Unrecognizable, Part 3

Make sure you're guarding against despair because you tend to look at all the injustices and all the wrongs in your life and everybody who didn't treat you right and you are busy campaigning for things to be fair.

I want you to know I'd rather have favor from God than fairness from man. Hello and thanks for joining us for this Friday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. In John Bunyan's book, Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and his travel companion find themselves trapped in the dungeon of despair. In a moment of clarity, Christian remembers he has the key to the dungeon door.

The name of the key is promise and he and his friend use it to escape. Today Pastor Paul takes us to the life of Joseph to show us how we can overcome despair. It begins when we focus on God's promises instead of our problems. Visit pastorpaul.net to hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. And be sure to stay with us after the broadcast when Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California.

Now, let's listen closely as Pastor shares today's Destined for Victory message, unrecognizable. You and I have things we have to avoid on our way to our purpose. There are some things you just can't get involved in because you're called according to God's purpose.

There are some people you just can't spend any more time with because you're called according to God's purpose. And Joseph avoided her, but she got so angry we saw in the last message that she grabbed him, said we're going to bed today. And when he refused, he had to run out of his coat. So she used his coat against him.

Her husband came home from work and she said that servant of yours tried to rape me and here's the proof. But the Lord so blessed Joseph that rather than have Potiphar kill him, the Lord put it in Potiphar's mind. Now Potiphar didn't realize this was God working in him. But the Lord put it in his mind to put him in jail, not just any jail, but the jail where the king's prisoners were kept. God is setting you up at every turn in the road. Now I want to look, before I get off of focus and move in this message to the second area of development, I want to make sure you understand that he had to guard, Joseph had to guard not only against the pitfall in the form of Potiphar's wife, he had to guard against despair.

Why do I say that? Because Joseph now finds himself in prison for a crime he did not commit. Sometimes you and I think the end all, the most important thing in life is justice.

I beg to differ with you. I came to tell you that in this world you are not always going to find justice. And it doesn't mean that it is right that injustices take place.

It will never be right. Injustice by definition is wrong. However, God is so much God that he can take you, place you in an unjust situation and still get glory out of it and still take you to the place of your purpose. That doesn't mean we have to become passive about injustices.

I'm not suggesting you have to practice a form of Christianity that is weak and wimpy. When folks are wrong, you can tell them they're wrong. When situations are not right and you have some power of influence, use it for good. Use it to bring about justice. I want to make sure you're clear. I don't want you to think that the gospel demands that you just let anybody and anything do what they want in your life.

That's not true. Where you have the ability, use your power, use your influence to bring about justice, not only for yourself but for others around you. But having said that, let me quickly warn you that in this world you're not always going to get what you deserve. In this world, people are not always going to act right, do right, think right, decide right. It's just the world we live in. There are all kinds of sinful and fleshly influences that guarantee that injustice will remain prominent in life. There are racial factors. There are gender factors. There are cultural factors. There are social factors. There are all kinds of reasons why justice isn't always going to be your reality. So you'll find yourself, woman, hitting a glass ceiling of machoism.

You got to know that God is over top that ceiling and that no matter what man runs you into and says you can't go any farther, if God be for you, he will take you where he wants you to be. I want to tell you minorities that our justice for us, thank God for the striving of people who over the centuries and over the decades have given their lives, shed their blood to make sure you and I could vote, you and I could live where we want to live, you and I could have the job we want to have. Thank God for the progress that's been made, but understand until people's hearts are changed, injustice will always happen toward people of a different race. It doesn't make it right, but it's going to happen. If you think America's colorblind, please. Never going to happen.

Never going to happen. So we thank God for the strides that have been made. We help educate our brothers and sisters who think everything's good now. Help them. I got friends, I have to inform them. I have to give them updates because they don't get it. They don't mean any harm.

They live in a world where they can't understand. Well, what's the problem? I said, well, you've never been my color, so you have no idea what the problem is.

But trust me, there are still problems we run into. I can have all the degrees you have, but when I walk in the room, there are going to be some people who see me differently than they see you. So what do I have to learn to do? I have to learn to not live like a victim. I have to learn to use influence and try to get justice where I can, but where I can't get it on the human level, I got to say to God, now Lord, you see what's happening, but still I believe that you're going to get me from where I am to where you destined me to be.

And you'll move any obstacle. That's why I don't believe in us being victims. Y'all got to quit all this crying about the man holding you back and the man is doing it. The man doesn't have that much power. Oh, the man can be prejudiced. The man can have his issues, but if God be for us, we might as well have church since we came on out here.

If God be for us, who can be against us? Quit crying about everything that happens in your life that isn't right. At a certain point, you got to say, but God, when you get through it, all that other, but God, here is Joseph in jail for a crime he didn't commit. The crime, if there was one, was Sister Potiphar's crime, trying to coerce him. Today, what she did would be sexual harassment.

Come on, y'all know how we roll in 21st century America. That's sexual harassment, according to today's world. But instead of her getting in trouble, she got him in trouble. And he didn't do anything but turn her down. And he's in jail. And guess who let him sit in jail?

Not for days, not for weeks, not for months. Guess who let Joseph stay in jail for years? God himself. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. 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. Now, here is Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, Unrecognizable. God is so much God that he doesn't have to set injustice aside. He can work through injustice to bring his purpose to pass. But Joseph had to guard against despair.

And that's why I want to challenge you before I move to my next point. Make sure you're guarding against despair because you tend to look at all the injustices and all the wrongs in your life and everybody who didn't treat you right and everybody who's not giving you a fair shake and a fair shot and everything that's not going away. It just ought to go in your life and you are busy campaigning for things to be fair. I want you to know I'd rather have favor from God than fairness from man.

And Joseph stayed focused and said, Lord, I'm not going to get into despair. I'm not going to stay down here and write letters to Johnny Cochran. To the Johnny Cochran of Egypt. And say, get me out of here is wrong with this.

They practice sexual harassment. That woman got me in. He didn't spend his time doing that. The Bible says the Lord was with him. That means he practiced the presence of God. Every morning he woke up in jail.

Instead of fretting about the bars. He said, Lord, I'm trusting you today that your will will be done in my life. And the favor of the Lord was so upon him that you're told that the warden of the prison saw God's hand on him just like Potiphar had seen God's hand on him and the warden put him over all the other prisoners. This boy keeps being promoted every way he goes.

First he promoted as a slave. Then he gets thrown in jail for something he didn't do. Now he's promoted as a prisoner. And he's over the other prisoners. No time for despair. He's got some more people to serve.

He's got some more work to do. Let me ask you, have you stopped at a certain point and realized that although things aren't the way you'd like them to be in your life, you still all right? I want somebody to quit all this crying the blues you've been doing and remind yourself I'm all right.

I woke up this morning in my right mind. I'm all right. I don't have all the money I want. I don't have all the freedom I want.

I don't have all the human opportunities I want, but I'm all right. God hasn't forsaken me. I've never seen the righteous forsaken, never seen God's seed beg bread.

Every time I need something, the Lord sees to it that my need is met. Somebody got to talk to yourself. I'm all right. I'm not getting into despair. You got to say like David, why so downcast, oh my soul?

Put your hope in God. See, some of us are busy trying to scream to the world, it's unfair. Some of you, that's all you spend your time. Every phone conversation is, is one big holler.

It's unfair because you're telling all your relatives, all your friends, everything that's wrong. Who, who did you wrong this time? Listening to all the sad, pitiful songs and, and just singing the blues.

Good morning, Hardy. That's not a praise and worship song. Get that mess out your mind. Get up singing about the heartache. Give the heartache to God. When you lay there in the bed and open your eyes and realize you're still in prison, you're still in injustice, you're still not delivered. You're still not where you want.

Get up there and realize that, but instead of sulk in that, give that over to God. Lord, I'm giving you know where I am. You know what they did. You know what they said. You know who's plotting against me and I'm believing you that this day you'll give me my daily bread so I can do your will.

And Joseph did that for years. Have you noticed that despair keeps coming back? You got awarded off over and over and over again. Anybody ever had a wonderful Tuesday and a miserable Wednesday? You know Tuesday was just the bomb, but Wednesday morning something, when you woke up, something was there snuggled up with you. Despair and despondence. You ever had that happen and it'll try to just envelop you, just try to be a big old coat that just wraps itself around you and get you feeling sorry for yourself. Let's have us a pity party today. You haven't even started your day yet and already some spirit is trying to get you to have a pity party. I've told you over the years you don't want to have a pity party because all the wrong guests come to it. Soon as you let that spirit have control of you, it'll give you the guest list. Go out and get these folk in so we can have a party and you look at the list and there's an envelope has a key in there and the first name on the list is go to depression's house.

Now here's depression's key because depression's still in the bed with the covers pulled up. Go to depression's house, let yourself in, go upstairs, get depression out the bed, put them in the van, bring them to the party. Then go to the twins' house, bitterness and anger.

Pick them up. Now they're going to be fussing, the instructions say, but don't even pay them any mind, just put them in the van, bring them to the party. Go to loneliness' house. Don't worry about the fact that there's no lights on in there, loneliness' in there all by themselves.

Knock on the door till loneliness' come, put them in the van, bring them to the party. Go to fear's house. Instructions say now when you get to fear's house, you can't just knock on the door because fear is scared to death. They ain't coming to the door so when you get to fear's house, you're going to have to go to the window and say, hey, it's me, despair, come on. You got to watch your pity parties. All the wrong folk come to them.

Don't start down that road. Get yourself some praise and worship music and put it on first thing in the morning. I don't feel like worshiping, that's why you need to worship. That's exactly why you need to worship God. You need to practice his presence.

Joseph didn't wake up feeling like being in jail for years. But he learned to practice the presence of God. And you and I have to learn to practice, get you some Israel on the presence.

I mean all kind of songs are out there. Get Byron Cage, the presence of the Lord is here. You in jail but the presence of the Lord is here.

Spirit of the Lord is here. And you got to learn to praise your way through some things. Some things in fact you don't even really fully pray your way through. Some things you do some prayer long enough to get despair up out of here but then you praise your way through the rest of it. Praise your way through how you're feeling. So I need you to shake off despair and understand this isn't about trying to get wrongs righted necessarily.

Whatever you can do within your circle of influence do it. But what was Joseph gonna do? He's not even an Egyptian.

How he gonna get a campaign going against Potiphar's wife? You see what I'm saying? There are some things that just not are that just are not in our sphere of control. There are some things you can't do a thing about except give it to God, practice his presence and do what the Bible says repeatedly. Wait on the Lord.

Just wait on him. And that means to serve him by being woven to his agenda for your life. To wait when the Bible says wait on the Lord it's a word it's a Hebrew word that means to weave. Be so woven to God until you don't know where he stops and you start. I'm just I'm sticking with God.

He can't shake me for anything. And I'm gonna do his will until he brings me out of this. So Joseph lived like that and you and I need to live like that. And he had no idea what he was being set up for. At a certain point Joseph's highest goal was to get out of prison. He had no idea that God's plan for him was way past just getting out of prison. And sometimes you and I are going through something and we think if I can only just get to some level that you can see. You have no idea that if you practice the presence of God and do his will and serve him with excellence and keep despair off of you, God has plans that will blow your mind.

Now Joseph's dark season of injustice lasted for years. And some of us have got to quit all this thinking God's gonna always come through tomorrow. I love the tomorrows and I love the suddenlies of God. And sometimes that's what happens in your life. But don't think God is being less than faithful just because you didn't get a suddenly. That's why we have to be real clear that we walk by faith and not by sight. Sometimes we go to churches and somebody will give you a false prophecy that by this time next week you gonna be out.

Well, some folk might be out by next week and some other folk might be deeper than they ever been before by next week. And so what you got to do is go past claiming the quick fix and say, Lord, I'm going to wait on you until you show up. And I don't know where you are all the time, but you know where I am. So I'm going to be here serving you. And whenever you're ready, Lord, I'm ready for the promotion. Thanks so much for being here for Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, unrecognizable.

We're glad you stopped by. But before we say so long for the weekend, Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California. Pastor, we're talking about leadership and whether we consider ourselves a leader or not, there are some key principles that will help us accomplish the goal set before us in God's word. Tell us a little bit about this message and your motivation for sharing it. As most of our listeners know who have heard me any length of time, one of my all-time favorite Bible characters is Joseph in the Old Testament. I've learned so much from his life, and I love sharing those lessons as I preach and teach. And in this series, unrecognizable, I'm helping people to understand that if we walk with God and allow him to teach us the lessons that the challenges of life can teach us, we will become so unrecognizable to people who only remember us when we were immature or when we were unspiritual and those sorts of things. Joseph started out a spoiled brat.

There's just no way around it. The dude was spoiled. The dude was walking around with no job but a Versace robe on.

I mean, it just really is pathetic. But when you see him at the end, his brothers literally don't recognize who he is. First of all, they assume he's probably long dead by now or at least in some foreign country. And there they are in Egypt trying to get food.

And the guy who's making the decision is the very one they sold out. And so we're going to learn a lot of lessons about leadership and about life as we just go through this series and take to heart the lessons. The fact is, God loves us like we are, but he loves us way too much to leave us like we are. So he's going to cause us to grow and he's going to cause us to mature. And when you get to the end of Joseph's experience, you see that he is bilingual.

He is married with two kids who are named after the things God's done in his life. All kinds of great things are happening, but the journey wasn't pleasant. It meant he had to learn. He had to grow.

He had to mature. So do all of us. And I hope people will be blessed and helped as they receive this word. Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. That's James 1 verses 2 and 3, a great reminder that some of life's greatest challenges produce some of our greatest spiritual growth. With that in mind, Pastor Paul has written a booklet that I believe will be of great benefit to you as you navigate your way through the challenges you may be facing. It's called Turning Your Test into a Testimony, and it's our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destin for Victory.

Again, that's Turning Your Test into a Testimony. Request it today when you make a generous donation. Call 855-339-5500 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.

Once again, Destin for Victory Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. You ever had those countdowns go on in your life, in your heart, in your mind? Countdown when it looks like, okay, now I see the light at the end now, and you create this little timeline. What do you do when God has not met your deadline? That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Unrecognizable. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.