If You Want to Make God Laugh… (cont'd)

Do you want to experience the abundant joyful Christian life.

Jesus died to give you pastor Paul Shepherd share some of the keys to living that kind of life. Next, as he shares his message.

If you want to make God laugh, but before you get started he joined me now for a studio in California pastor. I'm excited for a couple reasons about the thank you gift we have, for those were able to give generously to support Dustin for Victor this month. First is not often the were able to share a video message but were doing this because I know that you feel that get your hopes up as a message that everyone needs to see and hear.

Absolutely. I'm eager to share this Encouraging Word with our listeners. We all know that hope is a premium commodity these days you can find it easily at all. We look around and we see all sorts of challenges both in the world at large and also in our personal lives. As a pastor I'm I'm seeing the effects of the vicissitudes of life on my members and and I hear from listeners even in the as they share their praise reports and prayer concerns and it's just a challenging world. The bottom line is I thought this is a time for me to remind people that we've gotta get our hopes up and we've got to keep him up because paying the heart ache reality is just among us, and we are going to deal with these challenges but I believe God has given us every reason to get our hopes up and keep them up because he is Lord of all, not just the good stuff.

He is Lord of everything that's going on. And even when chaos surrounds us his plan and purpose will prevail. I constantly remind myself of what we say daily on this broadcast. He who began a good work in us is going to bring it to completion.

So in this message.

People are going to hear me share and I'm going to use case studies from the Scripture how people who faced real life challenges such as were all going through, but how they sold the Lord's hand in the midst of it how God brought them out of it, and gave them hope and help even in difficult times, and I hope that people are going to be blessed as they receive this video message.

The title of the DVD is get your hopes up and is our gift to you this month by request is our way of saying thanks for your generous gift to Destin for victory call 855-339-5500 or visit pastor Paul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destin for victory PO Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. Again, the addresses Destin for victory. Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538.

I hope you understand you can be a child of God and never experienced anything but wilderness living if you're not careful you go to heaven when you die, but life is not going nowhere because you are walking in faith and obedience and trust in the Lord. That's what happened with Old Testament Israel. Well, it happened to the days of Moses and it can happen today just as many of the Israelites were never allowed to enter into the promised land. We too can miss out on the abundant Christian life. God wants his children to enjoy. So today on Destin for victory pastor Paul Shepherd explains how we can have eternal life in the hereafter in a joyful life in the here and now.

It all comes your way.

Next to this message.

If you want to make God laugh, once again, here's pastor Paul, as you listen to this message, you have plans that you believe will go if I got to be praying about not only current things but looking forward to have vision vision always speaks of that which is yet to come.

None of that is against what James is telling us what you ought to have a vision that can easily outlive you so that you don't get to fulfill it. You can believe God to raise up some of the people to take the baton and carried.

I know pastors who were building great buildings seemingly healthy and died unexpectedly. A pastor friend died in a car accident. He and his wife killed instantly on the road and they were in the midst of a great building campaign, missing the fact that you have plans affected your friend, God is with you. None of that gives you a guarantee out in my late 40s I was heading toward 50 and I found out as pastor friends, three of them in a span of about a year and 1/2 and all were like me, not yet 50 years old, or one of them slightly over 50 and that was a big shot Julie knowing he will keep you on as well and when that moment and it dawned on me, not by reading got it from James, but I got it from going to funerals and friends were seemingly life-threatening and I'm standing in rejoicing and thanking God for their life and ministry, but also confused.

That was a shock to me was shortly healed us know.

I got 80 years, knowing you will take your anointing to the green in the prime of your life. Things go that way, you can't take it for granted.

So live knowing it won't be long.

Soon will be leaving here Moses try to tell us that before we ever got to the New Testament dispensation. Moses told us that back in the old dispensation in Psalm 90. I hope you know your Bible, not all the songs written by David. Just understand that most of them were Psalms of David, but there are other Psalms that you find their divinely inspired of Psalms in that book of your Old Testament and one of the psalmist was Moses.

Moses wrote Psalm 90. The context was it was during the years that Israel was in the wilderness those 40 years that they got out of Egypt, but it wasn't Moses fault the people didn't have the faith to go to Canaan. They were scared of giants in the walled city and because they murmured and complained to disobey God. It offended God got to tell you what Moses tell them that you live and die in this wilderness because I'm not taking them over with that attitude. I hope you understand you can be a child of God and never experienced anything but wilderness living if you're not careful you go to heaven when you die, but life is not going to well because you are walking in faith and obedience and trust in the Lord. That's what happened with Old Testament Israel, and so they spent 40 years and God had told him, let all this first generation died in this wilderness, raise their children up and I'll take them to Canaan, Moses wrote what he's watching these 2 million people. He led out of Egypt die off any rights of Gloria Psalm read Psalm 90 when you get chance but for my purposes here, let me just drop you down to verse 10 he says the length of our days is 70 years or 80, if we have the strength yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away. See, saying the same thing that James told us in the New Testament. You don't know what will happen tomorrow guarantee a new 780 years.

He said it seems probable, likely all things being equal, but that's not a hard fast rule. You can't say if you live right. God guarantees you 80 years. I know a woman in New York who was mildly use the God and ministry of healing and she one day got the word that she had stage IV cancer and we prayed and fasted thereby would love to pray for, and I believe got a raise or a special someone who been so mildly use to get other people healed. We thought surely God will do for her. What he did through her and said she got worse and worse in a certain point, she told everybody was praying.

Brain. She said I'm convinced the Lord is ready to take me home to be with him and a lot of us rejected at this whole she said no, no, the Lord not going do it for me and she refused to be better and that night she died in the hospital that night shift nurse said it was the most amazing thing said as I was sitting at the nurses station not far from her room. She said I heard Deanna talking and you know typically patients at night are talking. She said so I come into my ear and she said I heard her speaking such loving things and she said new no man had come in their and she said so I listened even more intently and she said she was praying and worshiping God and she said she was telling him how much she loved him how much he meant to her how much he was so grateful for all he had done for her that when she was in her sins he kept her. The nurse said it sounded like she was making love to somebody and she said then her voice fell silent.

The nurse that I thought okay Deanna went to sleep. She said when I went in later to do rounds and went to her room so she was gone she worshiped her way right into God's presence is not about quantity. It's about quality and a lot of us are probably will make 70 maybe 80 years is a believe in those years are full of trouble and sorrow in the quickly pass and we fly away. So what did he say look at verse 12 Psalm 96 okay just 10 number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Help us to live knowing that we don't have any guarantees so the things you want us to do is to maximize our now brothers and sisters. Here's what you need to do maximize today maximize today.

If you need to do it, get it done and Moses to teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom. In other words, we are imperfect beings.

None of us are don't get it all right all the time. Many of us have made some really dumb decisions and mistakes and all that in our lives to this point. Is anybody besides me was doesn't really stupid things. I'm so glad to have this company.

We've done some things were not where not proud of. We made wrong choices we've done all kind of stuff. Moses assignment would teach us that for the time we have left that we will make the same ones and it will learn a level of wisdom that can get us to another level of living doing stupid things occasionally as human. We should want to wish and plan to do some stupid as human. But Moses really could've said by Lord help us to not be stuck on stupid and I'm sorry to offend you help us to not be stuck there. Lord I got really wrong in some cases but you're going to be in perfect manifest or imperfection.

Some new ways now don't repeat the old ones that make some mistakes find you some new ones to make get better as you get older. There is no fool like an old so he saying help us to gain a heart of wisdom. I'm not upset with folk who are ignorant I'm upset with folk who choose this day you say this, let's turn to go away were only about halfway through today's destiny for Victor message with pastor Paul Sheppard, senior pastor of destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont California subscribed to pastor Paul and YouTube to watch some of his best video clips for more details.

Be sure to visit pastor Paul.net again the website is pastor Paul.net. There you can listen on demand.

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Now let's rejoin pastor Paul for the second half of today's message. If you want to make God laugh. This all what is not working, anniversaries and what does not work in the 27th anniversary of what never worked in the first place, but this that where we're noticing some folks aren't stopping to realize that the common denominator in all the drama in their life yell finishing my message from you say what the common denominator in all the scenarios and the answer is you so it can keep me in them will see last for David crazy at a certain point when you have four episodes of crazy. It could be that they, not the one crazy I'm just I'm just saying Craig Craig you believe in agile house teaches that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Lord help us to number our days to realize we don't have forever. Help us to realize that we have a time sensitive opportunity and we can afford to blow it helpless against him was the third and final point I let you go doing God's will is the only thing that matters.

Look at verses 15 to 17 instead James says instead of saying what you're going to do for the next year. He said instead you say the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that, as it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil anyone man who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

You know what sins means it means to miss the mark.

It's actually an archer return. It means to fire toward the target but you don't hit and James is saying one who knows at this point in your life. Given your successes and failures.

Given the years you've lived human experiences you've had the things you've done the right things you've done wrong. Given what your money from the were given why God is speaking to you his word that he is saying it is important that you file your and hit the target for anybody who knows what to do at this point in your life the same mistake you get you by now anybody who knows what to do now is still in the will to do what is wisdom available James that we studied in the first chapter of the study. If you lack wisdom knew what ask you, Lord, what shall I do here is raise the people around you doesn't put us in a church cozy.

He thinks that's a good place to roll on Sundays to charge because it's a family a full-time family of believers were all going to heaven and God called us to go together.

If people were moving in the same direction. That's what publications are.

It is God's will. I said from time to time to have to be set in days where people are commitment phobic while I love God, but I don't go to church.

You can ignore his family and claim to love him. He gave you the family. People join the family you were baptized by one Spirit.

Posted by one Spirit to the body of Christ church. What happened because they immediately began to form himself and accommodation. The only reason you have a New Testament that's inspired of the Holy Spirit is because there were New Testament congregations to write to to the church around to the church at Galatia to the church at Ephesus to the church at Philippi to the church in Colossae. You see what I'm saying.

The chart form himself in the congregation where God gave them anointed leaders, pastors and apostles and prophets and teachers to minister to them to teach them how to live effectively is God's will for you to finally stop thinking you're doing well by being accountable. It's not what you need. Accountability you need to pastor you need brothers and sisters who walk with you in love and faith and accountability.

We got we got the body of Christ on the same journey different temperaments different personalities different cultures. I'm glad I church is multicultural wanted to become more and more so because we want everybody to go to have not just some want that to be more and more the case where we become more and more United Nations under the banner of Jesus Christ as the family family as you pick your friends are stuck with relative family born into the family about family younger brother who is almost 15 years my junior.

I'm 14 years old when my parents set us down. We sat around the table in 1970 early 1972 I was 14 older brother 17 older sister, 16. We all, their parents, but dad said this in one end of the table said my mother looked dejected, bewildered, confused. My father said of him look proud mother said well we need to let Joe know that you don't have a brother or sister in several months we would you people can't get anything right at all to all be Tron submit like that's right still got messed with me so you some more. Here's my point. It wasn't a voting meeting. It was an informational meeting only. It didn't matter what we thought about this newcomer.

He was on His Way in October 1972, less than two months from being 15 Kenny showed up. My mother brought them home is your brother when he pees when he does of stuff change. He was introduced as my brother now. Well, we happen to like him, whether we like he was in his day, much more in all the rest my daddy funeral.

Let's clear it up.

I am the favorite child and I sat there mad, but he was right. We know he was. It was clear they get older they care less that we would never think about getting away things with we would say things like you would never let us do this time, Jane James, instead of living an arrogant presumption realize that the most important thing is to do God's will get into a church where they can walk with you as you do God's will get on your pastor who can teach you what the word says about doing his will get your life and get some accountability from surround yourself.

Finally, with some people who love you enough to tell you the truth.

Please so we all got fans not friends. Your fans can help you at this point it's more and more critical for you to get life right so give people the chance to go from fans or friend take him deeper hold you accountable for your soul takes to get your life in order. Stop trying to force and you don't do what he said that's so make sure that you are doing the will of God. Only thing that matters. Thanks so much for joining us for today's message. If you want to make God laugh, if you'd like more information about the Destin for Victor ministry where the DVD were offering is our thank you for your generous gift this month sure to stop by our website pastor Paul.net pastor Paul.net want you to understand that what you do on matters to God in heaven. It matters if it's good God takes note of it.

If it is evil. God takes note of it. Nothing escapes God's notice, and the Bible also tells us in no uncertain terms that we will all serve our actions donning this body that's tomorrow and pastor Paul Shepard's message award to the wealthy.

Until then, remember he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory