100 Days Of Favor (27 page)

Paul asked the church in Galatia point-blank, “…Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [self-effort]?” (Galatians 3:2–3). Paul was saying to them, “You began by believing in His grace, why are you now depending on your works? That is foolishness! You should be continuing in His unmerited favor!” These are strong words by Paul. Don’t start with grace and end up with the law. Don’t start with the new covenant, only to turn back to the old covenant! There are those who say that they are not justified by the law, but believe that they should keep the law for sanctification. My friend, both justification and sanctification come by our faith in Jesus’ finished work alone.

When you are established in the new covenant of grace, you will experience a tremendous sense of confidence and security in Christ. When your confidence is in His unmerited favor and not your performance, you will not feel as if you are constantly jumping in and out of His favor and acceptance.

It is unfortunate that some believers have put themselves back under the old covenant without realizing it. Sometimes, they feel that God is on their side, but at other times, they feel that God is far away from them. Sometimes, they feel that God is satisfied with them, but at other times, they feel that God is angry with them. All these feelings are based predominantly on their own evaluation of how
they
have performed, how
they feel
about themselves, and not how God sees them. Because there is no new covenant scriptural basis for such evaluations, they end up arbitrarily deciding if they are deserving of God’s blessings and favor in their lives or not, when in fact, they actually have access to His blessings all the time, simply because of Jesus and His finished work at the cross. Today, think, talk and act knowing that it is not about you or your works—it is about Jesus and Him alone, and step out into His blessings for you!

Today’s Prayer

Father, I thank You that it was Your grace that first impacted me and changed me forever. Help me to continue in that grace, always looking at Jesus and what He has done for me. I thank You that I am under the new covenant, which means that You are always on my side, and that Your presence and blessings are mine to enjoy.

Today’s Thought

My focus will not be on me and what I have done, but upon Jesus and what He has done.

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 63

God’s Grace Transforms Us

Today’s Scripture

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you…—Isaiah 43:4,
NIV

W
OULD YOU AGREE
with me that more Christians today know about the Ten Commandments than about the new covenant of God’s unmerited favor? For that matter, if you walked down Times Square in New York City and started to interview people at random, most would probably have heard about the Ten Commandments, but know nothing about the new covenant of grace that came by Jesus Christ. In fact, the world identifies Christianity with the Ten Commandments. Isn’t it sad that the world knows us by the laws that are obsolete and not by the unmerited favor that Christ died to give us?

When you catch a revelation of Jesus and just how precious you are in His sight, your life will be supernaturally transformed.

It is no wonder we are losing a whole new generation of young people to the world! The law holds no appeal or attraction and the Bible itself calls the law obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). If we keep on shoving the Ten Commandments down the throats of our young people, don’t be surprised when they are turned off by legalistic forms of Christianity. More importantly, don’t forget that the strength of sin is the law. The law has no power to stop sin. The law will not impart to them their precious identity in Christ, which will give them the strength to abstain from premarital sex, prevent them from getting into drug abuse and stop them from losing their sexual identity. Only God’s own sacrifice on the cross can give them their new identity as a new creation in Christ Jesus!

Young people, when you catch a revelation of Jesus and just how precious you are in His sight, your lives will be supernaturally transformed. You will stop being harassed by suicidal thoughts. You will stop wanting to put yourselves at risk to “fit in” or to get the attention that you crave.

Young ladies, you will come to see and value yourselves differently as you learn to value yourselves in the same way Jesus values you. Overflowing with Jesus’ perfect love for and acceptance of you, you will not be under the illusion that you need to give your bodies away to find acceptance and love from some guy. You will love yourselves as Jesus loves you!

Young men, you will develop supernatural self-control to manage your raging hormones. You will do it not by your own willpower, but through Jesus’ power flowing through you. You will learn how to flee youthful lusts. You will know that being “cool” means respecting the opposite sex, and not putting yourselves and your girlfriends at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases and having unwanted pregnancies.

Young people, when you know that Jesus has an awesome destiny laid out for you, the desire to be involved in gangs and destructive activities such as alcohol and drug abuse and promiscuity will dissipate in Jesus’ unmerited favor and love for you. Supernaturally, your desires for the things of the world will disappear as they get replaced with the desire for Jesus! That’s the power of God’s grace (unmerited favor) and His unconditional acceptance of us through the cross. What the law could not do, God did for us by sending His own Son Jesus Christ!

Today’s Prayer

Father, I thank You that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. All my sins have been forgiven. You remember them no more and see me righteous in Christ. I thank You that I am precious in Your sight, deeply loved by You, and that You have an awesome destiny for me!

Today’s Thought

I am deeply loved by God, precious in His sight, with an awesome destiny to fulfill!

Today’s Reflection On Favor

DAY 64

Transformed By God’s Favor

Today’s Scripture

…the goodness of God leads you to repentance… —Romans 2:4

L
ET ME SHARE
with you a testimony of a youth whose life has been wonderfully transformed by the unmerited favor of God. This young man smoked his first cigarette when he was only nine years old. By the time he was 14, he was already a seasoned gangster, peddling as well as taking drugs, and selling pirated movies.

Christianity is an intimate relationship with a loving God.

With the money earned, he would treat his gang members to fancy clothes or meals, and even cover transport expenses for them to congregate for gang fights! At 15, the law caught up with him and he was sent to a boys’ reformatory home where he realized that his life needed to be turned around. And that was when God came into the picture. He said:

The home was where I first encountered God, even though I did not know it was Him then. One of my counselors, a Christian lady, prayed for me and for the first time in my life, I felt that there was “someone” watching over me. I did not think much about it then, but that’s when my heart and my perspective on life began to change.

I started attending New Creation Church (NCC) in September 2005. A friend had invited me to NCC earlier, but I declined. However, one day I happened to oversleep on the train and missed my stop. The platform I got off on was completely deserted, but I noticed a plastic bag left on one of the benches. I looked at its contents to see if I could tell who it belonged to and realized that inside it were actually sermon CDs from NCC!

So even when I didn’t want to attend NCC, God sent the church to me! It was no coincidence. It was God-directed! When I played the CDs at home out of curiosity, the presence of God was so real. I experienced such intimacy with God. As I listened to Pastor Prince’s teachings, I knew that this was the God I had always believed in,
a God who loves me regardless of who I am or what I do!

Pastor Prince’s teachings have set me free and given me a supernatural strength and passion to do His work. I don’t feel any more bondage when it comes to communicating with God, knowing that He can lead me in every situation.

The most significant change I have experienced has been my inward transformation. I used to have a very bad temper, which got me into a lot of fights because I was easily provoked.
Being conscious of His love for me
has delivered me from that. I also went from failing in high school to doing well enough in the polytechnic to qualify for a place in a university.

This young man is now a confident, cheerful person with a bright future. He gives talks at schools and at the boys’ reformatory home that he was in to share his journey with the youths and to encourage them. His life has been so incredibly transformed that even a government agency has enlisted him to speak to troubled youths. He says that ever since Jesus entered His life, he has seen His grace and favor superabound in his life. Many doors have opened for him and his life has really been enriched, with breakthroughs in areas such as his work, studies, family and relationships. Let’s give Jesus all the glory!