100 Days Of Favor (9 page)

Today’s Thought

I will stop striving to gain what I want through my own attempts. I am going to depend on Jesus and receive His unmerited favor.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 18

What A Friend We Have In Jesus

Today’s Scripture

…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. —Proverbs 18:24

M
Y FRIEND, GOD
is with you today because of His precious Son, Jesus. For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, and His name is Immanuel. God gave us Jesus. The presence of Jesus in your life is a free gift from God. There is no amount of good that you can do to earn the presence of Jesus. There is no number of good works that you can perform to merit His favor. His presence in your life is a free gift. Now, because you did nothing to deserve His presence in your life, there is nothing you can do that will cause His presence to leave you. Once you have received Jesus into your heart, He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)!

Jesus is a faithful, dependable and trustworthy friend.

“
But Pastor Prince, when I fail, doesn’t Jesus leave me?”

No, Jesus is right by your side to encourage you and restore you to wholeness. You may say, “But I don’t deserve it!” That’s right. That’s what makes it His unmerited favor in your life. There is a beautiful psalm that says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand” (Psalm 37:23–24). When you fail, Jesus is there to uphold you. Unlike some of your so-called “friends,” He does not just take off. You can count on Him. He is a faithful, dependable and trustworthy friend. Even when you have failed Him, He is right there with you, ready to pick you up and restore you to wholeness. Amen! The Bible talks about a friend who “sticks closer than a brother.” That’s Jesus! Beloved, lean on His constant presence. Draw on His unfailing strength and support for you today.

Today’s Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank You that even when I fall, I will not be utterly cast down because You will uphold me with Your righteous right hand. I can count on You to pick me up and restore me to wholeness. Thank You for Your faithfulness to me and for Your unfailing, dependable presence in my life every day.

Today’s Thought

Even when I have failed Him, Jesus is right there with me, ready to pick me up and restore me to wholeness.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 19

Blessed With Good Success To Be A Blessing

Today’s Scripture

I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
—
Genesis 12:2

M
AKE NO MISTAKE
about this: God wants us to be successful. Yet, He does not want us to have success that will crush us. I am sure that you have heard many stories of people who receive a sudden windfall when they come into a large inheritance or strike the first prize in a lottery. However, for some of these people, the sudden wealth did not give them a better life. Instead, in many instances, we know that it corrupted and destroyed their lives.

God wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing!

Often, these people were not able to handle their so-called success, and ended up leaving their wives and allowing their families to break down before their eyes. Perhaps they bought all sorts of things and lived in huge houses. Yet, they still felt a chronic sense of loneliness, emptiness and dissatisfaction. The sad reality is that many of those who chanced upon such sudden wealth squandered it all away, and some even became bankrupt. Such results are clearly not the Jesus-kind of results, nor are they the Jesus-kind of success. Let me make it clear from the outset: God has no problem with you having money, but He does not want money to have you!

“But Pastor Prince, how can you say that God has no problem with us having money? Doesn’t the Bible say that money is the root of all evil?”

Hold on a minute, that’s not in the Bible. Let’s be scripturally accurate. What the Bible says is this: “For
the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evil…” (1 Timothy 6:10). Can you see the difference? Having money does not make you evil. It is the obsession with and intense love of money that lead to all kinds of evil. Just because a person has no money in his pocket does not mean that he is holy. He may well be thinking, dreaming and lusting after money all day long. You don’t need to have a lot of money to have the love of money. If a person is always purchasing lottery tickets, going to the casinos and gambling in the stock market, this person clearly has a love for money. He is obsessed with getting more money.

When God called Abraham, He said to him, “…I will bless you… and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). We who are new covenant believers in Christ are called the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:29) and like Abraham, we are called to be a blessing. Now, how can we be a blessing if we are not blessed in the first place? How can we be a blessing to others when we are always flat on our backs with sickness, living from hand to mouth, never having enough for our own family and always having to borrow from others? No way, my friend. God wants you healthy and strong, and He wants you to have more than enough financial resources so that you can be generous with your relatives, friends, community or anyone who needs help. How can you be in a position to help others if you need all the help you can get yourself? It’s definitely not God’s best for you if you barely have enough for yourself. He wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing!

Today’s Prayer

Father, thank You for wanting to bless me with more than enough, so that I can be a blessing to others, especially those in need. Give me the Jesus-kind of success that will not crush me, but be a testimony of Your goodness and grace.

Today’s Thought

God has no problem with me having money, but He does not want money to have me!

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 20

The Secret To Good Success

Today’s Scripture

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. —Proverbs 10:22

G
OD DOES NOT
simply want you to experience success in your life. He wants you to have good success. Is there such a thing as “bad success”? Yes there is and I am sure you have seen it yourself. There are people who are high achievers according to the world’s definition. Perhaps they are movers and shakers of the economy, famous celebrities who live in fabulous pads or sports stars who make millions of dollars a week hitting or kicking a ball around. However, for some of these people, what they have is only success in amassing wealth.

Having financial success alone does not equate to good success. Good success is holistic and permeates every spectrum of your life.

But, my friend, having financial success alone does not equate to good success. Good success is holistic and permeates every spectrum of your life. If you were to take a closer look at individuals who only have financial success, you would find that other areas of their lives are suffering. For instance, while they may have plenty of money, their lives could be scarred by one broken marriage after another. Beloved, being a public success but a private failure is not good success at all!

There are people who get promoted through the ranks so quickly and take on so many work responsibilities that they no longer have time to put their own kids to bed or read their little ones a bedtime story. They become victims of their own career success, and to hang on to the “success” they have created in the cutthroat corporate world, they allow their lives to zip past them. They may have earned more money than they will ever need, but they can’t enjoy their spouses and their children grow up without really knowing them.

Realize this: Even if you do win the rat race after scampering around all day, all you would have achieved is the status of number one rat! Is it really worth sacrificing your marriage and your children for that? Don’t just bury yourself in climbing the corporate ladder. Make sure your ladder is placed against the right building, and don’t wait till you reach the top before you realize that it’s not what you really want out of life.