The Flip Side of Blessings, Part 1

When someone blesses you, it's never a bad idea to pay it forward.

But if possible, you should also pay it backward. Coming your way next, Pastor Paul Shepherd talks about the beauty of reciprocity in his Destined for Victory message, The Flipside of Blessings. But first, he and I would like to say a quick word about the value of partnership. Pastor, you know every day on Destined for Victory we ask people to stand with us financially. Pastor, if you haven't done so already, becoming a Destined for Victory partner.

Pastor Paul joins me right now. Pastor, take a moment and tell us why partners are so important to this ministry. As partners, we simply can't get the gospel out to the world. The gospel is free, but the plumbing costs an awful lot of money and we want to continue preaching. As I've said in times past, we've got generations to reach that have never heard the gospel and they misunderstand when they hear people talk about things like serving the Lord.

And we need to make it plain to them. The only way I can do it is with my partners helping us reach them through their generous gifts. I'm so grateful for every single partner and I'm praying in 2021 that God will give us thousands more. There are many more outlets and many more opportunities we could take advantage of in our ministry, but the only thing that holds us back is lack of income. So I'm praying that God's going to touch the heart of many more people to realize that with just your gift of $20 or more, you can help us remain strong on the stations and outlets we're on and reach many more with the gospel of Jesus Christ. All right, Pastor, that's what it's all about, reaching more people with the gospel. And if you make that commitment by pledging $20 or more per month to help us do that, we'll send you, with our thanks, a couple of great gifts, including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile.

It's a compilation of some of his most humorous illustrations and stories, something that we know will make you laugh and learn at the same time. So call 855-339-5500 or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become a partner. Our address is Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also sign up by clicking Become a Partner right at the top of the home page at pastorpaul.net. And if you're already a partner, Pastor Paul and I want to say a heartfelt thank you and challenge you to consider becoming a legacy partner. These are special ministry friends that are able to support us with gifts of $2,500 or more each year.

The details are available at the website pastorpaul.net or by calling 855-339-5500. And if you can't partner with us today but would like to make a generous donation to Destined for Victory, we'd be glad to send you Pastor Paul's booklet, Caregivers Need Care Too. What have you done for your friends lately? What have you done for your parents lately? What have you done for the people who got you through the toughest time of your life? You need to turn around and say a thank you that's more than verbal.

And that's just part of living responsibly. When reciprocity is possible, we should practice it. A few moments ago I used the phrase, paint it backward, which is just another way of saying blessing the person who first blessed you.

Today on Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul Shepherd takes us to the book of 2 Kings to the story of Elisha to show us what Painted Backwards is all about. Let's join him now for today's message, The Flipside of Blessings. Some of you all, you know, you love being needed and you don't know how dysfunctional you are. You love being needed to a fault. Sure, we ought to have some things that other people need. God has made all of us people who should be a blessing to others.

But this whole thing that some of you all have, you just trip and think the world wouldn't know what to do without you. I dare you to die. I did double dare you. We said we were kids. I did double dare you to die.

I've said it for years, but it's worth repeating now. One of these days you are going to die. Hopefully they will have a service, a funeral or a memorial, whatever you all have chosen, and then some folk will probably cry if you've been a nice blessing. But tell you what's going to happen after that if you think they can't do without you. They're going to take you to somebody's mortuary or cemetery. They're going to drop you in a hole. The grave diggers are going to pour the dirt back on and they're going to go back to the church or to somebody's house and if they're black they're going to eat chicken and potato salad. That's what we did our whole lives. I'm a pastor's kid.

I went to many a funeral with my daddy. Chicken, potato salad, green beans, you go down the row. Green beans, come on somebody, and the last person put a roll on your plate.

Come on, some of you all had to roll. Chicken, potato salad, green beans, roll. You go over to one place and there's a punch place over there. You get your cup of punch. Old folk in the corner slicing pound cake and sweet potato pie. You think they won't know what to do. They will be eating.

That's what they're going to do. So you just got to figure it out. Life goes on without you so make the best of the provisions God makes for you so that you can practice self-care and let other people care for you. And we need to do.

We need to avail ourselves. Sometimes people's lives are not as high quality as they should be because you don't avail yourself of opportunities. Some of you say I don't have friends. Well have you made any? Have you made any? Friends have to be made.

They don't just jump out of nowhere. You got to make them. You must show yourself friendly. You got to act like you want to know somebody. Have a conversation.

And it doesn't have to start out all deep. You don't have to give them your deepest secrets. You don't know them but just get started talking. Find out who they are.

Let them find out who you are and see if this is a relationship God can bless. And so you need to avail yourself. If you need a friend, be proactive. If you who are looking for a spouse, you got to be proactive.

I know I've heard some people, especially some women say well the Bible said he that finds a wife finds a good thing. Ain't nobody found me. Well where are you? I'm just trying to help somebody now.

Where are you? Are you findable? Make yourself available. Go where people are. Be friendly. Be nice. Be engaging. It's not desperate.

Don't let the W.A. you just acting desperate. No don't act desperate but be engaging.

Desperation and engaging two different things. And so you just need to make yourself available. I influence people because of my broadcast ministry, media ministry. I influence people all around the country and parts of the world and sometimes they contact me. What do you think about dating services?

I think they're wonderful. Now you have to be discerning because a little bit of everything is out there. You have to be discerning but it puts you on a platform where people who aren't going to accidentally run into you are.

And you all have to check each other out. So if you're not feeling that then don't do it. I'm just answering the question of some folk who say what do I think? I think it can be a blessing.

I know people who are married well because of dating services. And so I'm just telling you it can be done. If you've got a level of faith I've got some super spiritual faith. Oh I just believe God. Okay cool.

Cool. You're going to be at your job whatever and God's going to bring them and introduce you to them. According to your faith be it unto you I suppose. But pastors saying ain't nothing wrong with going on eHarmony just discerning prayerfully go on. prayerfully go on match.com eHarmony Christians something like that. Negroes getting together all the different things.

Somebody always correct me. Black people meet. Black people meet dot com. All right.

I tend to call it Negroes getting together but whatever it is. So anyway practice self-care and avail yourself of opportunities to build meaningful relationships with other people. All right. That's my long P.S. for the last message. Now let's get into the current message. Go with me to Second Kings Chapter 4.

And now we're going to delve into the passage where we see what happens after the prophet begins availing himself of this blessing God has given him through this wealthy woman and her husband. Let's look at what happens after there are other practical lessons to learn. This isn't a shouting part of a series at all. I'm not going to hoop not going into e-flat at all.

We're just going to talk about real life stuff. All right. Look at verses 12 through 17. This is again NIV. He said to his servant Gehazi call the Shunammite. So he called her and she stood before him. Elisha said to him tell her you have gone to all this trouble for us.

Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army? Elisha got clout. So you need me to talk to the president?

Talk to the leader of the army? He got clout. You need to have clout as a follower of Christ.

Don't shrink that guy. I don't want to be seen and heard. Yeah, you need to be seen and heard. Let your light shine. Be excellent.

Be the best at whatever your job is. Let God open doors and take you into halls and places you wouldn't otherwise go but that you're walking in the favor of God and he opens doors for you just like he did for Elisha. All right. So now look at this.

Can I speak to the commander or the king? And she said I have a home among my own people. I love that. She's like I'm good.

I'm good. And then Elisha said to his servant then what can be done for her? Gehazi said she has no son and her husband is old. Bad combination in Bible times. Verse 15. Then Elisha said call her. So he called her.

She stood in the doorway. About this time next year Elisha said you will hold a son in your arms. No my lord, she objected. Please man of God don't mislead your servant. Verse 17.

But the woman became pregnant by her old husband. God is a good God. That brother said thank you Jesus. He said what in the world has come over me?

She became pregnant and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son just as Elisha had told her. Let me make the first of a few points in this section of our series. Point number one jot this down. When reciprocity is possible we should practice it. When reciprocity is possible we should practice it. I mean when you can give in thanks and appreciation for what you have received. If I can bless someone who has blessed me I should do it.

That's what Elisha's doing. He's saying listen you and your husband you've been so good to me. I would love to bless you.

See again a lot of Christians are falsely pious. Quit with your rules. If you've been good to me and I'm appreciative if there's something I can do I want to bless you. You didn't give to me so I would give back to you.

You were only given one way as far as you're concerned. You just want to be a blessing. How many of you know there's a blessing in being a blessing. I don't have to get blessed back from you in order to be blessed. But on the flip side if you receive the blessing it makes perfect sense for you to say like Elisha did what can I do.

I want to express my appreciation and that's what's going on reciprocity when it's possible we should practice that. Don't you realize and don't you remember that David long after his best friend Jonathan was dead. David is still walking around saying who is alive from the family of Jonathan and his dad Saul. Now his dad Saul was hardly a blessing but Jonathan was his boy while Saul tried to kill him Saul's own son Jonathan made sure he stayed alive. And so he's walking around Jonathan's dead Saul's dead life has moved on he's the king but he's still saying Jonathan was so good to me.

He gave to me when I was a poor shepherd boy when you first meet them and they become friends Jonathan begins to divest of his wealth to give to his friend David. 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. Remember you can always listen to the broadcast on demand at pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net and there you'll find a host of great resources at our online store. When the Shumanite woman blessed Elisha he blessed her right back, but she was about to find out that sometimes blessings come with great responsibilities. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message the flip side of blessings. And so here he is now years later I'm the king I'm in charge I'm, I'm wealthy I've got everything I need, but I want to show Jonathan in a way that he'll never see physically, but my heart desires to bless him, even in legacy.

So how can I be a blessing to him, and he finds out because he inquires. Well you know, Jonathan had a boy who when he was just a toddler had a terrible accident. And he is crippled in both legs, both feet. He crawls around.

He's crippled, permanently disfigured. And when David heard that, he said, oh, that's it, go get him. And they went to Lotobah and got that son, Mephibosheth is his name, and brought him to the king's palace. And the king looked at him, and he said, just being in the presence of the king, he said, what? I don't even deserve to be here. I'm just a dog. He called himself a dog. And David said, you don't understand. Your dad and I were boys, bringing it up to modern time.

That was my dude for real. I might as well be your Uncle David. Don't call me, I know I'm the king, but I'm just Uncle David. And I am going to take care of you because of what your dad meant to me. And he said, you will from now on, you will always eat at my table. I'm going to make your life far better.

I wish I could heal you, I can't. But everything I can do, every one of your needs is going to be met. Every one of your bills is going to be paid because of the love I had for your father.

Let me tell you something, that's biblical. When somebody's been a blessing to you, you need to turn around and find a way to bless them. What have you done for your friends lately? What have you done for your parents lately? What have you done for the people who got you through the toughest time of your life? You need to turn around and say a thank you that's more than verbal. And that's just part of living responsibly.

When reciprocity is possible, we should practice it. That's what Elisha's doing. When he gave that prophecy under the anointing of God, but it would have never come forth had he not even inquired, what can I do? And when he found out, well, she has no son, husband's old. He checked in on high and God put his word in his mouth.

And as a result, she got pregnant. So practice reciprocity whenever you can. Let's look at the next practical lesson here. Look at the first three words of verse 18, just the first three words. The child grew.

It goes on, that's fine. But before he gets out to his father and the reapers, I want to zoom in on the practicalities of what God is doing through Elisha's life. So he gave him this word of prophecy for this woman who had never born a child.

She bears a son and the child grew. Point number two, with blessings come responsibilities. With blessings come responsibilities. Blessings aren't all fun and games.

Blessings aren't all cookies and Kool-Aid. Going back to my childhood, I don't even know if they, do they still make Kool-Aid? Them little packets?

They still have those? You better get out of here. We didn't even know what flavor it was, we just called it by the color. What kind you want, dog, red?

Red's not a flavor. I'm sorry, I went back to my childhood. It's not all fun and games, not all parties. The reason I wanted to take time and sift through some subtleties in the text is because I see a bunch of believers these days who just think walking by faith is fantasy land. And I'm committed to being a balanced shepherd in the family of God.

As a leader, as a pastor, I have to lead and feed the flock and I have to feed you a healthy diet. I can't let you believe stuff just because it's fun to believe it. Just because God gives you a blessing doesn't mean you're going to have fun all the time.

In fact, sometimes a blessing ends up being downright hard work. The child grew. See, that's all you see, the child grew. Praise God, they're growing up. Zoom in. How many of y'all know the child grew means the child kept you up a whole bunch of nights?

Come on, somebody. The child was crying, you're trying to sleep. The child was carrying on just all hours.

Y'all had to take shifts. It means that the child had to be fed at a time that you hadn't scheduled a feeding. It means the child had to be taught. It means the child had to be played with when you were tired. It means the child had to be cuddled and cooed and nurtured and all of that and you want a break and there is no break. In certain seasons of parenting, there is no such thing as a break. You do good to get washed up every now and then.

Come on, somebody, let's just be honest, let's just be honest. How many of y'all know every now and then just a bath or a shower can just feel like God himself is ministering to you? Because this child taking up all of my time, all of my attention, all of my energy, the child grew, means that blessing had a whole lot of responsibility that came along with it. And we have to learn it. The child had to be trained. The child had to be taught the ABCs, the 123s. The child had to be taught, don't touch that, don't go there.

You had to just do a whole lot of work. Thanks so much for being here for Pastor Paul Shepherd's message, The Flipside of Blessings. For more on the Destined for Victory ministry or to contact us for prayer or to find out how you can request Pastor Paul's booklet, Care for the Caregivers, please visit pastorpaul.net.

That's pastorpaul.net. But miracles don't mean there'll be no misfortune. Misfortunes in our lives don't mean God doesn't work miracles.

You got to understand that both happen in the kingdom economy. That's next time when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, The Flipside of Blessings. But until then remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.