100 Days Of Favor (4 page)

Today’s Prayer

Father, help me to keep my eyes on Jesus, the one who is altogether lovely. For my sake, Lord Jesus, You became a man so that today, You understand everything I’m going through and every emotion I feel. Thank You, Jesus, for not condemning me, but loving me always and for reassuring me today that I have the presence of the all-loving and all-powerful God-Man in my life to help and prosper me in every area of life.

Today’s Thought

Jesus understands and identifies with all that I have gone through, am going through and will ever go through in this life.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 6

Saving You Is God’s Job Description

Today’s Scripture

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” —Matthew 1:20–21

T
HE NAME
“J
ESUS
” is
Yeshua
in Hebrew, which contains an abbreviation for
Yahweh,
the name of God in Hebrew. So the name “Jesus” literally means “
Yahweh
is our Savior” or “The Lord is our Savior”! What a beautiful name!

Jesus is your Savior!

Every time you call the name of Jesus, the name that is above every other name, you are calling God Himself to save you. Saving you is Jesus’ job description! Whatever the challenge or circumstance, whatever crisis you are in—physically, financially or emotionally—you can call on the name of Jesus and Almighty God Himself will save you!

My friend, you can take time to know the names of God, which He revealed under the old covenant, such as
Elohim, El Shaddai, El Elyon, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe
and
Jehovah-Nissi.
You can do a complete study on the names of God. I am not against that at all. I teach on the names of God in my church as well, but all these names will mean nothing to you if you don’t know that God Almighty Himself, Jesus, wants to save you first from all your sins, then from all your challenges.

God can be all powerful, but if you are not confident that He is interested in your success, His power would mean nothing to you. So, you don’t have to memorize all the names of God from the old covenant. What you need is a full revelation that Jesus, in the new covenant, is your
Savior!
What is Tiger Woods famous for? Golf! What is David Beckham famous for? Soccer! (He’s also famous for product endorsements!) What is Jesus famous for? Saving you!

What do you need saving from today? See Him in your situation, rescuing, protecting and providing for you!

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, because You are my mighty Savior, there is no challenge or circumstance that can successfully defeat me. Thank You for saving me from my sins and from every challenge that besets me today. I receive Your wisdom, protection and provision to deliver me from and prosper me in every difficult circumstance I have to deal with today.

Today’s Thought

Jesus has saved me from my sins and His power is available to save me from any and every challenge in my life.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 7

God Is Able And Willing

Today’s Scripture

And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. —Matthew 8:2–3

A
LL
C
HRISTIANS PROBABLY
believe that God has the
power
to bless, heal, protect, prosper and make someone a success. However, we know that not all Christians believe that God is
willing
to do all that for them. Matthew 8:1–3 records the story of a leper who came to Jesus for healing. He said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” The leper did not doubt Jesus’ ability to heal him, but he was unsure if Jesus was
willing
to heal
him,
a leper who was ostracized by all. In other words, he believed in God’s omnipotence, but was not sure if God’s heart was one of love and unmerited favor toward him. I am sure that you know believers who are like that. They may believe in God’s power, but they are unsure of God’s heart toward them. They know that God can, but they are not sure if He is willing.

Whatever breakthrough you are believing Jesus for, He says to you, “I AM WILLING.”

This is one of the biggest tragedies in the church today. When these believers hear testimonies of believers being healed by the Lord, they are unsure if God is also willing to heal them. When they read praise reports of the Lord blessing others with promotions and financial blessings, they privately question if God is also willing to do the same for them. They wonder what these people
did
to get their blessings.

More tragically, they look at their own lives, imperfections and failings, and start to disqualify themselves from receiving God’s blessings. They think, “Why would God bless me? Look at what I’ve done. I am so undeserving.” Instead of having faith to believe God for their breakthroughs, they feel too condemned to be able to believe in God’s goodness and receive anything good from Him.

My friend, don’t be like that leper who completely misread Jesus! Let’s see how Jesus responded to him. This is important because it would be the same response that Jesus would give you if you approached Him today.

Matthew 8:3 records that “Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’” Can you see how personal Jesus’ ministry is? He did not touch every person that He healed. At times, He simply spoke and the sick were healed. But in this case, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched the leper tenderly. I believe that Jesus did this to heal him not just of his leprosy, but also of the emotional scars that he had received from years of rejection.

Leprosy was a highly contagious disease and the law forbade lepers from coming into contact with anyone. This meant that for years, this leper had been shunned by everyone who saw his condition, even his own family members. He probably stank of decaying flesh and neglect, and his appearance must have been repulsive.

But without flinching, Jesus touched him, giving him the first human touch he had since he contracted the disease. The Bible tells us that immediately, his leprosy was cleansed and the man received his healing.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Whatever breakthrough you are believing Him for, He says to you, “I AM WILLING.” Don’t doubt His heart of love for you any longer. Stop being occupied by your own disqualifications and be completely absorbed in His love and grace (unmerited favor) toward you!

Today’s Prayer

Father, thank You for recording the story of the leper in Your Word for me. It shows me that when it comes to healing and all the other blessings that Jesus died to give me, You CAN and ARE WILLING to give them to me. I thank You that my imperfections and failings don’t disqualify me from Your blessings because the blood of Jesus has already qualified me. His sacrifice unleashes Your unmerited favor and blessings upon me! Thank You for the blessings that You have lined up for me to walk in today.

Today’s Thought

God can and He IS WILLING to do it for ME!

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 8

God’s Love For You Is Personal, Detailed And In-Depth

Today’s Scripture

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. —1 Peter 5:6–7

T
HERE ARE MANY
believers today who don’t cast their cares upon the Lord. I believe that it is because they don’t have a revelation that He cares for them. Look at what His Word says: “casting all your care upon Him, for
He cares for you.
” Unless you have absolute confidence that Jesus cares for you, you will not cast your cares upon Him. Just think, would you call upon the help of a relative or friend in your time of need if you were not confident that the person would respond to your call? Jesus cares for you. When you call upon Him, know that you have His fullest attention with all of heaven’s resources backing you up!