Welcome!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Today: Got favor?
Passage: Like 1
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.(Luke 1:30, NIV)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.(Eph 2:8, NIV)
I have heard people talking about receiving God’s favor
But if you are a child of God, I tell you, you have received God’s favor. Let no one ever deceive you saying, “you have not received God’s favor”!
Grace/favor is from God; we receive it by faith, and even that faith is from God.
The process of salvation is the greatest miracle
We were unworthy of this great gift of Jesus Christ
It was because of God’s decision to give us the greatest gift of our life, that we have Jesus in us and with us
Once Jesus comes on the inside, we can no longer be the same (2 Cor 5;17)
He fills us with hope and joy; He transforms us
When two people come together because of Christ, God does great things there
41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.(Luke 1:41, NIV)
Elizabeth was instantly filled with the Holy Spirit, as Mary met her and greeted her
We did not know that even a greeting from someone with Jesus on the inside can make a difference!
I have heard about some of the late, great revival preachers, that people would just came and confess their sins, even as they are seeing them the first time
The more time we spent with Jesus, the more we become like Jesus
When Jesus went into some places, the demonic in those places recognized Him without any introduction from anybody
Is it O.K for us to be recognized in the name of Jesus, in the unexpected places, and among people who don’t have Christ in them?
When we go for an event which is not church-related, we may try to “hide” the Jesus in us
Paul was very much concerned about the Galatian Christians, who would not grow into maturity in Christ
19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, 20 how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!(Gal 4:19, NIV)
It was very easy for someone to deceive them and inject another Jesus into them
When Jesus takes “full stature” in you, He will be revealed to the world through you; the word of God and prayer must be our focus
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.(1 Peter 2: 1-3, NIV)
2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”(Acts 6:2-4, NIV)
The Apostles were serious about the word of God and prayer
Today, many problems are because those of us who are to devote ourselves to prayer and the word of God get into lot of other business
Not only that we get “stunted” in growth, but we also start bothering others
The coming of Christ is near; what are we about?
We need to grow; it is time to reveal Jesus to others through our words and actions
God bless you
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for having favor with me and making me your child. Help me to grow to spiritual maturity. Amen