A Year of Favor

  Ezra 9:8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within His holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.   Acts 19:11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,   A year of FAVOR • Season of Unusual Favor. • I’d rather have Favor than… ALL THE MONEY, FAME, POPULARITY   • Leviticus 26:9 I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.   Psalm 5:12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. • Am I looking for favor?  Is favor your way of thinking? • Am I Ready for Favor?  Conner driving • Am I positioned for Favor? You can’t be surrounded by chaos, sin. • Am I in the Flow of Favor? • Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.Proverbs 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, THE FAVOR OF GOD IS: • The guarantee of His presence and the provision of His power to accomplish His special purpose in and through my life. 1.     You must be living right! • Noah- Found by Favor • Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. ·      Surrounded by sin, Heathens. Evil. • Noah made up his mind he wasn’t going with the crowd. • God did not pick Noah because he was like everyone else -  HE WAS DIFFERENT.           • Ruth- Favor is getting what I don’t deserve. EVEN IN A MESS! • Favor found her. Outside of her homeland. Husband dead. Mother in law- call me sorrow! • One day she looked up and there were handfuls of grain. • Bible says handfuls ON purpose. BOAZ picked her before she even knew who he was. • You can’t do your own thing and walk-in purpose.   2.    You don’t have to force it when you have FAVOR.   • Joseph- Divine connections and resources • When you have FAVOR every connection won’t always look like a good connection.   • Daniel- Favor Haters • Every time he turns around someone is trying to take him out. ·      Hater-rade, Hater-chips, Hater-tots. • 3. Favor makes you a target. • I’ve never had a hater who was doing better than me. • Don't let the noise stop you. • Favor doesn’t keep you from the lion’s den. Favor keeps you from the lion’s mouth.   • Mary- Blessed and HIGHLY Favored • Some of you have lost the feeling that you are favored...   • How come you’re saved and other people on your street aren’t? You’ve received FAVOR. • I’m not favored- put your hand on your heart... • If I’m still alive that means God must have something in my future!   • Mephibosheth- Am I Ready for Favor? • Favor found him broken. Fearful. Living on crumbs. ·      He only compared himself to what he could see eye to eye. • 4. Your current condition is not an indicator of your future condition. • Favor found him and it had nothing to do with him! • The King is looking…   • DON’T LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS TO THE CURRENT REALITY- You Have FAVOR!   • Am I in the Flow of Favor? • Water bottle. When you release what you have I’ll supply what you need!   • Am I BLOCKING the FLOW? • I don’t want what’s fair. I want what’s FAVOR!         Deuteronomy 28:1“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. “Blessed shall be the [a]fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. “The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.  10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.  11 And the Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.  12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.  14 So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.