Live with favour | Jason Martin

You're listening to a message to go from at church. We hope this message

will light up your tea. So today's serone, guess what I'll be still

using the same So if I put my first slide, I didn't yell me

like this is. I thought I was over with this series when the last

time I preached. But guess what I think? God just spoke to me

and say that, hey, there is more to it. Right, and

for those of us who have probably missed it previously, right, is that

what does this picture talk about? We have plans in our lives, and

now usually our plans do not factor in challenges. Correct. We always have

an ideal plan and we hope everything goes according to ideal plan. But how

many of us know that your plans never go according to plan? Right?

We have different challenges, different things that go, so we have ups and

downs in terms of that. That's why you have your peaks and valleys.

But if we continuously move forward, we will reach the purposes that God has

for us. Okay, so this is what this picture in is about.

Next light, so a brief recap, right, there was actually five summons

in this already, so today it will be the sixth one. So the

first one was getting our rut. You know where you say that our life.

God has a plan and purpose for our lives. So whenever we fall

into a rut, it doesn't mean that we're stuck there. We have to

walk towards the plants and purposes. And then during the challenges we mature.

We either mature or we remain immature. And if we mature, we will

progress towards where God wants us to be. Right, how do we mature,

we have to be spirit led. The Holy Spirit will lead us.

You will give us a spirit of love, of power, and of sound

mind. Because a lot of times when we are now pit, we are

led by a spirit of fear, and that keeps us in the pit and

causes us to reverse. But eve one move forward is led by a spirit

of love, power and sound mind. And when we are led by love,

power and of a sound mind, then what we say corresponds with that.

So we watch what we speak. Right. You will speak words of

life. You will be quick to listen, slow to spleek, slow to

anger. You know, when you're in the pit, that is when you

will get angry the most, because you lose control. You get angry at

peace. People get angry as circumstances situations, and that's when you lose hope.

Okay. And the last one, the previous time I said, is

wisdom. Usually when we are in a pit, and if it's a new

kind of pit, a pit which we never encountered before, kind of problems

that we never encountered before, that's when we need God's wisdom to bring us

to the next level. Okay. All right, So today, based on

all this, right, you've been thinking, like, what else can there

be to preach about? Right? It basically cowers about it. But what

I realized, right, is that all of this is about us getting out

of the pit, right, getting out of the pit and then into the

next peak. Okay, And we are focusing so much about getting out of

the pit. But what if I say, right, is the pit is

the purpose of the pit just to get out of it? You know,

there must be a bigger plan and purpose to the pit, or you'll be

telling me, Jason, my whole life seems to be like a pit.

You know, it's like problem of the problem of the problem of the problem.

Then how you know what you're preaching or saying seems good, but may

not be applicable to me. So today I will tell you that you can

still thrive in the pit. You can still thrive in the pit. You

do not have to wait for the peak. You do not have to wait

for the pick, because God's plans and purposes for you are the same whether

you are in the pit or the peak. Plans for you are good.

He has a good plan for you. Right. And who defines whether it's

a pit or a peak. It's not God. We advanced that put a

label and say that, hey, I'm going through a valley right now,

or I'm going through a mountaintop experience. But for God, he sees it

all as a journey. Right. So today I will tell you a story

about this guy. So, this guy was forced into a job which he

didn't like. Was forced into a job he didn't like. He didn't even

have the skills for the job. In fact, it was against everything that

he stood for. What was worse for us, After he was forced into

the job, he had to work for bosses right that were really unreasonable bosses.

Have you dealt with unreasonable bosses before? So they have dealt with unreasonable

bosses Where if you don't listen to the boss, or don't commit, don't

deliver what the boss says, it'll be your head. Yay. But through

it all he's still thrived, and it seemed right. His whole life,

actually, his whole story, right, was in the pit. His whole

story was in the pit. Can you guess who am I talking about?

Joseph is one job? Yeah, think about it. You have unreasonable bosses.

You're faced into a job where you don't want Daniel. So it's Daniel,

Okay, So next slide. So you see here Daniel one. Daniel

purposed in his heart that he would not defil himself with the portion of the

king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested

of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defil himself. Now God

had brought Daniel into the favor and good will of the chiefs of the eunuchs.

So the title of today's sermon is next, life with favor, Life

with favor. When you have God's favor, it doesn't matter whether you are

in the pit or you are the peak. God's favor is with you,

regardless of the external circumstances. Because He is within you right. So you

see, Daniel, he was a Jew, he was captive, he was

a prisoner of war. Okay, think about it. Do you think that's

a pit scenario? Yes? Right, he was a prisoner of war.

He was brought into Babylon and he was forced to learn Babylonian literature, studies

and stuff like that, forced to eat your food. Uh. And you

know that Nebuka Nazza, one of the kings was if you cannot interpret my

dreams, I will kill you. But first you have to tell me what

your dream is. So if you have unreasonable bosses, that's quite an unreasonable

Bosler right, where you have to tell your boss what he dreamt and then

tell him what that dream means. But you see, right, Daniel still

thrived. And what is unique about Daniel, Right, For every other character

in the Bible, main character in the Bible, there was always one sort

of flaw. Character flaw like for example, Joseph previously was that he had

a bit of pride, right David, you know, David's one everyone knows

with Bethsheba. Yeah, and then you know in terms of Moses how he

also gave into the pressures. But for Daniel, there was no character flaw

there was revealed in the Bible. There was no character flaw. But his

whole life was in the pit. His whole life was in the pit because

he was captured when he was a teenager, and he served multiple kings.

So for example, baby Loan was one and then after baby Loan fell was

Pleasure, right, So two different kingdoms. And when he died at eighty

he was still in captive. All right, But do you think that Daniel

lived a life that was victorious. Yes, Daniel still lived a victorious life

and we are still learning about Daniel today because of what he did in the

pit. So whether you are in the pit right now, know that you

can still thrive because the favor of God is with you. Okay. So

next line, So what is favor? What is favor? Favor is demonstrated

delight. The favor of God can be described as tangible evidence that a person

has the approval of the Lord. God shows favor to the ones who delight

in connect with and give honor to Him. So there are a few people

in the Bible which God showed favor to. Noah was one God showed favor

to Noah. Joseph was one God showed favor to Joseph Mary, you know,

high and highly favored one. When the angel gabriel A prayed to her,

Jesus was favored and Daniel also was favored. Okay, so what does

when you are favored? Right? What does it mean? All of us

say, hey, I want to be favored by God? But what does

that mean? What does that mean? How does that manifest? Okay,

there are a few ways that it can be manifest by. First, Next,

light, divine blessings, so Psalms nineteen, verse seventeen. May the

favor of the Lord our God rest on us. Establish the work of our

hands. For us, Yes, establish the work of our hands. So

you want the favor of God? What it does? Divine blessings. That

means right, the work of your hands will be blessed. Wouldn't you want

that? Okay, that's one divine blessings? Next? Protection? Surely Lord

you bless the righteous. Sure you surround them with your favor as with a

shield. Imagine that God's favor is surrounding you like the shield. That means

right. Nothing can penetrate with God's favor, nothing can penetrate. Thanks guidance

Probabs eight thirty five for those who find me find life and receive favor from

the Lord. So if you look for God, God gives you guidance and

that is favor. Imagine right, all of us are looking for purpose.

Right, Like I mentioned before, you walk into a bookshop. Self help

books are the most popular genre of books. Self help books. But what

if there is someone who can guide you to live your best life? Yet

it's not a what if there is a God who can lead us to live

a life our best life and we can do it with the favor of God.

Yeah, guidance. Next, intervention. How many of y'all needed intervention

in your situation? You're like, man, I don't know how am I

going to get out of this? It feels like a dead and I am

stuck. You need intervention, and that's when you need favor. Right,

But the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, you

have found favor with God. Think about Mary's situation, right, She's like

going to be married. But then God intervened, and God intervened and gave

her favor, and she became the mother of Jesus. Right, and God's

favor was with her throughout her life. Right, intervention. Next, spiritual

connection, and Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God

and man. Now this is amazing because right, what is amazing is that

Jesus grew in favor with both God and men. Right now, right,

I mean, I've been talking to you a few people. It's very rarely

right that a church is both in favor with God and men, but Jesus

was. How could Jesus have both the favor with God and men? It

is only true the favor from God that men will also think of you as

high regard. Okay, So all this is favor. So how many of

you all want favor? You know a lot of times? Right? You

know that a favor, right, it's not something you can demand, It's

not something that's demand, must be freely given. Right. You hope for

it, but that's all you can do. You can hope for it,

but only God can give it to you. Right. And you know that

Daniel lived a life of favor even though he was in the pit. So

how did he live a life of favor? Okay? Next, life,

how do you walk in the favor of God? So there's only three points

today, I wouldn't take it very long. But if we live with these

three points, we will definitely walk with the favor of God in our lives.

And He will. When you walk with the favor of God, it

does not matter whether you're in the pit or the peak, because you will

thrive through it all. Right, So next life first one first point is

devotion. Y'all know that Daniel had a really solid devotion. It was a

really really solid devotion, Okay. And even as I was preparing this,

right, I was like, oh, man, do I have the favor

of God? Because my devotion is like half past six? You know.

That's why I say when I prepared this, right, it's like, keep

on like stabbing me in my own spiritual walk God. I keep on saying

I want the favor of God. Just because I say I want the favor

of God doesn't mean I have the favor of God. Am I doing everything

that I need to do to walk in the favor of God? Right?

So Daniel lived a life of devotion and devotion to who God. If you

do not live a life of devotion to God, who do you live a

life of devotion too? Self? Exactly? You are going to live a

life of devotion. The question is to who, because if you are living

a life of devotion to self, how can you ask the favor of God?

Right? So let's look a few verses so Daniel six. Now,

when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home, and in

his upper room, with his windows open towards Jerusalem, he knelt down on

his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God,

as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel

praying and making supplications before his God. Right next light and this one in

Daniel nine. Now, while I was speaking, praying and confessing my sin

and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord,

my God for the holy mountain of my God. Yes, while I

was pray, speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen

in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly, swiftly reached me about

the time of the evening offering. Is that what was like? Next?

And he informed me and talked with me and said, oh, Daniel,

I have now come forth to give you skill to understand at the beginning of

your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you for

you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter and understand the vision. All

right, could you go back two slides, Isaac? Right, So there

are two different instances in the book of Daniel which show him having devotion.

The first one, Daniel six, was when the decree of the Lions.

Then right, like I mentioned earlier, right, there was no character flaw

mentioned about Daniel, so people had to go and make up rules to find

a flaw. You had to make rules to find that flaw. So he

says here, right, he knelt down on his knees three times that day

and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since his

early days. So it is very clear, right, three times a day

every day since his early days. When you do a bit of research,

right, this Daniel and the Lions. Then, right, how old do

you think Daniel was? Yeah, most of us think he's around that age,

right, But he's supposedly around eighty because this was after uh baby learn

fell and this is when the Persians take over. So he was like sixties

seventies, like they were saying, much much older, and he has been

seeking God daily, three times a day, and people knew that about him.

That is amazing, right that if people come to know, hey,

oh Daniel, I think this time, this time, this time, you

cannot touch him because he'll be praying. That was his devotion. Like for

us, it's like, hey, if some people as he actually Sunday,

we got even do people like suddenly stop and say, hey, oh but

Sunday yo got check right, or we're like no, like it's okay,

you know, we like but you see right, people knew that Daniel's devotion

to God was so strong it was a non negotiable. He did that from

his young age all the way to when he was old. And that's the

devotion, all right. See this man assembled found Daniel praying and making supplication

before he's got. They knew. That's why they framed. You know how

they frame. You know something's going to happen, You create some create a

rule there and then see I got but you knew it's going to happen,

all right, and the next light so you can you can see, right,

this was another time in Daniel nine whenever he was speaking, praying and

confessing his sin. Right, you saw the man Gabriel So this is the

angel Gabriel, who had seen in the vision from beginning being caused to fly

swiftly. So when Daniel prayed, right, the angels responded swiftly, because

why next night you are greatly beloved? Can you imagine that when you pray

the angels, God sends his angels to respond swiftly because Daniel was beloved.

Does that speak about favor or not? That is favor? Imagine and you

know that when Daniel prays, God listens and God answers and responds because Daniel

was devoted to God. Okay, so that's the first point devotion. Thanks

second one integrity, integrity. So why do I choose this picture? I'm

trying to find a picture for integrity. So I found this picture of a

lighthouse being just bombarded by waves. So integrity there is also called there's this

thing called structural integrity. Right, So when you build a bridge, the

bridge may look fine on the outside, but if it's not, if the

bridge loses its integrity, even though it looks like it can function, it

will collapse. And this lighthouse is a picture of integrity. No matter what

storms come that way, the lighthouse stands strong. The lighthouse does not budge,

and it does what it was meant to do. And that was what

Daniel did. Daniel lived a life of integrity. Okay, next light,

So integrity. This is Daniel one, Chapter one, chapter one, verse

eight. This is the start of his life. Daniel purposed in his heart

that he would not defil himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor

with the wine which he drank. Therefore, he requested of the chief of

the eunuchs that he might not defoil himself. Can you imagine this. You

are captured as a prisoner of war, you are herded back to Babylon.

You're basically in cuffs, you have no rights, you have nothing, but

you asked and you will most likely thinking about survival. I need to do

everything I can do to survive. And this is you see this in the

world. People will turn on people when it comes to survival, you know.

But for Daniel, right, he would say that he purposed in his

heart that he will not defile himself. It is not an excuse that he

was caught by the enemies. He's like, so what, so what if

I'm in the pit, I will still not defile myself and that is integrity.

So do we have integrity? We always we know that integrity is important.

Right, And when you, for example, when you hire somebody,

right, if a person is very skilled but has low integrity, would you

and hired that person. If a person does not have skills but has high

integrity, this person would have a higher chance because you know that this person

will do what he says and says what he does. And that's what Daniel

did. Right. Thanks, so Daniel too? Right? This was when

Nebuknaza he had a dream and he told all the wise men, you tell

me what is my dream, and you tell me what my dream means.

I told you that's an impossible thing to do. Right, But what did

Daniel say? Daniel went to God, He prayed to God, and God

revealed it to him. So, if you are a prisoner of war and

you have this kind of access to God, what power? What would you

do with it? Would you use it to alleviate your status? Would you

use it to get a better lifestyle? You know? Would you use it

to gain more favor with the king? Daniel did? None of them with

the answer. Daniel's replied, no wise man, enchanter, magician, or

diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about. But there

is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebulknezza what

will happen in the days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed

through your mind as you are lying in dispair, are these so you can

see? Right? Daniel immediately said that God is the one who has the

answer. That takes a lot of integrity. You know, do not claim

credit for somebody else's work when it puts you in a position to benefit.

Is he? But that's that's the the temptation of success, where we want

to take credit when credit is supposed to be given back to God. But

Daniel was very clear that this is because of God. God is just using

me. So his integrity was very clear. Okay, thanks, and then

he sayasier as your majesty was lying there, your mind turned to the things

to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen.

As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because

I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that your Majesty may

know the interpretation and know that you may understand what went through your mind.

Is he right? Daniel went one step further into downplay his role in all

of it. He didn't take any credit at all because he knew that God

is to be glorified. So even in the pit right, give God credit

and say, God, I know you are in control. You will keep

me, and you will sustain me. And when he delivers you give all

glory and honor back to him. And what will happen. God's favor will

continue to rest upon you and you will continue to thrive. Because this happened

in Daniel too, and it happened all the way up till Daniel. The

whole book of Daniel where you see the favor of God upon him right next

night. The last point is excellence. So the first point was devotion,

second point was integrity, the last point was excellence. Daniel had a spirit

of excellence. Again, you are forced to take a job which you don't

like, you're fosd. You're forced to learn things which is against your culture,

against what you believe in. But that did not stop Daniel from being

the best. Can you imagine that if right now, right in our places

of work, if we believe that God, God does not make any mistakes.

God has placed us exactly where we need to be, even though we

don't like it or it's not our preference. Can we still be the best

we ever be? This is a story from Daniel. All right, next,

So Daniel one seventeen to these four young men. God gave knowledge and

understanding of all kinds of literature and learning, and Daniel could understand visions and

dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king

to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to nebukenessa next

life. The king talked with him, and he found none equal to Daniel,

Henanaiah, Michelle, and Israah. So they entered the king's service,

and every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he

found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

Maybe this is where the ten X you know ten X. Now there's

this popular book. Everyone wants to be ten X. This ten X test.

You want to be ten X get a favor of God, Get the

favor of God. What was Daniel's vocation? What was Daniel's vocation it was

a magician. He was ideally magicians and enchanters in the whole kingdom. That

was his vocation in Babyland. It goes against everything he stood for, but

what he did, he redefined it into what God wants seemed to do.

And that's why he proved that God is stronger than any other gods out there,

any other magician. No, nothing can raise a glass against God.

Nothing ten ects, you know, back one's life, you see, right,

to these four young men, God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds

of literature and learning. So for them to have all kinds of understanding of

literature and learning means they had to read. Daniel and his friends did the

work. They read through every literature, they went through every learning, and

because of that, God rewarded their spirit of excellence and gave them favor.

And because of that they were ten times better than any other magician or enchanta

out there. Next line, Yeah, magician and enchanta. So that's unique,

right, okay, next one, Daniel five. In as much as

an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding and interpretation of dreams, solving riddles,

and explaining enigmas. You see, all these right sounds like telling the future.

But what was God Daniel doing. Daniel was just seeking God. Daniel

was seeking God, and that excellent spirit was what gave him favor even with

beltis Azad right. And then Daniel six verse three. Then Daniel distinguished himself

above the governors the sat traps because an excellent spirit was in him, and

the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So he was

good at what he was. And then after that God gave him favor and

expanded his territory even more. And that is the spirit of excellence. So

judge, if you want favor, we have to be excellent in everything that

we do, because we do not want people to point a finger and say

that, hey, we are lazy. You know, how come how are

we exalting God? If we are lazy? How are we exalting God?

If we are not doing the best of everything that God has given to us.

He has given us his talents for his glory, and if we are

not using it, then it is called the evil servant. Remember the evil

servant who planted his talent in the ground. The word was evil. Because

God has given you a talent and you are abusing it? What is abuse?

Misusing it? So everything that we do, we have to have a

spirit of excellence, okay, which brings me to my to a close.

Next, so how do I summarize is three points devotion, integrity, excellence,

which is the I E. Die to self. You want the favor

of God, you have to die to self. Daniel died to self.

He's surrendered completely to God right from the start. He surrendered to God,

and then God's favor just came upon him. The church this morning, we

want the favor of God. It's more than just saying God, I want

your favor. It's more than that. We have to die to self,

you know. And as a there's a quote next night, until you learn

to die to self, you will live your Christian life in defeat because the

Christian life is actually living a life fully surrendered to God. So if you

want favor from God, live a life that is fully surrendered to God.

Die to self. Right And even as I get extreme up the last line,

when God has selected you, it doesn't matter who else has rejected you.

God's favor outweighs all oppositions. Man, Think about Daniel. Think about

the number of oppositions he went through. Sometimes you say that, hey,

I have one bad boss. I hope the new boss comes in better.

He had pirates as bosses, people who have killed if they're not happy,

but with God on his side, God's favor saw him true it all.

So church this morning. If you are going through a pit, or if

we are going through a pig, regardless, God's favor is there for us

all. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more information on

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I hit for you, godless