Christmas Favor Series: Part 3
Benny used to be a big time drug dealer in Chicago; that
is until he accepted Christ as His Savior.
Getting out of the “business” he took on a regular job vowing to go
straight for the Lord.
About six months later he lost his job and happened to
run into Sly, a former street dealing drug lord, who tried getting Benny back
into his former illegal profession.
“I know you must be broke not having worked in a few months. Why don’t you do a few deals, I’m sure Jesus
wouldn’t mind.”
Sly said trying to reel in his former top selling drug pusher. In the past he was always very persuasive,
and never had a problem getting his way on the streets of the windy city.
“No man, my God is too good for that,” Benny replied turning around to walk away leaving that part of his life
behind him.
Sly didn’t “buy” into all that religious stuff and
figured he still had pull with convincing a druggie to do his dirty deed. Smugly Sly poked fun at Benny’s new lifestyle
and sarcastically said, “Well, if your
God is so good, why don’t you have a job?”
Welcome new friends this week from:
See if your city/state/country made the list.
New on DFB – Bolivia; New Delhi, Delhi, India; Montreal,
QC, Dryden & London, ON, Canada; Accra, Greater Accra Region, Ghana; Liloy,
Zamboanga Peninsula, Philippines; Fiorano Canavese, Piedmont, Italy;
Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India; Saudi Arabia; Croatia; Puerto Rico; Ukraine.
USA
– Brookfield,
Bethel, Danbury & New Milford, CT; Deltona, Pasco & Spring Hill, FL;
Marietta & Statham, GA, Rockport, MA; Dundalk, MD; Fayetteville, NC;
Hillside & Newark, NJ; Pittsford, Harrison, Penfield & Nyack, NY; Coal
Township, Danielsville & Hazleton, PA; Dale City, Manassas &
Woodbridge, VA; Eudora, KS; Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Downers Grove, Glendale
Heights, Marine, Wheaton, Bloomingdale & Bartlett, IL.
I am so thankful for your visit and hope that you come
back each week to participate in the weekly challenges. God has been faithful and we expect His
Christmas favor to abound in the lives of those who chose to believe in
His Son, Jesus all year round.
You are welcome to leave comments or prayer requests below. All are private. I would love to hear from
you and how Daily Favor has worked in your life. Contact me by leaving a message in the box at
the bottom of this week’s post.
Don't miss out on this week's challenge
(below).
Hey God … Did You Hear That?
“God did you hear what he said about You? My not having a job is making You
look bad.” Having poured out
his complaint before the Lord, Benny went to bed that night feeling confident
that he would hear from God.
When God Honors Commitment
For the past three months Benny had filled out dozens of
job applications and even one for the city that was hiring for 50 positions. With over 7,000 people applying he didn’t
expect he’d be hearing from them.
The following day Benny received a phone call from the
city’s human resources department telling him to show up for work on Monday morning
– he’d been hired. God gave him favor in
the position, despite his prior history which prevented him from gaining
employment in the past.
Slamming down the phone, Benny dashed out the door over
to the dealer’s current location. Knocking
with a vigorous rat-a-tat-tat to get the attention of those inside, in his smoothest
style Sly calmly opened the door. Without any greeting or a hello, Benny got
down to the reason for his abrupt visit.
“Yo man, remember when you said, “Well, if your God is so good, why don’t
you have a job? Well, guess what. I have
job and start on Monday.”
For the next few minutes he tried sharing the gospel of
how good God was to those who love and serve Him, stating that Jesus showed him
favor over all those other people. This time it was Benny who was trying to sway
Sly into turning his life over to Christ.
Not being able to do so, Benny turned around and left.
Waiting to Share a Blessing
It had been about ten years since Benny had that
conversation with Sly when he met up with a young man at an evangelical
conference in a different state. Extending
his hand out toward Benny in a warm, hearty greeting, “Spike” began to speak.
“I’ve been wanting to meet you.”
“Really. Why?”
“You remember that time when you went up to that drug
dealer’s door and told him how God wanted him to have a job too?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t see anyone else there?”
“I was hiding behind the door. I’m his younger brother,
and when you told Sly how to receive Christ I prayed that prayer. I believed what you said about Jesus dying on
the cross to forgive me for all my sins, and how He wanted to give me a good
life.
Ever since then I’ve served the Lord. I went to Bible College and now God has
called me to be a preacher.”
What Benny then realized is that the waiting wasn’t
really about getting a job, but God putting him in that place so the younger
brother would hear the prayer of salvation.
God could have opened a job opportunity for Benny at any time. However,
waiting allowed him to gain favor for a better job that came available with
benefits, and another soul was brought into the Kingdom of God.
Benny was a vehicle God needed so a preacher could be
birthed. Not only did God want to show Benny
favor, but in his waiting others were able to rejoice in what the Lord had done
for them as well.
Righteous Living God Notices
This week I was thinking about the time I wanted kids (as
I mentioned in last week’s post “The Blessing of Favor”), and the waiting on
God aspect to see if my prayers would be answered. When I heard Benny’s’ story I thought about
how easy it would have been to get mad at God and give up my commitment to
Him.
Unlike Benny, I didn’t have the same kind of pressure
that could have brought danger to my life like he did. I can imagine how hard it was to stand firm in
his relationship with God when nothing seemed to be working in his favor.
Modern
day stories tie in so beautifully with what was happening in the life of
Elizabeth and Zacharias. Continuing with
recognizing Christ-mas Favor, the
author of Luke tells us how this couple remained loyal to serving God in
ministry, even when they didn’t receive the answer to the prayers of becoming
parents.
The
good doctor explains what God saw in the lives of these righteous believers in verses five through nine of chapter one.
“There was in the days of Herod, the king of
Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and
her name was Elizabeth.
And they were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
Faithful in their morals and to the
Master, Zacharias and Elizabeth stayed committed even though things didn’t work
out as they hoped in years past.
“But they had no child, because
Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years. So
it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his
division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn
incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.” (Luke 1:5-9 NKJV)
They stayed pure in their profession of faith
and duties to the Lord. What if Zac’s
response to God for not giving him an heir was that he refused to serve the
Almighty? The couple would have missed their
Christmas miracle. See why in verse
eleven.
“… Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him (Zacharias), standing on the right side of the
altar of incense.”
Where did the answer to prayer come for Zacharias? He was at the
altar of incense in the House of God. He
was about his Heavenly Father’s business.
What was his ministry? As a priest, Zacharias’ along with singing or
praying, his responsibilities were to light the incense flame and change the
oil. If he decided not to serve God
because his prayer to have a child wasn’t met, he would have never been in the
right place at the fulfillment time of miracle favor.
Elizabeth and Zacharias prayed together and
often for a child, however it was while Zacharias was in the temple that the answer
came during his time of commitment to ministry and serving the Lord. Through Zacharias’ obedience, he, his wife,
their son, all the people in the outer court and the world would be blessed
with the favor of salvation that was to come through Mary. Wow, that’s a lot to
process when you think about it.
It happened the same way for Benny, our new
brother in Christ and it can for us as well if we stay committed to God while
we wait for His favor to be manifested. When
we look at things through this point of view maybe not all our prayers are
getting answered, because we’re sitting in past failures and pouting over
unanswered prayers rather than standing on the promises of God.
Reasons for Delayed Favor
As Christians we are to always be looking to
the Lord for answers, but all too often we only turn to God for a handout or
quick fix to a mess we’ve gotten ourselves into when we failed to enter His
throne room.
One reason God may be holding back favor is
to test our commitment. While we wait
for answers, do we hold back or totally withdraw our praise if we don’t get
what we requested? How many times have
believers stopped going to church and cut back on praying because we’re not
happy with how God’s handling our petitions?
Another reason why God may say “wait” is so
others will benefit from our prayers getting answered. Sometimes they are connected to another
individual in God’s plan, but we don’t see or know it (like in Benny’s case). If our season for fulfillment came too early
others would be left out for their time of favor, and no one would be rejoicing
or have any joy to share about the goodness of God.
Let me explain what I mean with our biblical
couple. The scripture tells us that not
only Elizabeth and Zacharias would be happy about the birth of John, everyone
would rejoice over it. The plan of God for
their son’s life would affect the world and he would be a blessing to mankind.
“ … And thou shalt have joy and gladness;
and many shall rejoice at his birth.” (vs. 14)
As the forerunner to Christ, we can
understand why Elizabeth and Zacharias had to wait for their son to be born,
because we have the full Bible that explains all the details. How could they know that? Their actions were solely based on faith and the
belief that God’s way and plan was better than what they had in mind.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts, nor are your
ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the
earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)
We need to put ourselves in their shoes to
comprehend what a big deal it was for Elizabeth to have a male heir. The greatest joy for a Jewish woman was to produce
a male child for her husband.
“Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days
when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” (Luke 1:25 NKJV)
It was taught among their beliefs that there
were seven things that sent a woman to hell, and not giving her husband a son
was number one on the list. Yet through
all the scorning they still served God.
The Fullness of Favor:
Others Will Benefit
from Your Waiting
When God has something planned for our lives
it usually is connected to what He is also doing in someone else. Benny didn’t know it, but when he got the job,
God was already working on the heart of someone he didn’t know. Their lives crossed and Benny had no idea of
what God did through him. God received
the glory, while Benny and Spike received His favor.
With the couple now beyond normal
childbearing years, God was able to show Himself Mighty. Elizabeth no longer was in reproach among her
people and the son of Zacharias would live in the favor of God his entire life.
The timing was critical for when God wanted this child to be born, and it
didn’t line up with what the couple prayed.
However, God didn’t disregard their hearts desire, but delayed it until
the fullness of favor could be given.
“For he (John) shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall
drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy
Ghost, even from his mother's womb (starting before he was even born).
And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God, and he shall go before him in
the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:15-17 NKJV)
Why wait for God’s favor?
There is a definite reason why we shouldn’t
get discouraged when our prayers aren’t answered in our timing. The benefit of waiting on God’s favor is that
it’s always linked to His Divine plan, which means, more or better favor than
man could possibly give.
Elizabeth and Zacharias learned about the
character, commission and plan of God for their son before he was born. They were told he would be great, as in a
world changer. That’s something every
parent wants to hear. (vs. 15)
The angel described baby John’s destiny with
him being the only person born to be commissioned as the forerunner of the
Messiah. He would have the privilege of
giving the message of what and Who was to come – Jesus Christ. (vs. 16)
Gabriel explained how God’s plan to answer
their initial prayer of having a child would result in bringing many souls to
the Lord. (vs. 17) When we take all this
into consideration, we should be super excited to see how great the favor will
be that is given to us for serving God as we wait.
How are these different?
In any situation there are choices. We’ve all had to make them; Benny made his
and Zacharias the priest made his with one little downfall … unbelief.
“… and Zacharias said unto
the angel, Whereby shall I know this for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken
in years?
And
the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of
God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.”
Through the messenger angel Gabriel,
God was letting Zacharias know that good things were about to happen in his
life, but he didn’t get that part. He was stuck on rewind … “I don’t have kids
… I’m old, too old.”
Now here is something that used to
puzzle me when it came to the priest talking back to the angel and when Mary
asked him questions. What was the
difference between Zacharias asking how this could happen and when Mary asked
how she would bear a child without having knowing a man? This is it.
… but what if we don’t believe?
Mary wasn’t questioning what God
could or would do. She was inquiring as to
how it would happen knowing it WOULD.
Zac did wonder how it would happen,
but not because he believed it would or could happen. He questioned the power
of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible.
Despite the teaching of his forefathers of the
miracles God did through them (especially Abraham and Sarah), the man who
offered prayers of peace up to God for the Israelites had unbelief in his
heart.
God’s plan was already set and He
never changes. “For I Am the Lord, I do not change …” (Malachi
3:6a NKJV)
The Heavenly Father had intended on
giving Zacharias a son all along, but circumstances had to change until they
lined up with the timing of the favor of God to be fulfilled. In the priest’s unbelief his ability to speak
was revoked because he spoke against the Words of God.
God
sent the angel to say this …
“Your prayer
is answered. Yes.”
Zacharias
said this …
“No way, He can’t, I’m too
old.”
It makes you wonder why he even
prayed if he didn’t think it could happen, right? Oh wait … isn’t that something we have all done?
“And, behold, thou shalt
be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be
performed, because thou believe not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their
season (of Christmas Favor).” (vs. 20)
When the season of favor was fulfilled
(Elizabeth gave birth), all those who witnessed the miracle believed including
humbled Zacharias. Not believing in the
power of God to change circumstances will cause us to experience things we
never supposed could happen, but it won’t change God’s plan.
Perhaps we could give papa some
credit that he didn’t take the situation in his own hands like Abraham and
Sarah did; but God saw things differently because His ways are higher than ours.
(Isaiah
55:8-9 NKJV)
Although there was doubt in his heart,
God showed mercy (unmerited favor) to Zacharias and dealt with him accordingly
so that he could no longer speak contrary to what God had already decreed.
God shut Zacharias’ mouth not only
because he had a name issue over what to call his son, but so that he couldn’t
speak any more doubt or unbelief that went against what He had spoken through
His angel. In being rebuked, doubt
disappeared throughout the months of silence and the priest’s relationship with
God grew stronger as he continued to serve in ministry. God confirmed his faith and his duties in the
temple were not withdrawn.
This Week’s Challenge:
Waiting for Gladness and Joy Favor
There
are times when all believers dishonor God by falling into some part of
unbelief, and our mouths spout off things we wished we head never said. When we question the promises of God it
limits what He can do for us, and causes confusion among those who don’t
believe in Jesus Christ. This is truly a
gladness and joy stealer, because like Benny learned …
“You never know who you are ministering to while
waiting for what God
wants to establish through you.”
We
have to start looking at things through the eyes of God and into the bigger
picture that includes more than me, myself and I. When Zacharias said (like Jesus would say before
He went to the cross in Matthew 26:39), “Not
as my will, but as Your will,” miracles began to happen.
In
our Christmas Favor series so far we’ve focused on how we respond when other people are given favor from God, and for us to expect extraordinary favor like
Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and this week’s interest Zacharias received.
The
news the angel gave Zacharias was that he shall have (will have, expect it to
happen) joy and gladness. Others will
also be glad for this favor miracle that God sent through him. He came to give glad tidings, not to be questioned
as to how God would perform this unmerited favor.
Our
challenge this week is to expect that the favor God wants to give us will be
full of joy and gladness, so much so that it will affect those He places along
our journey with Jesus. In other words, with
joy in your heart expect your Christ Favor to line up with the season that is
best for your miracle.
It’s
time to clear our throats and prepare to praise God for what He wants to do through
each one of His children. We are His and
with compassion He looks upon us with favor ... not ordinary favor, but joy and
gladness favor that will bring others to Him.
Some
people think that Christmas is a season of miracles. I’m here to correct that statement by sharing
with you that God determines when our miracles will occur, not a season or time
of year we ordain as “fulfillment season.”
Don’t
get caught in unbelief thinking God can’t do the extraordinary in your life. Believe God’s Words and promises are true;
they are unfailing.
As you serve the Lord, stop
questioning the when or how God wants to show His mercy on you, and prepare for
the glad tidings with great joy.
Your Words by Third Day
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Until next time, joyfully wait on God’s
favor!
“Patience My child, favor season is near.”
Jesus Christ
*Unless
noted, the names in articles are changed to protect the individual(s) privacy.
Note: Emphasis
is given in some scriptures to show clarity or understanding and is not to take
away from the inspirited Word of God.
When used,
the words satan or devil are not capitalized deliberately, because we give him
no place in our lives.
Disclaimer:
Article information is not meant to be used as treatment for mental or physical
issues, but geared toward spiritual awareness.
What’s New This Week: Click
on the photo or link.
True
Stories of God’s Presence Today (eBook)
by
Karen Kingsbury
Also
available in hardback.
Maybe you don’t know the Living God that I
know, but would like to have this kind of favor in your life also. Click on the above tab “Tell Me” for more
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Content and Image Copyright from Favored1. Do not copy.
Scripture reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provided by Gateway Bible.
Image credit: Google Images or Dreamstime Creative Common License if not specified.
Image: God Arranging Favor Man Kneeling in Prayer Favor Job Christian Conference Righteous Delayed Baby John 1:15 Malachi 3:6
Disclaimer Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.
Waiting on Miracle Favor, Christmas Favor, Elizabeth and Zacharias, Birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas, Favor of God, Christian Living, Waiting on God, Inspiration, Hope, Karen Kingsbury, Miracles, Relationship with God, Loving God, Righteousness.
