Creating a God-Honoring Financial Legacy (cont'd)

What else do you have to do? You've got to save regularly. Saints, let's realize not everything God puts in your hands now is for now. It's a lesson you may have heard all your life.

Just because you have it doesn't mean you have to spend it. Hello and welcome to this Friday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Wherever you are and however you may be listening, thanks for making this part of your day. Well, there are five keys to handling our money God's way. The first is to sow generously.

The second is to shrink debt systematically. Today Pastor Paul talks a little further about this second key idea and then shares the final three steps you can take to honor God in the area of your personal finances. So stay with us now or listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net. Again, pastorpaul.net.

Let's join Pastor Paul for today's Destined for Victory message, creating a God-honoring financial legacy. I'm not telling you what I haven't done. You've got to do what you've got to do. But in those days I needed a second car because I got to California. I realized everybody needed a car out here.

You know, in Philly you could jump on SEPTA, the public transportation, and go anywhere you want. No, here you had, I needed a car. And you all heard the story.

I don't have time to tell you. But we asked God for a car and I started looking for a used car. I said, God, give me something that we can afford and give me the money to buy it. He touched the hearts of some people who were in a prayer meeting. And one day in a prayer meeting, clear across the country, they said, the Lord told us to start giving money every time we come to our little prayer meeting that they were having in our home.

And they started putting money together. And finally when they had $1,700, they said, let's us ask the Lord what we're supposed to do with it. And somebody said, I believe the Lord wants us to send that to Pastor Paul in California. And they called me and they said, can you use $1,700? I'm telling you all what God will do.

Can you use $1,700? I said, and they told me this story about their prayer meeting. They said, we just gathered people from a couple of different churches.

We just get together and pray. And they told me their little story. And when they asked that question, I said, put it this way. If the Lord is telling you all to give me $1,700, listen to him.

Because he know what he talking about. They sent me that $17. I went up to San Francisco Christian Center. Bishop Green was the pastor there. And he had me come up one Sunday night and preach his Sunday night service. They gave me a $300 offering for preaching. So I had $17 from the prayer folk, $300. And then I had $200. I forgot how I saved up the $200.

$2,200. God gave me a used car for $2,200. It was the second worst car in the church. It was a small church.

Only about 40 of us at that point. But I had the second worst car in the church. But I was so glad I didn't have the worst car in the church.

I said, I'm the pastor. I can't have the very worst car. So God gave me the second worst car.

You got to do what you got to do. I said, one day I'm going to drive nice, but right now I got to drive faithful. Oh, this is going to help somebody. This is going to help somebody. Before you drive nice, drive faithful.

And quit trying to wear a $100 hat on a nickel head. Come on, somebody. And so you see me now, Roland. Don't bother me. I paid my dues.

I know there's some branches of Christianity. I just don't believe a pastor ought to drive a Tesla. Stop looking at me then. Because I love my Tesla. I drive by y'all at the gas station.

Because I go in my garage and plug it in. And I'm through. Where am I in this message?

Y'all messing with my message. Shrink debt systematically. There are lots of ways to do it. You know, Dave Ramsey has the snowball method. And you take your smallest amount that you owe, whatever that bill is, and you pay that off and all that and just snowball effect.

But there are a couple of different ways to do it. Treat your debt like an enemy. It's an enemy.

It doesn't mean you well. So you've got to shrink debt systematically. What else do you have to do? You've got to save regularly. Saints, let's realize not everything God puts in your hands now is for now.

If you can get yourself into that habit. And let me especially dedicate these points in this part of the series to the younger generations. As you've heard me talk about, there are seven generations alive in America today.

And I'm in the third of them. Some of y'all too, don't look at me. Baby boomers. There are four generations under us baby boomers.

I want to say to everybody born after 1965. 65 to 80 is Gen X. And then you have the 81 to 1996, that's Gen Y or Millennials. And notice we used to always say the young people were Millennials and act like they were the same. Millennials aren't the young people anymore. They're middle age.

I know they mad. Tell me I'm still in my late 30s. Yeah, God bless you. But Moses just said three score and ten. If you get 70 years, what's the middle of that, 35?

I know I'm messing with y'all, but you're going to get over it. Yeah. So the young people are even below the Millennials. Generation Z they're called in social research. Generation Z. They're the people born from the late 90s up to 2015.

Generation Z. And these young folk need to learn. And the Millennials, even though you're in your 30s now, you need to learn these principles.

I wish I had been taught them at church. Oh, I could have saved myself so much heartache. I know what it is to get too much consumer debt as a young person, just buying everything.

Just because you got a salary, don't look at that money and say, okay, what can I buy with this? That's the way we thought. And I was a musician, so I'm always buying keyboards.

Oh, the latest. I had to get a Yamaha DX7, and I got to get a this and a that. And I was playing all great. Other folk enjoying the music, I'm broke.

God, a blessing is that. Oh, that man can play. Had me playing for all their weddings. Don't want to give me no decent money, but I got to play for everybody's wedding. Oh, I'm telling you where I came from.

I play y'all love songs, and y'all just blessing y'all, and y'all just sending me twos and fus, talking about thank you. I've been there, done that. Bought the t-shirt.

It's no fun when you get a hold of stuff and you spend just because you got the money. And I want to encourage you all, listen, generations X, Y, Z, and now you got the little kids. My grandson is less than two years old as I bring this message, and he's in a generation called generation alpha.

Those are the babies right now. We need to lay a foundational legacy for these generations. Teach them don't buy it just because you got money. Let the pastor teach you what I wish I had been taught when I was your age. Just because you get it in your hand, don't say, okay, what can I do with this at the mall?

Don't do that. The way to build your life with a strong financial footing and eventually be able to leave a strong financial legacy is to teach yourself to save some of it. You remember in Genesis 41 when God had blessed Joseph, and he's now the second in command in Egypt. You know all the hell he went through. But by the time he's second in command at age 30 in Egypt, and he has this big promotion, and Pharaoh just trusts him with everything in the nation, and Pharaoh told him, since the Lord gave you the interpretation of your dreams, and the interpretation meant that there was going to be seven years of great fortune and a blessing followed by seven years of extreme famine and poverty. And so Joseph went to Pharaoh and said, here's what we ought to do with that information. We ought to take the seven years of plenty and store up 20%.

That's what it comes down to. Read Genesis 41 when you get a chance. Store up in those good years, and it ended up being 20% over those seven years.

So everything that came in, all this extra grain and wheat and everything coming in, Joseph took 20% of it and put it in storehouses. That's something you and I need to learn to do. Now, none of us or a few of us, if any of us, can start out from this message saving 20%.

If you can, go ahead and do it. Pastor told me to save 20, and I can do it. Bam.

Most of us... Okay. All right, Pastor. All right.

I want to have a strong God-honoring financial legacy. I can't do 20. Most of us can't do 15 right now. Most of us can't do 10 right now.

Come on. I'm working with you because I know you're trying to get out of debt and all this. Find some figure you are going to put aside, even if it's just you showing... I'm teaching yourself the practice. Take something out of what you just got in that paycheck and put it in an account not tied to an ATM card. Oh, did I just help you? Clara over there helping me. If you tie it to an ATM, you are sunk because you're going to get in something that feels for a moment like a jam, and you say, oh, whip it out and go to the machine.

No. Put it in something, one of these, that's not tied to a card. Ally is one of the banks. There's a number of them, and it's a virtual bank. There is a bank, but you can't go to the branch. And put it in there so that you don't see it. And even when you see it, when you go online and see what's in there, you got to go through, you got to type in, I want to take this out, and then they tell you when you'll actually get it.

Because they're trying to help you, not type in, give me that money, I just gave y'all. I'm trying to help somebody. We'll be right back with more of today's Destined for Victory message from Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. Listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net. That's pastorpaul.net.

Or subscribe to the podcast at Google Podcasts, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. And stay tuned after today's message when Pastor Paul joins me from his studio. But first, let's tune in to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message, creating a God-honoring financial legacy.

And you got to do it. Teach yourself to save something out of everything you get. Oh, come on, baby boomers. If we had been taught in our churches, save something out of everything you get and put it where you can't touch it easily, if at all.

Do you know where we would all be? Oh, Lord. So now I want to teach the generations following me. One of these days when I'm with the Lord and people are listening to my messages or reading my books and get these principles, I want them to say, thank God that man took the time and instead of hooping and going into E flat in the pulpit, he told me how. Nothing wrong with E flat. I can hoop with the best of them when I need to.

But ain't nothing wrong with E flat. What I need to do is stay in a tone that's just talking and say, put something away. And teach yourself those principles, those practices. Put something away even if it's not much. That's why all the financial leaders tell you start with building an emergency fund. Most of them will say something like, get a $1,000 emergency fund. You know why? Because I heard just the other day that one-third, only one-third of Americans can handle an immediate financial crisis of a couple of thousand dollars. A third. Everybody else will be like, oh, Lord.

I'm going to get $2,500. Shouldn't be. That's because we all out riding and looking good, designer clothes on our backs. You need to go and just go head on into Target.

Come on, somebody. They got racks. Wal-Mart. We got a lady in this church that loves Wal-Mart. One of the women in this sanctuary loves Wal-Mart. It's a blessing to her life. Don't y'all look at the first lady.

Why y'all doing this? But she does. She loves Wal-Mart.

She doesn't buy clothes there. I'm just saying she loves Wal-Mart for what it is. And sometimes when I see her buying things, I say, baby, why didn't you let me know you needed that? She said, because you're going to go get the more expensive type. I just know you. And she said, sometimes I don't need all that.

It meets the need and I'm happy. I married an unusual woman who really does not enjoy spending my money. Really. I ain't married unusual. All my preacher friends, all my preacher friends are sick of me. All of them. You married somebody who don't want to spend money?

That's right. God gave her to me. I'm somewhere preaching, running revival. I said, baby, let's go into the mall. I don't need anything.

Do you know how many people would have said, fine, cool, let's go. Preach real good tonight because I'm about to spend some money today. Save regularly. Put it away. Build a little emergency fund and then from there, just follow that.

They'll give you strategies that are doable and make this thing work for you. Save regularly. And number four, spend wisely. Spend wisely. You want a God honoring financial legacy? Yeah, you got to spend. You got to buy some things but do it wisely.

Luke 14, 28. Jesus said, which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost? Whether he has enough to finish it. You got to pre-plan your spending. Do you know that's what budgeting is? Some people are scared of the word budget. Budget only means pre-planned spending. I thought and I prepared, then I spent. Nothing wrong with a budget.

Budget's wonderful. You just lay it out. What do I need to spend this week in order to live my life? And you sit down and count the cost. Count the cost before you do your food budget for the month. Some of you all go to work because your co-workers are always running out to the restaurant during lunch. You got to sit down and count the cost. The counting of the cost plus you're already going to be putting something away, you should probably end up after you count the cost saying, you know what, I can't afford out lunches in this season of my life. So what I'm going to do is bring my lunch in a brown bag because I went to the store, counted the cost, bought what I needed to buy. My bologna has a first name.

It's O-S-C-A-R. Come on somebody, try to help somebody. I know it doesn't look cute going in your little bag, getting your bologna sandwich. Let them other folk going out to the restaurant flossing and carrying on.

Floss on y'all. I'm going to get my money together. And you know what, you get just as full on what was in your brown bag as you do on what was at the restaurant.

Quit looking at me in that tone of voice. I can make it through with the energy. I can make it through the rest of the day. And all I did was brought this one bag. And that's it. And let the other folk come in burping, burping and broke.

Come on. Oh, that's good. You know I shouldn't have. The day will come when if I want to go, I'll go.

But when that day comes, I will be able to enjoy it better because I didn't have to stress financially to do it. Oh, this is good. Just because the boss said everything must go. You see them big stuff and they make the biggest sign. Store closing, everything must go. Doesn't have to go to your house. It must go somewhere.

It's up to them where it goes. Because I'm walking by this. Because I came to this mall to get one item preplanned in the budget. The stores are set up to get you.

Come on, brothers. Best Buy is there to get us. Best Buy is set up to get us. You walk in Best Buy, everything flashing big, loud, beautiful. Picture you never saw clarity like that in your whole life. Oh, my goodness. There you go standing there looking at this big old.

Sure, it's beautiful. Go home and watch the one you got because it's paid for. Amen. So we got to spend wisely. And last, set aside a legacy. Proverbs 13, 22. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. See, a lot of Christians love that second part. The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.

I hear that priest all over the place. Well, yeah, that's fine. This is a truism in Proverbs. It doesn't mean it's an unconditional promise everybody can claim that wicked folk are going to give you a whole bunch of money. That's not what the Bible teaches.

But the fact of the matter is, you got to look at the first part. Live your life so you can leave an inheritance for your children's children. You who don't have children, you got people who you speak into their lives, nieces, nephews, whatever. You got foundations you can support. God knows you got a church that's trying to help generations to come, help us pay this stuff off.

Whatever it is, there are ways you can leave an inheritance that will bless generations following. One of our sisters died during this pandemic, one of my early pandemic funerals. She didn't die of COVID or anything, but just her time to go. And her relatives called me and said, Pastor, it was Sister Lily Ward. Some of y'all knew her. And Sister Lily, they called me when she was gone. I'm preparing to preach her her funeral. They said, just want to let you know, she left it perfectly clear in her documents, the trust and all that, that this amount of money that the relatives was hoping to get a hold of. She said, that's for my church because they're reaching generations to follow and I want them to help to do it.

So you've got to think like that. What can you do that when you do it here in this generation, it impacts generations to come. You got nieces and nephews, you speak into their lives, then go on and speak into their lives, and then if they're worthy, then you can leave them something. And you just got to know, you just got to determine that you're doing things that are setting aside a legacy that speaks loudly of your values and the kingdom of God. Thank you so much for being here today for Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, creating a God honoring financial legacy. As promised, Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California. Pastor, your ministry to us each day on the radio and with various online sources for Destined for Victory is so encouraging. Now, one more thing you do and you feel strongly about this is the monthly encouragement letter that goes out to everyone. You want to say a word about that?

Yeah, absolutely. The one letter I feel strongly about making sure we produce every month is an encouragement letter. And so I take some time and based on some teaching of that month and occasionally it's not related to the teaching, just something that God's put on my heart in that particular time. I write a letter to let people know not only are we preaching messages, but we're really trying to impact your life and help you with application. Because, again, our ministry exists to help people know God's son, apply God's word and fulfill God's purpose. And my encouragement letter is designed to help you know him, apply his word, fulfill his purpose.

And so I feel strongly about it and I want to encourage people who are not on our mailing list to please take a moment and let us know, hey, I'd love to get the letter. It's absolutely free of charge. There's no obligation for it.

No obligation at all. We will take care of the stamp and everything. All you got to do is let us know. We can reach you. We'd be happy to send it to you. We can also send it to you by email. And it's important for you to be encouraged month by month.

And so please let us do that. Get in touch with us. Give us your email and your mailing address so we can get in touch with you on a monthly basis.

Well, the word encouragement means to give someone support and confidence or hope, sometimes all three. And that's what Pastor Paul seeks to do each month with these letters of encouragement. Sign up today at our Web site, PastorPaul.net. That's PastorPaul.net.

And here's something else for you. When you send a generous gift to Destined for Victory, we'll gladly send you, by request, Pastor Paul Shepherd's booklet, Creating a Relational Legacy. That's Creating a Relational Legacy, our gift to you today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory. Please 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, California 94538.

Again, that address is Destined for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. When you leave, what are you going to leave in the minds of people as they think about the relationship they had with you? What are people going to think about you as a result of the relationships that you built while here on earth? That's next time when Pastor Paul Shepherd continues his teaching series, Keeping the End in Mind. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.