento. I went to the bank and said, we're going to start this ministry. Here's the paperwork.

They need to see Sacramento paperwork and they needed to see, okay, all right, we're going to let you fill out. We're going to let you start a bank account. And all right, how much are you opening with? I don't know. Pulled out my checkbook, personal funds.

Why? Cause there is no church. Can't raise no offerings.

Don't have anybody. I'm trying to help you about your life. God will lead you, give you a what and not give you the how and you just get out there and say, Lord, I'm trusting you.

I don't understand it. So Meredith and I went into our own funds and I said, we're going to start this thing by faith. And I said, Lord had blessed me with some money and we said, all right, 9900 is going to open up the church's account and the other hundred because we set aside 10,000 9900 open the general account. And I said, we're going to have a missions. So we're going to have a hundred dollars in the missions. And when the offerings come in, we'll take 10% of everything that comes, put it and make sure we're given out and not just taken in. See, sometimes God will prove you when you don't have much to see if you'll qualify for more. And I'm here to tell you the reason why I'm preaching in this building is because there were enough folk who got up under the burden of that vision and began to, so we didn't have a building when we sold, they just started sewing by faith, giving ties when they didn't know where they were going and where we were going to meet or anything like that.

And we hopped around for almost four years to all these hotels and paying all this crazy money for buildings. We would never have an interest in because God said, go, I came to tell somebody that when you are pregnant with divine purpose, you're going to have to learn to trust God with the things you can't control. Thanks so much for being here for today's Destined for Victory message. It's a wonderful life. As promised, Pastor Paul Shepherd has joined me in the studio to talk about a special thank you gift he wants to share with you, our Destined for Victory listeners. This is always a very important time for ministries like Destined for Victory, but especially this year with all that we've experienced, we have a great thank you gift for all those who can make their very best gift this month. It's a great and timely message from you and it's on DVD.

It's called Refocus. So tell me about this. Until recently, I was going to present a very different message for our year end gift and it was going to be a good one. But as the year began to wrap up, I was experiencing some things and I went to the Lord and said, Lord, I need you to help me get my focus back in order.

And as I processed and prayed and the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I ended up thinking, you know what? This isn't just for my benefit. I need to share this with my audience. And as a result, I have recently decided to change that message and I'm presenting the message entitled Refocus that is going to help people work through the challenges that have been born out of this pandemic and some of the frustrations we've all experienced.

And I'm giving three very practical steps as to how we need to address these matters. You know, I'm learning in my life these days that emotional health is every bit as important as physical and spiritual health. And so this message is going to help, I think, a lot of people. And I trust that donors this month will not only be a blessing to us through their generous gifts, but they will be blessed by hearing me unpack this theme and help us all get ourselves refocused as we look ahead to the year to come. All right. Thank you. A great reminder, Pastor Paul.

And this is the best time for all of us to begin thinking that way as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ and get ready for a brand new year. We'll send you this copy of Pastor Paul's DVD message Refocus when you request it with your best gift right now. That's Refocus, a DVD message from Pastor Paul and our gift to you by request for your most generous gift to Destin for Victory today. 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 Destin for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. When you are pregnant with divine purpose, you can't talk to any old body because not a lot of people can handle what God is saying to you, what God is doing in you. Don't expect everybody in your crew to understand it. That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, It's a Wonderful Life. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.