Press the Battle On!

Hello and thanks for stopping by for this writing initiative destined for victory with pastor Paul Shepherd, senior pastor at destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California, just a few moments to share his message, press the Babylon, but first pastor. Paul joins me for a studio in California to talk about a special thank you gift.

He wants to share with you are destined for victory listeners and pastor I don't need to tell you that the holiday season is here and although this year will certainly be a bit different than others. There will be plenty of things we vying for attention this year. This is always a very important time for ministries like destined for victory, especially this year. With all that we've experienced not with a great thank you gift, though, for all those who can make the very best gift this month. It's a great and I think timely message from you on DVDs called refocused. So tell me about this until recently I was going to present a very different message for our year-end gift and it was going to be a good one, but as the year began to wrap up.

I was experiencing some things and I went to the Lord said, Lord, I need to to help me get my focus back in order and as I processed and played in the Holy Spirit spoke to me. I ended up thinking you know what this is and just for my benefit. I need to share this with my audience and as a result, I have recently decided to change that message and I'm presenting the message entitled, refocus that is going to help people work through the challenges that have been born out of this pandemic and some of the frustrations we've all experienced and I'm giving three very practical steps as to how we need to address these matters. You know I'm learning in my life these days that emotional health is every bit as important as physical and spiritual health. And so this message is going to help. I think a lot of people and I trust that donors this month will not only be a blessing to us through their generous gifts. But Babel the blast by hearing me unpack this theme and help us all get ourselves refocused. As we look ahead to the year to come. That's a great reminder from Pastor Paul. I can't think of a better time for all of us be thinking that way as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ and as we get ready for a brand-new year for your best gift to destined for victory today would love to send you a copy of the message refocus it's on DVD just requested when you make your most generous gift to destined for victory this month. Call us at 855-339-5500. That's 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or visit pastor Paul.net to make a safe and secure donation online or you can also mail your gift.

Our address is destined for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538 got to make sure you don't take no for an answer. You gotta make sure you have a response when told come against you when things rise up to try to prevent you from experiencing God's plan for your life.

You need to be prepared to have me so that you are going out last and when everything you place on your way to your destiny in Christ you will face opposition, and on today's destined for victory to be reminded how to handle it.

So now here's pastor Paul Shepherd with his message, press the Babylon will praise the Lord. Let's get into the word of God together as we continue our series, the overall series has been entitled the journey toward fulfillment. This is the message in the series and I want to focus on this particular part of the series with the title. Press the battle: press the battle: if you've been with us, you know that we're learning from the book of Joshua and from the experience of the Joshua generation how to discover their own promised land and how to move into it. And while they discovered the promise land they gave us a blueprint on how you and I can move into our own promised land because remember the things written in the Scriptures are just so that we can have a history lesson about Israel things written afford time Paul said to the church in Rome were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope and soul. When we read the book of Joshua we suppose the say Lord help me to claim my promised land and the learn from their journey.

The things I need to know that's what we are doing right now and so so far I've talked to about the fact that this journey requires passion. We talked about the fact that this journey requires a paradigm shift. You gotta shift your perspective, especially when people and the important things, leave your life and you have to have precise focus.

That's what we talked about in the last message precise focus.

You have to know what God has given you the claim. Now I want to talk about our fourth requirement for new and to move into the promises that God has given us the court requirement is this jotted down.

If you're making notes the journey toward fulfillment requires persistence. The journey toward fulfillment requires persistence time with me.

The Joshua chapter 1 verses five through nine, when I read this in preparing this sermon series. I read the book of Joshua untold a number of times, but as I read it in preparing this particular sermon series I noted that God was given Joshua a kind of pep talk. So look at what I mean by saying that look at Joshua one beginning at verse five and let's listen in as God gives a pep talk to his servant Joshua verse five. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses soul. I will be with you Joshua. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you will divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law all which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Forsake the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Had I not commanded you. Be strong and of good courage, do not be a foreign aid nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Now, did you see what I saw when I read it this time God is giving Joshua a kind of pep talk and I say that because he keeps telling him be strong and courageous. Be strong and have good courage, be strong and courageous. Why is that happening. It's because God knows that Joshua is about to experience something he's never experienced before God wants him to know you're going to run into some things that you might not be familiar with that. I want you to know the key is for you to be strong and courageous, and for you to forge ahead and not to be dismayed not to be afraid. In fact, when I was reading it in preparation for this. The mental picture I had was a trainer with a with a boxer soul professional boxing match. Maybe the most important match of the century is about to happen and the trainer of one of the boxes is in the corner with him and before the bell rings the start, the boxing match. This is the kind of stuff the trade is all right you can do this, you can use in rubbing his his gloves and and getting them ready you can do this well trained and prepared to sell for this and you will be all right, what God is doing with Joshua.

Now here's what I want you to realize that if God is doing that, it's because what he is going to face is very significant.

So let me just make two points in this message and I want you to know please.

Here's .1 of this particular passage standing between you and fulfillment will be polls, you must face and defeat now in terms of your life and mine. We're not talking about the little promise land that these folks had to deal with, but as you move into God's promises for your life. I'm here to let you know that thing standing between you and fulfillment are as and for you to have the right perspective on as it was for Joshua to know what God just told him here now want you to think about this with me anytime somebody who's in your corner keeps telling you to be strong to be courageous.

Don't be afraid.

Don't be dismayed if you keep hearing somebody to go to God and you say once he said it three times. As the numbers of these can all be courageous and once he says don't be terrified.

Don't be dismayed if somebody keeps telling you don't lie about it. You will be all right just be strong to be graded. Don't you know what that means. That means you are going to run into some stuff that will scare the living daylights out of you. Does exactly what that means. Anybody want to tell me heart that the ball that was about to go to you, you can make it. Just need to be strong I want to know what the while his wife. This especially when the person giving you the pep talk is not just want to your friends is God himself.

Time God is the one, hard. Now will be scare like Seminoles Adobe skirt God is the long-standing will be scare that mean that means what you're going to otherwise scare you nearly to death not saying that because we are really serious about claiming what God has for our lives and using this as a point of reference and a case study so I want to propose to you that God has great things in store for you as you claim his promises in your life. But as I propose that I've already talked about some of the other requirements but this one is so when this requirement of you being persistent and be right back with more of today's suggestion for Victor message from Pastor Paul Sheppard. Remember you can always listen to this program on demand@pastorpaul.net that's Pastor Paul.net will find links to all of the social media, including his YouTube channel place to watch basketball's most popular video clips technology back into today's message press the Babylon once again is Pastor Paul Sheppard you've got a B+ C got to make sure you don't take no for an answer.

You gotta make sure you have a response when those come against you when things rise up to try to prevent you from experiencing God's plan for your life, you need to be prepared to be so persistent that you're going to outlast and win over everything you face so my brothers and sisters. I want you to realize that phones are coming. Do not ask to be a victorious person.

If you expect to never have a fight when you think about it, you can't be victorious if you had no contest. Nobody is up will you know I'm undefeated as a fighter or I'm undefeated as an athlete is at right now.

How many opponents have you face what your record only know the Savior undefeated because your unchallenged you have experienced anything you haven't had opponents stand in front of you. The only way to say, Victoire is I've had a challenge and I basted and I overcame it on the Victor because the enemies between the victory and I defeated that enemy. So my brothers my sisters as you prepare to move forward in the rest of your life and claiming God's promises for your life. I've come to tell you expect that those are going to stand between you and your goal.

Don't be surprised. All I did know was don't be disheartened when asked why the Lord gave you this message.

The tell you is go get hard sometimes.

Whether you're fighting for your families welfare. Whether you're fighting for success in your career whether you're fighting for.

For any level of claiming the promises of God.

Your financial life. God's taking you to a higher plane in terms of your finances, all in terms of any of the seven pillars of your life.

I talk a lot about the seven pillars what ever area you are focusing on in your claiming promises in know that between where you are right now and where God wants to take you in that area of your life. You are going to experience all kinds of challenges would you tell me. I believe God is going to make me well-off financially because he wants to make me a blessing to the kingdom of God and I'm expecting God to bless me tremendously with finances. That's wonderful. I can stand in agreement with you as long as you know that between where you are and where you're going to have all kind of unexpected stuff the pop up and try to knock you off that course. Whatever area we're talking about in your life. God is going to give you victory but you must be persistent.

If there is no fall, there is no victory. If there is no challenge. There can be no winning, so you have got a C that God is going to give you blessing the victory, but by virtue of the very definition to have victory. I've got a face and defeat a an opponent of some sort or another and let me help you with this.

Sometimes the opponents are not external. Sometimes the opponents are internal. I don't know if you've experienced it yet in your life.

If you haven't. My grandmother would've told you. Just keep on living fact of the matter is you live long enough and you'll build up baseballs not only from without baseballs within baseballs that make you talk to your self that I have some stuff born inside of you. Maybe it will be your emotional response to some of the things that come against you. Whatever it is you can know that you will have various types of phone that you must rise up and defeat. Do not expect an easy victory. Do not expect a cakewalk. Think of it this way, God has brought you so far. You are like a top way boxer and the top ranked boxes didn't get there because every body was easy to defeat as they moved up the ranks. They found a little more challenging a little more challenge and finally you really paid your dues because it could get to be the champion or the number one rated opponent you had to face a whole lot of goals and overcome them and so I wanted tell you now that you are where you are in your life now that your believing God for some great things expect that your opponents are going to be more fierce than they've ever been there going to be more cocky than they've ever been there going to be arrogant.

They are going to tell you, you will not defeat me and you are going to have to practice and demonstrate persistence passing was good and precise focus was important and a paradigm shift was necessary. But let me tell you right now what you've got to know is you must be persistent. As you move from where you are to where God wants to take you in every area of your life.

So this point number one in this message is standing between you and fulfillment will be flows, you must face and defeat. Don't ever forget that. Take that knowledge with you into the rest of your life so that when you run up against and internal on external opponent. You will say that's right is what Pastor Paul was talking about and I have to be persistent and fight through this challenge. You heard me preach that message I preached about that my friend who ran the Boston Marathon. The first time he didn't complete the second time he did and he learned what the runners call.

How to break through the land when they hit the wall. When you feel like I can't move on. I cannot finish the race.

He was told in advance you're going to get the wall a couple of times during the course of the race.

Be prepared and I'm going to help you and you verbally tell the story of the persons who gave him a banana.

At just that the points in his race when he felt like I can't go farther. There was someone stationed to help him push through below my brother my sister you, but I have various roles that come up against you as you claim your promised land.

So don't expect it's going to be just a fun experience from start to finish.

There going to be moments when you don't get it. You heard me say it a lot. I'll never forget when the Lord told me thousands going to be part of the ministry will go to help me raise up when I got to California for seven years. I went from the 44 people who called me to be their pastor. Seven years later we had 250 people. The Lord had told me thousands were coming. I thought the thousand, at least couple thousand on which show up in the 402. I was seven years into it and I had 250 members and that's great growth by normal standards, but I was compelled into a promise, my promised land. God said in the promised land, there thousands of people you're going to disciple you gonna win them to the Lord and disciple them. Thousands of them and seven years and I got 250 city with a D and let me tell you something. I was not discouraged brother somebody elegantly faith that type of discouragement and whatever you're going after is your promised land.

Know that I have time. Reason I don't get it. I thought God I must've missed it. Maybe I'm just on a wild goose chase. Maybe this does my ego telling me I could do this I can do is nobody in my family ever done. If I don't have a personal relation with anybody who's been successful in the way I believe I'm cold to be successful whenever it is.

Even if your family by my family has survived with a long-term marriage, how about the gonna make it by my spouse did no manure I'm not what check out of this marriage is like everybody else in my family is checked up on the only one still hanging in here. Maybe I need to check out to what is going to try to get you off the course of fulfillment. You gotta decide these goals were inevitable, but I don't have to cave-in if I will be persistent. God is going to bless me to have the victory to break through the wall of opposition and to experience all that he has someone to let you know that standing between you and fulfillment gonna be flows are going to have to face them by the help of the Lord, you can defeat them as you press on toward your high calling in Christ Jesus you will face opposition. At times it will be intimidating at times. Fear may set in. But be encouraged today with God on your side. You can be a little scared without being scared off. Thanks so much for joining us for this message. Press the battle on don't forget this month special offer a DVD message from Pastor Paul entitled refocus. It's available for all who make your best year-end gift. More information at our website. Pastor Paul.net that's Pastor Paul.net I came to tell somebody do not allow the way you feel now to dictate what you do if you allow your feelings to dictate it. You are going to cave-in gonna check out new gonna say nevermind God I guess you have to do this for somebody else because I can't make it that's Monday, when Pastor Paul Sheppard shares his message, press the battle on until then, enjoy your weekend and remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory