Dealing with Labels (cont'd)

Some of you all are voiceless. Today's message is straight ahead. Stay with us now or stop by pastorpaul.net anytime to hear today's message or any recent Destined for Victory message on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also subscribe to the podcast at Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. But let's join pastor Paul now as he shares today's Destined for Victory message dealing with labels. So Bartimaeus learned that, yes, it's true, I can't see right now, but tell you what, my hearing is good and I just heard some good news.

Jesus is on his way through town and I want to have an opportunity to encounter him. If you are laboring under some label that somebody other than the Lord put on you and you might say, well, blindness, that didn't come from people. He was born blind. Okay, fine. But still, the label doesn't have to define you. The label simply expresses some aspect of your life now. Do not accept a definition for your life that God didn't give you.

And your conditions are not your definition. So you've got to learn to maximize what you have. Bartimaeus maximized, first of all, his hearing. Secondly, he maximized his voice. He maximized his voice.

Keep looking at verse 47 of Mark 10. Not only did he hear that Jesus was coming, but then it says he began to shout. He began to shout. He said I can't see, but I can sure holler. And he began to shout.

Why? Because I need to get Jesus' attention and I'm going to holler. He shouted. He didn't say, would someone please let Jesus know that I'm over here?

No, no, no, no. He shouted. This is my chance to encounter the one I've heard about. And he shouted. So you've got to maximize your hearing and you've got to maximize your voice. What are you quiet about that you need to be hollering about in your life?

What's going on in your life that needs some attention and you need to put your mouth on it? Whether you need to speak hope over something hopeless or whether you need to call out something that's wrong, that's happening around you, whatever it is, what is happening that you need to put your mouth on to accomplish something better than what's happening right now? So he maximized his hearing.

He maximized his voice. Some of you all are voiceless. Some of you all are suffering in silence and that's no good. If you're in a good, healthy church and you're hurting, somebody needs to know you're hurting so they can join you in prayer and walking in faith. I want to encourage you if you are one of the local members or one of the E members of Destiny, anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world, we are a church that cares and we need to know what's going on. I've got prayer warriors who can pray you through something. We can help you.

Sometimes we can help you in some practical ways depending on what the situation is. Don't suffer in silence while being a member of a church. It's a complete waste of your ink when you've sat down and wrote out, okay, I'm a member of Destiny.

If you filled out one of the forums back when we were here in the sanctuary, right now you can do it online. But it's a waste of time for you to say I'm a member of a church and I'm not going to tell the people when something's wrong with me because I don't want to. I really don't want to disturb them.

No, there's times you got to holler. Pray for me, y'all. I lost my job. Pray for me.

My house is under foreclosure. Pray for me. Whatever it is, pray for me.

Somebody's messing with me. Pray for me. Spiritual warfare is affecting me. My kids are acting like the devil raised them.

Whatever it is, you got to learn to holler. So somebody who knows how to get a prayer through and somebody who can encourage you and walk with you and hold you accountable so you don't go out and do something crazy, all of those reasons are why you ought to join a church like Destiny. So do not suffer in silence. Don't be a member under Pastor Paul's membership and we don't know when you're hurting. Don't say, well, y'all so spiritual. The Lord ought to tell you, no, God's not talking about that. You talk about that. Y'all be surprised the super spiritual stuff I hear. You got so much Holy Ghost, you should have discerned it. People use words they can't even define. Discern, what that mean? They're just tripping.

That's what they're doing, just seriously tripping. So listen, you got to learn to speak up. He heard Jesus was nearby and he started hollering. He began to shout. Bartimaeus maximized his hearing. He maximized his voice.

Third thing, he maximized his conviction. What did he shout? Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

You say, where's conviction? Because he had heard about Jesus but just because you hear about somebody doesn't mean that you're convicted that what you heard was right. I've heard about a lot of things and a lot of people and I don't believe they're right.

I don't believe they're legitimate. But he heard about Jesus and when he hollered, he told Jesus and I believe you are exactly who the Old Testament said you would be when you showed up. You are the son of David. Bible tells you when you look at the genealogy of Jesus, just go to the beginning of the New Testament, Matthew's gospel chapter one.

It gives you the genealogy of Jesus and it says he's in the line of David. And so this man said, I won't tell Jesus that I believe you are who the scripture said you would be. You're the son of David. You're not just some religious man.

You're not just some guru. You're not somebody who's just trying to make a living fooling people that you are who you're not. No, I believe that you are the son of God, the savior of the world. I believe you're the one that came down through 40 and two generations to die for our sins. You're here on divine mission and I believe that you are that son of David. So since I'm talking to you and acknowledging that I have a strong conviction about who you are, I'm asking you to have mercy on me.

But first he's expressing his conviction. What are your convictions? That's what I want to ask you. You laboring under a label, people trying to make you what you're not or trying to speak into your life what they want you to be. You know people will try to define you with their mouths.

And so you got to be very careful talking to folk. If they get to define you, then they get to own you because their definition now locks you in to their perspective of who you are. I came to tell somebody it's time that you shake off the shackles of people trying to misdefine you. You are not the one who owns me.

God is the one who decides my beginning and my middle and my end. That's not you. Don't let anybody define you.

You who are looking for a love relationship and you meet somebody on eHarmony or Match.com or whatever you're on out there in the social media world, don't let anybody meet you and then try to define you. You got to decide you are not going to define me. Yes, we can go to dinner. Yes, we can go to Starbucks.

Yes, we can have a picnic. You're not going to put your view on me. I am who God said I am.

I can be who God said I can be. Oh, you look cute if you lose weight. Bye. You don't define what happens with me when I get on the scale.

I don't need to hear your opinion about it. Go somewhere. You need to figure out it is time for you to live by conviction. I am who God said I am. I can do what God said I can do. I'm going to be all that God has destined me to be. And while I'm doing that, if you happen to come along and your life's journey lines up and your values line up and your convictions line up and you love Jesus, then maybe we can hang a little bit. But nobody's living to meet you. You ever run into these people and just think like they are God's gift to the world around them?

You got to reject that out of hand. You are who God said you are. Alright, so Bartimaeus, look at what he did now to maximize what he had. He couldn't change his sight, the fact that he was sightless, but he used what he had, his hearing, his voice, and his conviction. He knew who Jesus was.

He wasn't going to let anybody back him down off of that. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. In these days, those of us who are walking with the Lord, we've got to speak it loudly and clearly. I believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I believe that he is who he said he is. I believe that the historic accounts verify that Jesus not only lived, but he was the Son of God. And just take your time and read from Christian apologetics and get all of your questions answered about who he is and all of that so that you can operate in this world with conviction. There are a lot of atheists and agnostics around us just trying to act like we're so silly and we are so idiotic because we believe in Jesus. No, no.

I'm not going to let anybody back me down off of that. I believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God.

He is the Savior of the world. Stay with us. The second half of Pastor Paul Shepherd's message is coming right up. We want to thank all of you who support Destin for Victory with prayers and financial support, gifts that help Pastor Paul share the joy of the Gospel message with a growing audience.

Destin for Victory is supported entirely by friends like you. So please, prayerfully consider making a donation today. Give online safely and securely from our website pastorpaul.net or give us a call at 855-339-5500.

Again, that number is 855-339-5500. Bartimaeus was a blind man who refused to suffer in silence. He maximized his hearing. He maximized his voice.

He maximized his conviction. We return to his story next in the rest of today's message dealing with labels. Once again, here's Pastor Paul Shepherd. I believe in God the Father. I believe that we are in a created universe. I do not believe that the universe just is. I believe that in the beginning God created. Because for me to be an atheist, I have to believe in the beginning bang and I can't account for where the stuff came from that banged. And to me, that's not the ultimate in intelligence.

Don't try to back me down like you're smart and I'm dumb because I believe in God. You believe in bang. Mine has a personality. Mine has beingness.

Yours is just bang. You're not going to back me down off of that. So I want to love the Lord and serve the Lord and worship the Lord and do good in his name all the days of my life so I'm going to live by that conviction.

And you're not going to back me down off of that. Alright, let's look at more of this passage. So Bartimaeus didn't have sight but he maximized first his hearing, second his voice, third his conviction.

Look at the fourth one. He maximized his audacity. His audacity. Look at verse 48. Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet but he shouted all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.

You see that audacity? He's blind and he's shouting and then folks come over. No, you need to cut out all that noise. I mean important people around here, they're doing important things and Jesus is coming and you know he's very important. You need to quiet down and he's thinking Jesus is coming.

That's the very reason I'm not quieting down. I need what only he can do. If you was the only one around, I'd quiet him down because you ain't got nothing you can do to help nobody. But I want to talk to that man who came to change everything around him starting with the hearts of people and he said now I am going to take advantage of this opportunity and he was audacious and he said I can't see but I can be audacious.

All the more, he said son of David, have mercy on me. They come over rebuking him, trying to get him to be quiet. Remind me of those old church ushers back in the day. Come over because the kids, we were kids, we wasn't supposed to be making noise. They come and hush you but no, no.

He said no, tell them they can take their hand from around their back because I got to get his attention and he shouted all the more. Let me ask you, what do you need to be audacious about? What are you being polite about that you need to be bold about? You who have a label to shake off, you got to be bold if you're going to shake off a label. You remember Gideon, Gideon was a coward. He hiding in a wine press, hiding from the enemy but the angel came and said I'm going to change things starting with the label.

I'm going to give you a new way to identify yourself. He said hell, Gideon, you mighty man of valor. And Gideon looked like a mighty man. Ain't no mighty man, just me standing here in this wine press. The angel said I'm going to call you not what you're acting like, I'm going to call you what God made you. And you don't even know God made you because I got to put the label on you first and then I got to help you become what he destined you to be.

Guess what? That's what God's doing in your life. Some of y'all are acting very unlike what God has made you. But I want to let you know God is not upset.

He just said okay, I'm going to work to make you what I've already called you to be. And so I want to let somebody know it's time for you to be audacious. Some of you need to stop being timid. Some of you need to stop being fearful.

Some of you need to get out there and do and say and be what's in your heart. There's a lot ahead of you. You got to get out there and make it happen, audacious, audacious decisions. You got to decide I am going to push forward.

I'm going to do what I've never done so I can get what I've never had. It's time for you to stop just a minute. I sure wish somebody would love me. I sure wish somebody would help me. I sure wish I had some money.

I sure wish. Oh, quit it and go do something audacious. Do something that will make a difference. Do something that heaven will respond to. When Gideon first was trying to shake off his timidity and his cowardice, he said well, if this is really the Lord calling me, then he going to have to prove it. You know he put out his little fleeces and God honored two fleeces. Now we in the New Testament era, don't you all be putting out fleeces trying to get God to convince you that you're called to do something. No, just step out there by faith. Let the Holy Spirit lead you and you do what's in your heart. Good man and woman out of the good treasure in their heart brings forth good things.

Get it out of you and get it out there and bring it forth. All right, the fifth thing. So he wasn't sighted but he maximized his hearing, his voice, his conviction, his audacity. Finally, he maximized his faith. Look at verse 49. Jesus stopped and called him and when he called the man, they said go. Jesus called and you're going over there.

He threw off his cloak. He jumped to his feet, went to Jesus. Look at Jesus. What do you want me to do for you?

I love that. Jesus wasn't going to assume he knew. No, you be audacious enough to tell me. I need somebody to tell God what you're believing for. Tell God what you're asking for. He said, what do you want me to do for you? And without hesitation, Bart said, Rabbi, I want to see.

Just bold, I want to see. See, it's a request. He doesn't know if he's going to get it granted but how you going to know unless you ask? Does God answer every prayer exactly the way we want?

No, but you ought to ask for exactly what you want. And if he has another plan, he'll reveal it to you. But he said, I want to see.

And look at the next word. Jesus said, go. Your faith has healed you. Your faith did it. Since you've been bold enough to use everything that was available to you, I want to let you know that your faith has gotten you to a better place in your life. And he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

And to every indication is that there would be no reason for him to discontinue following him and he continued to follow the master throughout the rest of Jesus' journey to the cross of Calvary. I need to let you know that God has good things in store for you but you'll never experience them letting people put labels on you and letting the labels that you have just by virtue of the way you exist on this planet. Don't let the label limit you. God didn't give you the label.

And even if your label is because of a physical infirmity that you were born with, for instance blindness in his case perhaps, but you need to know God's going to have the final word about everything in your life. So don't you decide on your own, I'm never going to be much, I'm never going to do much. You see the side of the tracks I was born on. Nobody cares about the side of the tracks you were born on. Get off that side. Go ahead on over to the other side.

Well you know, people from my neighborhood don't do much. Well go ahead and be the first and show the rest of them. Here's the way out. Well my gender, you know they hold me, there's a glass ceiling. Bust that ceiling. God is not worried about the ceiling.

Why are you worried about the ceiling? You guys decide, well they don't like people like me. Who cares what they like? If God be for you, who can be against you? Yes, folk will be against you, but what Paul said when he said if God be for you, he means you just got to do the comparison. They're against you, but wait until God jumps on the other side of the scale, and it shifts all the way.

God be for you, who can be against you? I told you many times before when I grew up playing basketball on the playgrounds in Philly, we'd go along the side of the gate, side of the fence, wait for the people that are playing, for one team to lose, then you'd get your team on the side. And I often think, when I think of God before us, who can be against us about those days as a child, hoping that I could put together a good team, because you want to go out there and beat the ones that are out there, and then you want to beat anybody else that challenges you, but if you got a bunch of scrubs along the side, we're not going to win one game with them, so you don't pick them, but you wait for somebody good to come. Say, you want to run with me?

I got next. Yeah, yeah, and you put together a good team. Well, Paul said, it doesn't matter who's out there playing right now, if you got next, and God pulls up, gets out of his car, grabs his gym bag, comes along the side of the fence, if God's along the side of the fence, and I look at him, say, can we run together, he's here, you can be on my team, all right, because when we go out there, we're only going to run one play, I'm going to give God the ball, I'm getting out the way. And it doesn't matter if an NBA All-Star team is out there, I don't care who's out there, LeBron, all of them, when God shows up, it's different, and you need to live your life that way, and you got to practice faith, and say, Lord, I'm going to believe you, that labels won't hinder me again in my life. You know, everything we do here at Destined for Victory is designed to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Every song, every sermon is sung or spoken with that in mind. You can take part of this mission with Pastor Paul and all of us at Destined for Victory by becoming a Destined for Victory partner for as little as $20 a month. In light of some severe challenges these past two years or so, people are eager to hear about the hope we have in Christ, and many are getting that message through the Destined for Victory broadcast.

Please prayerfully consider joining Pastor Paul in his mission to share the light of the Gospel to all people, even to those who have grown comfortable in the dark. 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 and find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner.

Make your pledge over the phone, or mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also become a partner from our website, pastorpaul.net. Now, 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 DVD message, Influencers for Christ.

That's the DVD, Influencers for Christ, our gift to you this month by request for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Yes, the Lord will bring us out of them, but you're going to go through them before you get out of them. And what we have to learn to do is to worship God while we're going through difficulties. That's tomorrow in Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, Dealing with Disillusionment. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.