From: Unmerited Favour — Chapter 21
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God’s Word tells us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
This is a good verse to pray and speak over your children — that they first increase in favor with God, and then in favor with man.
Your “vertical relationship” with God should always be given priority over your “horizontal relationship” with the people around you.
Like Jesus, you can increase in wisdom and in God’s unmerited favor. How?
You have probably noticed that some believers seem to experience a lot more unmerited favor than others.
I believe that this is because these believers understand the key to accessing God’s favor.
Romans 5:2 clearly spells out that “we have access by faith into this grace [unmerited favor] in which we stand.”
To gain access to your computer or your bank account, you need a password.
To gain access to and increase in God’s unmerited favor, the “password” or the key that we need to have is faith, faith to believe that YOU, _______________ (insert your name), are highly favored!
One of the things that I have taught my church members to do is to declare over themselves that they are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.
“How do we know that we are greatly blessed, Pastor Prince?”
Read Hebrews 6:13–14 for yourself. God wanted us to be so anchored in the sure and steadfast knowledge that He will bless us, the seed of Abraham, that He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
“How can we say that we are highly favored?”
Ephesians 1:6 tells us that by God’s grace (unmerited favor), God “made us accepted in the Beloved.” In the original Greek text, the word “accepted” is the word charitoo, which means “highly favored.”
“And are we really deeply loved by God?”
God didn’t just love us. John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He demonstrated how He SO loved us when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.
I pray that the verses that I have shown you here and throughout this book will help you believe that through Jesus, you are indeed greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved. If these truths are still not established in your heart, start speaking them.
Look at yourself in the mirror every morning and declare boldly, “Because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, I am righteous by His blood, and I am greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved! I expect good things to come my way. I expect good success and I have a confident expectation of good!”
Because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, you are righteous by His blood, and you are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved!
Once you receive Christ, you are standing on favor ground. You are no longer on condemnation ground. God looks on you as His favorite child!
“But Pastor Prince, how can God have so many favorites?”
Hey, He is God. Don’t try to limit an infinite God with your finite mind. The Bible tells us that God counts the very hairs on each of our heads. (I love my daughter very much, but I have never counted the number of strands of hair on her head.) His love for each of us is intimate and deeply personal. In His eyes, we are all His favorites!
The Story Of Esther
When you know that you are greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved, you don’t have to depend on your self-efforts. Look at the story of Esther, for example.
When King Ahasuerus was looking for a new queen, the most beautiful women in the land were all brought into the palace.
All the women were given the opportunity to adorn themselves with whatever they desired from the women’s quarters before they were brought for an audience with the king. But when it was Esther’s turn, she “requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised.”
And look at the results: “Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her,” and the king “loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen.”
While the other women grabbed the best garments, perfumes and accessories to beautify themselves, Esther did not rely on her own abilities but submitted herself to Hegai, the official who had been appointed by the king to oversee the women.
There was so much wisdom and humility in her decision. Can you see the beauty of Esther?
She did not trust in her own efforts. While the women tried to outdo one another by relying on their own efforts, Esther wisely submitted to the one person who would know the king’s preferences best, and the results speak for themselves.
This incident also demonstrates to us that Esther depended entirely upon the Lord’s unmerited favor.
When you depend entirely upon the Lord’s unmerited favor, you are in a position of rest, trust and ease. Esther did not have to struggle.
When she rested in the Lord and humbled herself, the Lord promoted her and exalted her above all the other beautiful women.
God resists the proud and gives unmerited favor to the humble.
When you humble yourself and cease from your own efforts to promote yourself, and depend on Jesus and Jesus alone, the Lord Himself will be your promotion and increase.
Like Esther, you will stand out in a crowd and obtain grace and favor with God and man.
When the Lord promotes you, He gives you the influence to be a blessing and protection to the people around you.
Do you know why the story of Esther is so important?
Read the details in the Book of Esther. Because Esther was promoted to become the queen, she was in a favored position to protect all the Jewish people in the kingdom from being killed.
When the Lord promotes you, He gives you the influence to be a blessing to the people around you.
There are no coincidences, only God-incidents. The Lord will bless you to be a blessing!
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Today’s Prayer
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Thank You, Father, because I am highly favoured, deeply loved, and greatly blessed by You, I am in a position to be a blessing to the people around me.
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Today’s Thought
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When you humble yourself and cease from your own efforts to promote yourself, and depend on Jesus and Jesus alone, the Lord Himself will be your promotion and increase.
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Complementary Message
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My Notes
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Promise Collected
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11:11 pm — Jan 14–2024 — Sunday
