Unmerited Favor (28 page)

When you know that you are God’s beloved, you will be able to take down all the giants in your life!

What a powerful revelation. It means that whenever you are full of the revelation that
you
are highly favored in the Beloved, you can overcome any temptation thrown at you. The next time the devil tries to rob you of your sense of being beloved by making you think that God is angry with you, ignore him. Ignore him when he says, “How can you call yourself a Christian?” You are God’s beloved! By the way, did you know that David’s name in Hebrew means “beloved”? When you know that you are God’s beloved, you will be able to take down all the giants in your life!

Nearness To God In The Beloved

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he tells them to return to their father and to tell him, “...come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of
Goshen
, and you shall be
near to me
, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.”
⁶
The name “Goshen” means “drawing near.”
⁷
God wants you to be in “Goshen,” which is a place of nearness to Him, and there is no place nearer to Him than being in the Beloved. God’s heart of love is not satisfied with just removing your sins from you. No, He wants more. He wants you in His presence. He wants you in the place where He can lavish the bountiful love in His heart on you!

When you draw near to Jesus, look what happens. Joseph tells his brothers to also tell their father, “
There I will provide for you
, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine.”
⁸
When you draw near to your heavenly Joseph, He will provide for you and your little ones. In the midst of financial famine in the world, in the midst of rising fuel and food costs, do not despair. Draw near to Jesus, for there in “Goshen,” in that place of nearness, He will provide for you and your household. Your God shall supply ALL your needs according to HIS riches (not according to your bank account balance or to the world’s economic situation) in glory by Christ Jesus!
⁹

Protection In The Beloved

That’s not all, my friend. Another blessing that you can enjoy when you are in the Beloved is divine protection. In recent years, new strains of deadly viruses have been making headlines. But whatever the virus may be, whether it’s the bird flu or swine flu or some other new plague, you can safely claim Psalm 91 for yourself. You can declare, “A thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand; but it shall
not
come near me, God’s beloved!”
¹⁰

When there were plagues and pestilences all over Egypt because Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, look at what God said about the children of Israel: “...I will set apart the land of
Goshen
, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between My people and your people...”
¹¹
There is a difference between God’s beloved people and the people of the world. Although Egypt was plagued by swarms of flies and other pestilences, the children of Israel were safe in the land of Goshen, completely untouched by the troubles!

So even if there are bad things happening in the world today, remember that as God’s beloved child, you are
in
the world, but not
of
the world.
¹²
No plague, no evil and no danger can come close to you and your dwelling place because you are safe in the secret place of the Most High. As the children of Israel were kept safe and protected in Goshen, so will you and I, whom God calls His beloved!

Daily Nourishment In Knowing That You Are God’s Beloved

Now, let’s look at Jesus’ response to the devil’s temptation in the wilderness. Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
¹³
There is a powerful revelation hidden in Jesus’ reply. In the original Greek text, the word used for “word” here is
rhema
, which means “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken.”
¹⁴
I call this the “now-word” or “the word in season.” Jesus was referring to a very specific word. Can you recall what it was? The now-word for Jesus was what the Father had just said to Him at the Jordan River—“You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Every single word uttered by the Father here was bread for Jesus. They are also bread for us to live by. And because Jesus was conscious that He was His Father’s beloved Son, He was able to overcome every temptation the devil brought.

Live each day feeding on God’s love, grace, perfect acceptance of and unmerited favor toward you.

Jesus said that man “shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” “Bread” here speaks of physical nourishment. Jesus was saying that it is not enough to just eat physical food. We need to draw nourishment from and live by
rhema
too. We need to know what the specific now-word from God to us is. Just as it is important for us to get physical nourishment from food, it is important for us to get spiritual nourishment from Jesus and His words to us.

My friend, God wants you to live each day knowing that you are His beloved child, in whom He is well pleased. That is your daily nourishment from Him—to know, believe and confess that you are His beloved and that you are well-pleasing to Him all the time.

So live each day feeding on God’s love, grace, perfect acceptance of and unmerited favor toward you. When you do so, you are reminding yourself that you are His beloved no matter what happens to you. When you are constantly full of the consciousness of His favor on your life, nothing can get you down. You will have such a confidence of God’s goodness toward you that even when the devil starts throwing lemons at you, you know that God will turn those lemons into refreshing lemonade for you! You begin to have a confident expectation of good even when circumstances in the natural don’t look so great. That is walking by faith in Jesus’ goodness, and not by sight. You are no longer looking at your challenges. You are looking at Jesus’ face shining upon you and imparting grace into your situation.

If it matters to you, it matters to God.

When you are confident that you are God’s beloved, not only will you overcome the devil’s temptations, you will dare to ask Him to bless you even in the little things. Many years ago, Wendy and I went to a restaurant for dinner when she was pregnant with Jessica. As we were about to order our food, a man seated not too far away from us took out a pack of cigarettes and prepared to take a smoke. I really didn’t want Wendy to take in any of that secondhand cigarette smoke, but there was no nonsmoking section in that restaurant. So guess what I did? I prayed! Under my breath, I told the Lord, “Lord, I know that I am your beloved. Please stop that man from smoking in this restaurant.” That was all I said—a quick and simple prayer.

Guess what happened? That man tried to light his cigarette, but he just could not get his lighter to work! He persisted and kept trying, but no matter what he did, the lighter simply would not work. After some time, he shoved his cigarettes back in his shirt pocket in frustration. Praise Jesus! Even in the little things, God hears and answers the prayers of His beloved. Nothing is too big or too small for your Daddy God. If it matters to you, it matters to Him. When you know that you are His beloved, you can walk in constant expectation of His unmerited favor in every situation!

For God So Loved You

Some years ago, I was taking a cab in New York and I took the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the driver. Her response was quite typical. She said flippantly, “God loves everybody, man!”

It is absolutely true that God loves everybody, but to experience His love firsthand in your life, you have to personalize His love
for you.
Jesus died for you and do you know that even if you were the only person on earth, God would still have sent His Son to die on the cross for you? That is how precious YOU are to Him!

You need to personalize John 3:16 by declaring, “For God so loved _______________ (insert your name), He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for _______________ (insert your name).” Be like John, who personalized the Lord’s love for him by calling himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

The sun shines on every blade of grass in a field. But if you put a magnifying glass over one particular blade of grass, it will center the heat from the sun over that blade, and that blade of grass will burn.

That is what I have been hoping to do with this book. I have been putting the magnifying glass of Jesus’ love and unmerited favor over your life. I want you to be so conscious of Jesus’ unmerited favor that your heart can be set ablaze with His unconditional love for you.

God, who loves you deeply, is on your side, and because of that, you can enjoy good success in all that you do!

Jesus said in Matthew 8:20, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to
lay
His head.” The Greek word for “lay” here is
klino.
¹⁵
It is the same word used in John 19:30—“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And
bowing
His head, He gave up His spirit.” The Greek word for “bowing” here is
klino
. In other words, after Jesus said, “It is finished!” He laid His head to rest. He finally found His rest in LOVING YOU.

As you close this book, may you burn with the revelation that God, who loves you deeply, is on YOUR side. And because of that, you
can
enjoy good success in all that you do!

Closing Words

Throughout this book, I have endeavored to show you how it is God’s delight to bless you with good success in every area of your life through His unmerited favor. While success to the world comes by one’s self-effort, willpower and striving by one’s own strength, God’s way to supernatural, effortless success is for you to depend totally on His unmerited favor. This unmerited favor, which you do not deserve and cannot earn for yourself, will perfect every imperfection in your life and transform every area of weakness and struggle that you are facing now into testimonies of His grace and power.

Many believers are living lives of defeat today because they are depending on their own obedience to the law to be blessed. They do not know that Jesus’ unmerited favor IS the new covenant that we can enjoy today, made possible only through the cross and the obedience of Jesus Christ. This means that we can move from merely experiencing a little bit of His unmerited favor here and there to seeing it permeate every aspect of our lives.

I believe with all of my heart that as you have taken this exciting journey with me into the heart of our heavenly Father to bless you through the finished work of Jesus, God has been laying a strong foundation in you that will set you up for every success in life. More and more will you see Jesus’ unmerited favor manifest in your family life, career and relationships, and less and less will you settle for what is less than God’s best for you.

It is my heart’s desire to see God’s grace and peace multiplied in every aspect of your life. Once more, let me bring your attention to 2 Peter 1:2. It says, “Grace [unmerited favor] and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” The more you know and see Jesus, the more God’s unmerited favor and peace will be multiplied in your life. That is why I have, from chapter to chapter, sought to unveil the person of Jesus and the perfection of His finished work. The more you see Him, the more you will move from self-occupation that brings stress, frustration and defeat, to Christ-occupation that releases the peace, joy, divine wisdom and supernatural ability to handle every challenge in life.

I want your life to be radically blessed, and this can only happen if the unmerited favor of God is radically preached to you, and I pray I have done that in this book. What the Lord said to me in 1997 as I was vacationing with my wife in the lovely Swiss Alps is still as vivid to me as ever: “If you don’t preach grace (unmerited favor) radically, people’s lives will never be radically blessed and radically transformed.”

My friend, I hope you have enjoyed reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you have been blessed by the many truths that I have shared, and hunger for more, you can find more of these powerful foundational truths and revelations about the grace (unmerited favor) of God laid out in my earlier book,
Destined To Reign
. In it, I explain in greater detail how to rightly divide God’s Word, how our new covenant of grace gives abundant life, and how we can reign in life simply by receiving an abundance of God’s grace and His gift of righteousness. And like many whose lives have been wonderfully blessed and transformed through reading
Destined To Reign
, may you also be tremendously blessed by the foundational and life-changing truths that you will find in that book.

As expressed in my previous book
Destined To Reign
, all that I have shared works most powerfully and effectively within the environment of the local church. These truths are for the greater good of the body of Christ and should never result in you becoming a law unto yourself. Beloved, I want to see you enjoying the safety of the covering of a local church where there is accountability and submission. This is where our blessings are tremendously multiplied.

What a journey it has been! I have truly enjoyed your company. I pray that I have deposited in your heart a strong sense of being greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved by our Lord. Remember that He is with you as He was with Joseph in the Bible. And when He is with you, He will cause everything that your hands touch to prosper. As He did for Joseph, He will cause you to see good success in every area of your life to the glory of God. I look forward to hearing from you about how the words in this book have blessed you, empowered you and given you good success in life.

Till we meet again, Joseph Prince