Favour of God (Part 2)

Sunday, December 10th, 2017 

Speaker : Pst. Manoj Arunkumar.
Summarization : Shruti Vanjare.

People's favor puts you down, but God's favour always lifts you up. You'll never become a slave when God shows you His favour. Never take any favours from humans because,

Jeremiah 17:5- “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord.”

The blind man became a beggar because he couldn't do anything on his own and was dependent on begging on men's favour. All these days, he trusted and tried to get favour from men but when he heard about Jesus, he decided that it is better get favoured by Jesus. When God shows you favour, you will be restored of everything that you have lost. When his sight was restored, he saw the face of Jesus who showed him favour, for the first time. When God shows you favour, your eyes are on Jesus.

Luke 1:26-28- “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

‘Gabriel,’ (el- Almighty God) When your name is attached with God, you're a messenger of God. When God's favour is upon you, God is with you. It's not just favoured, but Highly Favoured.

v 28-33- But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Twice, Gabriel mentions that Mary is highly favored. When you have the favour of God, you don't need to have any fear. When he realized that Mary is getting scared, he implies that Favour comes with a package labelled “Do not be afraid!” When you have Jesus, you have everlasting blessings, because His kingdom has no end. When you have the Favour of God, it has no end and it's everlasting! The favour of God is the beginning till the end. You are Favoured on every step, by God. We are favoured because His kingdom has no end.   v 34- 37- “Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Mary started with a very unfamiliar situation. It was not a very good start and her journey was unexpected. But God's favor came upon her and she got ready to fulfill the promises of God. People have started making Mary into an idol, instead of a role model. They haven't learnt anything from her character, but give her more importance than Jesus himself. Mary is not a God, but she was an ordinary person like you and I, a person saved by grace; whom God used in an extraordinary way. Four things to be learnt from the character of Mary are as follows;

 Availability- No matter who you are, God can use you. Nobody in the world, or even Nazareth knew who Mary is. God works in the favour way. The experience of Mary teaches us that God isn't interestted in your abilities, but your availabilities. Thus, no matter who you are God will use you.

 Purity- She was a virgin, an ordinary girl with some serious liability, that is purity. Mary was young, and pledged to be married. In Nazareth, when a girl reaches the age of 14, they find a boy to be engaged to and thus they kept their virginities secure as they were prone to sin. God didn't think of it that way but thinks in a different way, unlike us.

 Poverty- Lambs were extremely expensive in those days, thus Mary and Joseph bought two doves instead (Luke 2:24). This shows how poor they were. God isn't discriminating between poor and rich, but he looks at how in the midst of your poverty you can offer him doves. Mary was willing to offer a sacrifice amidst her poverty. God isn't interested in your income, but your heart willing to sacrifice to him.

 Nazarene- In the 1st Century, Nazareth was famous for one thing; Sin. Nazareth was famous for red wine and red light, and it had a very bad reputation. That's why Nathaniel said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) But, God's high Favour came upon Mary and God was with her. The town was so bad, full of alcohol and debauchery and it was not possible to find good characteristics there. God sees that one person which is you, and you are highly favored by God. You may be amidst of chaos, but when God's favour comes upon you, you don't need to look at people because God looks at you the way he looks at heaven. God didn't go to Jerusalem, Palestine, India or England but he went to Nazareth from where nothing good comes, but when God sees he doesn't see like men. Men look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Gabriel can come to your house anytime, with a message from the heart of God, saying that you're highly favored.

v 38- Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”

Healing, deliverance, riches, honor, prosperity and stability comes from God. Nothing is impossible for God when he chooses you. In front of the ability of God, every man's ability crumbles. God will not work with your abilities, but with your inabilities. God will not work as you think, thus, work according to the thinking of God. These were the qualities that Mary had inside of her, because of which God chose and used her;

1) Humility
2) Availability
3) Faith

She knew she wasn't worthy, but was available and believed that God would use her. She trusted Him, and her faith was on Him. She didn't even trust Joseph, but she put all her faith in God. Mary trusted God fully. Therefore, she was humble, available and faithful.

“If you think you're too small to be effective, you've never been in bed with a mosquito.”

If you think you're useless for God, think again! He's looking for the humble, available and faithful. When people give reasons for God's presence, that's when God says that you aren't available for Him and he ain't interested in you. God has given you so much, but when it comes to giving him time we're never available. God blesses those who are available for Him. Mary never said No to God. Your humility, availability and faith in God will bless you in abundance because nothing is impossible for Him.

When you're highly favored, you'll give birth to favour. Favor gives birth to Favour, and his kingdom will have no end; for God nothing is impossible. Jesus was born through favor, he was filled with the holy spirit and thus he's the temple of God.