How Do You Spell TESTimony? (cont'd)

You don't have to deny trouble to walk by faith. In fact, I would argue that you wouldn't need to walk by faith except there's trouble to deal with. The Bible says for we walk by faith not by sight. It means you focus on the faith part while not denying what you have to have faith about. In the absence of problems, but in spite of them. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. During his ministry on earth, Jesus told his disciples that the servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, he said, they will persecute you also. That means life will have plenty of tough times.

We don't want to dwell on them, but we shouldn't deny them either. That's one of the lessons we learned from the life of Jabez, whose story continues today. Be sure to visit pastorpaul.net to listen to the any of Pastor Paul's recent messages on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also subscribe to the Destined for Victory podcast wherever you get podcasts, including Spotify and Apple podcasts. Now, here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message. How do you spell testimony? Pastor Paul's story, he said when Abraham got that promise that he was going to bring a child into the world and he was an old man, it said he considered not his body.

It didn't mean he denied that he was old and then he said, yeah, I'm old. Yeah. Under normal circumstances, I have no business fathering a child, but God made a promise and when God makes a promise, the promise is as good as done. Why?

Because of who made it. And you and I know what that's like because we put general faith in people who are flawed, who are subject sometimes to disappoint us. But as a general rule, when you find somebody who loves you, they are able to fulfill their promises to you.

That's what they want to do. So much so that you can say to somebody in the middle of the week, I need a ride Sunday. Can you pick me up?

And they say, oh, no, no problem. I got you. I'll get you a ride. I'll get you Sunday and you connect on the time I run by your house. Just be ready.

You say good. So y'all had that talk Wednesday or Thursday. Saturday you're talking to somebody and they say to you, now I know you don't have a car right now or your car's in the shop. Do you need a ride? Do you have a ride for church tomorrow? And you say, yes, I have a ride. Now, technically you don't have a ride. You have a promise.

Get it? I don't have a ride yet, but I do have a promise of a ride. But based on who promised me, I believe I have a ride so I can send you on.

No, thanks for checking on me, but I'll be all right. I'll see you at church. What am I saying that for? Because I have a promise. I don't have to ride, but I got the promise. When God gives you a promise, you can go on and cash that check. And one of the promises God has made to his children is, yes, your trouble is real. But before even before I bring you out of your trouble, I will give you grace while you're still dealing with your trouble. That's a promise. So even though you're going through hard times right now and your feelings try to tell you, you know what? We're not going to make it.

You have to learn to tell your feelings. Oh, yes, we're going to make it because God promised me that his grace was sufficient. Listen to what Paul said in second Corinthians chapter 12 verses seven through nine. He said to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing great revelations. He had been talking about the fact that God gave him extraordinary revelations as as the unusual apostle that he was. The Lord gave him extraordinary revelations. And he had experiences, he said, that are unlawful for me to really talk about. I mean, God took him to some heavenly places. Literally, God showed him some things that he never did expound to us.

He said, No, I can't even I can't go there with you. It's unlawful for me to tell you some of the things God has done in my life. He said, and so these are the kinds of things that could make you spiritually conceited. But know what he says to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations. There was given to me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. People love speculating. What was the thorn in the flesh?

I've read all kind of commentaries and stuff like that. I don't know why we spend our time fooling with stuff like that. If you ever had a thorn in your flesh, you know, it'll work your last nerve. It was the messenger of Satan, whatever it was. However, the messenger of Satan manifested, it was manifested in such a way as to constantly be an irritant and a bother to this great apostle. And look at what he says in verse eight, three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me three times. He said, Lord, come on now. I'm not going to get conceited.

I promise. But please remove from me this thorn, this messenger of Satan. That is tormenting me three times. He says, I ask God to take it away. But God said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Some of you might not have revelations that God has to keep you from being conceited about, but you do have some thorns. You do have some messengers of Satan.

You do have some trials. You do have some situations that you're having to go through. And I want you to know that just as God's grace was sufficient for this apostle, it is sufficient for every child of God. God promises grace to the humble. The Bible says he resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

So get rid of your pride and nothing like trouble to help you get rid of your pride. You go through enough stuff, you will just get up off of your high horse. That's why when you see folk riding the high horse, you say, oh, man, you're just asking for it. When you see your relatives and different people just all up in there, I don't understand it, I can't relate to that in any way.

And you look at them, you say, ooh, what you going to have to go through? Because my grandmama said, just keep on living and something is going to knock you down. There's a preacher who has been noted for the arrogant kinds of statements he has made about people going through various sicknesses and affliction. And over the years, he's just been known for just being very dismissive and very just, you know, arrogant about the fact that they ought to have been walking in divine health.

And right now he is fighting the battle of his life with physical disease and affliction. You know what? I haven't heard anything arrogant in a while.

You know why? Because it's not like life to teach you some things that the word couldn't teach you. And so God gives grace to the humble, humble yourself before the Lord. When you're going through trouble, don't get arrogant. Don't you dare tell God, I don't deserve this.

I'm trying to help somebody now. You dare tell God what you don't deserve. I don't deserve that that happened to me.

Well, now, wait a minute. Do we want to stop and change the subject and start talking about what you deserve? Because if that's the subject, you ought to be going through hundreds of times worse. Come on, all of our sin, all of our dysfunction, all the ways we've displeased God, all the ways we've dishonored people, all the ways that we have sinned in our lifetime and the wages of a single sin is death. So what do we deserve? You know, what happens is we get so arrogant that we start comparing ourselves among ourselves. And the Bible already told you that's not wise. And sometimes you look at other folk and you say, well, I haven't done as bad as them. And on basis of you comparing yourself to somebody else, you figure you deserve something better than they deserve.

The issue is not deserving. The issue is everything we get comes by grace. So when you go through a trial, God says, before I bring you out of your trial, before I bail you out of that financial trouble, before I heal your body, before I provide for your need, before I give you that companion you've been begging me for, before whatever the case is. Before that happens, I'm going to give you grace. And you and I have to learn that when God says his grace is sufficient, he doesn't mean that you're just going to barely make it. He says, my grace is sufficient. I'm going to dump enough grace on you where you can make it, especially as soon as you get your attitude right and stop tripping and acting like you deserve better. Soon as you get your mind right, soon as you get transformed in your thinking, you will start waking up saying, thank you, Lord. Thank you for the grace you gave me yesterday. And I'm trusting you for the grace I need today. See, when you're up late at night talking about I can't make it, that just means you ran out of that day's grace.

I got a word from God for you. When you're up late at night talking about you can't make it, go to sleep. Go to sleep. That's what you did.

That's the word. What was Pastor Paul's word today? Go to sleep. When you run out of grace, it just means that grace portion for that day is being used up. You ought to be sleeping now. Tell your body, tell your mind we're going to sleep.

But I can't even rest my mind. Say, okay, Lord, I need one more grace for the day. I need grace to go to sleep. I'm telling you what I prayed.

I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling you I pray, okay, Lord, help me go to sleep tonight. You got me through the day. Now I need some rest, Lord. You see how tired I am.

You see my eyes, don't you? Now help me go to sleep. Help me put my head on that pillow and snore.

Why? Because when I wake up, there's going to be a fresh batch of grace. Up next, the rest of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd. We want to thank all of you whose prayers and financial support help Pastor Paul share the gospel all over the world.

Your donations do make a difference. So as God leads, prayerfully consider making a generous gift to Destined for Victory today. You can give securely at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500. Have you ever felt like giving up, like there's nothing left for you to do or nothing else you want to do?

Well, if you still have a pulse, you still have a purpose. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message. How do you spell testimony? When Elijah was somebody who couldn't make it, God let him go to sleep. Elijah said, I just want to die. Lord, take me out of here right now. Oh, God, I'm sick of this. I can't take it no more. I'm the only one left.

They're trying to kill me. And he prayed that he might die. And all he did was went to sleep. And when he woke up, there was provision.

Remember that story, 1 Kings? He woke up and an angel had brought him some water and some rolls. You said rolls in the Bible. It says bread that was heated on coals, hot bread. That's rolls where I come from. You know, God was hooking that man up.

Water and rolls. God was saying to him, no, I'm not ready for you yet. You still have more work to do. There are three more people that you haven't anointed yet that I'm going to have you anoint.

You got more work to do. God is saying to you right now with your half suicidal self. Oh, you came to the right service. You listen to me because God wants you to hear this message on CD or whatever it is. God said, which he sees your suicide attempt, at least in your head.

And he's saying, no, I'm not taking you now. He's saying to somebody, if you try to kill yourself, you're going to wake up in the hospital. Go wake up in the hospital. Now you brought a bunch of pain on yourself. You're full of pain because you botched the attempt.

Now you got a big medical bill. And you still got to live because I'm not through with you. So do yourself a favor.

Give up your death wish and trust God to bring you through and to bring you out. His grace is sufficient. I know. Yes, I know.

Yes. But you don't understand. I get it. We get it. Been there. Done that.

Got the T-shirt. There's not a subject you can bring up that the saints can relate to. That's why you got to quit going on a sit down strike when you're going through trouble. Last thing in the world you need to do would be sitting home when you're going through trouble. I'm going through hell. I don't feel like those people. Those are all those folks survived hell. That's why they're at church. You need to get up in there.

Well, I don't know. They don't know what I'm going through. You just need to get in the atmosphere. Pastor Jenkins told you when you get in the right atmosphere, get under the right spiritual head and the oil is flowing down.

It'll drip down through the end of the garment. You need to sit here with your depressed self so God can lift you up and give you hope and give you a future. Better to be here mad than be at home by yourself crying the blues. I don't feel like church and had nothing to do with your feelings. You don't come cause you feel sometimes you come cause you don't feel that ought to tell you I need to be there.

I need to go there. I know. And that's just always hugging me. I don't feel like being hugged today. Get that hug. It might be an anointing in that hug today. It's the very hug you need. Hello.

Here she come. Give me grace, Lord. I promise you, you need the saints of the living God. I promise you, you need a pastor who prays for you, who intercedes for you.

I promise you, you need to be in a place where there's an anointing to survive, just an anointing to survive. Some of the brothers we were having a meeting yesterday as we said farewell to our men's leader who's being reassigned by the Coast Guard to another part of the country. And we were loving on him and thanking him for his time of leading our men's ministry. And many of the brothers were saying that I found during this time that this brother helped me to see that if you just get into the right atmosphere with the right people, God will change your life. And he told the brothers, he said, one thing about your pastor is your pastor has an unusual courage because of what he's been through. The devil tried a long time ago to tell him, give it up.

It's not worth it. And all of that. He said, but this man, I watched this man, he has an anointing of a courage that says I don't care where I've come from. I'm going to come through it and I'm going to come out of it. And if you need to come out of what you're going through, you don't need to be sitting home.

You need to be right here, sitting up under me, listening to this word, letting the anointing flow because God's got the ability to get you through what you're going through. The devil's not writing your story. The flesh isn't writing your story. Your enemies aren't writing your story. Your mama who didn't treat you right isn't writing your story. God is the author. God is the finisher of your faith. He's writing your story. And he's not done right.

And he hadn't even picked up his pen yet. You just coming through a bad chapter. That's all. No point in reading the book where everything is wonderful. That's a boring book. You know why? Because none of us can relate to it.

I want to read a book about everything. One of us, even the fairy tales, they got to have some trouble in them. That's what make it a fairy tale. Cinderella had to be persecuted.

Come on, somebody. Let me help you understand this. Cinderella had to go through what she went through. It wouldn't be exciting if she starts out looking all wonderful, like she just had a makeover and her hair was just done and all that. And she tell all her sisters, shut up when you're talking to me. I'm a child of God.

And she's putting everybody in their place. I'm going to the bar. I don't care what y'all say. And we're going to dance all night and then he's going to marry me. The end. No, no, no.

That's boring. What make you sit up and read with intensity is that she's persecuted. She like 2 Corinthians 4. She got trouble on every hand. Hard pressed on every hand. Mom and old like a stepsister. Don't like it. They go into the ball, leave her there with rags, tattered clothes on in there scrubbing.

And they out there at the ball trying to be somebody. But oh, God showed up with the fairy godmother. To talk about, you can learn the word anywhere. God showed up with with the fairy godmother. And she showed up. She didn't quote the scriptures because she didn't know it.

But we all know the scriptures that what she was really trying to say is Cinderella. God said, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to bless you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. I know it look bad now.

I know you need a makeover right now. And I come to bless you. And she gets blessed and goes on to the ball, stands there at the top of the staircase.

Everybody in there trying to make their move on the prince, trying to get their ducks in a row, trying to get his attention. Oh, but as God would have it, he looked up and he said, in the words of the much more contemporary song, when I first saw you, I said, Oh, my. Oh, my, that's a dream. Y'all didn't watch the dream girls.

You don't know what I just said. And they danced and they had a wonderful time. Oh, but the midnight was approaching and she had been told this is going to end at midnight now. But always God would have it while she ran Romans 828 all things work together. She got to get out of there. But God calls the slipper to come off of her foot.

And she could have left that belly. And I said, and I go embarrass myself. Now, you know, I mean, I shut up, girl. There's a slipper left behind. The prince saw that glass slipper. And he said, if it's the last thing I do, I got to find a woman whose foot perfectly fits this slipper. And she went around the kingdom and sisters who know good.

Well, they never had on glass slippers in their life, sticking that foot out, just hoping against hope. Oh, but you don't have to worry about it. Whatever God has for you is for you. Come on, somebody quit hating on the other folk cause they got what you wanted. If they got it, that mean it wasn't yours. That's what it mean. Go on and celebrate them. Thank God for them.

What God has for you is for you. Cinderella didn't have to sit there and wonder who I wanted somebody going to be wearing my slipper. And then, you know, the devil, he tried to block you. Remember when the family tried to keep her out of the very presence of the prince.

Ah, but you got to remember the scriptures say no weapon formed against me will prosper. Somehow or another, she got to see him anyhow. And he saw her and they said, no, no, you have to worry about she wasn't at the ball.

Now you're just going down the road. He said, bring her here. God knows how to bring you out of what you going through. God can bring you out of obscurity.

Quit trying to make yourself famous and popular. God knows how to call you from the background to the foreground. He said, bring her here, sit her down right here. And he kneeled in front of her and put her foot in that slip and it fit perfectly. And he said, this is my woman.

Prince saying, Freddie Jackson, you are my lady. Everything I need and more. I'm old school. Y'all got to pardon me.

I'm old school. Hear the words of the prophet Isaiah. No weapon formed against you will prosper. And every tongue that accuses you in judgment, you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And their vindication is from me, declares the Lord. Passages like this are what forms the battle cry of Pastor Paul Shepherd's ministry. In Christ, you are destined for victory, both in this world and in the life to come.

It's a message we want to share with the world. And today you can help by becoming a Destined for Victory partner for as little as $20 or more a month. 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. That's 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner. Or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become a 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. And if you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift to the ministry today, we'd love to share with you a gift of our own, Pastor Paul Shepherd's booklet, Turning Your Test Into a Testimony.

That's Turning Your Test Into a Testimony, our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. Folks, when God gets you through, quit looking back. He got you through it. Oh, you don't know what I went through.

Yeah, but you came out. Let's not build monuments to pain when we can build altars of praise for God having gotten us through the pain. That's next time in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, The Power of Your Words. Until then, enjoy your weekend and remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory. .