Favor in the Unfavorable

God specializes in giving favor in unfavorable conditions.  Joseph found favor with Potiphar after he bought him from the Ishmaelite’s to be his servant.  Potiphar respected Joseph and promoted him to oversee his household.  Joseph also found favor in the sight of Potiphar’s wife, who took her likeness for him to another level, which had him running from her to keep his integrity, leaving his coat behind in her hand.  Sometimes we may have favor with the wrong people who want us close to them.  However, we must be discerning and flee from any situation that would put us in disobedience to God.  This vicious vixen lied saying he tried to make a move on her, as a result Potiphar unwillingly had him thrown in jail, where Joseph once again found favor with the chief jailer and was put in charge of supervising the prisoners.  Who would have thought that jail would be a good thing for Joseph and even his jealous brothers, who were the reason for his troubles?  Yet, prison was a setup for him to become prime minister and later to save his family from famine, which included his devious brothers, who had thankfully mellowed over the years of separation from their younger brother.

Esther experienced adversity from a very young age being orphaned, and had to move in with her cousin Mordecai.  More heartache came, when she was taken and put in a harem to be groomed over a year’s period for presentation to the king, so that he could choose his wife from the group.  This could not have been a pleasant season for Esther who was instructed by Mordecai not to disclose her true identity as a Jew, for fear of what may happen if she did. Yet, in spite of all this, Esther was favored by Hegai, who supervised the women, and having followed his wise guidelines, she later had favor with the King, who selected her to be his next wife.  Advantageously, Esther would have the king’s scepter pointed to her so she could enter his presence and make her requests.  Esther was favorably positioned to save her people.

Another heart wrenching Bible story was about Ruth, who in spite of losing her husband, pledged her faithfulness to her widowed mother-in-law Naomi, and went with her to a land which she did not know.  While gleaning in a field picking up produce left behind for the poor, she found favor in Boaz’s eyes, who became her kinsman redeemer.  Serendipity did not lead her to Boaz’s field, but God’s favor did.  Adhering to Naomi’s directives, Ruth married Boaz and became one of Jesus’ ancestors. 

We too have favor no matter what situation we are in when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  We have full access to the throne of the Father, and we can go before Him with thanksgiving and praise.  He loves to abide in the praises of His people.  And, there is no better favor than having God abide with us.  We can go to His throne in confidence with our petitions too. When He walks with us through the fire and blesses us during the desert places of our lives, that’s favor.

Recently, I made a dumb move forgetting that I did not secure my cellphone in my bag and when I got out of the car it flew face done in a puddle of water on the side of the road.  I cleaned it up and it never stopped working.  That’s favor.  I couldn’t afford a new phone, as a matter of fact, I couldn’t afford this phone which I have, but I found favor in the sight of the one who gave it to me.  Lack of financial resources or material possessions, cannot stop God’s favor.  Plus, our plans falling apart may be God’s favor, as He may have a more favorable plan.

Favor comes in many different ways. So, as we go through our day, let us ask God to open our eyes to see the favor He has given us.  It could be the warmth of the sun on a beautiful clear day, or the rains breaking the drought on a cloudy day.  Solomon may have gotten a bit cynical in his old age, but he still knew that for whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. Ecclesiastes 9:4 NASB.  Yes, if we are living, then we have hope, and that’s favor. 

 

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:5-8 NASB

Having the love of God and having Jesus die to save us from our sins, so that we could have eternal life.  Now that’s favor in a big way.  Know that you are extremely favored, no matter what life throws at you. 

Accepting Stones and Snakes

This past week it seems that God has been hammering in my brain that He loves me and He would not give me a stone instead of bread, and a snake instead of fish.

Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:9-11 NASB

It's just that sometimes I feel like I am accepting stones and fish because that is all I am being offered. However, those thoughts are from the father of lies. Whether, I am deserving or not, God gives good gifts. Actually, none of us are truly deserving of His blessings as we all fall short of His glory. But, He gives them to us anyway. We choose, however, to accept what He presents to us or to reject His offerings. In addition, we must also be  discerning as the devil parades himself as an angel  of light, tricking us to hold on to his schemes, which traps us in a dark abyss. He offers us stones and snakes wrapped in alluring packages. Unfortunately, it seems that I, like many others, will easily accept the stone and snake, rather than the bread and fish.

You see, it is very much like the Israelites who were out of Egypt, but Egypt was not out of them. They were confined by a slavery mindset even though they were physically free. Regrettably, they did not accept the liberties God had given them and ran to idols instead of to Him when the going got tough. They relinquished their blessings and a whole generation died before they reached the Promised Land. They lived as if they were in prison, instead of the spacious place God had given them. They robbed themselves of His blessings through their thoughts and actions.

God has shown me these negative thought patterns in myself. I keep looking back like Lot's wife who turned to a pillar of salt after gazing on what she had left behind in Sodom and Gomorrah. This was not the salt of the earth that Jesus told us to be. Leaving the past behind and pressing forward to what lies ahead is very important as God makes all things new. We need to get rid of the old grave clothes, and but on the garments of praise that He offers us. I put my limitations on God when I think He will give me less than I desire, and I keep returning to past hurts in my mind and camping out there. Thankfully, the Lord is not limited by my limitations and often breaks through in my life in unexpected and pleasant ways, giving me more than I could ever imagine. I simply need to understand that God is willing to give me good gifts and joyfully accept them.

The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.  I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.  I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely.  For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.  You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalms 16:5-11 NASB

I am going to take the bread and fish that God serves me, and I will taste and see that He is good. Jesus is my Bread of Life, who multiplies loaves and fish. He doesn't want me to live less than who He says I am and to refuse the blessings He is offering me. When I walk in the blessings He gives me, He gets the glory. 

Whacked Up and Jacked Up

Last night, a pastor on a professional social media site reached out to me to read about his book and give my opinion.  The book’s focus was on the American church not following Jesus’ command to go and make disciples, and therefore becoming a dying church.  The theme of this book triggered my thoughts of how many other commands we as followers of Christ do not obey, which in turn leaves us whacked up and jacked up.  Pardon me if you do not understand my slang, but for purposes of this post whacked up as defined by https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com is “to damage someone or something,” and https://www.urbandictionary.com  defines jacked up as “in a state of disarray.”

Let me unpack this a bit.  Not only are we not going as a church into ALL the world because it is not convenient or comfortable for us, but we dismiss many of God’s commands making our churches dens of demons instead of holy houses of worship to our Lord and Savior.  Ouch!!! You may think I am being a bit harsh.  Well then, let’s go straight to the Word. 

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”  Matthew 21:12-13

The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy and we have given him an open door to do so in our churches because of our lack of obedience to God’s Word.  How many church leaders do you see exchanging prayer cloths, oils and water for desperate people’s money?  There are far too many.  It is all about self and putting “me” first, which is against God’s Word, which states that we should be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. (Romans 12:10). 

Our focus on self even goes into our relationships.  Many marriages in churches fail because they are demonically inclined.   We run ahead of God and marry a man or woman who He didn’t ordain for us and then we expect Him to bless the marriage.   We will even go as far as saying that God was the one who put the two together.  If we believe that God has put the marriage together, then we better stay in His will and work on keeping it together.  The truth is we make God look schizophrenic through our actions.  We say He told us to get married to a certain person and a couple years later, He is the same God who wants us out of the marriage.  This is all our flesh and not God.   I wish we would stop using His name in vain.  God is not a man that He should lie and we are making Him out to be a liar, when the devil is the father of lies.  So, who then is really our father when we live in our fallacies? We make a mess of marriage, which is supposed to depict Christ and His church, the husband being the head and the wife being the body. God’s purpose for marriage is kingdom building, not just self-fulfilled pleasure.  But, we want to do things our way, leaving behind God’s holy commands about marriage.

Many of our churches are built by pleasing man and not God, discarding Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone in its spiritual edifice.  We are then on shaky ground, not standing on the solid Rock.   We follow worldly strategies and expect supernatural results.  Now, that is truly whacked up and jacked up as we cause damage to ourselves and others leaving the body of Christ in disarray.  God is grieved.  Yet, we want His mighty move in our willful rebellion against Him. We may not think of ourselves as rebels, but we are when we carry out our own plans and do not align with His Spirit. 

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin.  Isaiah 30:1

We keep on adding sin to sin, taking Bible verses out of context to underpin our lack of surrender to God’s will.  Yet, God is merciful and compassionate waiting on us to turn from our wicked ways and to run to Him. 

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

God is waiting for His church to long for Him, and to seek His kingdom first and His righteous.  He will not withhold any good thing from us, but we must trust Him to lead us.  Where He takes us may not make sense to us, but there is purpose, so we should obediently follow Him. 

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah 55:6-7

When we are in God’s will, then we will live in the supernatural.  Miracles will abound as we draw closer to Him, thinking His thoughts and walking His ways.  So, as a new year and new decade begins let us resolve to be in God’s will – going where He tells us to go and doing what He tells us to do.   And as we obey His command, we will not only show our love to Him, but we will also be His love to others.