And what God tells you to do is always scary. Have you noticed that? If you haven't, pay attention. God never tells you something to do that's nice and easy and simple, and everybody's going to love you while you do it. Hello, and thanks for joining us for today's "Destined for Victory" message with Pastor Paul Shepherd.
Wherever you are, and however you may be listening, thanks for making us part of your day. What does it mean to have a new identity in Christ? First, it means the devil is beneath you. Second, it means you should always pay attention to God's timing, not your own. Coming your way next, the final three keys to understanding who we are in Christ.
Remember to visit PastorPaul.net to listen to a recent message on demand, including today's. PastorPaul.net, or subscribe to the podcast at Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcast.
Now let's listen in to our destined for victory message, taking on our new identity. God knows, Gideon, that through this whole journey of trying to get him to the place where he can finally take on his identity, his problem has been fear and doubt and insecurity. And I can't do that. And God so loved him, and so loves us, that God just. Helped him along a little bit.
He said, "If you're afraid to attack, because he knew Gideon was afraid to attack, he said, 'Okay, go on, get your servant, go on, get Porra, and y'all go down there and just listen.' He said, 'I'm encourage you.' Now, let me tell you some. God did that for Gideon just because he really wanted to show that when His calling is on our lives, He won't even let us mess it up with our stuff." But at the same time, I want to challenge you: Do not tempt the Lord your God. Don't keep pushing God with your doubt and your unbelief. At a certain point, faith has got to kick in, and you got to say, "If God has brought me this far, then He is certainly going to take me the rest of the way." But Gideon wasn't quite there, and so Gideon had to get a little help. And God sent him down to the camp with his servant.
and And look at what they over here. They over here one man telling his friend, "I had a dream. A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." Watch this. His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon, the Israelite.
God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into His hands." Verse fifteen. When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped God. I guess he did. Isn't that amazing? That he goes down.
He's scared to attack. He's still trying to get this new identity thing, so God helps him along. He's scared to attack. He goes down there and overhears a soldier telling another soldier, "Look at this dream.
Some bread came rolling into the camp with such force, a loaf of bread with such force that it overturned and caused a tent to collapse." And the friend interpreted the dream. Said, "I get it. That means God has given us into His hands. We in trouble. I need you to understand something.
You can feel fearful, but don't let it stop you.
Some of you all are waiting to stop being afraid before you move." I want to suggest to you: You don't have the luxury of that kind of time. Be scared, but do it anyway. If it's of God, do it anyway. If you allow it, fear will paralyze you, and you will never move forward into what God is telling you to do. And what God tells you to do is always scary.
Have you noticed that? If you haven't, pay attention. God never tells you something to do that's nice and easy and simple, and everybody's going to love you while you do it. I've never had God give me a definite leading to do something where it was just easy and simple. It was just one, two, three, and easy.
Just none, none. Whenever you got to claim a promised land, there's giants there. Whenever you got a claim of promised land, there are enemies dug in, saying, "If you step over this line, I'ma kill you." That's why all throughout Joshua chapter one, the Lord kept saying to Joshua, "Be strong and very courageous." When God has to keep saying to you, "Now be strong and very courageous. Don't be terrified. Don't be dismayed." When you keep hearing that, you know why that is because you're gonna run into something that will terrify you if you let it.
And we have to learn to not let fear stop us. I remember when my son wanted to ride roller coaster. He know his daddy loved roller coasters, and so we go. When we moved out here, he and Lisha were just little things. We would go down there to Santa Cruz because I love old fashioned coast.
I don't like these new looping and corkscrew and all that twisting. You, you get off dizzy. That that's not my. I don't roll like that. I like straight up, straight down, up, down, up, down, curve around, down, up.
And I've ridden the nicest wooden roller coasters in the country, tallest, highest. As soon as I hear back in those days, as soon as I would hear a high one was built, I'd go there. Right? I remember down in Southern California when Colossus was first built. At the time, that was the big deal.
I went to Southern California. I'm getting on Colossus. Just loved it. And he knew his daddy was into him, and he was real, real little, and he's looking at it, and he wanted to try it, but he's like, I don't know. But one day we were down in Santa Cruz, and I said, "Son, if you're ready, come on, Dad'll ride with you.
We'll be in there right together." And he's looking at it, and you could tell he wanted to, but something just—I'm just not sure. But in him, he had coasters in him. The coasters were in him. He was just trying to push through that threshold, and finally, he said, "I'm going." I said, "All right, good." I looked at his mother and winked. I said, "He's okay.
He's ready." And so she's standing there. You know, her anointing was holding people's bags and stuff and just watching. That's what she liked to do. I'll be here when y'all get off. And so he got on there, and we sat down next to me.
And I could tell he was nervous. But we creeping up that, you know, in that first one, just about kill you if you're kind of scared. And you know, he was just. I just said, "Oh man, this is gonna be fun. It's gonna be all right." I'm proud of you.
I'm glad to see you bring up. And I'm just encouraging him. We going on up, and finally we rode and rode and got off. And I said, "I wonder if this gonna be his first and last." That boy been riding coasters ever since.
Sometimes you just gotta push through the threshold. I'm scared, but I'ma do it anyway. God is with me. I'm gonna do it anyway. I might look dumb, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
People might talk about me, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Oh, let them run their mouths, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Bishop Jakes told the story in a meeting I was in with him. Of he was sitting down and think as his computer. Or somebody was doing some work, and kind of into it, and his little grandson came creeping down the steps, and walked up to him.
He was just standing there, and Bishop Jace stopped long and said, "Pooh," he said, "Little grandson!" Ah! Went running, laughing, screaming. He said, "A few seconds, he'd creep back in there, got within my range of my view. See, I never stop without doing it. I just stop real quick.
Said, 'Boom! He ah! A few seconds later, he come right on back. And Bishop said, 'I was trying to get my work done, and I knew he wouldn't do this forever now.'" He said.
So after doing it about three times, I think he said, "I just tried to ignore him." He said, but after a while, he said, "Paw paw." And Bishop said, "What?" He said, "Scare me again." Ask God, scare me again. Give me something to do that'll scare the living daylights out of me. Give me an assignment that's so big, so outside of my comfort zone, that it will have to be you to bring it to pass. Quit being safe. Go on and let God scare you into something supernatural, scare you into something phenomenal that'll give Him all the glory and all the praise.
It's time for you to scare me again. I've been living safe for a long time now. Let God scare you again. Number four. Follow your leader.
Judges seven, the second part of verse fifteen. When Gideon heard the dream that this man in the Midianite camp had, and its interpretation, he worshipped God. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands." He divided the three hundred men into three companies. He placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them with torches inside.
Then look at verse seventeen. Watch me, Gideon told them. Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and those who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp you blow yours and shout for the Lord.
And for Gideon, fourth practical step I want you to take is to follow your leader. You got to understand something: God is the one who raises up leaders in the church, just like He has done throughout redemptive history.
Now there are two categories of leaders in the church, just as there have been throughout redemptive history. There are some that He sent, and there are some that just went. You've got to discern which is which. Not everybody with a collar is a pastor. Not everybody who went to seminary is a Christian leader.
Some folks just went, but there are others that God sent.
Sometimes when I'm doing pastors' conferences or speaking at some environment where there are a lot of pastors, I tell them, "I hope you're functioning in a God-given calling. Because if you're not, I got a question for you: What are you doing in this profession?" I have called pastors out like you must be crazy to be a pastor without a calling.
Something wrong with somebody told you wrong. If you think this is a good job, that I just think I'll become a pastor. You're tripping. You you have overestimated the value of a reserved parking space at a church. You have overestimated the value of having your own office, your little own little chair to swirl around in the office to meet folk in.
You have overevaluated the importance of that big. You know, some churches had that big throne that the pastor sits on. They had the little regular chair, and then they had the big throne for the pastor.
Some of y'all tripping over that throne. I wouldn't be caught dead in this profession, except that God called me to do it. Listen, some folks are called. When you're under called leadership, you're under somebody. God said through the prophet Jeremiah, "I will give you shepherds after my heart.
They will feed you and they will lead you. They're going to take you where I'm taking you." And some folks say, "Well, that's just Old Testament. We ain't got to find no leadership. We under grace. We do our own thing now.
Under grace, just me and Jesus. I don't need nobody." I know how some of you funky New Testament folk are. You as mixed up as a ball of fishhooks. That's what's wrong with you. In the New Testament, God said through the apostle Paul, "And I have called some to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors, and some teachers.
And their job is to grow you up and lead you in the things of God, so you become spiritually mature and you do everything God's called you to do. You do need a pastor. I beg to differ. You need a person of God who is called and anointed to lead." You and to feed you, and you will be far better off in the right place under the right leadership than you will be trying to be a spiritual lone ranger. Y'all just following a man.
That's what God told you to do. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ." He was talking to Christians when he said it.
Now, if I get off and start acting like Jim Jones, then you don't follow anybody down there. You don't drink Kool-Aid over it. You need to be saved and under the right leadership. And when you have a leader, follow the leader, because many of your blessings will be tied to your followership. And here you see what God said through Gideon.
This man's finally taking on his identity. He said, "Now, y'all do what I do." Watch me and do what I do. I'm following the instruction of God, and you follow my lead. He said, "Everybody, get a jar in one hand, get a trumpet in the other one, and watch me. And when you hear me and my 100 men blow our trumpets, then y'all blow your trumpets." Don't stand there saying, "I blow my trumpet when I feel like." If I don't feel like blowing trumpet, I ain't funny.
God ain't called me. I don't feel the Holy Ghost. I don't feel the urge, the unction to blow my trumpet. Shut up and blow that trumpet! The oil starts at the head, and as it pours down, God will bless the whole garment because of what He's doing at the head.
I dare you to get up under this leadership and say, whatever the Lord says for you to do, by God's grace, that's what we're going to do. And if you do it, you'll see the same blessings that are coming on my life will drip into your life. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. Don't let anybody ridicule you. You just following a man.
I'm following Christ in a man. You found somebody who's had a really bad experience, so you want to walk around with a snapshot of the worst season of my life and carry it around the rest of your days. When God's been running a movie and moving on and experiencing wonderful things, and if you look at the picture, you will miss the movie. And there are folks that just love looking at the picture. You look at the picture all you want to, but God's running a movie.
He has disciplined His servant. He has gotten my attention. He has done a wonderful thing in my life, and His anointing is as rich as ever. Not letting anybody talk me out of being where I'm supposed to be. You can ridicule and act crazy all you want to.
I know exactly where God wants me to be.
Somebody who can tell me how to get from where I am to where God is destined me to be. And so, follow your leader intentionally.
Well, what's the trumpet? What's the significance? I need a meeting, Pastor, because I need to know what's the significance of the trumpet. Significance of a trumpet is put your lips on it and blow. Last thing is.
Win with what God gives you. Win with what God gives you. Look at what He gave you. That's all you need to win. If you needed more, He'd have given you more.
What do these people have now? Remember, they're up against one hundred and thirty some thousand of the enemy. One hundred and thirty some thousand. One hundred H U N I D. They're up against a massive group of soldiers.
It's three hundred of them, and what does God give them to fight with? A jar and a trumpet. He said, "Put the torch with the jar." What? How many know that God can take what looks like nothing and work a wonder with it? God can take what makes no sense and win a mighty battle.
Gideon said, "When I blow my trumpet, y'all blow yours." When I break my jar on the ground, you break your jar. Then pick up your torch and just hold it there. Stand in the presence of God. All around the camp, all of the positions where I've positioned you, and just do what God says. And when that time came, he blew his trumpet.
His one hundred blew their trumpets. The other two hundred blew their trumpets. They threw their jars down. The sound of the jars all crashed. And then the torches went up in the air.
And the Midianites down in the valley looked up, heard this noise. God used that noise, and it completely disconcerted them. They started fighting one another. Read the rest of it. I don't have time.
Read the rest of it. They started fighting one another. The ones that weren't fighting each other, they were running for their life, scared to death. Why? Because God put His fear in their heart.
You got to quit trying to figure out how God is going to get you out of your dilemma. How God's going to work you out of that situation. Quit trying to figure out what's wrong with you.
Now is you think too much. You need to pray more than you think. You need to obey more than you think. You need to follow more than you think. You need to push yourself even when you're scared.
You need to say, "God, you're the one that's going to win this battle, not me." So I'm just going to follow you. And if you'll follow the Lord, you're going to see Him take your three hundred, your jars, and your trumpet. And win mighty battles in your life. The first step in discovering your identity in Christ is putting your faith in Christ. Thanks so much for being here with us for today's Destined for Victory, featuring the teaching ministry of Pastor Paul Shepherd.
Now today's message is part of our teaching series from Warrior to Warrior. Look for it online at PastorPaul.net. You know, a Destined for Victory partnership has always been one of our core values, put in place years ago by Pastor Paul Shepherd. I once spoke with him about not only the power of partnership but the benefits. Here is that conversation.
You are absolutely right. I think that we do need to underscore that it is a win-win situation when a person is a not only a faithful prayer warrior to undergird us with prayer, but when they are faithful in supporting our ministry financially, there is a real benefit to them because when you think about it, Jesus. In Matthew six, don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth corrupts and and things get eroded and all that. He says, you need to store up. Treasures in heaven, and if people say, "Well, how in the world do you do that while you're still living on Earth?" The answer is, you support things that make a difference, not only for time but for eternity.
And ministries like ours are making that kind of difference.
So you get to directly benefit as a supporter because Jesus is saying, in essence, you share in the victory. You share in The fruitfulness of the ministries you support, and I know that to be true. God has blessed me over the years because of faithful listeners who stand with us every month. I can count on the fact that part of what they do is they sow into this ministry so that we can continue to preach timeless truths in a timely way that's making a difference for people. Both.
In this life and preparing them for the life to come, and there is no pastor Paul or any of the other ministers that God is using without those who faithfully support them. To you, I say thank you so much. To others, I'm saying please prayerfully consider becoming part of that support team. There's nothing better than being connected to where God is working, and if you want to get in on that blessing today, I trust you'll prayerfully consider becoming a destined for victory. Partner, for your commitment of twenty dollars a month or more, you'll receive a few thank you gifts, including one of our most popular resources, Pastor Paul's CD, "The Best of Let My People Smile." It's a compilation of some of his best and funniest moments, something the entire family can enjoy.
So call eight five five three three nine five five zero zero or mail your gift. And when you do, please let us know you'd like to become our partner. Our address is Destined for Victory. Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. You can also sign up by selecting "Become a Partner" at the top of the Pastor Paul dot net homepage.
That's Pastor Paul dot net. If you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous gift today, we'll send you this month's thank you gift, our latest booklet called "Before Qualified." For more information about this outstanding resource, come see us at PastorPaul dot net. When you pray, say this: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." Hallowed be thy name.
So he taught us even in praying to make sure that praise and acknowledgment of who God is is part of our prayer life. That's next time in our "Destined for Victory" message, exalting His name. Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
