FAVOR THAT WILL CHANGE THINGS

Today’s Bible readings are Esther 1:1-3:15, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, Psalm 35:17-28, & Proverbs 21:19-20

Esther 2:16-18

¹⁶ Esther was taken to King Xerxes at the royal palace in early winter of the seventh year of his reign. ¹⁷ And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. ¹⁸ To celebrate the occasion, he gave a great banquet in Esther’s honor for all his nobles and officials, declaring a public holiday for the provinces and giving generous gifts to everyone.

The story of Esther is one that never gets old reading. We see in this story the difference that the favor of God can make in a person’s life. We see how God can give a person a precise opportunity to make a decisive decision that that can welcome such extravagant favor into their life that they are never the same. We also see how the favor of God in a person’s life can be used to change the course of a nation.

At this particular time in the history of the nation of Israel, there was great distress. There were some who wanted to see Israel annihilated. They began to devise their plans in an attempt to destroy the people of God. Yet we see that God had other plans. He had raised up Esther to do an incredible act of turning the kings hearts so the people of God could be spared. Ultimately, Esther would preserve the blood line in which the Messiah would come through to save & redeem all humanity.

Esther, much like us, didn’t think that she could fulfill the task of moving the king’s heart. She had a certain degree of doubt. But as Mordecai encouraged her, she started to see things in a different perspective. She started to see that maybe she could make a difference, even if it meant her risking her life.

I want to point out that it DOESN’T MATTER that there is an enemy trying to destroy you when you have the favor of God. The favor of God is like a shield. It will protect you from the attacks of the enemy. I can remember a time when I was still in prison. My parole date was drawing near. All the guys kept telling me that I was going to be denied parole. Even my counselor told me not to get my hopes up.

They were doing what they thought was best. They were trying to keep me from being let down. Yet, on the inside I k new that God had something BETTER for ME! I knew that I had His favor in my life. I also knew that meant that God would do the impossible for me.

I knew that the things I were told may be true for most people BUT NOT ME BECAUSE I WAS WALKING IN THE FAVOR OF GOD!

I continued to trust in God & obey Him in the small things. His favor continued to follow me & shield me. When I went in before the parole board they said: “Mr. Schlotter, everything in your files tells us not to grant you parole. We don’t know why, but for some reason we are going to give you a chance. Don’t mess it up.”

What they didn’t know is what I had come to learn-The favor of God can move the hearts of men to do what they normally wouldn’t do!!! The favor of God can bring to you what others only dream about!!!

Favor with God is what every person wants.

1.     Favor opens doors that no man can close.

2.     Favor closes doors that no man can open.

3.     Favor can unlock greater blessing in your life.

4.     Favor can get you that promotion

5.     Favor can cause other to bless you.

6.     Favor can cause you to be in the right place & the right time.

I want to stress to you that favor is not necessarily unmerited. If you want the favor of God in your life you have to be willing to pay the price for it. I believe that the price of favor is OBEDIENCE.

 Those who walk in obedience to God & His Word are people who walk in His favor. Why is it that some people walk in a greater degree of the favor of God? It is because they walk in a greater degree of surrender to Him & His Word.

Listen to these promises from God:

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. ² You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:

³ Your towns and your fields will be blessed.  ⁴ Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed. ⁵ Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. ⁶ Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed. ⁷ “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!  ⁸ “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

⁹ “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. ¹⁰ Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

¹¹ “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. ¹² The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. ¹³ If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. ¹⁴ You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.

This is the promise to those who obey. When I read these things what I really see is the favor of God. We all want to see these things manifested in our lives, but they only come through our surrendering to the will of God & walking in it. Those that surrender find favor. Those that don’t end up wondering why things aren’t working for them the way they are working for those who have favor. The answer is simple—

 

DOERS OF THE WORD ARE FAVOR FINDERS.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter

DON’T TRY TO BE A CHIEF IF GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE AN INDIAN

Today’s Bible readings are Ezra 4:24-6:22, 1 Corinthians 3:5-23, Psalm 29:1-11, & Proverbs 20:26-27

1 Corinthians 3:5-9

⁵ After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. ⁶ I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. ⁷ It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. ⁹ For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

I want to talk to you today about the principal of serving with excellence in what God has called you to do. It seems to me that we tend to get envious, & even jealous, of other people & their abilities. We look at certain ministries & we think that they are more important that other ministries. Sometimes we will avoid a particular area of service because we think we that there is another area of ministry that we would like doing better.

It is like the person who says:

1.     I don’t want to serve in the nursery but I would love to stand on the platform & sing.

2.     I won’t serve in the bus ministry but if you need somebody to do something important you can call on me.

3.     I don’t like cleaning but I love to preach.

There are all kinds of thought like this that people develop. I want to be very clear—this all stems from PRIDE!

1.     It is pride that makes us puff up like this.

2.     It is pride that makes us miss wonderful blessings.

3.     It is pride that comes before destruction.

Paul dealt with this in his ministry. People got into wrong thinking about these things. He made it clear that it doesn’t matter what part of service you are involved in, IT IS ALL A TEAM EFFORT!!! Some people will be in the spot light while others do less spectacular things BUT they work together for the SAME Jesus & will share in the SAME reward!!!

The purpose for our effort is the SAME—to reach people for Jesus. What difference does it make if you are the one on the platform getting all the recognition or if you are the one driving the bus full of shouting kids? It takes both in order for the harvest to come!

As men, we pay more respect to those who have positions of prestige & power. It is not the case with God.

·        If you want to be great you will be a servant.

·        If you want to be first you must be last.

·        If you want to find your life you must lose your life.

We think that if we aren’t in the limelight we are not important to God’s plan. I believe that the opposite in more true. If you are not where God has called you to be you have lost out on purpose & blessing, even if the place where you are appears to be a place of prestige & power. In other words, if God called you to work with kids but you chose to be a CEO instead, YOU MISSED THE MARK & ARE MSSING YOUR GREATEST DAYS OF BLESSING & PROSPERITY!!! 

Everybody wants to be the chief. The problem with that is that God has not designed it to be that way. Most people are called to be indians. That is the way that it is supposed to be. It doesn’t mean that God is unfair. We must learn to trust in Him when it comes to this. God is perfect in all of His ways. Your purpose is the same as the chief’s; the function is what is different.

Don’t envy the position of others because you do not know the burden they bear in stewarding that position. Instead, be who God created you to be. If it is a chief then be the best chief you can be. If it is an indian, then stop trying to be the chief & be the best indian the world has ever seen. This is what makes the kingdom grow & blessing flow!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter

 

VISION CHANGER

Today’s Bible readings are Ezra 3:1-4:23, 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4, Psalm 28:1-9, & Proverbs 20:24-25

1 Corinthians 2:9

⁹ That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Are you perishing because of a lack of vision? I want to take a moment to encourage you today. You may be going through difficulties of many kinds but I assure you that God has great things in store for you! Even if you have been in a season of difficulty, know this, God has great things planned for your future.

I know you may be wondering how I can be so sure about that. The answer is simple; BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU!

This verse makes it clear that your wildest dreams can’t even compare to what God really desires to do in your life. Think about that for a moment. Take your greatest dream of what life could be & multiply that times infinity. That is how awesome God’s plan is for your life. It is not an overstatement. It is fact.

There has never been a person who desires to do good things in your life more than God. He has the very best gifts in store for you. Here are a few of them:

1.      He desires to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 Luke 11:11-13

¹¹ “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? ¹² Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! ¹³ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Why does God desire for you to have this wonderful gift?

·       He wants His love shed abroad in your heart. (Rom. 5:5)

·       He wants you to have supernatural gifts. (1 Cor. 12:7-11)

·       He wants you to bear His fruit. (Gal. 5:22-23)

·       He wants you to have power. (Acts 1:8)

2.     He desires for you to have the gift of eternal life.

God wants to spend eternity with you. It is His will that you would accept the gift that He offers so that you can live with Him in heaven.

John 3:16-17

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Think about that for a moment, you can live forever with God is a very real place called heaven. That is an incredible offer. It is an amazing gift. There are some who say they don’t believe in heaven or hell. I can assure you that everybody is going to spend eternity somewhere. Those who have repented & put their hope & trust in Jesus Christ will spend it in a heaven & everybody else will spend it in hell. There is no gray area for this one.

3.     The gift of Jesus.

God gave His own Son for you. Seems hard to believe but it is true. Jesus took our:

·       Pain

·       Sickness

·       Sin

·       Punishment

·       Death

·       Shame

·       Unrighteousness

In exchange He gave us His:

·       Strength

·       Healing

·       Forgiveness

·       Peace

·       Life

·       Acceptance

·       Righteousness

What an awesome exchange. When I think about these things it makes me want to shout! As awesome as this all is, there is even more that God wants to do with us & through us if we will surrender to His plan for our lives. There is no limit to where things could go if we let Him have His way in our lives.

Think of the many lives that have been turned around by the grace of God. Now if you would, imagine your life as one of the most radically changed of all. It can happen. Stop letting a lack of vision cause you to perish. It is time for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the vision of God!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter