The Leverage of Favor 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs Chapter 3 verses 1 to 8.

Favor has leverage when it is from God. Otherwise, it is the whims and caprices of human beings which is not sustainable. But the favor which comes from God has leverage because God uses it to accomplish divine purposes through the favored one. S/he has unlimited, unrestricted access to whatever resources are required to accomplish divine purpose; is sheltered, safe and secure in God and by God from all the flying darts of the enemy.

Divine favor is aromatic, has pleasant smells which explain why anyone with divine favor is always warmly and lovingly received by people, families, institutions, nations and governments. Divine favor also guarantees access to God, the blessings of God as well as to people and whatever resources are required to achieve divine purpose. Please read Deuteronomy Chapter 33 verses 13 to 29 and Isaiah Chapter 60 verses 10 to 11.

God in His infinite mercy encompassed Joseph with uncommon favor such that even while in prison in a foreign land, the divine favor of God encompassed Joseph. The keeper of the prison left everything to Joseph’s care just as his erstwhile master Potiphar left everything in his care when he served under Potiphar before he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and unjustly put in prison. But despite being in prison in a land where Joseph had no one to speak up for him in his favor, the Bible records that God was with him and gave him favor before the keeper of the prison. Beloved, the Presence of God in the life of a person is also a contributory factor to being encircled by divine favor. Please read Psalm 5 verse 12.

God Always Creates Opportunities for His Own

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

It is strange how you keep looking for the golden moment and it appears difficult to find. But somehow, out of blues and that is the beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit; He always prepares that golden moment ahead of time and also prepares you ahead of time for that golden moment and at the appropriate time, God by His Holy Spirit, the ever wonderful Spirit shows you the golden moment; ushers you into it and you emerge significant.

God creates room and opportunities for His people by blessing them with skills, talents, expertise which if well deployed move a person up in God’s divine purposes and timing. Joseph was blessed with the gift of dreaming (seeing possibilities through possibility thinking). As Joseph worked this gift beginning with his Jerusalem, his family, God moved him to where the gift could be deployed to bless a larger segment of humanity beyond Joseph’s immediate Canaan. God created room for Joseph to become prime minister in Egypt. How? By creating a situation that made it impossible for the wise men of Egypt to interpret Pharaoh’s twin dreams dreamt in a single night. The inability of the wise men of Egypt to interpret the dreams created room for Joseph to emerge out of the woods, the backside of the desert, to be specific, prison in a foreign land. Joseph, a young man unjustly sentenced indefinitely to prison in a land where he had no rights was suddenly brought out of prison to stand before Pharaoh to solve a problem which none of the wise men of Egypt could solve. Joseph was able to interpret the dreams. He also proffered solutions to the challenges posed by the interpretation of the dreams. Hitherto troubled Pharaoh was relieved, members of his court were impressed and Joseph became prime minister. Please read Psalm 105 verses 16 to 22, Genesis Chapter 41.

Move Beyond Transit Points

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Philippians Chapter 3 verses 10 to 15

Transit points are connecting points to your final destination. No matter how beautiful, how comfortable, how appealing a transit point is, it should never be celebrated and accepted as the final destination. This is because a transit point does not contain all the blessings God packaged for you in your final destination no matter how seemingly pleasant and comfortable it may be. It is only a transit point designed to cushion the limitations and challenges as well as some of the deprivations that come your way as you journey to your final destination.

Some transit points are usually not comfortable. Thank God for such transit points as they remind you of the need to proceed to your final destination. However, the very pleasant transit points can make a person forget the final destination and remain at the transit point, complacent and unwilling to move forward. This was what happened to Issachar.  Please see Genesis Chapter 49 verses 14 to 15. He settled at a transit point and became a band of slaves. This calls for great caution to keep moving forward at every point in time.

Every transit point has bundles of challenges that could mar or make the journey to the final destination. Jesus’ earthly ministry was a transit point; to accomplish the redemption of humanity and freedom from the captivity of the devil.