Message: Thou Art Highly Favored
Text: Luke 1:28
Ministering: Pastor Dr. Raf Otono
Before we start, allow me to establish some truths:
A life without favor is a den of profitless labor and sorrow.
Outstanding success in life is not a product of labor; it is a function of favor
That being said, listen…
Favor is not a substitute for labor, rather it is the flavor that adds color to a man’s labor to make his life glamorous (Ps 90:17 NIV)
The message of favor has produced a bunch of lazy Christians waiting for God to send ‘manna from heaven‘.
Listen: the favor of God does not take away labor; it blesses it! Even Mary that was highly favored went through labor to deliver Christ!
Do you know why? (Gen 8:22)
Seed time is sowing time and labor time
IF GOD TAKES AWAY LABOR TIME, HE WILL BE BREAKING HIS OWN WORD!
Now listen: there is a time to be favored (Ps 102:13)
Favor is activated by God’s mercy, because we’re never qualified for it.
To be favored is to be ‘mercified’! (Rom 9:15-16)
NO MERCY, NO FAVOR
I DECREE, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, IT IS YOUR TIME FOR FAVOR!
WHAT IS FAVOR?
There are a lot of fancy definitions of favor, but today I’m not here to excite you but to ignite you!
- Favor is the display of God’s mercy upon a man to honor him
- Favor is God rewarding the unrewarding labors of men
- Favor is divine compensation for wasted years and unpaid labors (Ex 12:36) >> 430 years of unpaid labor
- Favor is the element of God that breaks rules, regulations, laws & policies to your advantage (Joseph as prime minister in a strange land)
DIFFERENT KINDS OF FAVOR:
- Joseph kind of favor (Increase favor) – Gen 39:2-5, 21 NKJV)
- Esther favor (Star favor) – Esther 2:15-17 NKJV
- Daniel favor (Judgmental favor) Daniel 1:9
• God judged Daniel’s enemies. Daniel 6:24
Daniel was so favored that he became ‘unsackable’ & unfirable’! He served in 4 regimes!
4. High favor – Luke 1:28
• High favor is the height of God’s grace a man can enjoy on earth!
There is a difference between to be favored & to be highly favored!
• To be favored is to be singled out to serve/help your family, community, nation & earth at large.
• To be highly favored is to be chosen by God to fulfill His agenda on heaven and earth (Isa 7:14)
• To be highly favored is to press towards the high calling of God on earth to serve heaven’s plans (Phil 3:13-14)
HOW TO BE A CANDIDATE OF HIGH FAVOR:
1. Be pure/holy
• Mary was a virgin, hence she met the criteria for the prophecy to be fulfilled in her life. She played her role of sanctification and attracted God’s high favor.
She wasn’t the only virgin, but that’s where favor to be chosen comes in)
2. Be obedient to God’s word (Luke 1:38, Prov 3:1-9)
3. Be humble (Luke 1:46-53)
4. Be born again (Ps 5:12)
Today by the mercies of God, I decree receive HIGH FAVOR in the name of Jesus
Your Light Must Shine!
