Follow Favor | Ephesians 1:3-6

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I want you to open with me to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, chapter one. This is one of my favorite, probably my favorite book to preach out of in the New Testament. I love it. Ephesians, chapter one. I actually felt like God gave me a word that I believe is going to encourage us as we close out one year and we step into a new year. I don't know if you want to take this as a word of the Lord. I'm a little hesitant to say that, but I know it's a word for me for this coming year, and I think that it'll bless you. And I receive Bill Johnson's wisdom. What feeds me feeds you. So I hope this blesses you. Ephesians, chapter one and verse three. This is what it says. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In Christ. Oh, my goodness. That's a big statement. Let's read that again. I don't know if you digest all of that, but watch this. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. This is the key. In Christ. Everyone say, in Christ, are you in Christ? Oh, if you are, you're in for a blessing. Watch this. Just verse four. As he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Wow. You were chosen. That's right. That we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Wow. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Christ Jesus to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. Wow. There's a lot in this. And God's going to show us his word. It's going to really bless us today, I think. But let's pray, and let's ask the Lord's hand over this time as we open his word together. Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the light and the life and the instruction and the correction that it brings into us where we need it. And I'm asking, Lord, for a mighty anointing to be released in this place. Come on, church, I want you to pray that God speak to us, that the Lord himself minister to us today. Holy Spirit, we ask you to come. We ask you to release wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of your word, in the knowledge of your glory, o Lord, I ask you to give us eyes that see and ears that hear, a heart and a mind that perceives what your spirit is speaking today. I bind the works of the enemy. He who would seek to distract, to distort, to confuse or uproot the word as it comes forward. Lord, give us liberty in receiving what you have for us. Today we pray in Jesus name, and everybody say, amen. Amen. You may be seated. As I've been in prayer over the last number of weeks, I've actually felt like God has spoken to me the same word repeatedly. It actually began about three weeks ago. I was praying for a pastor friend who's been dealing with some frustrations over their building and the facility that they're wanting to acquire. And I understand that we've had some frustrations with our building and our building program, which, praise God, we're through most of that. We're scheduling the workers, and we're passing permits, and it's all going very well now. But I felt compassion for him. I said, I understand where you're at. And so I began to pray, and he was kind of at a crossroads. Should I take this? The door seems to have opened for me, or do I continue to beat my head on this wall over here? And as I prayed, I felt the Lord speak to me. A very simple word. But this was it. Follow favor. Follow favor. Where do you feel like God's favor is? And I have found myself on multiple occasions. Even this morning, I had two different people come up to me. One says, hey, I've got a new work opportunity. Would you pray for God's favor? And they were asking, do I stay in this job where I'm comfortable, or do I take this big risk over here? And my declaration over them was follow favor. If God's opened this door, if God's doing this, I know it's big, I know it's freaky to step out, but, man, if God's in it, follow his favor. I find myself praying it over so many individuals. And the picture that comes to my mind is this. It's like when Moses and the children of Israel were in the wilderness. The Bible says that there was in the camp a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire, and they would go where that cloud or that fire would lead them. Didn't matter if it was day or night. If the cloud is moving, we're going with it. God, where you go, I'm going with you. That was Moses declaration. God's just like, you guys, just go and do your own thing. Moses, like, no, I'm not doing anything, God, without you. But where you go, that's where I'm going, and I feel like church. This is going to be a year where I just want to encourage you. Begin to look, you're at a crossroads in your workplace, in your school, in your relationships, in your friendships. I want to encourage you to begin to look at God. Where is your favor? God, what are you blessing right now? God, what have you graced me to walk in now? I'll just say, that doesn't mean it's always going to be easy. It doesn't mean that there's not going to be tests of your faith or trials. But you will know there have been seasons in life in ministry where I've had all hell breaking loose. But I know God's favor is on me. And somehow I'm weathering the storm and going through it because I know his grace is with me. Then there's been other times where things are going so well. Yet I don't feel his grace upon me. And I am miserable as I'll get out. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? This is why we must be sensitive. God, where is your favor? And I'm going to follow your favor now. Favor. Everybody say favor. It's one of my favorite words. I became aware of this when I was a student in Bible school. I wasn't married yet, but I was friends with Leah. And I remember one of our friends came to us and brought us a sermon. I couldn't tell you who the preacher was. I couldn't tell you the text they use. But I can tell you that guy hollered for about 30 minutes, just the same phrase over and over and over again. Have favor and walk in it. Have favor and walk in it. And again, he didn't give a text. He gave a couple examples, and he would say, have favor and walk in it. Give an example. Have favor and walk in it. The guy's voice was real obnoxious, too, which is probably part of the reason it just stuck with me. But I remember I would find myself in situations like, okay, day one of class, I'm in Bible school, and I go sit down, and I'm listening to this lifeless preacher. This is why they call it cemetery seminary, because I'm just telling you, if you can get through that thing and still be spiritually alive, you can handle any ministry. I'm just telling you. And so I'm sitting in this cemetery class and listening to this dead preacher just go on and on. And I'm like, I am not going to sit in this guy's class for an entire semester. So I went to the guidance counselor, and I said, listen, I know I'm on the pastoral track, but I want to take this faith class over here. There was a class on miracles by a great faith preacher who's gone to be with the Lord. Now, this guy was casting out devils and seeing all kinds of miracles. And I'm like, I want to get in that class. Problem was, it wasn't on the pastor's track, it was on the children's track. No joke. So I'm like, put me in the children's track just for this one thing. And the guidance counselor, we can't do this. But I remember as I was walking into the counselor's office, I just had that phrase running through my head. Have favor and walk in it. I have favor. I have favor, and God's going to give me favor with this guidance counselor. So I go into that class and I talk to the lady, and I smile nice at her, and I'm kind, and I'm like, I'm walking in favor right now. Is there a chance? I really just feel like this lines up with what God has called me to do and not so much this over here. And sure, we'll change that for you. And so they change a class. So I did. Truly, I had one semester in Bible school where I was on the children's track, not the pastor's track. And so that's why I like kids. And it's awesome. I got a little bit of that anointing. But what was hilarious was all of my friends who were hating that class, they're like, whoa, jake got that changed. Let's go get our class changed, too. So everybody starts going to the guidance counselor. Every one of them got denied. I was the only one who went through, and here's what I told them. Like, guys, you're going to understand. Favor ain't fair. Favor ain't fair. Anybody ever heard that before? Favor ain't fair. And I don't know if that's biblical, but you truly will when you begin to tap into favor. You're going to discover, man, life does not seem fair. It seems like you have an advantage over other people. It's like where my daughter starts working at a coffee shop, and all of a sudden she's, like, getting promotions and she's getting raises. And there have been people that have been there for years and years and are still at a lower level. She comes in with the favor of God on her life, and she's being elevated. This is why I hear testimonies from you guys. All the time. I was at the lowest level of employment, but now I'm a manager. I was a student in school, and now I'm the class president. I mean, I'm hearing this kind of. I'm even watching these ywam guys come in as a student, barely off of drugs, and now leading schools of ministry. What is that? Favor? There's favor that God releases. In fact, my kids reminded me after the service, we went on vacation just about a month ago. We went to six flags, and we'd have all these moments where we just get bumped up to the front of the line, and I would always turn over to my kids and be like, fa fa fa favor. They knew we're walking in favor. Like, how do we get to skip all the lines and get to the front of the roller coaster? Because I have favor, and I walk in it. Now, are you guys trekking with me? So we're all going to be walking in favor before this thing is done. But let me show you this. In the Bible, we're going to follow God's favor. Part of where this began to be, like, revived in my heart was in the reading the account of Mary and the angel that came. And in Luke 128, the declaration of the angel was rejoice, highly favored one. Rejoice, highly favored one. And I just began to ponder that, like, wow, could you imagine an angel Gabriel coming to you and declaring, you are highly favored by God. You are going to carry the Christ of the Messiah and bring him into the world? Like, what a privilege. That Mary was highly favored by God. But then I read a verse, and we actually read it just a moment ago. In Ephesians, chapter one and verse six, it says, to the praise of the glory of his grace, Jesus. Grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. Now, that's awesome enough. Just as you read it right there. He made us accepted in the beloved. But let me teach you a couple greek words here, okay? Now, the greek word for favor, the greek word for favor, where did I. I lost it in my notes here. The greek word for favor is the greek word charis. Good morning, Keras. Charis, or Charis, if you want to be proper with it. But I don't want you spitting on each other. So everybody say Charis. Now, that word, it translates acceptable. Favor, gift, grace, joy with all liberality. Pleasure worthy. Accepted, highly favored. You have a cool name. Karis, this is amazing. And so it's God's favor. It's his good pleasure. It's his acceptance. It's highly favored. Now what's amazing in our Ephesians text is it says he has carisso. He has. Not just that, it's Charis, Jesus, walking in favor, but he has carissoed us that he has favored us. It's literally that he has made us accepted in the beloved means that he has bestowed his favor upon you. So the very same declaration, Mary, you are a highly favored one in God's eyes. Understand? In Christ, the favored one, the Caris, the apple of God's eye, understand? He has carissoed. He has bestowed upon us, upon you, upon me, his favor, God's favor. We were going to dig into this, but you guys might understand bestowal. I know that's not a common english word for us today, but we in kings have a couple of times a year bestowal services. And it's in these moments we'll come together and there might be a pastor who's being raised up. I've been through this. My wife went through this just earlier this year. And they recognize there's an anointing upon your life. And what we're going to do is we're going to ask Dr. Morocco. We recognize there's an apostolic anointing on his life, that God has raised him up as a pastor of pastors. And we believe that there's a setting in which God can take the very same anointing that is upon a person and that God can transfer that anointing. God can bestow that anointing upon another. You see this in first Timothy. I'm sorry, second Timothy, where Paul encourages spiritual son Timothy. Timothy, stir up the gift that was placed on the inside of you through the laying on of my hands. There was a bestowal where the apostle Paul laid hands on Pastor Timothy and believed the very same anointing that was in him was coming upon his spiritual son Timothy. Moses did the same thing in the Old Testament. He was trying to govern millions of people, trying to mediate all of their conflicts and everything. And his father in law, Jethro, comes to him and says, moses, if you do this, you're going to die. You need to raise up and appoint other elders. And that's what he did. They picked out 70 leaders from amongst the tribes of Israel. And the Bible says in the book of numbers that Moses laid his hands on them and prayed that the same spirit that was upon him, the same anointing that was upon his life, would be imparted to each of those 70 elders. And that's exactly what God did. Now, I don't know. I get excited, guys, when I go into a service where there's an anointed man or woman of God, it's like I go into services and that guy's going to lay hands on me because I believe for an impartation. Cindy Jacobs coming? Oh, she's going to lay hands on me. I'm believing for an just. I get excited for that stuff. I don't know if you're on board for it, but I believe the anointing is tangible and it's transferable and you can receive it. Now here's what's exciting. You might get excited for Dr. Morocco to lay hands on you and bestow an anointing upon you. Maybe you get excited for me or my wife or pick your favorite preacher. You get excited for somebody to lay hands on you and bestow an anointing upon your life. But think about what I just said out of Ephesians, chapter one. Jesus himself, the highly favored one, has bestowed upon us the same favor that was upon his life. The same blessing that was upon his life. The same power, the same anointing, the same grace that was upon Jesus. He has Carisso. He has blessed us with the same charis. The same favor that was upon his life. He has imparted. He has bestowed that same favor upon you and upon me. That means the same favor that Jesus has. I walk in the same grace and power that Jesus had. I walk in and you can walk in that as well. I want you to write this down. Want you to write this down. Jesus is the perfect picture of favor. He is the perfect picture of favor. In fact, I love what Bill Johnson says. He says that Jesus Christ is perfect theology. If you ever wonder what life of the miraculous is supposed to look like, a life in the supernatural, a life of God's favor. A life of God's blessing. You never see Jesus wandering around wondering, I wonder if this leper can get healed. I wonder if this paralytic can rise up. I wonder if this demonized man can be set free. I wonder if this adulterer can walk in God's grace. I wonder if this food can be. You never see Jesus asking these kinds of questions because he knew I am God's favored son and I have every spiritual blessing available in heaven to release. He's perfect theology. But I want you to write this down. The second idea you must grasp. Jesus is not only the perfect picture of favor, but watch this. Jesus has bestowed his favor on us. Jesus has bestowed his favor on you on me. You have favor. I want you to tell your neighbor you have favor. Come on, poke your neighbor right now. You have favor. Tell them you have favor. And we walk in. Some of you are going to grab hold of this today and you're going to walk with the awareness like God, really, your favor is upon me. You're going to stop wondering when you pray for your sick child, God, do you really think you could heal them? No. You're going to know because you have favor. You're not going to wonder like, am I going to be able to pay my phone bill next month? No. You're going to know, God, I have favor and you have blessed me. You're not going to wonder if you are accepted in God's eyes? No. Your word says that I am accepted in the beloved, I have been bestowed by your favor and your grace. And I walk in it. Oh, man, somebody's going to get this today. It's going to change everything. Let me show you this in scripture. Ephesians one six out of the amplified says this. Jesus glorious grace and favor which he so freely bestowed on us in the beloved, his son Jesus Christ. God in his grace and favor has bestowed on us in the beloved, his son Jesus Christ. That's the same grace, the same favor that was upon Jesus has been bestowed upon you. When you read through the Bible this year and you read about the things that Jesus did, you read about the way that Jesus walked, you read about the things that Jesus said, I want you to begin to understand the same favor that was upon Jesus the same grace that was upon Jesus the same anointing that was upon Jesus has been bestowed upon those who are in Christ Jesus. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. So what does that mean for us? Well, according to Ephesians one, I want you to write this down. I'm going to give you the blessings of favor. The blessings of favor. What does this actually bestow upon us? What do you have access to? First of all, you have blessing. In fact, you might write down every blessing because that's what ephesians one three says. He has given us every blessing in heaven. That means you lack nothing that God. It's not like we come to Kona and how are we going to afford a $6 million building? How are we going to do this? Every blessing. Every blessing. Crazy steps of faith. But God has. Why? I'm following favor. I have favor and I walk in the favor of Jesus Christ. Secondly, I'm going to go through these quickly because I think I've got ten or twelve, something like that. Secondly, identity. Everybody say identity. Verse four says, you have been chosen by God. You have been chosen by God from before the foundations of the earth. God looked through the scope of eternity and he says, I choose you. I pick you. Have you ever been the person who didn't get picked for volleyball or something? Or the last person picked for dodgeball or something? That's hurtful, isn't it? Do we need to pray for healing for you? That's hard. But understand, God chose you. You were chosen in Christ. That means you have identity. I have a family that I belong to. My dad left when I was little, but guess what? I've got a Father in heaven. I have a Father who chose me. I belong to a spiritual family. I have siblings who have backslid and died and family that's gone to be with the Lord and others who've gone out of the presence of the Lord. But God has given me so much. I have family. I belong. I have identity. Three, you have perfection. What? That's right. You were chosen, holy and blameless. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I can carry his glory. I can carry his spirit. I stand blameless before God almighty. I tell you, that is a joy, friend. You and I have been perfected in Christ Jesus. You are holy. You are blameless. If you're in Christ, if you're not in Christ, you're a filthy rag. Hallelujah. But you can become perfected today. You can become perfected right now in one decision, in one shifting of your heart, I'm going to receive God's favor. And with that comes his perfection, his holiness. My brother Jeremy came over for Christmas and he was recounting to us a story that we knew about that we'd heard about right after he got saved. I mean, he'd come out of drugs very similar to me, come out of the drug world, come out of just a real mess and get saved. And he volunteers, like on week two of him walking with the Lord. Oh, there's a youth camp going on. I'll go help with the youth camp. Great. We need a bus driver. So Jeremy gets in the old church bus van, the church van. And they're driving down the road, and as they're going down the road, their back tire blows out and all of a sudden they spin out of control. They end up going off the side of the highway and their van rolls, I think five or six times kids got thrown out of the van but landed harmless. I mean, God like you don't talk about God's protection. God protected them. Jeremy broke his arm. He was about the only one who suffered injury in that whole incident. But he said that was one of the best things that ever happened to me. Why? What in the world are you talking about? He's like, because I knew that I was saved. I knew that it worked. He knew. Like he knew in this moment where he thought he was about to die. He knew, I'm gonna meet Jesus and it's gonna be okay. I don't know if you've ever had a near death situation and what you felt in that moment, you might remember. There was a testimony a guy had believer who was on a plane that crashed. Do you guys ever hear about this? This plane crashed and he was watching. He thought as the plane is going down, he figured that people would be crying out in repentance, committing their heart. Jesus, I'm sorry for what I've done. Make me right. They had just a few moments before they were going to perish in that fire. These people, the abundance of their heart began to speak out. They were cursing God as they were going down in that plane, cursing God, swearing, crying out ugliness and filth. That plane crashes. There was actually a picture, I think it was on the front of a Time magazine. You actually see one person walking out of the flames of this plane. One man, a Christian, survived that plane crash, but he had that testimony. The only believer apparently on that plane. I'm telling you, in those moments you're going to know what's in your heart. You're going to know what's in your heart. Are you going to curse God or are you going to praise God? Jeremy was flopping around in that van praising Jesus the whole time because he knew I'm about to meet Jesus and he knew his heart. You are perfected in Christ. You are holy, you are blameless. That's what favor brings into us. Hallelujah. Someone say, thank you, Jesus. Next. What is this? Number four? You have love. Ephesians one and verse four says that you are in his love. In God's love. Do you know that God loves you? I mean, I really hope that you know that. I've really come to grips with this more in this beholding and becoming like, God's not angry with you. God's not only in love with you on the days that you get it. All right? No, God loves you. We say this. I see it come across social media every once in a while. If you were the only one, he still would have died for you. And you'll see, people will like that and share that. But have you ever really thought about that? That's true. By the way, if you were the only one, he would lay down his life for you. I did this almost every altar call during hell house. I would say Jesus did not make a general sacrifice for just whoever might want to come along and believe. No, Jesus made an intentional, a specific sacrifice with your life, with your past, with your future in mind. He knew. He knew who you were. When he laid down his life, he had you in mind from the foundations of the earth. And this is it. Even when you were a sinner, even before you had done anything good, he loved you and he gave his life for you. If you have ever questioned the love of Jesus, you don't need to think any further than the cross. If you've ever questioned Jesus. Do you really care about me? Just consider the cross of Jesus Christ and what he has done for you and me. He loves you. He loves you. Come on, say it out of your mouth. You love me, Lord? He sure does. He loves you so much. Next is. I want you to write this down. What do we have? The blessing of favor brings us into sonship. Want you to write that down. Sonship. I don't know if daughtership is a word, but maybe you can write that down. If you're a daughter, praise God, but you're a son of the most high God. You have been brought not to be a slave and just a mere laborer in the kingdom of God. No, you have been redeemed to be a son of the most high God. He gave the right to all. Who would believe that we might become the children of God. What a blessing. This is where I kind of get so adamant about this idea. The same favor and blessing that Jesus walked in. We can walk in. He was a son, but the Bible says he was the firstborn amongst many brethren. You realize the reason he laid down his life was to build a family, to bring you into a family. Not so you could be a slave laborer out in the field, just working hard for Jesus, who never thinks about you. No. You are his beloved. You are a treasure in his eyes. And you have favor. You have the goodness of God. The love of God. You have been brought into the family. Wow. That's favor. That's favor. Let me give you a couple of others. Are you guys doing well? Are you awake? Okay, one of you is awake. Praise God. Favor. Write this down. Favor blesses your work. Favor blesses your work. Psalm, chapter 90, and verse 17 says, let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us and establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. This is why, again, I tell you, you get this revelation of favor, you're going to begin to walk with a measure of almost arrogance. It's going to feel like I believe that everything I do is going to succeed. Like any project I set my hands to is going to be good because the Lord works with me and he blesses my work. It wasn't always that way. Before I came to Jesus, I got fired from multiple jobs. But after I've come to Jesus, I only get promoted. I only get lifted. That's. I hear that from you guys. Why? Because God blesses your work. You have favor. Come on. I want you to say I have favor. The king James, by the way, I don't think I said this in the first service. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us. I like the way the King James says, let the beauty of the Lord be upon us. Let the beauty of the Lord be upon, you know, that's one of the ways they break down the word favor. It means, let his face shine upon us. Let his grace be upon us. Let his favor be upon. So when I declare over us in that blessing, as I close out the services, may his face shine upon you. May his favor be upon you. That's literally what I'm asking that God would just look upon. You know, God's, like, interested in you. Any parents know? I just remember walking into my kids room when they were just little babies, and they're asleep in the crib, and I'll just stoop over and just look at them. Anybody know what I'm talking about? And it's just the most amazing thing that you've ever seen. Just like, wow, look at her breathe. Look at her nose. Look at her cheeks. Yeah, her. Mariah. I was looking baby Mariah. That's right. Mariah. I would do that. You realize? But that's what favor is that God? It's like he's looking over the balcony of heaven. He's just watching you. He's like, wow, look at him breathe. Look at that nose. I don't know. Like, God, he delights in you. Look at their work. Isn't that cute? Look at how they know. Gabriel, come get a load of like, he delights. That's favor making his face shine upon you. Oh, my. I hope somebody gets this today. He has favor on your life, and he will bless you. God's favor. Next, I want you to write this down. God's favor can come through other people. God's favor can come through other people. Now, let me give you a verse. You'll like this one. Proverbs, 1822. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. All the husbands say, okay, some husbands about to get in trouble. Let's try this again. Husbands, are you awake now? Every husband said, there we go. Hallelujah. You find a wife. You find a wife, you find a good thing and obtain favor from the Lord. Guys, I will say, I am a blessed man. I have a good wife. But so many of the blessings that have flown into my life come through this woman of God. Like, there are blessings that have come into my life because God loves her. I'm just telling you. I don't know if that computes with you, but it's like, God loves her, he blesses her, and it flows into our entire household. There's moments where God blesses me, and it flows into our entire house. You had an awesome one yesterday. Come tell us about that. My wife and I were starting our intensive triathlon training tomorrow. But you had a desire you asked the father for. [00:35:26] Speaker B: Yeah. So just a little bit of a backstory last year. I don't know, you guys probably too. I had caught Covid pretty bad, like, three times on steroids and antibiotics, like crazy. And I went to the doctors, and she said, leah, you got a lot going on. But she's like, you're on the brink of high blood pressure, and if you don't change something, we're going to have to get you on medication. And that was a wake up call for me. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm only 35. Like, life caught up real quick. And so I get in my truck, and I'm like, okay, God, what the heck? Have you guys ever been real with the lord like that before? And immediately I received a text message from a pastor friend in that moment, and she said, hey, leah, there's a triathlon in Kona. Would you do it with me? And I'm like, what in the world? Yes, ma'am. Sure. And so I committed to it, and I began training for a triathlon. And last year, I finished it, and it was amazing. I did not die, praise God. Antinetti was there. Tasha was there. Leanne did it with me. It was a lot of fun, but we're going to do it again. And guess what? This year, I got pastor Jacob to do it with me. Let's go. But my heart's desire. I don't know if you guys are like this, but I'm extremely competitive. That first year, I was like, I'm just going to complete it, put some times down on the board, and then next year I'll better it. But I said, God, I really, really want a coach this year. And we're blessed. But I don't got an extra 500, $600 for a coach right now. It's just not in the cards for me. So I prayed and I said, God, I really want a coach. I want somebody that'll challenge me and on and on. And so I left it at that. And I went to the Ironman this year. I love going places where I can look at people and they inspire me and they challenge me and they want me to be better. And so I was sitting on the sea wall at the start of the swim. It was like, what, 506:00 in the morning and it's full of people. You're praying to God you don't fall in the water as thousands are out there. And I found myself standing next to this lady from Colorado and just making small talk and talking story with her and come to find out she's a coach and she owns a team with seven women who were in the Iron man world championships in the competition. And just talking story, I'm like, yeah, I did my first one this year. It's an Olympic distance. So anyway, we got to talking, exchanged information, and I sent her my video of the triathlon. I completed this last April. And yesterday on social media, she sends me a message and she's like, I know you're getting ready to start training again for the lava man. Who's your coach? And I said, oh, I'm using this app. I don't have a coach. And she said, can I be your coach? And you know the kind of crying where you're like, you just grab your mouth and you're like, it takes your breath away and you're like, God, you really, really see me. God sees the church, he sees the people, he sees your family. But there are things in your heart that you desire that God just wants to bless your socks off. I could have found somebody online. It was just $50 and could have made it. But I got a coach for free that coaches world champion iron women. And mind you, I am not training for the next Iron man. Just so you all know, the Olympic distance is very different. But anyway, all of that to say, yeah, favor and I walk in it. I truly do like, I got to stay humble, whatever, but ask God for the big, scary things. And he's a father that likes to show off and say, you know what? I got you. And I'm going to connect you with the right people, and it's going to better my life and all of you all around me. So ask God for the big things in 2024. Amen. Amen. [00:39:45] Speaker A: Whoo. Ask favor. Ask favor. I'm praying. I really do like God. Would you provide for me to be able to bless my wife with this? The father's like, no, I'll just take care of it. Sends the right person. And she looked up what the cost is. I mean, it's a big blessing that's come our way. A monthly thing. She's giving it and wants to bless us with. So you need to be mindful. God's blessing will come through other people, even unbelievers, that heathen boss of yours. God can use them to show favor in your life. God can bless you through that. That student that sits next to you, that drives you crazy. God can show you favor in and through other people. I need to move on. Wasn't that a good testimony? I love it. Next. Favor. Did you know this? Favor brings protection. Everybody say protection. Favor brings protection. Psalm 512 says, you, o Lord, will bless the righteous with favor. You will surround him as with a shield. You will bless the righteous. By the way, remember, you are blameless and you are holy in Christ, so you don't need to freak out about what your sin list is. No. If you walking in Jesus, you're righteous. And that means that you have favor that will surround you as with a shield. Favor surrounds me like a shield. That's amazing. Church. You realize if you would receive it now. I felt, even as I was preparing this, I felt like I needed to encourage us in something, because I know that there are some who are here, that you've gone through an accident or you've watched something happen and you're like, okay, pastor, but what about this? I need you to understand, we do not base our theology, we do not base our doctrines off of our experiences. We base our theology and our beliefs on what the Bible says. What did God say about this? Okay, because my auntie, who was a model of faith, is not perfect faith. And if things gone wrong in her life, she's not the measure of what's good or not in the world. The Bible is. Are you hearing me on this? Because there are people. Let me give you a couple examples. How many understand the Bible says that Jesus is the savior of the world. We all know that. Okay, but how many know there are people walking around in their sins, unredeemed, without a hope in this life, because they have not believed and received what God has made available to them? Right? Nobody questions that. We all know that there's unrepentant heathens in the world. We know that. But for those of us who have believed the word and received it, guess what? I'm cleansed. I'm forgiven. I'm blameless. I'm holy in the Lord. Hallelujah. By the same measure, we know that the Bible says there's healing, yet there's people walking around, maybe even here today, who have not yet received their healing. But I tell you on the authority of scripture, if you would believe the word and receive what the Lord has for you, you will be healed by the precious blood of Jesus. By the same measure, there are people, you've had things break out against you. You have not felt covered or protected. And maybe it's because you just simply didn't know. That's a promise you can lay hold of. Wow. That's in the Bible. Your favor is like a shield all around me. God, you might not have known it before today, but today you can grab hold of this and say, lord, I receive the same favor. You bestowed it upon me, Jesus. And with that favor comes your protection, like a shield around me. That's a blessing that you and I can lay hold of. I hope as you're taking notes today, you begin. You know what? I need to receive that one right there. I need to receive that identity right there. I need to receive that. Every blessing up there. I don't know what you're lacking on that list, but I'm telling you, Jesus has bestowed upon you Favor and you can walk in it. Favor brings good things. I want you to write that down. Favor brings good things. Psalm 80 411 says, the Lord God is a son in a shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor, and no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. If you're walking with Jesus, God does not withhold any good thing from you. That means you can walk through life. I expect good things are coming my way. It's the opposite of anxiety. Anxiety is the sense something bad's about to happen. I'm about to get a bill. I'm about to get sick. Something's about to go wrong. Something's about to happen in my family. That's what anxiety is. It's the expectation that something bad's about to happen. I break anxiety in the name of Jesus. You are walking in favor. That means you have a joyful expectation. Good things are coming my way. Blessings coming my way. Breakthroughs coming my way. Favor is upon my life. God's restoring things. God's blessing things. He's blessing the works of my hands. He's covering me in every direction. Are you hearing me today? I'm walking in the love of God. I'm walking in the favor of God. I'm walking blameless and holy in his eyes. Why? His favor is upon me. But that'll make you happy. I'm walking in joyful. Expect good things are coming my way. Hallelujah. Here's the last one. And then we'll learn. How do we receive all of this? Okay. The Bible. Write this down. The Bible is the word of favor. The Bible is the word of favor. Acts 2032 says, now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. Or some translations say the word of his favor, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance amongst those who are sanctified. You realize when you get into the Bible, it builds you up and it reveals to you your inheritance. It's the word of his favor. It's the word of his favor. Here's my homework assignment for everyone in this place. Read your Bible this year. Start tomorrow, January 1. Read through the Bible this year. And I encourage you. Mark that thing up. You want to know why? Because you need to know. This is what I do. You can steal this if you want to. I read through the Bible. You want to know where I stay hungry for revival and miracles and a move of God and the power of the Holy Ghost? Because as I'm reading through the Bible, every miracle account, every faith account, every story, everything about the outpouring of the spirit. I'll highlight it blue. I highlight it blue. You want to know where I have tuned into this whole idea that God really wants to bless me financially? Everything. I'm going to be the lender and not the borrower. You want to know where I believe for God's increase is because I'm reading the Bible and every verse that has to do with money or stewardship or finances, I'm highlighting it green. Highlighting it green to keep myself balanced. Praise God. Every verse is dealing with judgment or hell or God's intensity. I highlight it red. I read through, like, oh, you watch out for that one right there. You keep you balanced. You need that another. And here's a new one that I've added to it that I'm going to start doing this year is every verse that has to do with identity or sonship or my inheritance. This is a new. This is the beholding and becoming thing. Everything that has to do with my identity or my inheritance. I'm an heir with an inheritance. I'm highlighting it purple because I'm royalty. One of these days, I'll publish a Bible and you'll have all my highlights in there. And you just, I don't know. We'll do it. Why not? But that's my homework assignment to you. Why? Because my list, I think. How many points did I have today? How many? Ten. 612. Okay, whatever. Ask somebody for their notes today. I don't know. But here's what I want you to there's a lot more blessings within the favor of God than what I was able to cover today. But as you read the Bible, I want you to begin to highlight God. This is a promise for me. This is a promise for me, and I receive it. Now, as I close, I want to present one other idea. In fact, worship team, I want you to come because you might wonder. Okay, pastor. This is awesome. I want to receive inheritance. I want to receive sonship or the blessing of God. I want to receive his protection. So how do I do that? Well, I'm so glad you asked. I want to help you. I was very intentional about my word. I actually want to ask Charis after the service here, Karis. In fact, maybe I'll ask you right now. What does your name mean? What do you tell people your name means? Grace. I'm glad you said that. That's what I was looking for. Did you know the word charis is translated either favor or grace, and they can be used interchangeably all throughout the Bible. They can be used interchangeably all throughout the Bible. Why, you've even heard the Sunday school definition of grace is unmerited. What? Unmerited favor. Yeah. That's what we were all taught in Sunday school. Grace is unmerited favor. It's God's blessing that we see. Here's the reason that I refrain from saying that until the very end of the message. Most of us, when we hear Grace, we think, I was a sinner. God was gracious to me. Now, I don't receive judgment. And that's all that we leave Grace to friend. Grace is so much more than him washing away your sins. Grace is actually empowering us to live the life that God has for us. That's what grace. Grace is not a license to sin. Grace is empowering to live above the things that have held you captive. And all of these verses, you can literally start reading it in the Bible. If you see the word favor, if you see the word grace, I want you to begin to exchange it one for another. Because most of us, when we hear favor, we think things like opportunity. We think things like promotion. We think things like elevation. When we hear grace, we think things like, I couldn't earn it, I couldn't deserve it. I've been cleansed. Both of those are good ideas, but you need to marry them. You need to marry them. So here's the question. How do I receive God's blessing? How do I receive God's inheritance? How do I receive God's sonship? How do I receive his protection? The many points that I went through today, the very same way you receive forgiveness, not by works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians, chapter two, you receive his grace through faith in the accomplished work of Jesus. You receive it by faith. So here's the good news. Here's the good. You want breakthrough in one or more of the areas that I talked about today. You don't have to work harder for it. You don't have to make it an item of prayer. In your 21 or 24 days of prayer and fasting, all you have to do is say, I'm in you, Jesus. So I receive it, I have favor. I walk in it. I have your grace. I couldn't earn it or deserve it. I walk in it. You have favor. So walk in it, receive it. It is yours. We're going to follow favor. Amen.