Developing a Lifestyle of Faith, Part 6

Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. If you want to see what genuine faith looks like in the life of a believer in Christ, you've come to the right place. In just a few moments, Pastor Paul shares his message, developing a lifestyle of faith.

But first, he joins me from his studio in California. Pastor, you've been using radio for a long time as part of your ministry platform. Why don't you take a moment and share with the audience why you chose to make that part of your long-range ministry plan? Well, I want to tell you that it's important to me as a discipler that my voice is heard and it is used to help people grow in their knowledge of the Lord and in their faith walk with Him. Fact of the matter is, my voice doesn't sound like most of the other folks you hear on Christian radio.

I'm well aware of that and I'm really comfortable with that. I come from my own unique background, both ethnically and in terms of life experience. There are things I share, there are things I say, and there are the ways that I say them that are unique. I believe that that perspective needs to be heard throughout Christendom.

And so while I'm so grateful for all of my heroes, your heroes are mine. I listen to the same people, the guys who have been on the radio for decades and have proclaimed God's word faithfully. I really do appreciate those guys, but I've learned not to be intimidated by them because I've got my own way of processing and own way of sharing and helping people to learn and to grow in their faith.

So it's quite intentional. Sometimes I like to be really colloquial in what I say and how I say it because I'm just using who I am and I think God wants to use that. He's the one who called me.

I didn't call myself. He called me and I believe he knows what he was getting when he called me into the ministry. And so I'm just trying to make a difference because the gospel really does change lives and I believe I have a unique calling to help present the gospel from my own perspective. And I pray that that's resonating with listeners and I pray that that means enough to them that they'll make sure my voice can continue to be heard right along with our other heroes who teach the gospel of Jesus.

I know I speak for a lot of people out there when I say I'm so thankful for you launching this media ministry, Pastor, and using the gifts God has given you for his glory. And when you join those that make this possible with your generous gift today, Pastor Paul would like to thank you by sending his booklet, Lessons from the Cocoon. You know, butterflies don't enter this world with wings. They don't even enter the world as butterflies.

Their transformation takes place over time. That's how the life of a believer in Christ works. In Lessons from the Cocoon, Pastor Paul helps you understand that God is working in your life even when it seems he's not doing any work at all.

And he reminds you that eventually you will have wings because you were born to fly. That's Lessons from the Cocoon, our gift to you today by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 to make your gift over the phone.

Or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also make a safe and secure donation from our website, PastorPaul.net. You will experience both trials of faith and rewards of faith. And I want to make sure you don't think something's wrong with your faith when you're going through the trials. Faith is a two-sided coin.

You cannot divide that. You can't have one without the other. Think back to some of the greatest heroes of the Christian faith, men like Moses, Abraham, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Their lives were filled with seasons of triumph as well as tragedy. And if you're a follower of Jesus, you too will endure adversity, persecution, times when your faith will be put to the test.

But there is good news, and Pastor Paul Shepherd shares it with us now in his message, Developing a Lifestyle of Faith. Faith is a two-sided coin. You cannot divide that.

You can't have one without the other. It's the same coin. You know how in our money you'll see some president's face on the front of a coin. On the back, it looks very different depending on the particular coin.

It could be some building or some other symbol on the back of the coin. You can't get the president's face and not get what's on the back. You can't order a coin and say, I only want the face.

Don't put anything on the back. I only want the face. It's the same coin. You've got to have the other side if you're going to have a genuine coin. And as it is true of our money, it is true of our faith. And I need you to understand that faith has to do both with trials and with rewards. So as we just peruse this final passage here in Hebrews 11, I want you to notice it as we look at the description very carefully. Now, let me begin to make my comments by taking you up to verse 23.

We didn't read that in the interest of time, but look at it with me now. Hebrews 11, verse 23. By faith, Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

Now, some of you are already familiar with that story. If you're not, you will want to go back and familiarize yourself with the story of the birth of Moses. But let me help you understand that when Moses was born, it was during a time that the Pharaoh in Egypt had said God's people were in slavery and the Pharaoh had said, I hear there is a deliverer supposed to be coming. So let's make sure we preempt that by killing all of the newborn male children in Egypt, but born of the Israelites, because it is from them that their deliverer is supposedly coming. So the Pharaoh says, ah, I know how to fix that.

I'll just kill all the male children and that way we won't have to worry about it. Oh, but look at this. By faith, Moses' parents, when they saw this child, they saw that he was no ordinary child. He was good in appearance.

We're told that in the Scriptures. He was fine in appearance, but that's not merely what they were talking about. They saw something besides his appearance. They saw the hand of God on their child. They didn't describe it that way, but any of us who have learned how to walk by faith and see what is invisible to the naked eye, you know exactly what happened. You can see things that your eyes can't see. And I want you to know when you walk by faith, you are going to experience that same thing. Sometimes you'll look at an individual, you'll look at a situation, and God will show you exactly what it is, something beyond your natural vision.

He will show you what it is. Sometimes you'll see God's hand on one of your children. And you see it. You don't know how you see it, but you see it.

And it's the hand of the Lord. And what you have to learn to do is begin then to speak what you see and begin to operate according to the truth of what you see. They saw this was no ordinary child, and I love this phrase, and they weren't afraid of the king's eat it. They knew that he's killing all the male newborns. They knew that.

They heard it. But they saw what they chose to look at was what God was doing. That's what you and I have to learn to do as we walk by faith. You got to see what God is saying.

Don't listen to what other people are saying. You got to hear what God is saying. You got to see what God is doing.

And sometimes to see God, you have to shut out the other things. They heard the eat it, but they didn't pay it any mind because they knew God's hand was on this child. And so what happened was they hit him for three months and just made sure he wasn't seen by anyone who would get him turned in and killed. But when you go to the passage in Exodus, you'll see that the time came when they could no longer hide the child. He's three months old.

He's noisier. And it's not realistic to keep trying to hide the child. And there obviously was some systematic searching going on for male children. I'm sure they weren't the only parents who were trying to hide a child, but it's their story being told.

And they were trying to hide their child when they could no longer do it, when they realized it's just not going to be feasible to continue hiding him. And the fact of the matter is the Lord didn't want him hidden. The Lord wanted him seen. And so what they did was put him in a basket, prepared it, and then his parents set it on the Nile so that as people were coming down to the banks, they would discover it, and they did this as an act of faith. This wasn't an act of desperation. This was an act of faith.

Why? Because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they knew that God had plans for him, which meant he wasn't going to die in infancy. You have to learn to walk so that you act on what you know God has shown you and what God is saying to you.

And they put him out there. They let go and let God. You ever heard that expression?

That's what we have to literally do. Sometimes you have to let something go, but you're not letting it go in desperation. You're letting it go into the will of God. Some of y'all have to do that with your children. I talked to one of our members this week who said, Pastor, I took to heart what you said in the previous message.

I had one of those children. I just had to let them go. But it wasn't in desperation. It's in faith. Because I told you in that message, sometimes people have to get to a place of pain and discomfort, and you can't shield them all the time. And some of y'all have been praying for folk who are fighting God real hard, and you just have to pray like the old says, God, whatever it takes, I'm putting them all in this river, and I'm going to let them go.

And I'm trusting you with the results. Let go. Who here is, I want you to answer inwardly, not outwardly, but who here has something you've been desperately trying to hold on to? And the reality is God says, give it to me. Let it go. Release it and believe him for the results. It was an act of faith.

That's a challenge. You've got to give up your baby. Your baby.

When you have a child, you expect to be able to raise a child, enjoy seeing them grow up, enjoy them going through the different stages of life and all of that. But know when you walk according to God's will, you have to understand that when he blesses you, even with a child, that child belongs to him more than to you. So they had to give him up, but they gave him up into the hands of the Lord. Act of faith, a challenge, a trial, really a trial of faith to have to say, Lord, OK, we're going to trust you with this. Up next, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Listen to the broadcast on demand at PastorPaul.net. That's PastorPaul.net, where you'll find a host of great resources that are online store.

You can also download and subscribe to the podcast at Google Podcasts or wherever you go to get a podcast. Do you want to improve your spiritual vision, reject what you see and learn to walk by faith? Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, developing a lifestyle of faith. Verse 24, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up. Now, where did he grow up? He grew up in Pharaoh's household because who discovered him? Pharaoh's daughter.

And when she saw, she knew and the people around and said, well, you know, that's one of the Hebrew children. You know, he's supposed to be killed, but her heart went out. So they're not killing this baby.

My daddy not going to kill this baby. But that wasn't about them. It was about what God was doing. You have got to realize that life isn't about the stuff you see.

It is about the stuff you don't see. God was doing something. God put it in that girl's heart to want that child. And so it's funny when you read the Exodus account because Moses' own sister, his older sister, is the one who was nearby when this discovery took place. And she ran over and said, excuse me, but would you like me to get one of the Hebrew women to nurse this child for you? And said, oh, oh, that's a good idea. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Go ahead.

Do that. She ran, got the child, got her own mother who was the child's mother. Said, Mommy, she wants you to nurse the baby and she's going to pay you.

Don't tell me what God won't do. When she gave up the baby, God gave the baby back to her. And that day, nursing took place two to three years.

So she got a couple of years. She can still be with the child throughout the day. And while she's nursing the child, she can be speaking truth. I know the house you're living in, but you are not an Egyptian.

You are Hebrew. You are born with God's stamp on your life. I mean, she can just, while she's nursing, just speak to the baby. And the baby's going to get old enough where the baby can understand.

You know, two-year-olds know what you're saying. She got to input into the child's life and get a paycheck, nursing her own child. So that by the time he's turned over and he's no longer being nursing, she's not directly influential. She's already spoken over him. She's prayed over him.

She's blessed him, and he's good to go. And by faith, when he has grown up, it says, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward. See, faith, the trials of faith, sometimes you choose because you're going to do what God wants you to do, and whatever the consequences are, that's what they are. He chose to go through the trial of faith. He chose to say, I will not enjoy the pleasures of being a prominent prince in Egypt when these people are wrong. They're out of God's will. God's wrath is going to come upon them.

He knew all of this. It was part of his built-in calling, and he said, I'm not going to stay here and live in luxury and pleasure and all only to experience the wrath of God. No, I would rather go through the trial with my people and be there when God brings my people out.

He chose it. You have to make some great choices that will have poor, at least short-term consequences. That's part of your walk of faith.

See, don't listen to people who tell you faith is all about the high mountain experiences and the victory experiences only. That's only one side of the coin. Same coin means sometimes you have to make a tough choice. Sometimes you have to decide to do what's right on your job rather than what's popular on your job. And some of you may even get terminated for doing what's right. Can't happen.

Don't know. But you have to be willing to face that if that's going to be the consequence. I've told you before about our friend who had a job decades ago, and she was answering the phone for her boss, and the boss came by the desk and said, listen, when so-and-so calls are getting on my nerves, I don't want to talk to him anymore and tell him I'm not here. She said, sir, I can't do that. He said, why? I said, because you're here. I can't tell him you're not here when you're here. I'm a believer.

I follow the word of the Lord. I can't lie for you. She said, now, I can tell him you're not available.

No, no, no. I don't want him to know I'm in the building. She said, well, I'm sorry. I can't help you with that.

When he calls, I put on a whole ring your office and tell you he's on the phone. If you'd like to leave the building, I'll wait until you leave. He said, no, no, that's ridiculous. She said, well, I'm sorry, sir.

I can't help you. And he just huffed off. She didn't know what the consequence would be. You know, some of y'all do that with the rascal you work for.

You're out of a job. In her case, he got convicted. Later in the day, he wanted to talk to her about her faith.

She didn't get fired. She got a chance to witness. That's the reward of faith, but some of y'all would experience a trial of faith. You're leaving there with stuff in a box.

But if you leave with a box, you've done what Moses did. You chose to be mistreated. You chose to go through that disgrace, that inconvenience, looking ahead to another reward.

Sometimes you have to have short-term inconvenience in order to have long-term victory. Now, read on. Verse 27, he left Egypt not fearing the king's anger. He persevered because he saw him, the Lord, who is invisible.

That's what you and I have to learn to do. Look at the next verse. By faith, he kept the Passover, the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

In other words, he lived the rest of his life always focused on what God wanted, not caring about the consequences, always focused on the Lord himself. By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea, as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. I've always told you about those Egyptians.

That was not smart. You know, you're chasing these people, a couple of million of them, and they go through the middle of a sea on a highway. I know they weren't believers. You don't have to be a believer to have sense. If I'm the first guy in the first chariot and I see ahead of me that there are these two walls of water and there's a dry highway, something's going to tell me whoever they serve does not want me to get them. Your mama taught you that.

I mean, just some things just make sense. And I would have pulled over to the side of the road, let all my other crazy friends go on down there. I'd have been the one dry Egyptian in the whole thing. I'd be the only chariot over here. I'd been waiting like, all right, man, see you later.

All right, take care. Or, you know, growing up how we used to do, you didn't even have to speak when you was saying goodbye to somebody. You just threw your head up like that. I'd be watching them go by. And they drowned in the sea. Verse 30, by faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people had marched around them for seven days. Here's another little quick lesson of faith. Sometimes walking by faith means you'll have to follow what seemed to be futile, ridiculous direction from God.

After they marched around, what kind of war strategy is that? It is the issue of obeying God no matter what he tells you to do. It seemed futile.

It would seem ridiculous. When we going to get to fight? The reality is God said, I didn't ask you to fight this battle. I asked you to do what I told you. So the question for you is going to be through the rest of your life, what did God say about this? Only question that matters, what did God say about this? If God has a clear word on the matter, then you've got to follow that.

No need of praying, no need of praying. God already spoke, do what he said, even when it seems ridiculous and you will see God's results take place. Now, look at the next verse, verse 31. The prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. You remember, he's now talking about the Joshua generation.

And he's talking about those who are preparing now to take the land, the promised land. And as two spies went to Jericho, they ran into Rahab, the prostitute, the harlot, the madam, the woman of the night. And she says to them, I know who you all are. I know why you've come. She said, we've already heard about you all. And she said, and I know that God is going to give you the victory. So I'm a businesswoman. I'm used to doing deals all day. But I have a different proposition for you.

I will hide you if you will remember me and my family when you come to take over the city. She said, that's the deal. God had put his fear in the heart of this woman so that not only the spies would be spared, but so that he could bless her and her family to be spared because God wanted her in the Hall of Fame. There she is. You all can talk about her all you want, but she's in the Hall of Fame.

What's she doing in there? After all the homes she broke up, after all the damage she did, that's because God loves taking the former person and making them a new creation in Christ. And so they did the deal, she spared them, and she in turn and her family were spared as a result. You know, our faith in Christ can only grow when we are tested. As the scripture tells us, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Thanks so much for joining us for today's message, Developing a Lifestyle of Faith. If you'd like more information about the Destined for Victory ministry or this month's special offer of Pastor Paul's booklet, Lessons from the Cocoon, be sure to stop by our website, pastorpaul.net.

Once again, pastorpaul.net. So the question for you is going to be through the rest of your life, what did God say about this? If God has a clear word on the matter, then you've got to follow that. No need of praying, no need of praying. God already spoke, do what he said, even when it seems ridiculous, and you will see God's results take place. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Developing a Lifestyle of Faith. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.