2021 – Year of the Lord’s Favour | Sunday Service | Jan 24, 2021

Good morning Church!

We all are gathered again at the house of the Lord. It is not because we wanted to, it is only because God wanted to.

In the past services, we read about the life of Noah, Mary, Joseph and Esther, where God’s favor was upon them. They were broken yet God restored them.

As human beings, we have this indistinct desire for the approval of others. Whether it be parents, bosses, teachers etc. It is sometimes not wrong to have favour from people, however it is God, without whose favor we are nothing.

God’s favor is the guarantee of His presence! God sometimes brings us to trials but if we seek God during such times, His favor will follow.

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Jacob’s life is filled with such trials during his time at his uncles house. God’s favour was upon him, that even his livestock was outperforming compared to his cousin.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.

God is aware if the situations and circumstances we are in, just like how God knew about Jacob’s situation. Laban was bringing trouble into Jacob’s life, but Jacob relied on God instead. And that’s how God responds when someone seeks Him.

And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.

Similar to Jacob, God favored Caleb. The second spy along with Joshua among the twelve.

But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Let us learn the reasons why God favored Caleb.

Caleb was a man of influence in his community, though Caleb was humble when it came to his relationship with God.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

If God delights and If God is pleased with us, He will walk with us.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as front-lets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Do you want to be favored by God, then we need to recognize his ways.

Even when the strong nation was against, Caleb didn’t changed his testimony. Caleb stood out from the rest as his loyalty towards God was never shaken.

Caleb enjoyed extraordinary life just because he remained faithful to God.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord , my rock and my redeemer.

Dear people of God, do you seek favor of God upon you? Do you seek the presence of our God with you? Well if your answer is yes, then today is the day when you need to start seeking God earnestly. The way to do that is to become humble and faithful, exactly how Caleb did.

We hope you will take today’s message with you and your heart a long way and may God’s favor be upon you. We look forward to see you next Sunday, God Bless!