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Introduction:
Do you have a situation where things are not working out for you? Probably, it has been years or months and nothing is changing. It maybe a negative medical condition, tough finances, children not settled, your breakthrough getting delayed. Now, the future seems dim and you are on the verge of giving up. At such times it is easy to get discouraged and be all negative. God is telling you today, “Do not be discouraged. I am going to thrust you to a new level because of my favour.”
Psalm 5:12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. The psalmist said God’s favour surrounds us like a shield. That means everywhere you go you have an advantage, a divine presence, opening up the right doors, causing things to fall in its place and giving you the right break.
Illustration: I remember going to my grandfather’s house when I was a child. He had a small petty shop and he used to take me every day to his shop. Children used to come pay money and pick up chocolates but I could pick up any chocolate I want absolutely free. That is favour because I am his grandson. When we are the sons of the Almighty God, we are favoured by God.
Favour means – To assist, to provide with advantages, to receive preferential treatment, approve.
No matter who is against you, what is not working out God has surrounded you with his favour to thrust you to your destiny.
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and favour, and your care has preserved my spirit. If you believe it or not, God’s children are surrounded by God’s favour day and night.
God told Abraham in Genesis 12:2 AMP And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] (God’s favour is not for just once or twice, he said he will do favour in abundance.) and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]. You and I are the seed of Abraham. God wants to do favour us likewise. God’s favour is such that it keeps on coming and he will bless us so much that we will end up to be a blessing to others.
God’s favour causes you to be promoted even though you are not qualified, God’s favour gives you blessing even though you don’t deserve it. God’s favour will put you at the right place at the right time. God’s favour heals you in spite of your condition. God is saying to you what he said to Abraham, “I am going to assist you, I am going to provide you with advantages, I am going to give you preferential treatment and bless you.” Somebody is receiving that favour today.
Examples of God’s favour
Throughout the Bible we can find God’s favour blessing and prospering God’s people.
1. Mary.
Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
2. Samuel.
1 Samuel 2:26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.
3. Noah.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
4. Jesus Christ.
Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
5. Joseph.
Genesis 39:4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
Genesis 39:21 But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
It was God’s favour that lifted him up from the empty well and put him as the prime minister of Egypt.
6. The Israelites.
The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians. They were not paid the right labor. Eventually the situation worsened to the level that they were supposed to make their due straw out of nothing. They were oppressed, beaten, and in utter dismay. On one side, they are God’s special chosen people on the other side they are nowhere near to their promise. When we hit rock bottom, that is where God’s that is where we can see God’s favour.
Exodus 3:21 And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. We know God rose up his servant Moses. Moses went to Egypt and after 10 plagues hit the Egyptians, Pharaoh let the people God. God is faithful, he did not want these people to go empty-handed. God paid them double for their trouble, they got back more than they lost.
Exodus 12:33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”
Exodus 12:35-36 35The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
I am telling you, God’s favour will cause your enemies to change their attitude towards you. God’s favour will enable you to receive back all that you have lost. Your promotion might be delayed, you might feel that you are cheated, your maybe oppressed, but if God’s favour is on you, you are on the winning side. Somebody shout an Amen! Somebody say, “I am favoured.”
7. Ruth.
Today we will focus on Ruth.
God’s favour on Ruth.
In the Book of Ruth we can find a family that is totally broken. Noami and Elimelek went to Moab with their two sons because of a famine. There both sons married Moabite women. Soon Elimelek and his two sons die. Naomi decides to go back to Bethlehem and asks both her daughter-in-laws to go back to their mother’s house. This family has been going through trials, problems, one after the other. Some of you here has hit the bottommost pit in your life, you are facing setback one after the other. You are in the verge of a break through. Your favour is on the way.
Ruth 1:14-16 14At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.” 16But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”
Look at Ruth’s heart. Ruth had a heart that very few people have, loyalty in tough times, a committed heart. How many people will stick to you when you have nothing? How many of you will stick to God in your deepest pain? God shows favour to such people. Ruth 1:18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Now both Ruth and Naomi reach Bethlehem. Now I just want you to look at favor of God upon undeserving Ruth and Naomi.
Ruth 2:1-2 1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
Ruth knew she has come to the right godly family. She knew she was right by sticking to Ruth. Now that everything she has done is right, she started living favour-mined even though she had nothing. You have come to the right place, live favour minded.
Ruth 2:3-5 3So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. 4Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. 5Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?
1. Favour allows you to be noticed.
2. Favour puts you in the right place at the right time.
Ruth 2:6-8 6The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” 8So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me.
Ruth 2:13 “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.”
3. Takes you from being a nobody to be a somebody.
God’s favour enables you to be shown kindness from others.
4. Favour protects you.
Ruth 2:9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you.
5. Favour provides for you.
Ruth 2:9b And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.
Ruth 2:10-12 10At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” 11Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
6. Favour Repays your loss.
You are going to get back all that you have lost. I do not know what you have lost, who has cheated you. “I am going to repay you for all your loss,” says the Lord.
7. Favour lets your Cup overflow.
Ruth 2:14-18 14At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over.15As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” 17So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. 18She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.
How to receive God’s favour?
1. Repent.
2. Call unto God.
3. Live Favour-minded.
Ruth 2:1-2 1Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. 2And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”
Conclusion:
The God of Ruth is our God. The God of the Abraham is our God. I am going to see God’s favour. I do not know if somebody here is going through a rough time in life. But as long as God is on your side, you will bounce back. You need to life favour minded.
Psalm 30:5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
God’s favour is what helps you to accomplish things in your life that you could not accomplish on your own. God will enable his people to stand out, to get breaks that you did not deserve. God’s favour will make you the head not the tail. God’s favour will surround you with blessings. It is called divine favour.
I can see God’s favour surround his people this morning. You are going to get breaks that never seemed possible because of the favour of God. I prophesy God’s favour, double for your trouble upon you in Jesus’ name.
For more sermons visit our:
Website: https://cityharvestag.com/sermons/?sermon_topics=hope
Podcast : https://city-harvest-sermons.simplecast.com/episodes/amazing-grace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CityHarvestA...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cityharvestag/
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