Highlights: Psalm 119 - Week 5

Fifty eight. It says I entreated your favor with my whole heart. Be

merciful to me according to your word. Father. We thank you for that

word. It's the only change agent on the face of the planet. And

I pray right now that you fill us show us your favor in Jesus name.

Amen, Amen, and amen. Now, first of all, we're

all recipients of God's favor. Every single one of us have God's favor on

our lives. As a matter of fact, grace itself is an immeasurable act

of God's favor on our lives because we're saved by grace through faith. It

is that it's the supernatural part of that salvation covenant. So just him showing

us grace. And what is grace. We've talked about this a couple of

times, and um, it's just simply means that God is leaning in towards

humanity, ready to spring into action. How have you ever been in one

of those situations where maybe you're moving in this direction and something happens and you

try to go back the other way and you just can't get there in time.

I mean, I know I find myself doing that more than I like

to but God never finds himself in that in that position because he's always leaning

towards humanity. He's always leaning towards an encounter with his children and his people,

and that is part of of the favor of God. But m favor

goes beyond that. It goes beyond just that that that shower that all of

humanity gets. Because how many of you you can you can pinpoint somebody you

know in your life that they seem to live in the favor of God to

a different measure than maybe you live. Raise your hand, you know,

it just seems like that h that it just always reigns the right amount on

their guard. Amen, that their air conditioner never breaks down. Come on,

somebody, I mean you know they they can preach and sing. You

know that those are the ones that those are the people that get me.

You know, the ones that can preach and sing. Uh. You know.

So there's there's those people that we see that they just seems like they

have just a little bit more of it. And the reality is God can

show his favor to anyone he chooses to show it to. Now, listen,

let me explain some things that you're gonna have to receive in your heart

by faith, say faith, don't, don't not rational thought, because as

humans, we always want to weigh what someone else has according to what we

have, right, we want the scales to weigh out equally. But that's

not the way God's favor works. And as a matter of fact, if

God does it, we know that it is just because He is a just

God, and in his in his justness, in in his wisdom, in

his immeasurable sovereignty, he chooses to show favor to some that appears to be

more than others. And sometimes we have a hard hard time with that because

we want to be the ones that receive a whole bunch and not a little.

But I do believe that there is um. There is something to the

amount of favor we receive, and it's probably proportional to the way that we

look at the environment around us. If we see God's favor we receive of

I'm about to preach ahead of myself. Let me stop right there. In

Psalm chapter thirty, verse five, it says, for his anger is but

for a moment. You know. I think that a lot of times,

especially depending on what flavor you grew up in, what flavor of Christianity.

Denomination what movement you know, Denomination is something people don't want to talk about,

a whole loss. We'll just call it a faith, a flavor.

What flavor of Christianity you grew up in. You may be more more lean

in one direction more than the other. And maybe if you grew up in

certain lines, you kind of lean more towards God is an angry God.

The God is always mad about something. I talk to people all the time,

and they think God just sits in heaven and is mad about something all

the time. But God is slow to anger. He is slow to anger.

He's not an angry God. He is a merciful and loving and giving

God. It says, for his anger is but for a moment, and

his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but

joy comes in the morning. I just want, I want to point something

out. I'm gonna ask a question. I've changed my mind. I'm gonna

ask a question. I want how many of you you've ever cried yourself to

sleep at night over something? How many of you you've ever gone to sleep

because you were so happy you couldn't stand it. Weeping is at night because

we tend to drift off. Come on, somebody, It only lasts a

little time. But joy comes in the morning. Is how we wake up,

It's how we go about our day. It's our goings in and our

goings out where we're full of joy because we're covered in His favor. But

but let's drill down a little bit deeper on this concept of favor, because

although favor is available to all humanity and showered, there are certain ways that

we can predispose ourselves to God's favor. I choose to call them in the

New Testament, if then blessings. We don't want to think about God like

this, but there are certain if then blessings. In other words, if

you do this, then I will do that. Come on, somebody,

they're there. If you do this, then I will do that. If

you bring the tithe into the storehouse, then I will rebuke the devour on

your behalf. See, there's certain things that that merit God's favor, not

his unmarritton favor, not not that free favor that everybody gets, but different

levels of favor when we position ourselves in such a way. Let me show

you one of them. Here's an here's one that most people don't necessarily m

think about. But this is what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter eighteen,

verse twenty two. He who finds a wife finds a good thing. Listen,

He just says, if you find a wife, you find a good

thing. He could stop right there, because nobody else will put up with

you. Sir. He who finds a wife finds a good thing. And

when you find a wife, look what comes with that, and obtains favor

from the Lord. So it's not just that she can cook and do all

the things she can do. Come on, somebody. But God's favor is

also attracted to that because his desire is for man and woman to be together,

because that is the completeness of humanity. He created man. He realized

that we're not very good out there by ourselves. Come on, somebody,

so he sent us a helper, not less than but equal to to complete

the mission. The two together completes the mission, and we find God's favor.

How about this one? This is a This is one of those really

good Pentecostal ones that we like to shout and dance about. I mean,

the moment our bank account starts getting a little lower, this we quote this

one Psalm I mean, Philippias, chapter four, verse nineteen. And my

God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Now now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen,

we get in trouble. Now, my God shall supply all of my

need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. A. Do you

know, I believe this is probably one of the most um taken out of

context verses and maybe the entire Bible, because we quote this just like it's

just hanging there and it's just like the fruit. You know that that low

hanging fruit you just walk by and you grab it and it's perfectly ripe and

you eat it. But in context, this is actually an if. Then

when you put it back in scripture, there's some there's some context around this

that opens that up to work one hundred percent of the time. In other

words, we predispose ourselves to the favor that this is talking about. Let's

read it Philippians chapter four. Let's start in verse fourteen. Nevertheless, you

have done well that you shared in my distress. Now you Philippians know also

that in the beginning of the Gospel. When I departed from Macedonia, no

church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only for then in

Thessalonika you said, aid once and again for my necessities. Not that I

seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

And My God shall supply all of your need according to his riches. In

glory. You sacrificially gave and positioned yourself through generosity with me when I needed

it. And now as a result of that, God's going to do this.

I'll see. What we really really like is the giveme God. As

a matter of fact, if we if we took all the prayers that were

prayed that never had a gimme in them, come on, somebody didn't have

a gimme in them. In other words, I don't God, I don't

want anything. I just want to tell you how grand you are. God.

I just I just want to celebrate you. We could probably record them

all on one eight track tape. Because we have somehow um thought about God

in this new disposition. This this this new access um to teaching, and

we gravitate heavily towards that hyper grace teaching and moment because that feels good.

Now, God still shows us all his favor. But we get mad when

we don't do the basics. Come on, somebody, we get mad when

we don't predispose ourselves. Um we Uh. This past week we went fishing.

And the captain of the boat, because when we chartered this boat,

and um, he's busy. He's handing everybody, he's handing everybody fishing poles.

And Lexi's sitting on the front of boat and she's got her pole and

it's it's down in the water and she's just doing this with the end of

the rod. And uh and and she said, Lexey, you got a

bite. And I said, no, no, she don't have a bite.

She don't have a bite. She said, yeah, yeah, look

at her passay, she's just bouncing. She says, not, ah,

she's got a bite. I said, baby, he hadn't even baited the

hook. Shit, if they're biting empty hooks, it's gonna be a good

day. Come on, somebody, it's gonna be a good day if they're

biting empty hooks. But see, here's the thing. We want to catch

the fish without baiting the hook. We want we want to catch the fish

without doing the work. Before the fish is caught. We want them just

to jump in the boat. And we think that's God's job is to swim

around and just throw fish in the boat. But God's job is to pull

us up to a higher level. God's job is to rule and reign with

majesty so that we all find him and experience his grace, so that we

come to the saving knowledge of who he is. And sometimes that means that

people see you in the midst of the struggle, on the way to the

blessing, and they see the brokenness and the healing, and that's what is

the key to them taking that next step on their own to finding him as

their Lord and savior. In Matthew chapter twenty five, we find this amazing

parable. It's called we call it the parable of the Talents. And there's

there's four people involved. There's there's three servants and a master. And in

this story it is one of the greatest examples of merited favor, not unmerited

favor. Merited favor if then throughout all of scripture. And this master's going

away, so he calls three of his most trusted servants and he disperses talents.

Now this is this is money, not not like you know, he

didn't give one on the ability to play the trumpet. That's not what we're

talking about. That not that talent. It's literally money that it's talking about

here. That's what they were called talents. And he gave one five talents.

He gave one of them two talents, and he gave one of them

one talent. And the Bible says that he did so according to their abilities,

according to their ability to manage, according to their ability to handle the

load, according to their ability. I don't know what abilities he used to

choose, but there was some developed ability that was there. So just the

the original issuance of the money came as a result of some work developing abilities.

Not giftings, but abilities. And he gave one of them five,

and he gave one of them two, and he gave one of them one.

And in verse sixteen of Matthew twenty five, it says that he who

had received five talents, went and traded with them and made another five talents.

So he took his ability, he took the favor of God because there

was an original investment from the master. Listen, what you have is an

investment from the Master. God has trusted you with what you have, and

some of you were thinking, well, he don't trust me very much.

Some of you he's trusted with influence. But you may not drive the best

car and live in the nice house, but He's trusted you with influence on

others that when people are struggling and broken, they come to you, and

oh, my goodness, that is so much more trust and sentivized by God

than just having a new car. It's a matter of fact, he don't

even trust you with your car because you have to have insurance. Just pointing

that out. We want to think about trust in terms of things we want.

We want to say, oh, well, God gave that person that.

Have you ever thought that maybe God didn't give them that? You think

God gave it to him, But you don't know how many nights they stay

awake every week trying to worry about how they're gonna pay for that. Usually

when God gives you something, it comes without a payment. Just chew that

for a little while. So this guy, he has some ability that he

developed over the years, God makes a deposit in his life. We're talking

about God's favor now, and he took the original deposit favor, and he

created more by doing more work. Three kinds of people in the world.

I teach this everywhere. I go to every leader that will list three kinds

of people in the world. Leaders and leaders always lead. Joseph was a

leader, right he was. They put him at Potiphar's house. He led,

They put him in the prison, he led, to put him over

it. He led. Leaders always lead. Second, when workers, workers

always work, get to the end of a meal and they want to pick

up the tables before you can even finish eating, right, Workers always work.

The third, complainers and complainers always complain. Workers always work, Leaders

always lead, Complainers always complain. Listen to your language over the next week

and decide which one of those three you are. But obviously this man was

a worker because he gained some ability. And then after he received the initial

deposit from God, that initial investment, the favor of God shown to him.

He took that favor, and he multiplied the favor through his own actions.

Remember, we've all gotten something from God. If you haven't gotten anything

else from God, you've gotten salvation from God. What are you doing with

it? Now? Let's let's let's let's look at another one, Matthew twenty

five, verse twenty eight. So before I read that, So now um

the one with two, he did the same thing. He doubled his two,

and then there is um ability level one. Now I don't know if

that was the maximization of his ability or if he was already a slacker.

Come on, somebody, you know that there's uh that there when I when

I was it. Now listen, y'all, don't y'all don't panic when I

tell you this understanding that that I'm leading our organization. Don't panic. I've

learned something since this moment. Okay. When I went through school, man,

a bee was a shining bright light in my life. If I gotta

be there was some work that was done by Steve somewhere just didn't come easy.

I struggles in the area of school, not so much in the area

of academics. More. I struggled paying attention because I thought I was there

to talk to people. I'll be honest, Okay, that's the reality.

I majored in something else other than academics in high school. Now, my

children, if they brought home a bee, it will be a bad,

bad day because they're a plus ability. Amen, I don't know if this

guy was like me and he had maximized his ability, or if he was

just a slacker. Because if Lexie makes bees, it's because she's a slacker,

it's not because she doesn't have the ability. And do you know you

need to raise your children as individuals. Different sermons for different time. I'm

not gonna go there, could chase that rabbit, not going to hold him

back. So this guy, he takes his one and he went and buried

it in the ground. So we know he at least knew how to use

a shovel. Amen, at least knew how to dig a hole. So

he went and he buried it in the ground. And now the master has

come back, and it's time to give account. God is going to come

and you were going to have to give an account all of the favor that

he shows you. Sooner or later he's going to index that, and there's

going to be an account all of that favor. You're going to have to

show what you used it for. Did you use it for him or did

you use it for you? Or did you use it even worse for the

enemy. Matthew, Chapter twenty five, verse twenty eight says, therefore take

the talent from him. Now this one fellaw that dug a hole. He

buried it. He brought the one back and he was prighting out. Now

here's the crazy thing. He was proud because he didn't lose the one.

That's like rolling in every week throwing your hands up. I'm saying, look,

Jesus, I stayed saved. There are certain expectations that come with just

breathing right, certain expectations. Lexie looked at me and she said, hey,

what's this all. What's this whole thing about sending out graduation envelope graduation

announcements? I said, we know you send those out, and you know

a lot of times people give you money. And she said, people give

me money for graduating. And I said, well, yeah, that's the

whole theory behind it. Don't know where it started, but that's all.

She said. But am I not just supposed to do that anyway? So

why would somebody give me money for doing something that I should have just done?

Anyway? Why do we expect things in return for stuff we should have

just done? Anyway? It is no more work to be nice to the

kid at the drive through than it is to be hateful to him. It's

no harder to stop and help that lady put her groceries in the car before

you go put your groceries in the car. It's no harder to go to

the tax office and with a smile say, y'all are crooked and stealing from

me, right, But I know it's not you. I know it's above

your pay grade, and you just gotta there's some things we should just do.

I mean, we don't ask for a trophy. It's just base level

Christianity, and some of it is base level humanity. He comes to the

Master, he gives him the one, and the Master scolds him and says,

oh, you slothful and wicked servant. You knew I was a man

that that would reap where I didn't sew. So why didn't you at least

go open a savings account and throw it in there and just get just get

a few pennies, just do the basic effort. Why didn't you get just

a little Well, I didn't think about it. I put it in the

dirt. I was hoping it was a magic being. And this is how

the Master looks at him. Now he didn't lose it, but he didn't

understand the purpose of favor. Therefore, take the town talent from him and

give it to him who has ten talents. Take the one from the person

that has little will read it in just a second, and give it to

the one that had five, multiplied it and made it ten and now has

more than anybody else. Take it from him and give it to the one

that has ten talents. For to everyone who has more will be given,

and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have even what

he has will be taken away. That sounds hard, That sounds like God

just makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. But that's not what that

scripture says. Why did these people have? What did They didn't have the

talents in the beginning before the favor came. They didn't have the money.

They had ability. What they started with was some measure of ability. They

started with something that had been cultivated that the master saw and the master trusted,

and he looked and he said, hey, you know what. Mandine

shows up every Saturday to the food pantry, and he toads food, and

he boxes food, and he smiles. Now he sweats a little bit too

much, but he smiles and and he loads that food up. So you

know what, Let's give Dean food so he don't have to to worry about

it at his house. How about how about Dennis? Dennis's knees hurt,

help hurts, brain hurts. If I live a lord, my brain hurt

too. Just I love you, Listen, I've been setting out up for

months. This is I think the Lord lou said. Hey, there goes

Dennis across the church parking lot, shaking hands and smile and even though he's

hurting, just getting through it. What about what about Gary? About Pastor

Gary, or as all the young guys call him PG, parental Guidance.

What about PG? He comes Listen, he comes to church every week with

one leg. He don't complain, He just does it. What about Mark

that wrestles with pain every day of his life to a level that I can't

imagine. And that dude just loves people. I don't know why he loves

me. He just does the base things, the ability, the one that

has ability. Let's put them in a position to get more ability. Let's

put them in a position. Let's show them favor. Let's put some pete.

Now. Sometimes it works like this. I'm a high capacity person for

love, so God's gonna put unlovable people in my pathway so that I can

maximize that gift and take that gift up to the next level. But God

is going to trust us and allow us to continue to develop that ability so

that we are ten favor recipients next time instead of five level recipients next time.

Some of y'all don't like this because y'all just want God to give you

stuff, and he does. And listen, you can get home today and

you got a check from million dollars in your mailbox and you don't know where

it came from, and you can send an email with the check saying you're

wrong, pastor, And I'm still right because he can do what he wants

to do anytime he wants to do it, but he's not obligated just because

you're you. I pray that God blesses y'all beyond y'all's wildest beliefs every single

day because I trust that y'all will be faithful and give generously from it.

Not so I can get a raised, but so that we can reach more

people. They had ability and fortitude that dogged like desire to do something.

See, the one that had won, he lacked ability and he lacked fortitude.

There was nothing in him that made him want to go maximize the investment

that God put in his life. But the one that had five did.

He went and worked, and he already had a job. He was already

working for the master. So he did that, and the other come on

somebody, and it positioned him for what we see as the final deposit of

favor. He gave him five. He used his ability and fortitude to raise

five more, and then God gave him one more just for good measure.

That's favor. That's positioning yourself for favor, using the ability you have to

get a return on investment, and bringing fruit to the kingdom. That's how

we position ourselves who live in more of God's favor. Now, if you

just want baseline favor, that's great, that's good. You're going to be

okay. As a matter of fact, I'm going to close with the scripture

here. If the band will come and get ready in Romans chapter eight,

verse twenty eight, and we know, say I know, I didn't buy

it, say I know. And we know that all things work together for

good to those who love God to those who were called according to His purpose.

All things work together for good. Can't stop quoting All things work together

for good for those who love God. Raise your hand. If you love

God, condition one meant and are called and working in the call of His

purpose. If you're on purpose, if you're on assignment, if you're doing

what God has called you to do, if you're fighting through the mundane experiences

of life to stay focused on Jesus and his plan for your life. And

and you're bathing yourself in His word, and you're always sharing with others,

you're praying for the sick, you're doing those basic things that we can do,

and you're on purpose, and you know that God has set something before

you and you're chasing after that. All things work together for good. It

may not look good right now, it may not look pretty right now,

but they're still working themselves out. The gears are turning, and the blessing

is coming, Tomorrow is coming, the dawn is breaking, Joy comes in

the morning. So if you want God's favor in your life, got two

choices, just sitting the recliner and hope. Hope's never a good strategy for

anything like jumping out of an airplane and hoping your shirt catches enough wind on

the way down where you put a parachute on snapping. That's all it is.

It's that simple. Just do the work of the kingdom, and you

position yourselves for more of God's favor, just because that's the way he operates.

I don't know about you, but every day I choose to work.

I don't hang my hopes and dreams on winning the lottery. I just do

what God has called me to do. And when I do what God has

called me to do, I've never found myself begging for bread, never's found

myself abandoning forsaken. There's always been enough, sometimes just enough. I preached

a message what time called forty two cents. It seemed like at the end

of every month I had forty two cents in my bank account until I realize,

oh my goodness, I am living in abundance because that number never turned

red. Everybody's standing with me all over the building. God's favor it is

mystical. Sometimes Pastor Clay spaffling mesmerizing. Sometimes I wonder why God shows it

to the people that he does. But he's just God. I just celebrate

with you but I want you to have every need. Men, I want

you to experience that transfer of the one to your ten. I want you

to live in all that God has for That starts when we get real with

where we are and what we're doing. Am I active in a group?

Am I serving on a team? Am I looking for my life purpose?

Am I inviting the lost? Am I parenting my children? Or? Do

I just pay for cable? Do I really value my wife and pour value

into her? Am I the best employee I can be? What's wrong questions

we ask? Or should every head about every eye closed? In this moment

of self reflection, and just so you know, I'm not going to call

you down to the altar. This is a moment for you and God.

But in this moment right now with God, as you take this self inventory,

if you would say to yourself after hearing this, I fall short of

the mark, and I understand why I don't live in the favor like I

want to. As you just slip, Rondo said, that's men, I

understand why I don't have more. I understand why I understand that I get

jealous and other people get blessed. I don't celebrate when other people get their

things, every ill open, every head looking around. But today you may

be here and you've never experienced that basic level of favor given to all humanity,

God's grace in your life. Maybe you're here and you've never asked Jesus

to forgive you of your sins, you've never asked him to be your lord.

But in this moment, right now, you know God is working and

doing something and you just can't quite put your finger on it. You're not

sure, but you just feel drawn. It's the work of the Holy Spirit

drawing your heart. And that favor looks something like this. An innocent man,

Jesus, beaten beyond human recognition, mocked and spat upon, as he

carried the instrument of his death through the dusty streets of Jerusalem up Calvary's Hill.

He stretched himself out on that old rugged cross, so they pounded the

nails through his hands and his feet, and he said, I'm doing it

for them. He did it for you, He did it for you for

you. The only thing you have to do to receive God's favor today,

salvation. It's just surrender and that pull that you feel, and drawing that

you feel. So if there's anybody. On the count of three, I

want you to step out and make your way down to the front. If

you want to give your life to Jesus this morning, the band's gonna go

ahead and start singing. On the count of three, I want you to

step out our altered He is gonna come and they're gonna meet you here,

and they're gonna pray with you. One. If you want to surrender your

life to Jesus this morning, you want to come to him. Two three,

step out and move right now. Don't wait. It doesn't matter how

young or how old you are, how old you've been in the church.

If you feel that drawing of the Holy Spirit, step out and move right

now and come to Jesus. Step out, right down, Come to Jesus.

Come on the Hoper's open. All ours go short. How can nothing

you? How could I express on my grands