Knowing What to Claim

New drive forward safely. If you looking in your real new mirror and saw your Thai daughter with go out to life that you do not allow yourself to remain focused on what laws you gotta move into what shall be hello and thanks for stopping by for today's destined for victory message with pastor Paul Shepherd wherever you are and how you may be listening. Thanks for making this part of your day will pastor Paul continues a series of messages called journey towards fulfillment for the full series online@pastorpaul.net recent messages he's told us that the journey will require passion, as well as a paradigm shift which means making an intentional change in your perspective. Today we come to the third essential ingredient for living a life of fulfillment precise focus. What does that look like and what should that focus be placed. Answers come your way. Next, so stay with us but remember, you can listen online anytime@pastorpaul.net you can also download the podcast and pastor Paul.net that's modify or where ever you get yours and stay tuned after the message with pastor Paul joins me in the studio. First let's join him for today's destined for victory message knowing when to claim Moses the Sargon of the Lord came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of non-Moses assistant saying Moses my servant is dead. Paul is right there in the last message we talked about the morning that they did they spend 30 days morning they honored Moses not only during those 30 days, but the rest of their lives. They honored this great man of God and may bid a final farewell to this man because you can't move into your promised land. If you're spending your time looking backwards at the end of the day all of us who are going somewhere in our lives.

We have to realize you take with you.

You take all the appropriate steps about goals God used to get to the way you are but you do not allow yourself to park where you are when you're on a journey at a certain point you gotta put your life in drive and you gotta keep moving forward and I want to encourage you as I move into this part of the message.

I need all of you to be willing to say Lord, thank you for those you use the get me to this point, but now the do not allow that to prevent me from moving forward. I told you all the time. You can't drive forward safely if you're looking in your rearview mirror and so you take Donna with you throughout your life but you do not allow yourself to remain focused on what laws you gotta move into what shall be Moses my servant is dead great man buddies did make us mad at that time. On the face of the earth buddies there brought us out of Egypt buddies dead God use them in signs and wonders buddies dead at a certain point you gotta stop focusing on what laws, thank God for what was but get your focus on what is and what is to come.

Moses my servant is dead. Now I want to look at the rest of verse two it says now therefore arise over this Jordan you and all this people to the land. Note this, which I am giving to them. The children of Israel, why don't want to pay attention to that because as we journey towards fulfillment. It's important for us to know what fulfillment is. And here's the first thing I need you to see the journey towards fulfillment is the journey toward moving into what God preordained for us. You know why gotta say that because a lot of people today think fulfillment is whatever they conjure up in their heads. That's when I'll be fulfilled when I get this or that and where they got those ideas from was within themselves. But here's what I'm here to tell you, God is prepared to take you into the promises that he made to your life. He is not prepared to be a cosmic genie. He is not prepared to be a supernatural Santa Claus.

God does not exist so that you can figure out what will bring fulfillment to you and then he makes it happen.

That's not the way this works. Remember we are followers of Jesus we don't lead him we follow him. He knows where he is going.

He knows what he has ordained for our lives. He knows the way that we are to take. He knows the promises he is made to us.

He began the good work in us. He's gonna bring it to fulfillment and completion and all we gotta do is follow him. And so I want you to understand that God said here now allies Joshua and you and all the people go over this Jordan and where my taking you on taking you to a land which I am giving to Israel. God's plan for your life is from his mind. Not from yours. God knows what he wants out of you. In fact he created you for specific purposes and he's taking you into those things.

Remember, always remember who's giving you fulfillment it's coming from on high. God's promise land for you is to be claimed, but I need you to always keep in mind that that has been God's plan from centuries back, right back to Genesis chapter 12 God found a man named Abram and the first time you hear about a promised land is in Genesis 12 and you hear God saying to a man named Abram. I want you to get up and leave your homeland leave what you been familiar with all of your life and I want to that goal. To place that I will tell you and I'm going to give that to you and your descendents forever. That was an amazing word that Abram received. You know why because when God said, give you a land I'm going to take you to and I would give it to your children and generations to come when he said that this man have any children.

He said to a man who has never fathered a child. I'm going to give you something that your kids, your children's children and generations to come are going to inhabit because that's my plan for you. That just underscores the fact that God knows what he's up to in our lives even when we don't understand you have a had God give you a word will give you a sense of something and you said doesn't make since I can imagine how that would happen when you don't have to imagine it that God speaks for God has the power in himself to make it what he called it. If God said, make your parent doesn't matter if the doctor said your barren God's goal make you a parent, God said he was gonna bless you with well done matter that you also broke that you couldn't imagine your ins meeting God is going to make it come to pass. Doesn't matter if God has called you to do something you can't even see yourself doing all you do is take him at his word and believe this promise because when God speaks the power to bring it to pass is in his word.

Remember we serve a God who stepped out into nothing and said, let there be, and there was the power was in his word, and so I need you to understand that God said I'm going to make this happen and you don't have to bring it to pass.

Just follow me and I am going to bring it to pass.

Now people looking here and just one look at verse three every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses, every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses now. If you read verse three in an isolated way. If you just little man on verse three you will probably assume that what it means is God is giving you carte blanche now carte blanche is a French term that years ago there was a credit card: carte blanche. That's when I first heard the term years ago. I'm showing my age, but the fact of the matter is that term is a French term and here's what it means.

It means blank paper carte blanche means blank paper in French, you know what that means in our day by being given a blank check or you can write the entire story or whatever it is you get to be the author you get to be the designer in the case of a blank check. You get to determine what amount it's made out to and if you look at verse three. You don't look at before or after. If you isolate verse three, you would probably think that God promised them. You can walk anywhere on earth. And I'm going to give it to you. That's the problem. A lot of people have today in the name it claimant blabbing rabbit world that we live in, coming right back with more of today's destined for victory message Pastor Paul Sheppard, senior pastor, destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. You can listen to this program any time on demand and pastor Paul.net that's Pastor Paul.net will find a host of great resources in our online store when you can evacuate in the future will staring at your past God want you to live life to the windshield, not the rearview mirror is pastor Paul was arrested today's message knowing what to claim all the people think God when he saved you he gave you carte blanche and you just pick out what you want to do and he's gonna make it happen. Pick out where you want to go and is going bless you there pick out what house you want unlimited people give you the house pick out what kind of car you want to. The drive to give you that car God to D that man picked out to live give you that woman. Bless your heart. I came to clear you up. I need you to understand that is not what God said to them, and is not what God says to you and to me yes MD verse three says every place the sole of your foot touches I'm going to give it to you but you gotta read Scripture in context of the text without a context is always going to be a pretext it's going to be miss understood because you're not giving it its proper connotation. Yes, he said, every place you walk. I'm going to give it to you but then look at verse four.

He tells them where to walk. He says, verse four from the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites and to the great sea talk about the Mediterranean toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

Do you see what God did after said, every place you walk.

I will give it to you.

Then he says now here is where you're supposed to walk because here is my promise land for you. The implication is you can't just go anywhere you want on earth and think that I've given it to you what I have promised to. Here's what I said to Abram back in Genesis 12. I'm going to give you a land and I declared it belongs to my people, and that's what God is giving them now here in Joshua.

That's why I'm saying if you're going to move into your fulfillment. You're going to need to have precise focus because if you don't focus correctly, you might try to claim something. God didn't promise you. And in that case, you will be deceived well first of all, you won't get it and some of you might be tempted to blame God and say he let me down. He can fulfill his promise. Well it was and that he did fulfill his promise is that you didn't understand what the promise was in the first place. So if you're like me you don't want to waste time trying to claim what done belong to you.

I only want what God wants for me. I want to go where God has sent me, I only want to experience what God has destined for me. I'm not trying to experience anything outside of God's will for my life. So let's apply what we just learned we learned that precise focus is necessary to experience fulfillment in God's plan.

God has a precise plan and some precise promises for you as well as for me and we've got to identify what those plans and promises are so that we'll know what the claim. I do not want to pastor a bunch of folk going around trying to claim something God never gave up my job as a teacher, a pastor teacher in the body of Christ.

My job is to do damage the people's ignorance. My job is to make sure the folk on the Monmouth Street don't end up thinking all yeah I just go anywhere claim anything, and God said he will give it to me nobody under my ministry should ever be able to say that because they heard me contradict that. Too many times. Yes, he has wonderful promises for you, but you gotta have precise focus so you know what God has promised you very specifically.

For instance, we have a lot of people in today's world who are just going around saying just claimant's evil go to a car dealer that will they got a hold but they decided that they want a luxury car and I've seen some would go to a luxury car dealer lay hands on a show room model and say in Jesus name I claimant will bless your heart. If God did not give you a promise that I have that vehicle for you. You are claiming something that is not in his plan for you to be practical.

God blesses us. If we have our priorities in order. God will bless you to enjoy many material things.

If you have a hearts desire to drive a luxury vehicle then I would first of all say well are you a good steward of what you have. First thing I want to know is your pastor or someone who speaks in real life is how well are you handling things in terms of financial stewardship, the fact of the matter is if you have consumer debt and you have very limited resources and all that. Why would you want to drive a luxury car in this season of your life, you still get out of debt look like to me you need to be pouring all your funds in the being that flying so that eventually you could drive the way you want to drive and live the way you want to live. Don't try to claim luxury cars all in a deep let pastor help you. Now if this is your look to see I'm not telling you what I don't know personally I have had many of the season. I know what it is to be pastor in California drive in the second worst car in the church in my early years.

I know what that's like and I did it gratefully. In fact, I did thanking God for that Hootie because it was the answer to a prior I know what it is to not be able to drive the way I want to drive four years and so I'm not telling you what I do. I have an experience personally.

You need to know what season you're in. Don't try to jump over a season of sewing so busy trying to reap do your sewing well your delayed gratification. Well, make sure that you do the best with what you have now before you believe God for something else. That's just an example. I don't want to park there because I got more ground to cover here.

The bottom line is I need you to realize God's will for your life is not so materialistic as it is purpose driven. What is the purpose that God has ordained for you. Like that's what you need to be trying to focus on.

For instance, I might a lot of people preached in old everybody needs to be rich. Everybody needs to be a millionaire in the will of God. When asked is not biblical.

If you are in a season and you have that capability to walk in millionaire status, but your generous and your kingdom oriented and you help other people. According to first Timothy six, Paul told Timothy tell the rich to be rich in good works, willing to share and generous in their giving.

That's what he told him to do all that and you can afford a nice car you want to drive a Bentley.

Bentley on basketball.

Notwithstanding Your Way, Gordon. Enjoy your Bentley but keep it in perspective because at the end, it is God's progress. That is to prevail in your life.

It is not your lifestyle. God is not interested in giving you a mansion without a purpose or luxury car without a purpose or you know a whole lot of money without a purpose. You need to know God's plan and purpose for your life goes back to the matter is I've heard people say what you did have faith you can have all this stuff. I know people who have great faith but there called to a mission field where they minister to people in abject poverty and in those settings there calling has nothing to do with material things they're calling has to do with leading people into a rich relationship with Jesus Christ.

So you and I need to understand God has a plan and purpose for our lives. And that's what we need to focus on to live a life of fulfillment in Christ need passion, you need a paradigm shift and you need precise focus ask God what this looks like for you and then ask him to help you get there. Pastor Paul Sheppard is join me now from a studio in California. Will this Christmas season is a busy time for all of us, but we need to remember.

It's an important time for destined for victory time when we ask people to stand with us financially and pastor. Why is it so important that we hear from listeners, especially this month wealth because practical Bible teaching has always been important in the life of the church universal.

But here in the 21st-century.

It is more critical than ever that we hear clear sound engaging biblical truth. Today there are seven generations alive in America and they range all the way from the greatest generation.

Which of those persons born in 1927 or earlier, all the way to the current and still developing generation social scientists have named it generation alpha.

These are the kids being born from 2016 to the present. My first grandchild was born just in May 2020 and so he's an alpha and every one of the seven generations alive today need the gospel preached plainly preached soundly and preached in a way that helps us engage with the issues of today I want to keep doing that and I can only do it because of the faithful and generous gifts of our listeners. I'm so grateful for those that do it. We need many more to join us because like never before. We need to let these generations know that we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is singularly the power of God unto salvation and we hope you will be one of those takes a lot of prayer and financial support to share the gospel with every nation on earth. It always has. Even in the book of acts the apostle Paul encouraged believers to finance the advancement of the gospel and your help is especially critical now as we continue to walk together through a season of uncertainty time when many people are looking for answers that only God can give is our way of saying thanks for your best gift this month will send pastor Paul's DVD message refocus. He put the sermon together to help you work through the challenges that have been born out of the covert, 19 pandemic as you follow along give you three practical steps as to how you need to address the events of this year and move ahead to 2021 with your faith intact, knowing that God is moving you ever closer to your destiny in Christ. Again, this DVD message is called refocus. It is our gift to you by request for your most generous gift destined for victory in December.

Call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or mail your gift to destined for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. You can also make a safe and secure donation from our website. Pastor Paul.net people focus on those two senses and their giving as Isaiah heart and he'll bring it to pass. But did you see the context. There are conditions built-in like yourself in him, not in what you want him to do for you right there in the passage that's next time and pastor Paul Sheppard's message knowing what to claim. Until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory