Lessons from the Battlefield, Part 1 (cont'd)

Your position in Christ and your possession in Christ on this Monday edition of Destined for Victory.

Hello and thanks for tuning in. In just a few moments, Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, Lessons from the Battlefield, but before he gets started, he joins me now from his studio in California. Pastor, we're entering into a very critical time in the life of most ministries. It's always the case when we get to summertime, but this time I think people are ready to break out. You know, the vaccine's more widely distributed, vacation rentals are booked at a record pace. The world is ready to get out of this quarantine, but there is a concern that ministries like ours don't end up forgotten. Would you speak to that for a moment?

Yes, sir. Every summer I have that concern and I say, okay, Lord, please help the people to remember that the bills don't stop in the summertime. The gospel is definitely free. I'm glad and I'm able to say to all of our donors, you don't have to even think twice about it. When you give to us, you're helping us reach others. Pastor Paul doesn't take a single dime of compensation from Destined for Victory resources. My church takes really good care of me and I'm so glad that they do.

And so I'm able to serve the audience through Destined for Victory without any charge to them. But while the gospel is free, the plumbing costs a lot of money. So even in the summer, I pray that our listeners will be faithful in their giving because the bills continue to come and I want to preach all the way through the summer and let people know while they're enjoying vacations, the word of God stands forever.

That scripture is from Isaiah 40, verse 8. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Thanks for that reminder, Pastor Paul, and for all you're doing to share the gospel through the Destined for Victory broadcast. Well, as you were able to make your most generous gift of $25 or more this summer, we have a great resource for you, two in fact. The first is Pastor Paul's book, Why God Created Dads, an insightful and inspirational look at the subject of fatherhood through the lens of scripture. The second is the audio CD, A Tribute to My Dad, a message delivered by Pastor Paul following the death of his father.

Men and women alike will be inspired by these timely resources. That's Why God Created Dads and A Tribute to My Dad are gifts to you this month for your best donation of $25 or more to Destined for Victory. So call 855-339-5500 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, CA 94538.

Again, that address is Destined for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. My position in Christ is sure, I'm a victor. Whether I possess that victory, live out that victory, enjoy that victory depends on how I tap into his grace, how I follow his word, how I say yes to his will. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are destined for ultimate victory. That is your position in Christ, earned by him and him alone so that no man can boast. But as for your possession in Christ, the joyful abundant victorious Christian life in the here and now, some of that depends on you. On today's Destined for Victory, a powerful message about the role you play in your own spiritual victory.

Now, here again is Pastor Paul with today's message, Lessons from the Battlefield. The reason why you and I still have conflict and challenge to deal with is because although we are victorious positionally, we must fight to be victorious possessionally. Now, I admit that's not a word, possessional.

But it helps to make the point. Positional versus possessional. That is to say my position in Christ is sure, I'm a victor. Whether I possess that victory, live out that victory, enjoy that victory depends on how I tap into his grace, how I follow his word, how I say yes to his will. And the truth is I can be positionally victorious, but in terms of my possession, I can live in defeat.

You don't have it yet. Let me give you an analogy. You can be rich and poor at the same time. It is possible for you to have seven figures, eight figures in the bank and to live like a pulper. Isn't that possible? In fact, from time to time you hear about some rich person who dies on the street because something went wrong in their head. They had some mental illness or whatever, never got checked out, never got straightened out and so while they had the ability to live in a mansion, to live in a palace, to have servants and to have all the luxuries imaginable because in their minds they could not access that, they lived like pulpers. It is possible to be rich and poor at the same time. It is possible to go on a cruise and to not understand that when you paid for the cruise, all the food on the boat was yours.

It's possible. Let me encourage you, go on a cruise. Let me just encourage you. I try to help folk not only live a victorious spiritual life, I just try to help you to enjoy your life a little better period. I get tired of these folk who always acting like they can't afford something. Save up and enjoy your life. God made a wonderful world out here. You need to see what God has done and enjoy yourself.

Your life is too short to be hanging out in your house all the time. And you know, you have these folks, I don't know, I can't, that must be too much money. I haven't even checked into it. Save up, believe God, pay your tithes, give the Lord your offering and then say, Lord, because I'm putting the kingdom first, I'm going to ask you to bless me with the desire in my heart. The pastor was talking about a cruise, Lord, and I want to go on one and see what God will do.

See how God will bless you to save up some ducats and get on, get out there. Because some of y'all, when you're talking about you going to the beach, you're talking about going to these little raggedy beaches down here. You haven't been to the beach, bless your heart. These little pitiful places down here, you call it a beach, that's not a beach. You got to be careful where you walk and all that. Then when you get out to the water's edge, the water's murky, you don't know what's in there. And it's cold and it's murky and it's pitiful. Talking about you've been to the beach.

No, no, no, no. Let me encourage you, believe God. Get on out there, get on the ship, let him take you somewhere where when you get off the ship, I promise you, you will see a real beach. All the places you go, when you get off that ship, the water is just a wonderful blue.

It's clear. The sand is pristine. You get out there, get off the ship, go to the beach. When you walk out there, you'll be shocked out of your mind that you don't have to splash it on yourself and get all used to it.

Oh, Lord, this is so cold. No, no, there are places they'll take you. You just walk on out in the water.

Just walk out. It's warm and comfortable. You can just dive right in and go to swimming. I'm telling you, they'll take you places like that and the water is clear. You'll see everything.

You'll see little things. You're going to be out swimming five, six, eight feet deep water and you look down and you just see the nature. Underwater is wonderful. Sometimes little fish will come, swim with you. They know you just got off the boat and they come in to swim with you. The fish say, they're from California. Come on, let's go swim with them. And they're swimming with you, just hanging out. Fish swim by, hey, man, how you doing? Have a good old time out there.

Enjoy yourself. But it is possible, it is possible to get on a cruise for the first time, not understand what you purchased. And it's possible for you to be sitting in your cabin eating crackers because you think it costs me so much to get on here, I know I can't afford anything in that dining room. So I'm just sitting here, I brought a bag of crackers with me. Wouldn't that be pitiful? Here you are on this wonderful cruise ship. And all the people in there in the dining room, and believe me when I tell you, when you go in that dining room, they throw down.

They give you a menu every night, you just pick what entree you want, and you don't see any prices because it's all built in to the price you already paid. So I hope these analogies are helping you to understand the difference between positional and possession. When you have positional victory, that doesn't necessarily mean you will access it and possess it in your own life. And so when people tell you, well since Jesus won the victory for you, you really shouldn't have any trouble, any struggle, any challenge, they're talking about position. But possessionally speaking, you have got to wage war in order to lay claim to what Jesus already purchased for you. So the enemy is trying to stand between you and what is rightfully yours. And the enemy says, I know Jesus bought it for you, but I'm going to try to keep you from getting it anyway. And so we must avoid these extremes, the one saying that there's an epic struggle and we're not sure whether we can have victory or not, and the other saying we shouldn't have any trouble at all.

The truth is right in the middle. Yes, God has won a marvelous victory for us in Christ. Yes, the Bible says clearly, Paul said when he wrote the church at Colossae that the Lord has given us wonderful victory in the cross. In fact, put it this way, he said having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 1 15, what that means is when Jesus hung on that cross, he stripped the devil and all of his demons of all of their right to cause you to live in defeat.

They don't have the right to do it anymore. But if you don't know who you are in Christ, they will still rob you of what is rightfully yours. And that's why the Bible says you still have to wage war. If it were true that you shouldn't have any trouble, then Paul would have never written Ephesians 6 where he said finally be strong in the Lord. And in his mighty power, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme. Why would you have to put on armor if you don't have any trouble? You put on armor when there's going to be a fight.

Paul would have never told you to strap on the armor of God if you didn't have to worry about anything. But the reality is since we are wrestling against these principalities and powers, since we do have to contend with rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness, Paul said go on and arm yourself because as you arm yourself, you will see that God has given you the victory. And so we have to learn to fight in order to possess the victory that is ours. And truth be told, there's no such thing as victory without a contest anyway.

We have great resources at our online store. What's true in the natural realm is true in the spiritual realm. You can't have victory without a fight. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, Lessons from the Battlefield. No such thing as victory without a contest.

And you got to realize this. If you say you want to live in victory, what you're saying is I want to fight. You can't have a victory and you didn't have a fight. No boxer goes around telling you, you know I'm undefeated, don't you? And you say, oh, you really?

I didn't know that. What's your record? Oh and oh. What are you talking about? You're not undefeated. You're winless. I mean, the reality is you haven't been tested.

You haven't been tried. Don't talk about what a great boxer you are and you've only been in the gym. Don't talk about what a great boxer you are, man. You should see what I do to that heavy bag.

No, no. The heavy bag's not hitting you back. You can't say you're a victor till somebody been standing in front of you, dancing around talking about I'm about to clean your clock. You haven't had victory until you hit somebody and they hit you back.

You need a contest before you can be pronounced the victor. Told you many times, that's why I never took up boxing. Never took up boxing because, you know, I had that level of pride where I would fight to the finish. So I didn't take up boxing because I've seen what happens to people who won't give up. When they're clearly outmatched, you've seen these people just beat to a bloody pulp and they keep on getting up and standing there, their eyes hanging all out and face all messed up and their wife out and they're telling, lay down.

They keep getting up. I have a kind of pride and determination when I play games and all, I want to win. But so when it comes to boxing, I couldn't do that because I'm not going to let somebody beat me beyond recognition. I figure if I fight long enough to get my check, if I fought long enough to get my check and I clearly see you are a better boxer, I'm not staying.

Okay, you win. But I gave it my shot and I didn't just come in and lay down. Gave it my shot, threw everything I had at you, and you still standing there grinning? When you hit me hard, I'm going down. And I'm staying down. And the ref can be counting one, two, and I say, I don't know what you're counting for, I'm not getting up.

I'm going to be down here until the man is sweeping up the floor. Everybody gone. Listen, you can't claim victory until you've had a contest. And so let me tell you something, if you say you want to be a victor, go on and get ready my friend, my brother, my sister, because that means that you are going to be tested. Oh, but the good news is when it comes to this spiritual contest, the fight is fixed. Gone in war, even if you're a flighter by temperament, gone in war because the fight is fixed.

When you read the book, the fight is fixed. Jesus promised you the victory. If you walk in who you are in Christ, if you will take your stand in Christ, the fight is fixed. There's nothing the enemy can do about it.

You are a victor through Jesus Christ our Lord. So the key is knowing who you are. And that's why the devil hates it when you sit under teaching like this. The devil hates it when you expose yourself to good Bible teaching, because you're being armed, you're being equipped with the truth. Part of the armor of God is having truth.

And some of us have discovered when you know the truth, it can make you free. If you apply it in your life, you tell the devil I found out you don't have power over me. You tell your addictions. You don't have power over me. You tell your temperamental weaknesses. You don't have power over me.

You tell your character flaws. You don't have power over me in Christ. I can become the person I am destined to be.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I'm here to tell you, if you ever find out who you are in Jesus and begin to walk in your authority, the devil won't stand a chance. I'm here to tell you that we have the victory. And so you got to get ready for the conflict because the enemy is going to come.

He is going to gather his forces together. And you are going to have to learn to take your stand and to believe God for victory. And the key is knowing who you are and knowing whose you are. You got to know who you are.

You got to know whose you are. Bonnie Wilson, years ago, I heard her tell a story that I've never forgotten. A true story of friends of hers who had first one dog, one of those little dogs that barks a lot and, you know, sounds mad all the time. But one of those little dogs. And she said, eventually this couple decided they wanted to get a second dog and they bought a very different breed of dog that was going to grow large. But even as a puppy, they said when they brought in the second puppy, even as a puppy it was bigger than the other full-grown chirpy dog. And brought the puppy in but the first dog made it clear this is my house. The little dog would just bark and growl and snap at the puppy and the puppy developed a fear of it and didn't want to fool with it. And eventually, Bonnie said, as the puppy grew, it was already larger than the other dog, but as it grew it became very large. But it still had the identity of being defeated by the little dog.

So even while it grew large, it didn't fool with that little dog. You know, you who have had dogs, I've grown up with dogs all my life. We don't have one now but I've enjoyed having dogs and you who have had dogs, you know that they become very territorial in the house.

This is my house. They know the pecking order. It comes from their DNA. They come to figure out what the pecking order in the house is and whatever that place is, usually the adults, you know, are ahead of them and then they figure I'm next. I remember the last dog we had. My kids said it's amazing when y'all leave the house, Jet thinks he's in charge. And the kids would talk about it and say y'all should see the dog when y'all leave. He starts acting all up, doing stuff he know he has no business doing because he's trying to show us that he doesn't have to listen to us.

All dogs are something else. They talked about it so much that one day I pretended to leave the house because I wanted to see it for myself. And so I did my usual routine when I'm about to leave and I shut the door and then I went up the stairs and hid. We had a little loft in that house and hid and he was downstairs and as soon as he thought I was gone, he started showing out.

It was amazing. He started running around. He jumped up on the sofa and just was carrying on and the kids were just sitting there because they knew I was watching. And he was trying to show them y'all can't tell me to get off the sofa.

I can get on the sofa if I want to. And when he had showed out enough, I popped up and said, Jet. And he looked up at me. Oh man, it was the funniest thing. I fell on the floor laughing before I beat him. Oh Lord, here come the emails from Peter.

All right. And bunny said the same thing was happening in her friend's house where the little dog thought he was next in charge behind the grownups and this big dog. He figured you're under me. Well, one day they took the little dog to the groomer who got a little too happy with the Clippers. And cut the dog a little too closely so the dog really wasn't recognizable. They brought the little dog back home. The now big dog looks at it, does not recognize it. And as soon as they put him down, the big dog went after him. They said they had to pull the big dog off of that little dog.

I mean, he was going to make it clear. I don't know who you are with your little self. If you think you're busting up in my house, you got another thought coming. And they said we had to pull the dog off.

And they said even after the hair grew back in and it knew by then it had a new identity. I don't know who you think you are, but you're not in charge anymore. I've come to tell somebody that's what you got to do when the devil gets to acting up in your life. That's what you got to do when your addiction starts saying that they run your life. That's what you got to do when your character flaws and temperamental weaknesses start imposing themselves on the will of God in your life.

You got to tell them I don't know who you think you're dealing with, but I am who God says I am. I can do what God says I can do. I have the victory over you. You can't control me.

You can't make me subject to you. In Christ I have the victory. If you ever come to know who you are in Jesus, I'm telling you, you will begin to experience another level of possessing the victory that Jesus won for you on Calvary. A victorious life in the here and now, a crown of life in the hereafter. These are the benefits of being a true follower of Jesus Christ. He has positioned you for ultimate victory.

The possession depends, at least in part, on you. Thanks so much for joining us for today's message, Lessons from the Battlefield. If you'd like more information about the Destined for Victory ministry or this month's special offer, be sure to stop by our website, pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net. You've got to understand that in Christ I have power and authority over everything the devil wants to do in my life. And God has given us that power and that authority. Now power and authority are the dynamic dual that every believer has to learn to walk in. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, Lessons from the Battlefield. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory. .