In Need of a Super-Sized Blessing, Part 1

I'm going to provide for you. I'm going to give you a crown of beauty. I'm going to give you the oil of gladness and I'm going to give you a garment of praise.

Now what's your job? You have to take off the what you got on now so you can put on what he's got for you. The crown of beauty, the belt of truth, the garments of praise. Today on Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul Shepherd reminds you that every item you need to walk in spiritual victory has already been bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. They are hanging in your spiritual closet even as you listen to this sentence. You don't have to buy them. You don't have to borrow them. They are yours right now.

All you have to do is put them on. Today's message is straight ahead. We hope you'll stay with us now or visit pastorpaul.net anytime to listen to this or any recent message on demand.

But right now here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message in need of a super-sized blessing. First Chronicles chapter 4 verses 9 and 10. Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez saying I gave birth to him in pain. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel. Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory. Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted his request.

We've been focusing on Jabez's mother's ill-advised decision to name her son after the traumatic experience of childbirth. And we've been discussing better ways to handle our trauma than what we see in her life. We've talked about the fact that we should remember that God's grace is sufficient. We've also talked in the last message about the fact that we must learn to speak words of faith and conviction.

In the last message I talked extensively about our need to change the way many of us talk. We talk doubt. We talk defeat. We talk confusion.

We talk misery. And we need to learn to speak words of faith and conviction even when we're dealing with a trauma. You say well I'm still in the traumatic experience so how am I going to speak positively in the midst of it? Well you don't always have to talk about where you are but learn to talk about where you're going.

If I'm in the thick of something I don't like I don't have to rehearse what I'm in. I can rehearse where I'm going and say I am in this trouble now but the Lord is going to deliver me. The Lord is going to bring me through and bring me out.

So we talked about that. Now I want to talk about one more way we should handle our trauma just briefly and then I want to move on and start focusing on verse 10 where we will spend the rest of this brief series. But the third way we can handle our trauma better is to build an altar of adoration rather than a monument to misery. Build an altar of adoration rather than a monument to misery. A lot of us are in the habit of creating monuments to our misery. We're good at describing our misery and crafting our misery and packaging it. Some folk market their misery. You actually market and ship it out to other folk. Some of you have email groups and you just ship them the latest update on your misery.

Just thought I'd tell you all how jacked up I am this week. I don't know about you but I get some of them every now and then. Just folk just marketing their misery. Now listen be clear it's fine to have folk that pray with you and say here's what I'm going through I need you who love me to pray for me. Nothing wrong with that.

But that's not the kind of email I'm talking about. I'm not talking about folks seeking prayer and walking in faith. I'm talking about folk who just want you to know how jacked up they are. And they're not asking for help. They're not asking for prayer.

They're not asking for anything like that. They just want you to know. Here I'm tired of knowing this by myself.

I want you all to know. Listen we need to learn to build an altar of adoration to our God. Why because he's the one who promises to get us through what we're going through.

He's the one that will bring you out when you're in the valley of the shadow of death. You got to learn the only way I'm getting out of here is the Lord is with me and his rod and staff are going to comfort me. And meanwhile even while I'm in the valley he's preparing a place for me and he's going to prepare a table and when he brings me out of this valley he's going to sit me down at a table of provision and blessing and I'm going to get to eat in the very presence of my enemies. And so we have to learn to build an altar of adoration. We got to learn to replace complaining with praise.

We got to learn to replace it just swap. I'm used to murmuring but now I'm going to bless the Lord. I'm used to complaining but now I'm going to give God the glory. If I can't glorify him for what I'm in I can glorify him for where he's taking me. Now let me establish this from scripture. In Isaiah 61 that passage that was fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

In fact when you read Luke 4 in the gospels he got up and he read the scriptures and what did he read? He read Isaiah 61. One of the phrases in that passage is that God promised that he would provide for those who grieve in Zion. He would bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. He would give them the oil of gladness instead of mourning.

Watch this. And he would give them a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. Jesus read that from Isaiah 61 as he stood in the synagogue that day. Then he closed the scriptures, gave it back to the minister and he said to the people this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He said I'm here and what Isaiah talked about hundreds of years ago is being fulfilled right now before your very eyes.

Why? Because I've shown up now and I am the one who is going to do all of these things in your life. I'm going to provide for you. I'm going to give you a crown of beauty. I'm going to give you the oil of gladness and I'm going to give you a garment of praise.

Now what's your job? You have to take off the what you got on now so you can put on what he's got for you. Say well God didn't give me a garment of praise.

Well look what you got on. When you go to the store and you see an outfit say woo that is what I owe. I can't wait to see myself in that.

I think I'm going to be the bomb in this. What do you have to do? You can't just admire it on the rack.

You have to take it off the rack. Make sure it's your size now. Come on don't deceive yourself. Come on please.

I'll try to help you in practical ways. Don't go to the store and jack yourself up. Go look at the size. Is this mine?

I don't care how cute it is. If it says eight and you haven't been in single digits in 17 years then you don't even bother going in there. You're going to discourage yourself.

Trying to help you. Go to the lady say listen do you have this in whatever your number is? And remember what I tell you. If it's for you God will have it there for you. If they don't have it say well call around does your store in this city or that city have it?

You know do a little investigation. Oh I've shopped for my wife at different points throughout our marriage and I know how to do it. I've worked it. I can work a Macy's. I can work a Nordstrom. I can work a Nemus. I know how to work them. I say well she would really love this now.

If you don't have this in her size call your store over there. And they pick up the phone and call. And if they have it I say alright tell them to hold it for me.

My name is Shepherd. Tell them I'll be over there. You've got to work the system now. But the point is you get something that fits you but what do you have to do? You have to go in the changing room and you have to take off what you got on before you can put on what you hope to take home. Look at what you have on. You have on a spirit of despair.

A spirit of heaviness. You got on a garment of complaints. A garment of misery.

And some of you you've been wearing it so long you won't even know what it would be like to take it off. But today the word of God challenges you. Take that garment off. Strip down before God. Say Lord I'm sick of being miserable. I'm sick of being full of despair and discouragement and heaviness.

I'm tired of my life this way. Give me that garment that you promised me and God will slip you into his room and put on that garment of praise. And you know what the Bible says about praise in one place? David said praise is comely to the upright. That's the language of King James. You know what that means?

That means praise looks good on saved folk. When you come out and look in the mirror and turn, you know how y'all do. Turn, look at the back.

See how it's hitting you in the back? Sideways. Praise look good on you no matter what angle you hit. No matter where you're looking, praise look good.

Folk around you start saying, God you look shocked. Say where'd you get that? I went to Isaiah 61. I went to Isaiah 61.

Where that store? That's where you get the garment of praise but you have to take off what you have on first. But first let's listen again as he shares the second half of today's teaching in need of a super-sized blessing. Paul said in the New Testament, Philippians 4, 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Then he said, I will say it again, rejoice.

He's being emphatic. He's telling the church at Philippi. Now he's not writing from the rich Carlton. He's not in a suite.

He's not hanging out having a wonderful time. He is in jail when he writes to the church at Philippi. He is in jail.

He's in prison. Do you know what theologians call Philippians? They call it Paul's joy book because the book is full of joy. When you read Philippians, it's just he is praising God every chance he gets and he is passing on the praise and passing it around and encouraging folk at every turn. But he's in jail. You know why?

Because your circumstances don't have to determine how you act. He knows what it is to put on the garment of praise. He's already taken off the spirit of despair and he says to the church in 4 and 4 of Philippians, he says, rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice.

You know what that means? That means you have to do the rejoicing. He didn't say, well, just hope one day that the spirit of God hits you and you go to dancing.

No, that's not what he said. He said you make the choice to rejoice. Just like you make the choice to complain. Just like you make the choice to be full of despair and discouragement and despondent. As soon as somebody asks you how you're doing, they are in for it. You ever met somebody like that?

You ask them how they're doing, you better have some time on your hands because they're going to tell you in painful detail. No, no. Paul said learn to make the choice to rejoice. So I want to let you know we can build altars of adoration. David put it this way, I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth. He's talking about choices he's making. If you want to live a better life, make better choices. I said if you want to live a better life, make better choices. Quit waiting for a better life to be determined by your circumstances. Determine that you're going to have a better life by the way you act in life. It's a good message.

I'm going to get this CD myself. Now let's turn our attention to verse 10. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, oh that you would bless me. Some of your translations say indeed.

Pause right there. Oh that you would bless me indeed. The Hebrew construction of this verse is downright fascinating to me. When you look at this verse in an interlinear Bible or something that helps you see sort of the Hebrew breakdown, what you find is Jabez cried out to the Lord and said oh that you will bless me, bless me. Jabez, he used the word twice.

He used a second form of the same word. Oh that you would bless me, bless me. And in the Hebrew what that construction means is Jabez said Lord, I don't just need a regular blessing. Where I am in my life at this point Lord, I'm looking to you, I'm crying out to you, I'm depending on you to give me a tremendous blessing.

He said oh that you would bless me, bless me. The best way for us to recreate the meaning of the Hebrew here is to think about what happens in certain fast food chains where when you say I want a number three meal or whatever the number is up on the screen. Very often they will ask you do you want small, medium or large? And you say I want the number three.

I mean no, no that's not what they ask you. They know you want number three but they offer number three in a smaller form meaning you get the sandwich or whatever the main thing is but you also get a side, typically fries if it's a fast food place and a drink. They say you can get a small one, small fries, small drink with the number three main course or you can get a medium size, that's a bigger thing of fries, bigger drink or you can get a large, that's a big, big thing of fries, big drink. In fact one chain used to, I don't know if they still do but they used to call it supersize. Y'all with me, y'all with me. Jabez said Lord bless me and supersize it.

That's exactly what he did. He said Lord I need a supersize, I can't use a regular blessing at this point in my life. I appreciate your regular blessings but Lord where I am right now I need a supersize blessing. Anybody ever been there where what you need from God, no, no I can't use the ordinary size.

I'm too hungry for the ordinary size. Bless me, supersize it please. That's what Jabez pulled up to the window and asked God for. When God said may I help you, Jabez said yes, may I have a blessing and would you supersize it. That's exactly what's going on in the Hebrew. I'm not putting that in there, it's in there which is why many English translations the only way they can grab it is they put the word indeed in.

He didn't use a separate word, he used the same word twice asking for the supersize. So in our language we just say indeed. If you get a homeboy translation they probably say bless me big time.

You know it's the kind of stuff we say in our vernacular. Bless me big time, bless me seriously. Give me the blessing that is the largest size available. That's what Jabez is asking for. He wants out of this cycle of pain. He wants out of the misery. He wants out of carrying the heavy baggage of being known through all of his life to this point as somebody who causes pain. He doesn't want that association anymore.

What Jabez shows us in the way he cries out to God are two things. First he shows us that he was determined not to allow his past to dictate his future. He was determined not to allow his past to dictate his future. Listen ladies and gentlemen we've got to make up our minds that the past is the past. Whatever is in your past that has created baggage, created trouble, created problems, you can't help your past. Your past is your past. It's history, it's unchangeable. But thank God your past does not have to determine or dictate your future. Thank God that what has been has been. That's over.

Water under the bridge. But God is saying in effect now what do you want to do? Now where can I take you?

Now how will you let me bless you? And you don't have to be dictated to from behind. This is a day sayeth the Lord when you and I have to stop driving looking in the rear view mirror. Cause nobody can get where they're going safely looking in the rear view mirror.

That's there for a quick reference. When you have a rear view mirror in your car that's for a quick reference so you can know what's coming up behind you. So that you can know if you're going to change lanes. You can see if there's somebody approaching in the lane you want to get into and you can make your adjustment accordingly. But nobody gets in the car and puts it in drive and then starts peering at the rear view mirror and you spend your whole time driving looking in the rear view mirror. You're going to have an accident. And if that's true in your driving experience why wouldn't it be true much more so in your life. Some of us are getting nowhere quickly at least nowhere good because we're spending our lives talking about what happened. Rear view mirror past is dictating.

Negative experiences dictating. Thanks so much for being here for today's Destined for Victory message in need of a super-sized blessing. Look for any of Pastor Paul's recent messages online on demand at pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net. Well I'm pleased to welcome Pastor Paul who joins me now from his studio in California. Pastor it is Thanksgiving week and we've been through a lot this past year. Everyone listening has been through much but the Bible tells us to be thankful in all circumstances.

So let's talk about it for a moment. How can we do that and why is it important for the follower of Christ? I love the fact that that theme is so clearly biblical that by the time we get to this season in our year it shouldn't be difficult at all to think about what Paul said. In everything give thanks is what he said to the church at Thessalonica and one of the signs of the latter days that he gave to his spiritual son Timothy is that in the last days people will be ungrateful and we are living among some very ungrateful people.

Our challenge has to be we shall not be among them. Yes there are ungrateful people all around us but we who know Jesus ought to live a life of constant thanks and praise. I remind myself and I often do it out loud to just say thank you to the Lord for little things. Thank you for the small things. I never want to take simple blessings for granted because if we ever lose gratefulness I think we have really gone backwards in our walk with God. So we want to get better at being grateful people and frankly Wayne God has done so much for all of us and especially during this pandemic and during the craziness of the past several years. We owe God constant thanks for bringing us through all that we've come through with the hope and the promise that he's going to take us all the way and he's going to complete the good work that he's begun in our lives. Well we do say it all the time here on the broadcast in Christ you are destined for victory and it's true. Let's remember to be thankful for the little things and the hard things along the way to our ultimate victory in Christ. Destined for victory of course exists only through your prayers and financial support and we have a great resource for you today as our thank you when you make a generous gift. It's Pastor Paul's booklet turning your test into a testimony.

A great reminder that the challenges we go through are often the very things that help us grow. That's turning your test into a testimony our gift to you this month by request for your generous donation to destined for victory. Call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online.

And of course you can also mail your gift. Our address is destined for victory post office box 1767 Fremont California 94538. Once again destined for victory box 1767 Fremont California 94538. After God did all of that they still don't make the promised land. Why?

Because as soon as they got over there they started complaining building monuments of misery. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message in need of a super-sized blessing. Until then remember He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ you are destined for victory.