Pay It Forward (cont'd)

I came to tell somebody you got to stop identifying yourself by your worst challenge. You got to look beyond your challenge and look at the goodness of your God and realize that He's got a big plan for you. Colossians 3 tells us that we are hidden in Christ. That means when God looks at you, He sees Jesus.

Hello and welcome to this Tuesday edition of Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Do you sometimes define yourself by your weaknesses? Maybe you think you have very little to offer. Maybe you believe your weakness will prevent you from God's blessing. Pastor Paul wants to encourage you today.

Don't buy the lie. You are not defined by your weakness. You are defined by Christ's strength. Today's message is straight ahead. Stay with us here or visit pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. It's pastorpaul.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast at Spotify, at Apple podcasts or wherever you get your programs. Now, here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message.

Pay it forward. By the way, Lodi Bar is not a place you want to live. The very name means no pastures, no grazing place, nowhere you could raise a cattle, anything like that.

And it means no communication. It's off the beaten path. Nobody fool with anybody in Lodi Bar. They just over there. You ever seen people just living just over there? Just off the beaten path, just not even on the radar.

And you know what? If you're in Lodi Bar, the enemy wants you to feel like your location. And I came to tell somebody, even if for this season in your life you're living in Lodi Bar, you don't have to act like you live in Lodi Bar.

Lodi Bar is where my current address is, but keep on watching me. God's got another place for me. And I came to tell somebody that after this word is dropped on David and he hears, yes, this man is alive. Now, he's not five years old. At this point, he's an adult. We know that because we're told he has a son. So he's an adult now. But he spent all these years from five to his current age, whatever it is, he's an adult.

He's a parent. And at that point, he finds out God didn't leave him behind. Jonathan, his dad is dead, all his grandfather's dead, but God has a plan for this man. And I came to tell somebody God has a plan for you too.

I know you feel like, oh yeah, just me and Lodi Bar, we just hanging out down there. But no, no, the devil is a liar. God's got a plan. Look at verse five. King David sent for him. When Mephibosheth gets there, watch this, he falls on his face and prostrates himself because he can't believe. Now, so you got to realize this young man perhaps doesn't know about the covenant between his dad and David. He may not know about it all unless his dad happened to bring it up along the way, but he's certainly not connecting any dots.

And when he hears the king is sending for you, you got to come with us to the palace. That doesn't bring hope. It brings fear. You know why? Because he's got a Lodi Bar mindset. I came to tell somebody Lodi Bar, if that's where your address is, that can't be where your mind is. You can't think I'm not worth anything. I'm not worth any attention. There's no way I can make a good living here.

This is just a mess that I find myself in. I need somebody to know if Lodi Bar is your current address. Don't camp out there as though that's going to be your permanent location because God is up to something in your life. When he hears from whoever came to his house and said, I got to take you to the palace, I got to take you to Jerusalem.

We're leaving Lodi Bar. I'm taking you to Jerusalem where you're going to meet the king. That strikes fear in his heart. So as he prostrates himself before David, the first thing David says is don't fear. I came to tell somebody don't fear. I know it looks real bad in your life right now, but don't fear. See, most of us have been learning in this living fearlessly series how to not fear. You know, when the enemy comes against you, how to not fear when circumstances get really challenging in your life and all that. We've covered some good ground on how to live fearlessly, but I need somebody else to know you need to not fear the blessings God is introducing into your life.

Because when you are thinking in a low place like Lodi Bar, you don't think anything good is coming to you. And you need to understand to be prepared to be blessed. I need to ask you, can you stand to be blessed? Can you stand to be blessed?

I mean, can your mind get wrapped around a blessing? Can you let your mind say God's got something good for me. He's a good, good father. That's who he is.

I'm loved by him. That's who I am and I am going to receive good things from the hand of my good God. And so David says, don't fear. He says, I'm going to show you kindness.

Watch this for Jonathan, your father's sake. Some of the blessings that are going to be coming into your life will be coming because somebody prayed for you. Somebody spoke truth into your life. Somebody ministered to you. Somebody did some good work in someone else's life and they're repaying them by blessing you. You got some things coming and sometimes it has nothing to do with you. How do I have something good coming to me? I didn't, I didn't grow up in a Christian family.

I didn't ask you what family you grew up in. Somebody prayed blessings into your life. Somebody called for God to do something in your life that was supernatural. But in some cases you don't know who prayed you into what you're about to go into. They were just exercising their intercession passion and they were just praying. Sometimes you just, they're walking down the street and just praying over the people. They don't even know who lives there, but God gives them an intercession and they start praying into your life. Sometimes you got blessings coming.

You don't even know where they came from, but God had it prepared for you. And so he said, your father and I were boys and he's dead, but I still remember a covenant I made with him. I need you to understand that these men had a covenant in their lives. If you look at first Samuel 20 beginning at verse 14 and this is David talking to Jonathan. He said, you shall not only show me the kindness of the Lord while I still live, that I may not die. This is David saying, now here's the covenant I want to make with you, Jonathan.

You're the King's son. You shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever. No, not when the Lord has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. In other words, they made a covenant that I don't care what happens in the future.

You're always going to look out for me in my household. And they struck that deal. You know, you don't get what you deserve. You often get what you negotiate. I can't tell somebody y'all negotiating too short.

Well, it's whatever you got for me is fine. Here's exactly what I want. And Jonathan said, I want to make this clear. I know my daddy's going to be cut off cause he doing you wrong. I know he going to be cut off David, but I need you to know, even though God's going to cut off my father because of his sin and his disobedience, my people, cause I'm in the line with him, but I don't want to be cut off cause of him. I want to be blessed in spite of him. Don't you ask some folk in your life, you said, Lord, I sure don't want that punishment. Come on. Think about some of your relatives. Oh Jesus, please.

No, no. Johnson said, make sure that when my daddy's name is cut off, that you look out for me. I'm your boy. We're in covenant. We've been walking together for these years and long after I'm gone, I want you to look out for my folks. And they struck covenant made that deal.

And so that's what is being referenced here. He said, I'm going to take care of you. I'm a show kindness because of your daddy, Jonathan. I'm going to restore to you all the land of Saul. What's this? You shall eat bread at my table continuously.

Do you know what that is? That's the King's table. You're going to eat. You're going to dine regularly in the palace when it is time for a meal.

They're going to come get you, bring you into my dining room and we're going to eat together. This had to be an unbelievable turn of events for this man. Not only does he get to do that, but we're told in verse 12 that so does his son and they're all there dining continually at the King's table. And then the text is, and he was lame in both his feet.

We got to stop that. Now, second time. Well, you know he can't walk, don't you? Who cares? He's blessed.

He's in the King's palace eating every day and they're picking him up and getting him the way he needs to be. I came to tell somebody you got to stop identifying yourself by your worst challenge. You got to look beyond your challenge and look at the goodness of your God and realize that he's got a big plan for you. And I know they tried to mess over you and they tried to wipe you out. And yes, they did you wrong. Some of y'all got all kinds of stories. If we would have a sad tale service, that would be a long service. One after the other. Well, wait till you hear what happened to me. And then you give your little sad tale. You pass the mic over.

That would be a marathon service. You know why? Because everybody got something they can talk about where they were done wrong, where somebody didn't treat you right, where they didn't do right by you. But in the midst of all that, you got to look through, you got to pierce that darkness and you got to see the light of God shining in your life because God is up to something good. Even though circumstances are bad and enemies are real and trouble is current, God is saying, I've got a plan for you and I don't care about your lameness. Sometime I don't have to heal you to bless you. I'll bless you while you're still lame and the blessings will be so good that you won't have to worry about being lame. I just want somebody to know you're blessed. You know, I have a problem with some gospel songs.

I love gospel music and all that, but some of these songs I have a problem with. One of them is a song that when they talk about you're blessed and they talk about I got the activity of my lambs, that's why I know I'm blessed. Well, we who have the activity of our limbs or to thank God for them, but trust me, people who can't walk are still blessed. Don't tie the blessing to what you can do.

I got the activity of my limbs. I can see every day. Blind people are blessed.

Come on somebody. I've met some blind believers. I've ministered to some people. They have a more powerful testimony and they're blind.

Then I can with seeing everything I want to see. I need to tell you, you got to redefine blessed. Blessed isn't circumstantial. Blessed is a result of the relationship I have with a king who knows me, who loves me, who has blessings for me. I'm blessed when I'm crying. I'm blessed when I'm broke. Come on somebody.

You got to declare. I don't have my ends the way I want them to be, but I'm still blessed. You are blessed because God said you're blessed and I need you to not define yourself another day by your circumstances. I need you to understand God is up to something in your life and so I want you to know that God wants those of us who are blessed then to make sure we turn around and pay it forward. You can't pay God back. God, I want to pay you back. You can't pay God back, but what he wants you to do is pay it forward.

That's what David is doing. He's saying, Jonathan, bless me when I needed somebody to encourage me and I got to pay that forward. He's dead, but I got his son I can bless, his grandson I can bless. I'm looking for a way to pay it forward. I need somebody to begin to realize God wants you to pay it forward. Do you know that's what the Bible teaches us when it says in Galatians 6, be not deceived, God's not mocked. Whatever man sows, he shall reap. He who sows to the flesh will reap corruption. He who sows to the spirit will reap everlasting life. Don't get weary while you're doing good.

This is a word for somebody because in due season, you shall reap if you do not lose heart. Still ahead, the second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. We want to thank all of you who sustained Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support, gifts that help Pastor Paul share the gospel all over the world. Destined for Victory is a listener supported ministry. So as God leads, please prayerfully consider making a gift today. You can give your generous gift online at pastorpaul.net or on the phone by calling 855-339-5500. Well, praise is something we owe to God, not because of what he does for us, but simply because of who he is. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, Pay It Forward. See, we don't get weary of doing well, but we can get weary while doing well. I'm not tired of living right, but I'm tired while I'm doing what I'm doing living right. I'm still struggling with some things. I have to press through some things and don't let the enemy tell you, see that if you love the Lord, you'd be shouting and dancing all the time.

No, that's not what it is. Sometimes your worship has to come through your tears. Oh, it's wonderful when your worship is in dance and all that and you're speaking in tongues and just all in the third heaven. But there are times when your worship comes through your tears.

I'm worshiping you, Lord, but I feel more like Job. He was worshiping when as those tears fell, he said, the Lord gives the Lord has taken away. But I still say blessed be the name of the Lord. And it was because he worshiped like that, that at the end of the book, you see God has given him double for all his trouble.

He went through years of misery and heartache, but God turned around and gave him double all the things that he had before. And I came to tell you, you can never withhold your worship and think you're justified. You owe him praise in the good times. Praise his name in the bad times. Do the same every day you have on this planet. You got to learn to give the Lord praise and then you get to verse 10.

Therefore, as we have opportunity, here's what I want to leave you with. Let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Do good to all and especially your brothers and sisters, cause y'all are together in the faith fight. And so expect that God's going to put somebody on your heart or you pass by or you have one of those divine encounters and you're supposed to do something. And so you got to be looking out, who is it I'm supposed to bless? It's as important as a financial offering, just like sowing a financial seed into a ministry that's blessing you. You got to be ready to sow encouragement, sow prayer, sow support, go out of your way to help somebody, especially those in the household of faith. But first he said, do good to home men.

We need the reputation of folks who do good. Do you know when people think Christian, they usually don't think, Oh, they do good. Most of these Christian, I hate your going to hell. That's what they think.

That's unbelievable. What do you think when you think I think of people who condemn you all the time, who pronouncing hell and judgment on you all the time. Listen, you're supposed to preach good news. You going to hell isn't good news. The good news is you don't have to go cause Jesus has made a way. If you open your heart and your life to him, let him in.

He'll change your life in a positive way. In the meantime, if you're not ready to receive that message yet, if they tell you, get out of my face with all that, I don't believe all that. I'm an atheist. I'm an agnostic. Okay, fine. Let's go get something to eat.

Y'all got to stop being put off. Well, atheists eat, don't they? Why don't we eat? We can talk. I won't bash you with Jesus. Let's just talk. Let me just be good to you.

Let me treat you to some lunch. Do good because doing good is part of my pay and forward, the goodness of God in my life. As a believer, you want to be somebody who when the unbelievers in your life see you coming, they smile. You know we got some work to do, right?

Come on, just be honest because some of y'all when they see you coming, they be, oh Lord, oh Lord, here this come, as if my life isn't bad enough. Let's turn that around. Let's say something positive. Let me bless you, not curse you. Let me speak well of you.

Let me know how I can support you. What's going on on your job? Oh, I just got a promotion.

Wow, that's wonderful. Congratulations. Say something good. If they lame, they already know it. Don't come up being anointed.

You lame, huh? We got to be anointed to be pleasant. If you don't believe, let me wrap this up. If you don't believe that there's an anointing to be good, read Acts chapter 10 verse 38. The Bible says Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power and he went about doing what?

Doing good. His first anointing was to go do good. Then it talks about him healing all who were oppressed of the devil. Healing was part of what he did, but doing good is what led the way.

You see that? He went about doing good. When he found somebody in a bad way, he said, what can I do to improve this in their life?

If somebody is discouraged, what can I do to lift them up? If somebody is broke, how can I feed them? You don't priest the hungry people, you feed them. Well, you know you need Jesus. Well, I need a sandwich right now.

How about you hook me up with a sandwich while I'm eating? You can tell me about your Jesus. So I want to encourage you to pay it forward. God's been too good to you for you to sit on them blessings all by yourself. God has done too much for you for you to just ignore the people around you. Don't pay it back. God doesn't need it. Pay it forward.

Find somebody. Well, they're not saved. Good.

Be good to them so you can teach them. Not all believers are kooks. I love Jesus and I love people too. I love Jesus. I want to do right by people. If you never accept Christ as your savior, I want to have done good in your life. Now I'm praying that you get saved, but that's in my prayer closet.

I'm in a seating and you know what? If you'll be good to people, God has a way of setting up the circumstance. And if all you have is a track record of doing good with them, guess where they're going to go when trouble comes into their life.

I'm not telling you what I think. I'm telling you what I've experienced. When trouble comes, they'll say, Oh, I need somebody. And if they think of you and your track record is doing good, speaking positively, they'll say to you, can I talk to you about what's going on in my life? Now you got your opening because I already paved the way by just being a good deed doer. That's what I came to tell somebody. Make up your mind. You're going to be a good deed doer.

I'm going to spend my life doing good to people. Don't sit around on these people out here asking for handouts at the highway ramp. They all just got lots of money. They just stop it. Stop it. You don't have to give every single time, but every now and then if you just say, Lord, just give me a little nudge if I'm supposed to bless somebody and don't wait for them to prove that they hungry.

Oh, so they're going to get rich on your $2. Let's be people that others can say one thing about him, one thing about her. They do good in my life. In light of all that God has done for us, perhaps now is the season for us to go and do likewise, to pay it forward. As Jesus said in John 9, verse 4, as long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.

The night is coming when no man can work. Well, the last thing Jesus told his disciples was to go out into the world and make more disciples. And a great way to take part in this mission with Pastor Paul Shepherd and all of us here at Destined for Victory, is by becoming a Destined for Victory partner for as little as $20 a month. In light of some of the 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 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner. Make your pledge over the phone or mail us your gift, letting us know you wish to become a partner.

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Request it today when you make a generous donation to Destined for Victory. God has invested into our lives treasure that is financial resources, time and talent, ability. And we are to give God a return on his investment. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, Making the Most of What You Have. Until then remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ you are destined for victory.