Remaining Watchful in Spiritual Warfare (cont'd)

God protection.

If you are driving yourself into trouble. I put myself here your recovery from alcohol you duty go to happy hour. That's not what you supposed to pay because God will do the answer to the name.

But you have to do the watching and watch people say no I don't belong in their an old comic strip character name Coco may have said it best. We have met the enemy and he is us know and thanks for stopping by for this Friday edition of Destin for victory for Ben.

Your own worst enemy praying for God's protection will stay right in the middle of the interstate. Pastor Paul is a word of encouragement for you today as well as a challenge if your actions contradict your prayers. Those prayers will be hindered today's messages straight ahead so stay right here. If you can or visit Pastor Paul.net to listen on demand. That's Pastor Paul.net. Now let's join Pastor Paul for today's Destin for victory message meeting watchful in spiritual warfare. Don't put yourself in a position where you have no business being, let me make this clear.

There are various trials whether it's enticement toward evil that's the work of the flesh and the devil, or whether it is the trial of your faith. Whenever God allows your faith to be tried. God doesn't want you to lose. It is a test that you can win. Let me show it to you this way you don't go to school for a whole semester and never get tested and it's not a negative thing holding the holiday given to the opportunity for you. You have done the work you been to the information and you're ready now to apply it so that is not negative test. That is all designed by God, or that involves God's will that mean you're supposed to pass it. So God is never involved in enticement toward evil. God doesn't entice you to do role and hope you do right that's not God bless your flesh and the devil entice you to do wrong, hoping you'll do role, but there are other tests, such as in school, or any program of learning. They are going to show you whether you've internalized it by giving you a test. Don't call it negative, it is positive. You prepared for see when our kids were worse going through school growing up, and we have nightly prayer is a family before they went to bed and I would encourage them cousin. That's why think that you know you just saw my daughter get married.

That's why they have active prayer lives and God blessed her the way she did. You select great testimony walked back through that, but that's all because she learned from a girl to walk with God. That was intentional on her mother and my part. We taught them to walk with God. My son taught him to walk with God. So when you have your challenges in school tell us about it so we can play with you and encourage you and when you have tests at school, we would say we would teach them and they would tell us in the prayer that now are pray pray for me. I got a test tomorrow and I would always say what the mother would always say, did you study say pray that you pass the task you don't know what I'm about to say and you didn't even do work. If you do your part. God is Lord have mercy mercy. You need to be able to say and they would say yes I study I study well and we will pray my Lord, give them recall we may bear with the pencil in hand.

Recall what they have worked on their minds to be fresh and alert so that they can put to use what they internalized. You see what I'm saying as it is in the training of children or training of adults were in some sort of academic pursuit. It is the same way in your spiritual pursuit. Ask God protection.

If you are driving yourself into the tropical put myself here your recovery from alcohol you do go to happy hour. That's not where you suppose the baby because God will do the answer to the pricing but you have to do the watching and watch people say no I don't belong in their basil rock in themselves to death in their you'll see. I learned that so I sold us a rock is with this.

Now I know what they doing advice good is just way out.

You don't play and drive yourself to the bar and you just defeated your hair.

You know something about the Lord help me. What I'm saying he will you stay a wingnut thing is you only the Holy Spirit would do is say no we going over here so you gotta watch and pray.

If lust is a problem you don't go to the strip place come back.

Help me, Jesus knew exactly how to cooperate with just now so no need to you about my didn't look I can withstand any Tim Tatian I don't care if she come out with no closable can I can do. Why are you in the place where she's stripping to begin with the right questions and get the right answer and not just what assistance does have some issues you believe in God. I would love to be married to a godly man but no need to meet up with my soda position well these ungodly people will be hitting on me.

I will put myself in a position where constantly getting hit on that I constantly have to send it all stop going where you're being constantly assaulted. That's your job is to help with this at the gym where my membership is well go out work. He's not going to be there somebody you know… In the jail, and he just he just does something for your spirit every time you see every time you see you get energized from within Baltimore sisters all try to look holy.

But you know exactly what you know exactly what your plated times you have seen.

You will notice your actions. Haven't you noticed how energized certain people in certain settings gets you be willing to ask yourself why am I so excited right now. What am just in you, ask your salve like Jens so you can get the right answers why you use bold to be working on your machine what you're doing and you reason so he went with you to the gym because he know you need to work and he said help you, but he is also bear, if you will engage him. He will speak you and the Holy Spirit will help you understand you need to get your eyes off you will need the picture you just watching the sweat drip off the muscle all on trying to help somebody for your plated. You just watching you not working as hard on your machine is useful.

Ask yourself so God protection if you're putting yourself in harm's way. That's is walking out in the middle of a Busy St., Lord, keep me from getting hit would be like that in your everyday life and what are you walking out into the traffic combat help me how Jesus what you want to get so you have the right to be consistent with your goal.

Stay with us for only about halfway through today's Destin predictor message with pastor Paul Shepherd, senior pastor at destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California.

We want to thank all of you whose prayers and financial support help pastor Paul share the gospel all over the world the past year or so has been filled with chaos and uncertainty. That's why your support is even more critical now because in times of crisis, people are more willing to have conversations about Jesus or to listen to Christian radio programming like Destin for victory to give right now. Visit our website pastor Paul.net or give us a call at 855-339-5500 again the number 855-339-5500, and when you give your generous gift today with a thank you gift to send your way to you all about it right after the remainder of today's message which comes your way right now.

Once again, here's pastor Paul Shepherd so you want to pray for protection with Jesus. And don't just pray watch and pray you gotta be watchful.

That's why I keep telling you about relationships. You'll get victory when you get better friendships you'll get victory when you speak to somebody on a covenant level will get victory when you let somebody tell you the truth, you don't want to hear you will not walk in truth with anyone are setting yourself up. You gotta stop yourself. You gotta say no.

I need somebody to tell me that I need to give somebody permission to be blunt with me. I need to give somebody permission to just take me where don't want to call.

Do you have such people they love God and they love you so they don't tell you the truth whether you like it and you get mad stop speaking for four days that's fine. Call you on day five was a spoken me for four days was up. That's the way that works if nobody has permission to say uncomfortable things that you do not the winning strategy is the strategy where you're connected with God in prayer but you're also connected with yourself in watchfulness and you're connected with others can watch out for you so you need friends sold alcohol. You need a friend sponsor or whatever you call them, who can talk to you about the Realty isolate you going on this trip so how we go. Managed right questions. I was in another city and a friend asked me. So what you doing what I was doing right is that all you've done because if you have friendships that go there. It's like spotcheck and in the financial world in order to get the financing for worship center and we were told we didn't have much resources all enable ready to give us the money but they need to make sure we were handling what we had right and in the audit process said show me this when I get to show them what we wanted to see you look at this know you already prepared for that. I will look at that I want to go in this section over here and pull anything out the file cabinet and get back essay was that with this.

That's called auditing you need your life audited you need somebody who can go into any file. Ask any question and if you don't have the answer they say well where we don't get the we had to work on this. When not ignoring this so you need to understand protection is wonderful to pray for protection must needs to be accompanied by personal watchfulness lead us not into temptation, yeah, but also in the hour of temptation. Make sure that I'm making decisions that are consistent with God's will or else I'm going to fail in that time and let me ended by the fact that this final part of the prayer gender encourages us to not only pray for protection, but to proclaim victory over the evil one. He said lead us not into temptation, but trusts from the evil one you want to understand that in Christ have victory and I've got a proclaim, I've got debate that in my life. I've got a proclaim that this is going to be my experience. Jesus won the victory for all of us on the cross. But he wondered victory for folk who are walking in the feedlot, because although he won three they have not created the victory to their own experience so you can have access the victory, but you can be experiencing defeat. So you've got to take authority over the evil. What what is that look like. That means you've got to learn to take a stand against Satan.

All of his courts. Gotta take a stand over every bondage in your life. Every adversary in your life and every obstacle that threatens or opposes God's plan in your life.

You gotta learn to take up already over some things you gotta learn to take the possession of the victory. Jesus is already one for you.

Gotta learn to tell the devil and every demon that you are and succumb to their temptations to their why does the Bible says we are not ignorant concerning his devices. You gotta know what the devil devices are what the demons how have they been successful in prior seasons in your life and you better know your history so that you know how to overcome them. In sports you have never seen a team that always seems to get the upper hand on a certain opponent like they had been number that's intentional when they're practicing.

They know what the other teams gonna run and they practice to see their purposes that happens in sports is gotta happen in your life. You gotta learn how to take authority over that which is a bondage for you might not be cynical or could not be sin, but it was a gotta take authority so that you have victory in that area of your life. Remember what the writer to the Hebrews said. He said lay aside every weight of sin which does so easily beset us, meaning not everything is a sin something is always weighs you down and use it lasts and send it and say this is way down your look at how you can't see straight. How you can think straight. You can make sound decisions because it is in your life. It is overweight, it is weighing you down, you have never in your life seen a marathoner running with a heavy jacket all you can't run 26.2 miles with a full and heavy weights all on your body aside every weight. Some things you gotta get rid of Michael is a sin because it is not taken you anywhere good, somebody quit asking the wrong questions and you'll get the wrong answer gabba past is this sin since 1982.

I can't tell you how often I pass my comment about this sin, wrong question. Is it a light asked the same question I wanted the apostle Paul said when he wrote the Corinthian church. In chapter 6 of first Corinthians is a verse that says he quotes are us common expression of their day. All things are lawful to me but not all things are expedient or profitable.

All things are lawful for me, and in chapter 6 he says, but not all things, edify or build me up in chapter 10, when he gives that quote the last line is different. Instead of metal things that if I said but I will not be brought under the power of any salon asked me is it sin. I got a couple questions for you because it edify you. Is it profitable is it bringing you under its power see that you answer those questions amassed me as it sin we not talk about how we talk about you living on earth.

See whysin will take you to hell, but this is an sin well something is not about whether you going to hell. Some things are are you will make earth as effective in your living as it should be and not all things, edify or build you up, not all things are profitable and certainly there are some things that will bring you under their power.

And if something has that kind of powerful grip on you and reasons you can realize it has power is how much you're fighting to keep it well. If you put as much effort in the positive things as you put men to keep them as vice, you'd be a lot further down the road. Let me dismiss the service of the four. Y'all can go by this man, but God is saying to us in his word. When you play, you will have power. If you pray about the right things and if you operate consistent with your prayers in the obedience of God. God never said he would blindly give you the desires of your heart. He said delight yourself in him and he will give you the desires of your heart. Just remember when you truly begin to delight yourself in him desires will change. Pastor Paul Sheppard's deepest desire is to introduce as many people as you can, to Jesus Christ, the only name by which we can be saved. We can't do it alone. It takes people like you men and women from all walks of life were committed to praying for the ministry and offering financial support.

When you give a generous gift this month with the gift of her own to share with you. Pastor Paul's booklet, it pays to serve Jesus in Mark chapter 10, Jesus tells us that all those who follow him will receive 100 times more than they give up.

Yes, there will be tough times and sacrifices along the way. You may have to give up a few things.

Some old habits, maybe even a relationship or two, but as you discover in this outstanding resource from Pastor Paul following Jesus is always worth it. In fact, it's worth it in this life, as well as the one to come. As Pastor Paul's booklet, it pays to serve Jesus as our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destin for victory this month. Call 855-339-5500 to give over the phone or mail your gift to Destin for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538.

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Pastor Paul.net development a lifestyle of faith means seeing our problems through the lens of God's promises when you walk by faith and develop it as a lifestyle you learn to see your problems through the lens of God's promises. That's Monday. Would Pastor Paul Sheppard shares his message developing a lifestyle of faith. Until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory