Sunday Message - Dr. Frank Damazio (October 15, 2017) | Life Bible Church

Good morning, good morning. Everyone said good

morning. Everyone say out loud, we love you,

Pastor Frank. Thank you so much for that. I really

appreciate that. I really do love Brad and Ginny.

We have been related for a very long time because

I'm an elderly gentleman and knew them when they

were very young. But it's good to be back with

the Light Bible Church again. I always enjoy

being here, the presence, the intensity, the

open -heartedness of this church is wonderful.

It still always amazes me when I get off the

freeway and I drive out here that there's a church

like this out here. It still is one of those

miracles in my mind, you know. The Metroplex

of Harrisburg. It's amazing. that has happened

out here. And I always, I'm just amazed at the

building every time when I drive up. It just

reminds me of a lodge. I should be unloading

my luggage, going to the river, not preaching.

It's such a wonderful setting, beautiful setting.

Well, here we are. I'm going to go to the Word

this morning, and we're going to partake of the

Scriptures. Over the last, oh, by the way, thank

you for helping Puerto Rico. We have about 35

churches in Puerto Rico, and they have been absolutely,

totally, unimaginably devastated. Buildings gone,

homes gone. The news shows you certain things,

but if you could actually see everything. It

is beyond comprehension. In my lifetime, I've

never seen anything like it. And many of our

churches over there, their buildings are totally

destroyed. Not just a roof taken off, no building

left. It's just totally destroyed. And so we

have a lot of work to do. Our minister's fellowship,

which Brad's a part of MFI, is sending over multiple

thousands of dollars also trying to help them

just get to life. and get through this. So thank

you for helping with the Puerto Rican crisis

and what's going on there. I'm around the world

most of the time now. In the last 12 months,

it's been 55 cities and 10 countries. And so

that's my life. That's what I do is visit countries.

Most of the time, it's with leaders. but also

I do conference in churches. But my focus has

been in my years now to focus on helping pastors,

helping churches, helping leaders, and trying

to encourage them. One of the things I've noticed

around the world is that the Holy Spirit is up

to something. Can someone say amen? You should

be encouraged because even though, again, in

America the news is so strange. America has thousands

of great churches, and you might not hear about

them, but there are thousands of great churches

in America, and there are hundreds of churches

being planted every month. Even though everyone

paints this picture of Babylon and Bachelet in

America, it's really not that way. It's only

because the Babylon people are the ones who report.

In America, there's a lot of stuff going on that

is very good. Again, without America, churches

and the devastation that's taking place, it's

the church that rises up almost every time and

takes care of situations. And in the Houston

situation, finally the news even said it, the

number one giving institution and the rescue

of the Houston situation was the church in Houston.

And by the thousands they poured in and still

are. Even when the news is not there, the church

is still there and still rebuilding. And that's

happening everywhere in the world. So I'm just

saying that to say, be proud of the church. And

don't listen to a lot of the naysayers and the

people that paint such a horrible picture about

our country. Our country has a great future.

And our country has never been built on one president,

good, bad, or indifferent, whatever you think

about the president. It does matter that you

obey scripture, you pray for him, and you should

not badmouth and criticize anybody in politics.

It's not worth it, and it's not Bible. What you

should do is put your trust in Almighty God.

And it's the government of God that changes the

country, not the government of men. And the kingdom

of God is not attached to the kingdom of man.

And so we just take care of business. We pray.

We move the invisible. We do the most important.

We do the eternal. Let everybody else do the

temporary. We're the ones that are plugged into

heaven. And heaven is having an effect worldwide

right now. Just shout a big amen. So be encouraged.

It's not as bad as everybody paints it out to

be. All right, from my perspective, I'm going

to refer now to two scriptures. One we're going

to go to. It'll probably be on the screen later

when I get there. I'm going to quote and I'm

going to give some frame. And there's a reason

I'm going to take time to do this so that you

can kind of lean in with me into this particular

scripture that I'm going to do this morning,

which would be a little bit of a teaching, a

little bit of a prophetic word to you as a church,

and a little bit of an application to you for

every individual that's sitting here in this

room today. This word will apply to your life

and where you are right now. The book of Isaiah

and Isaiah the prophet. with the most quoted

prophet in the New Testament. More quoted by

Paul, by Peter, more written about than any other

prophet. And there's a reason why. Isaiah was

a statesman and he was very systematic in his

prophesying. Ezekiel and Daniel and different

ones were a lot of historical prophecies about

Judah and Israel and stuff that was going on

and then end time stuff. kind of on top of that

Isaiah was one of those kind of a prophets that

prophesied like a teacher he prophesied like

a lawyer he prophesied like a writer he prophesied

in a systematic manner so that anybody could

follow his prophecies so we have the most famous

prophecies really about Christ are all in the

book of Isaiah when it comes time for Easter

we quote Isaiah 53 we go to Isaiah 53 we talk

about 53. When it's Christmas, it's Isaiah 9,

Isaiah 11. When we talk about the church, it's

Isaiah 61. We talk about overcome on Isaiah 43.

I mean, there's famous, famous scriptures throughout

Isaiah that we quote all the time, and the Apostle

Paul and Jesus quoted him all the time, and the

Apostle Peter, and so he's a very important prophet.

Isaiah prophesies about the Messiah, called Messianic

prophecies, prophecies about the coming of Jesus

and the Messiah. And he's the prophet who actually

prophesies where Jesus is going to be born. He

prophesies how Jesus is going to die. He prophesies

the resurrection. He prophesies the entire ministry

of Christ. He explains the ministry of Christ

to you in his prophecy. You can actually exegete

the Old Testament and end up with the New Testament

Jesus because Isaiah was so... so systematic

and so clear when it came to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, Isaiah chapter 61 is the scripture that

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

I'm quoting to you this morning. Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

61, which is also one of the most famous scriptures

in the Bible because it talks about the spirit

of the Lord coming upon us and what happens and

upon the Messiah. And it's actually the job description

of the Lord Jesus in Isaiah chapter 61. I'm going

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

to go right to... Luke chapter 4, and I'm going

Luke 4 · chapter mention

to quote Luke chapter 4 in a moment. It might

Luke 4 · chapter mention

come up on the screen, but don't pull it up yet.

But in Luke chapter 4, we're going to tie Isaiah

Luke 4 · chapter mention

61 and Luke 4 together. And here's why it is

so important. What's going to happen in the synagogue

in that particular day? It's going to be... prophetic

it's going to be history making it's going to

be a shift in the heavenlies and the earth it's

going to be something that had never happened

before in the history of mankind it's going to

happen in this little synagogue now the synagogues

where Jesus was raised and it talks about this

in Nazareth And it talks about Luke 4 and it

explains that that was his town. Nazareth is

only 6 ,000 people. It's a rural little town.

And Jesus had four siblings, had a mother and

a father. And we know that from Scripture. We

know about Jesus' family. We know that he was

a carpenter. We know that he lived in this little

town. And we know from what he says in Luke 4

and other Scriptures that he went to the synagogue

every Saturday. That's when they had the meeting.

was the Sabbath, was Saturday. And so it says

that his habit was to go there every Saturday.

So him and his family would have been in church

every Saturday, probably for the entire 30 years

leading up to this particular scripture. Therefore,

everybody would have known who Jesus the carpenter

and Jesus of Nazareth and the father and the

mother, the whole thing. It was no secret. He's

sitting right there. He's in the midst. They

had no idea who he was, but he was there in the

midst. And the synagogue, they had, kind of like

we do with churches, they had an agenda. That

is, they would write out an agenda. And the synagogues

that were larger, the ones closer to Jerusalem.

actually had full -time priests. And so they

were paid by the Levitical system and they were

paid by the people's monies and they were actually

full -time 24 -7 priests. But in the rural areas,

they were not full -time. They were lay priests

and they would have a different job and they

would work in the synagogue on the Sabbath. And

because of that, they would lay out a different

agenda that would have to be written out long

before the actual Sabbath. actually took place

in the synagogue about 12 months ahead they would

plan a whole 12 month agenda just like we do

as a church and they would have to plan the readings

of all the scripture they would have to plan

the opener they'd have to plan what psalms they

were going to sing they would have to plan what

priest was overseeing that day and they would

rotate that out and then report to jerusalem

priests who was actually like over that suburb

and that's how the system worked according to

josephus the historian who is the historian for

the jews and the Jewish history, Josephus explains

the whole thing. And so when you think about

the synagogue and the part -time priests or the

lay priests and what they're doing and the reading

of scriptures, remember they had no New Testament.

And so the reading of scriptures was with scrolls.

There was no books. There was only scrolls. And

the scrolls were very big, very bulky, and very

hard to handle. They weren't like... Something

like this little black binder here or a book.

They were large and they were written on with

large print. And for you to unroll them, you

might have to unroll a long way to get one chapter

because of the way the Hebrew was written. And

so the synagogue built like a coffee table or

I don't know what else you would call it, but

it was a table that had little holes on the top

of it. And they would place the manuscripts in

the holes. So that they could plan the reading

of the manuscripts. So that whoever is reading

on that particular Sabbath. That person couldn't

say, bring me Habakkuk or bring me Ezekiel or

does anybody have the scroll? The scrolls all

had to be planned, had to be found, had to be

placed, had to be in order, what chapter was

going to be read so that they could reach down,

take it, open it up. And it was kind of a logistics

thing. And so that's how the synagogue worked.

They also had the readers who were lay people

that would read the scripture, not just a priest.

Anybody could be a reader. And they would assign

that person months ahead of time. Now, I told

you all that to get you into a frame of mind

about what happens in the synagogue on this day.

They came to church routinely. They didn't expect

anything to really be supernatural or to be prophetic

or to be any different than all the other Sabbaths

they had been to for many years and years and

years. There's only about 150 people in the room.

That's the size of the synagogue. And so when

they came to the synagogue that day, they were

going to be introduced to something that would

be a miracle of miracles because for the first

time, the first time, and I can't remember when

else this happened, but for the first time, the

prophecy about the Messiah And the fulfillment

of the prophecy. And the person who the prophecy

was about was all going to emerge at the same

time. And so the prophecy of Isaiah was 750 years

prior to Christ. And so you go forward 750 years

and you have this Isaiah 61 scroll. It had been

placed in the desk to be read on that particular

Sabbath. And lo and behold, the reader has been

assigned, and the reader is Jesus of Nazareth,

the carpenter. And so now on this day, which

had been planned long before, there was no surprises

on this except nobody expected what was going

to happen when this prophecy was read because

it was the launching of its ministry. All heaven

was waiting 750 years for this prophecy to start

because this would start the ministry of Christ,

the new day. It would actually be the introduction

of a new era. They would move from law to grace

in one breath. They would move from old to new

in one breath. They would move from Jesus. hidden

to Jesus revealed in one breath. It was the beginning.

It was the revealing. It was the manifestation.

It was a miracle. It was an awesome thing. How

many of you would have been ready for that? Now,

you're my synagogue. Okay? Today, you don't have

to take it the way I'm going to teach it. But

I'm going to teach it this way. I believe that

you're sitting in the middle of a miracle for

your life right now. I believe that prophecy,

fulfillment, and you are all going to emerge

at the same intersection in just a few moments.

And I believe that even though you routinely

came to church like we all do sometimes and kind

of forget everything that's in front of us and

how big God is in the scriptures and what the

Lord is doing with us. And sometimes we forget

all that and we kind of get bogged down. We get

bogged down. We get beat up. We get eclipsed

by things. We get smothered. We get sidetracked.

We get... Sinful habits that take over. We have

a lot of things that are going on in this room

on different levels in different people's lives.

But I want you to bring that level down to one

level this morning. I want you to kind of be

the synagogue people that are sitting in a service

on a Sunday in Harrisburg. But actually on this

Sunday, God wants to do something that would

be the seed for a miracle for your life. And

that if you would scoot up to the Holy Spirit.

But open your heart and say something's going

to emerge this morning. Something's going to

happen today. Because I'm believing I came to

the synagogue. I came to church for a reason

this morning. And I need a miracle in my life.

And there's something that's beginning right

now. And you know what? I'm going to believe

for that something to be supernatural. And the

beginning of something different from my life.

God works with timetables. God works with calendars.

And God marks certain days. We mark birthdays.

We mark anniversaries. God marks certain days

in our life for certain miracles and certain

things. Now, read with me Luke chapter 4. Are

Luke 4 · chapter mention

you there? Luke 4, 16. Now, read the words with

me. I'll read to you. Think into the frame I

just gave you. So he, Luke 4, 16. He, Jesus,

came to Nazareth, a small little bedroom community,

where he had been brought up. And as his habit,

his custom, he went into the synagogue on the

Sabbath. And he stood up to read. Now watch the

language. And he was handed the book of the prophet

Isaiah. He didn't choose it. The priest hands

him Isaiah. And when he had opened the book,

unrolled the scroll, he found the place, the

place that was assigned for that day. How supernatural

is this? Where it was written. Now you have to

understand, in Luke 4, 20, 21 and following,

and other commentators go a lot deeper than I

would ever have time to do this morning. But

you have to understand, when there's prophecy

and fulfillment that merges upon a time and a

person, something shifts in the heavenlies. And

something happens in the spiritual realm. So

when Jesus begins to read, I want you to notice

the repeated word, me. And I want you to think

about what's going on in that room when Jesus

says, and the spirit of the Lord is upon me.

And it was him. And some of the people are listening

going, and I'm not making this up. If you keep

reading Luke 4, you'll find what I'm saying to

be accurate. Some of the people are saying, is

this not? Joseph's son? Yeah? Why does he sound

so different today? What kind of virtue is flowing

out of him? Why do I feel so different about

this? What's going on in this room? Well, there

were some people that perked up and understood

there's something happening here. Turn to your

neighbor and say, there's something happening

here. Just go ahead and say it. There's something

happening here. What might that something be?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's

anointed me to preach to the poor. The gospel

he sent me. You've got to know in this room these

are the people. Heal the brokenhearted. That's

not happened for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of years and only with a minute few. The healing

power of Jehovah God upon Israel or any of the

nations that came under the influence of God.

The actual availability. Of the healing power

of God. Or the flow of a good news. Or them ever,

ever, ever touching the spirit. Was one out of

twelve tribes to begin with. And out of the twelve

tribes. There was only one man that ever got

into the most holy place. And so the presence

of God was never felt. By everybody in all of

Israel. Never happened. Except during 40 years

during David's time. It's happened actually to

David and other subjects. And some of the people

touch it then. But the presence of God was not

nationwide. Not worldwide for sure. The healing

power of God was not something that was nationwide.

I mean when Elijah did his seven miracles, we

record them. And it was a huge thing to Israel

that they had seven miracles. And when Elijah

did 14, his successor, that was a huge thing

that he had 14 miracles. Miracles and healings

and these kind of things were not available to

every person. But now Jesus is starting something

new. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, proclaim

liberty to the captive, recovery of sight to

the blind, set at liberty those who are oppressed,

and to proclaim, to proclaim. That is that. That

dictatorial word, this is a word in the Greek

language that has the idea almost like a political

bill that's been put in place and now the whole

nation has to obey. The proclamation here is

a legal term, it's a set term, and Jesus is saying,

I now proclaim, I put into place this acceptable...

Year of the Lord that starts right now. Well,

the year of the Lord, acceptable year of the

Lord, is the year of Jubilee. And it's with the

trumpets and all that stuff. And, you know, it

goes with the Feast of Israel. And this was not

the time for the Feast of Israel. This was not

the year of Jubilee. This was not the day of

trumpets. Jesus cuts through the tradition of

Israel and says, because the spirit realm is

now going to be a new calendar. I proclaim to

you that today is just like the blowing of trumpets

and the year of Jubilee. And I'm going to set

the captive free. I'm going to remove the debts.

I'm going to bring healing to people's hearts.

There's going to start a new era. And if you

have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying,

if you're brokenhearted, if you're in bondage,

if you are in need of a financial release, if

you are in need of a slave being out from under

the bondage, if you're in need of all these things,

I'm telling you that today, today is the acceptable

year of the Lord. And when he was preaching that,

there were some people that leaned in and said,

is he saying that the brokenhearted can be healed

right now? Because I have a mother who's brokenhearted,

who lost her son. And I have a friend who just

went through a miscarriage. And I have another

friend who is so brokenhearted with life and

dysfunction. Is he saying that the brokenhearted

can now be healed? Is he saying that today marks

a new day? Is he saying that something is beginning

here that we can actually enter into? Because

I feel like he's talking right to me. And he

was. And Jesus was saying, if you can believe

this and you're brokenhearted, heavens are open

for you. And if you can believe this and you're

in captivity, I'm telling you right now, today,

right now, begins something new. Well, there

were some people that leaned in and got it. Some

people left bewildered. Some people left healed.

You're in the synagogue. You have a heart. You

have a life. You have a past. No doubt, you have

a need. No doubt, I'm talking to somebody with

baggage, dysfunctionalities, brokenness. No doubt,

I'm talking to some people that look at other

people and say, I wish I was them. I wish I had

that. I wish I had that marriage. I wish I had

those kids. I wish I had that job. I wish I had

that health. I wish I would have done life differently.

I regret so much. Is it possible that today could

be a day speaking to the heart of every person

in this room? It's a new day. New year. Now I'm

focusing on one word in your Bible. That one

word is the word to proclaim the acceptable,

whatever your translation says. I'm going to

take the original and I'm going to do one word.

That word right there is the word favor. To proclaim

to you the year of favor. Has begun. Because

this so rocked my study. Sometime back. I decided

I would collect. Every scripture in the Bible.

With any words within the family of favor. And

study them. Which I did. Saved you all the time.

So I went back from Genesis right through to

Revelation. And I studied the words favor. But

with the word favor, you have to study the word

blessing. And with the word blessing, you have

to study also a few other words. There's six

just in that one family along. There's nine in

the favor family. There's all these other root

words. And so you have to put them all together.

And then you have to study them in context. of

the chapter, the book, and the time, and what

was being said, and try to understand what Jesus

meant when he actually said, I'm going to put

this word right now to work, and that word and

what it means is yours. And so I've taken the

freedom to put all of my study together, squish

it down, and make it into one little paragraph,

one little definition, big definition, that really

explains the word favor. There's not a person

in this room. That won't look at this definition

and say. Are you sure? Are you sure? Yes I am.

And I'll prove it. More than just me saying it.

But here's the definition of the word favor.

Aligning our life with God's blessing. Alignment.

Now I'm quick to say. And quick to help. What

I'm saying today. Only can come to a believer.

There are favors of man. There's a favor of mankind.

You can have favor. In many different ways. Without

knowing God. I understand that. I am not debating

that. But there's a specific kind of favor. That

only God can give. And that's the one I'm talking

about. And this is the favor. That the Bible

talks about. Align in our life with God's blessing,

grace. Grace is the actual New Testament word

for favor. And favor, that positions us. Now

here's the definition. What does favor position

us for? According to all my studies, here's the

pieces. Increased influence. Supernatural turnarounds.

Limitations broken. Dreams awaken. Something

that was dead comes alive. Missed opportunities

redeem. No one can do that one but God. One of

the big words in America is the word regret.

We have medications, we have counselors, and

we have a huge mass of people that suffer from

regret that they can't remove. regret that brings

shame and guilt and ill health because of regret.

If only I would have, if I could go back and

change, if there was a way for me to reverse

that, if I wouldn't have been so stupid, I would

go back and untie that thing. Well, you can't.

You can't go back. You can't untie. You can't

change what's been done. But God can use it.

God can take what was meant for your destruction

and make it work for your good. God is so good

at this that when he brings it back around, he

brings it back around better than when you lost

it the time before. That's what we call grace.

Guilt, shame, and destruction is devil. Grace,

restoration, and hope is Jesus. And so he comes

along and says, you don't have to regret. I'm

going to allow you to come back around a different

way with that missed opportunity. I'm going to

turn it into an open door of opportunity. Say,

oh God. Don't tease me. He doubts him. Favor

causes missed opportunities to be redeemed. Wide

open new doors of divine possibilities. Now,

if I was in a room with you, and I was a bona

fide, absolute, accurate, unbelievable prophet,

and my history had gone for... 30 years of whatever

I prophesy comes to pass every time. And I was

in a room with you by myself and you're sitting

there. And we screwed up knee to knee. And I

say to you, God wants to put favor on your life.

No, Frank, you can't do that because, you know,

I'm not worth putting favor on. Besides that,

you know, I've asked for it before. No, I just

want you to shut up for a moment. And I want

to say to you, God wants to put his favor on

your life. He wants to proclaim it over you as

a position. He wants to increase your influence.

I don't have any influence. I don't even know.

Just listen. He wants to somehow bring turnarounds

to your life, a direction you can't turn, but

he can turn it. opportunities arise, dreams awaken,

and I start prophesying this over your life.

And somehow you just finally lean into it and

say, okay, I got it. I got it. It's not because

of me. I can't earn it. Are you ready for this?

And I can't stop it. I didn't buy it. And I can't

pay for it. It's not because of my goodness.

It's not because of everything I think. I should

have done and could have done. And if I was a

better righteous man, if I was more like a Mother

Teresa or more like a Billy Graham, if I was

more like, you know, one of the real saints of

the Most High God, I could understand that God

would want to put favor on my life. But I'm just

a no -good -for -nothing kind of a person. I've

made so many mistakes. I've hurt so many people.

I don't even see how I can help. It's you that

God is talking to because you can't earn it.

You can't buy it. You can't beg it. You can't

stop it. It comes because of the cross of Christ.

And the love of God. And the unconditional compassion

of God. And the grace of God. And he puts it

on your life. He puts it on your life. Puts it

on your life. Favor. Now. If you had. faith to

do this, I think I'd ask you to do it. I did

it. Mark your calendar. Today is October 15?

It's October 15 already? Jesus, no wonder I'm

so old. Time fast. I'm slow and time is fast.

October 15, mark your calendar. Put a formula

onto it. And say for the next 365 days, I'm going

to use the scripture literal and spiritual. And

prophetic and application. Because faith is a

funny thing. Faith doesn't work well without

targets. Faith doesn't work well without hanging

it onto something. So I'm going to say to you.

Hang your prayer on October 15th for 365 days.

For one year. And I want you to pray this prayer.

Okay, Lord. Increased influence. I'm open. I'm

ready. I'm believing. I'm proclaiming. I'm looking.

And I'm not going to be so humble that I'll let

it pass it by. When it comes near me, I'm going

to grab it. Because I believe you're going to

bring into my life supernatural turnarounds.

And you're going to take the limitations off

me. The limitations off my life. Why don't you

start praying those pieces of favor. Believing

that it's your year. You've had that year. You

know, we go sometimes through seasons. Well,

that year was this way and that year was this

way. But I would like to just say to Harrisburg

people. No matter what the background is. 365

days of something different. Something new. Something

bigger. Something greater. That will come to

you. Through you. And bless others. Not just

for you. Through you. That bless people all around

you. So that the very first person you see. After

this sermon, whether it's one of your believing

friends or tomorrow when you go to work, I want

you to say to someone, do you see there's something

different about me? It's your hair. No, it's

not my hair. Well, no, I mean, what is it? No,

I want to tell you what it is. I was marked yesterday.

You were marked? Was it bad? No, it was good.

What were you marked with? I was marked with

favor. My life is going to have increased influence,

supernatural turnarounds, dreams awakened, missed

opportunities turned around, and redeemed for

me. The lid's going to be lifted. And I'm going

to see the favor of God flow through me like

you've never seen before. And they're going to

say to you, can I get some of this? Say, well,

only if you believe. Well, can you pray for me?

I'll pray for you, but you've got to believe

it for yourself. People want to be around people

that believe favor is on their life. People want

to be touched by people that believe that favor

is on their life. And if you actually have a

spirit of favor on you and you actually proclaim

this over your life, I believe what I'm telling

you is scriptural. And if you actually do this,

you can influence other people to reach after

what God wants to do for them because God is

in the business of favoring people. That's what

he likes to do. Okay. That was the introduction.

I'm going to read three important scriptures

to you. Follow with me. I'm going to read them

in different translations because they work better

with the original language. That's why I'm using

this translation. The first one is 2 Corinthians

5 .18. 2 Corinthians 5 .18. This new situation,

everyone say, new situation. Come on, talk to

me, church. New situation. His holy God's doing.

For he is the one who restored us to his. Come

on. Shout it out. So he's the one who restored

us to his favor. Now this is a great doctrinal

verse, and it's right. Through the work of Christ.

So this new situation that's coming upon my spirit

again to remind me and help me. I understand

that it's a situation that's come. Through the

cross, through the work of Christ, that he's

restored me to his favor. Now listen to this

next one. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 2. Watch the

2 Corinthians 6:2

time frame keep getting smaller and focused in

this verse. Hear what God says. Now watch. When

the time came for me to show you favor, I heard

you. I heard you. And when the day arrived for

me to save you, sozo, same as in favor family,

I helped you. Now listen. This is the... The

time. The day. The hour. To receive God's favor.

Today. Or better said. In the Greek tense. That

is used right here in this verse. At this moment.

In this present time. Now. It's a day to be favored.

When I read this verse, it reminded me of something

I experienced as a kid, something I couldn't

figure out. I was born and raised in my dad's

church, but I was never saved, not until I was

17. In the Jesus People movement, I wasn't saved

in my dad's church. I had my problems. A lot

of it was in my mind, some in my heart. But I

can remember Sunday after Sunday, because my

dad's a Baptist, and this is what they did Sunday

after Sunday. There would always be at least

one, sometimes three, five, seven, ten, but there

would always be salvation. They would always

come to the front. He'd always take them by the

hands, and they would pray the sinner's prayer.

Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Come into

my heart. Be my Savior, etc. And I used to sit

there as a kid, as long as I can remember, even

back when maybe I was six or seven or eight,

as long as I could remember, it would baffle

me. Because I would watch these people, then

I would listen to my father, and he would say,

these people have passed from death to life.

I'd be thinking, how? These people are now going

to heaven, not hell. Jeez. How? These people

are now, and he would go on, it would be the

same kind of thing every single week. I couldn't

grasp that words could change a destiny. I couldn't

grasp it. You mean to tell me that if I just

say out loud, Jesus, forgive me of my sins, come

into my heart, that I now will not go to hell,

which is an eternal damnation. I mean, the Baptists

preach hell very descriptively, and with every

imagination possible, you could fill the flames

on your bottom. I mean, it was the way they preached.

And it was real, and it was forever, and it was

eternal, and it was the mark of the beats, and

it was the dragon, and it was the demons, and

it was the suffering, and it was people's...

begging for a drop of water. It was in the deepest

darkness and eternity. I mean, I listened to

it my whole life. But I couldn't grasp words.

I said, it's not possible. It's not possible

that words can change an eternal destiny. I don't

believe it. And I lived my life until I was 17.

And then... I have my own testimony, I can't

give you that, but I got saved and I used words.

But my words were not rehearsed, written script.

They were a cry. They were simply, oh God, I

have screwed everything up. Is there any hope

for me? It wasn't the typical, Jesus come to

my heart and forgive my sins. It wasn't scripted.

And I wasn't thinking about a script. I wasn't

thinking about pleasing anybody's doctrinal stance

on salvation. But there was something in my heart

that was crying out to God. And God heard it.

And in that moment, something shifted in Frank

DiManzio's life. By a heart and a mouth. which

Romans 10 .10 says, confess with your mouth what

is in your heart, and thou shalt be saved. It's

true, it's real. I say all that to say this.

In this verse right here, what really gets me

is where it says, when the time came for me to

show you a favor, those three little words right

here, I heard. I heard you. I heard you. Sometimes

the words of faith are not heard or spoken by

the human mouth. They're spoken in the heart.

And the Bible is filled with the doctrine that

God responds to the heart. To the broken heart,

it says, I'm close. I'm right there, Frank. I

am right there. When I was in the hospital during

my cancer treatments, three years ago now, but

from 12 to 5, 12 midnight, 5 in the morning,

was always my lonely worst hours of my treatment.

I had 300 hours of those. And I can remember

being in that hospital bed and laying there.

And I'm a dead man. I mean, unless something

really shifts, I'm on my way out, not on my way

in. And laying there, listening to the hum of

the machines, the whispers of the nurses, the

shadow lighting, no one else moving in the hospital.

Quiet as quiet as quiet. That is when I prayed

in my heart. And I would begin to talk to God.

And sometimes I would be weeping, not even know

I, I didn't even know I was crying. And the nurse

would come and say, Frank, are you okay? Yeah.

Why are you crying? I didn't even know I was

crying. I didn't even know I was crying. Why?

Because my heart was talking. My heart was moving.

The deep peace of me was saying, oh God, I'd

love to see my kids get married. I'd love to

see my grandkids grow up. But if I go to heaven

now, I got it. I understand it. Maybe, if you

could. And my heart would pray, not my mouth.

If you would ask me, when do you think God touched

you during that dark season? It was dark. It

was hard. It was horrible. Between 12 and 5,

when there was nobody to talk to. And my heart

would just start unraveling scriptures and prayers

and cries. I'd actually prophesy to myself in

my heart. Prophesy my healing. Prophesy my future.

And my mind would fight with my heart. That can't

happen. That's not going to happen. How can that

happen? I mean, look where you... My mind would

fight with my heart. But it's the heart that

believes. It's the heart. So when this scripture

says, and when you was in that place, and I wanted

to show you favor, I heard you. I heard you.

And you know what? When you said, oh God, oh

God. I would like you to take a second with me

right now. Close your eyes. And I want you, wherever

you are in your journey, however deep, wide,

different, needs for broken hearts to be healed,

minds to be healed, life to be healed, futures

to be healed, kids, grandkids, businesses. Stop,

stop, so much stop in the room. Wherever you

are, I want you to pause for a second right now.

And I want you to say in your heart, oh God,

oh God, I need you. God, I want you. God, turn

this around. God, heal my broken heart. Oh, God,

I need your help. I need your help. My husband

is getting further away from me. I need your

help. My kids. Oh, God. And I'm going to prophesy

this to you. I heard you. I heard. And I'm going

to prophesy it to you. And I'm going to help

you. And I'm going to put it on you on October

15, 2017. And my favor is on you. And no one

can take it away. I'm for you. I'm around you.

I'm going to see this thing through. This is

your year. This is your family's year. This is

your business year. This is your church year.

This is your health year. This is your year to

say, and God heard me. God heard me. God helped

me. His favor. Lord, we receive it. We receive

it. Just spread your hands toward heaven and

drink it in. Drink it in. Drink in healing. Drink

in hope. Drink in transformation. Drink in stubborn

habits broken. Drink in this thing called favor.

I believe it. I release it. I take it. Favor

for the unworthy. Favor for the unlikely. Favor

that gives you a new edge for living. Favor that

will surprise you and everybody around you. Lord,

today we put guilt, shame, and weirdness behind

us. We put favor on us. And we confess you're

helping. You've heard us. And we receive it.

In Jesus' mighty name, we receive it. We drink

it. Lord, let it pour from me to my family, to

the family of families. Let it pour from me to

the unsaved, broken, hopeless people. that would

never believe God would ever favor them their

whole life. And they are exactly the people that

God will favor. They're exactly the people that

God will heal. If you feel that favor just drinking,

pouring into your spirit, just stand to your

feet. Just everyone, just stand to your feet.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you,

Lord. Fresh, new. 365 days of what you feel right

now. Fresh, new, opened. No more ruts. No more

carrying the wrong stuff. No more beating yourself

up for what you can't change. Take on a new spirit,

a new robe, a favor. Be that child, be that person

that says, oh God, this is going to be so good,

I'm going to have to pinch myself. I'm going

to have to explain it to people. They're going

to watch this happen. They're going to say, why

you? And I'm going to have to say, no, no, no,

no, it's not me. It's not because I've done so

many great things. It's the opposite. It's because

I have so much need that God has put his grace

on me. And he can put his grace on you. He can

put his grace on your marriage and your family,

your future and your heart. I'm always so taken

back how much stuff people carry around. How

much real stuff happens in life that is so hard.

It's hurtful. It's hard. Life is the wind, the

rain, and the storm. Okay, I got it. I know that.

But there is a God who can cover you with a favor

that would get you through it all. Through it

all. Through it all. You receive this? You receive

this in Jesus' name. Let's sing a song. If you

are interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting

Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch

.org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.