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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: HIGHLY FAVORED

There are many in the bible that had God’s favor, some were even highly favored. When you walk in a place that you have God’s favor, the enemy tries even harder to take you out. He wants to destroy you because you have God’s favor on you life. He understands better than we do that God uses those he favors to tear down strongholds of the enemy.

The thought of being highly favored sounds like a good place to be, but before you sign up to be next think about it. There is a price to be paid for that favor. Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored.  Mary suffered things that no other woman has ever suffered. She watched that baby grow up and become a man. Then she watched him be beaten beyond recognition. She watched him, who was innocent, nailed to a cross and she watched him die. Do you want to be highly favored?

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ. He was highly favored. Because he stood for truth and honesty, he ended up losing his head. But before the end he got to go out and tell people about Jesus. He had the privilege to be the one to baptize Jesus.

His life was full of adventure and miracles, he had many followers that went on to be followers of Jesus. Do you want to be highly favored?

There was a movement a few years ago that everyone was favored. They would say God will give you the best seats in the house. He will give you places of prestige and honor. But that was not exactly accurate. I am really about to blow up some of your theology. God will do things for one that he will not for another. Pause and let that sink in, God will do things for one that he will not for another. It doesn’t mean that he loves them more, but it is about relationship and trust.

Think about it this way, a man has several children. He loves them all. But will only allow certain ones to drive his car. Only the one he knows has the skills to drive and the proper license. He won’t turn the car over to his six year old. Because the six year old is not mature enough to handle it. But the eighteen year old that has always been obedient he will give the keys. But the sixteen year old that is always in trouble he is not so ready to turn over the keys.

If we want God’s favor in our lives we need to be obedient and follow his laws. When he shows us favor, we need to be prepared for those who God will not turn over the keys. They will be jealous and may try to stand in your way. Instead of acting with jealousy, they need to yield more fully to God. They must be obedient in order to find God’s favor.

It is not easy to be chosen and walk in favor. Look at the twelve disciples, out of the twelve, Jesus only let three into his inner circle. One of the remaining nine was a betrayer; Judas.

Eleven went on to be part of the original church, the one hundred and twenty that received the Holy Ghost. These original eleven suffered many things for the gospel. Yet they had God’s favor on their lives.

They spread the gospel across the ancient world. But in the process, angered a lot of people not willing to give up their money, power and position. They had false gods that served their purposes and didn’t want to know the truth. These people were often in charge of courts and governments. This is how most of them ended up dying for the gospel.

Let’s look at history, Peter went to Antioch and Rome. He was crucified upside down in Rome for the gospel. Andrew was crucified in Greece. James was martyred in Jerusalem. John is the only one who died naturally at an old age. But he was exiled to and island called Patmos where he couldn’t influence other people. Philip was crucified upside down at Phrygia. Bartholomew was martyred in India with a sword and beheaded. Thomas was pierced with spears and martyred in India. Matthew was stabbed to death in Ethopia for the truth of the gospel. The other James was thrown from the temple in Jerusalem. Thaddus travelled to Mesopotamia and was martyred in Beirut. Simon was killed in Persia. Methias who was the one that replace the betrayer, Judas, was stoned and beheaded in the Caspian region. These men along with others spread the gospel and paid a high price to tell someone about Jesus.

Today, we don’t want people to think we are weird or that we are uptight. We don’t want someone talking about us behind our backs. We have gotten too complacent, yet we want God’s favor.

To be favored of God doesn’t always mean that everything will be sunshine and rainbows. It often means you will walk through hard things. But it also means he will give you grace to face the hard things with his strength.

Job was favored by God, because he knew he could trust him with the attacks of the enemy. He knew Job would let his light shine. Do you want to be highly favored by God? If so I can promise your life will never be boring, but it will be full of obstacles that you can overcome as long as you keep your God Focus.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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