GOD's Favor: Your Spiritual Advantage Revealed | John Giftah | Christian Sermon

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world

0:05 Speaker 1: is a crazy place and it just seems to get

0:08 Speaker 1: crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break.

0:13 Speaker 1: This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're

0:17 Speaker 1: a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living,

0:23 Speaker 1: and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live

0:27 Speaker 1: the life that you were created for. Your host is

0:30 Speaker 1: a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder,

0:35 Speaker 1: aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Welcome to this edition of the Fuel for

0:48 Speaker 2: the Soul with John Gifta podcast. It's such a joy

0:50 Speaker 2: for me to join you guys today. Just want to

0:52 Speaker 2: let you know that along with the audio podcast which

0:55 Speaker 2: we've been doing, I also started out making video segments,

0:59 Speaker 2: which is also going to be available on YouTube. I

1:01 Speaker 2: really encourage you to share this with someone you know

1:04 Speaker 2: who loves to check out video segments as well. So

1:07 Speaker 2: just pray that the lot enables us to take this

1:09 Speaker 2: forward to reach new levels, new dimensions, because I'm so

1:13 Speaker 2: grateful because even over the weekend. One of the new

1:16 Speaker 2: stats that we receive is that this podcast has been growing,

1:19 Speaker 2: reaching new new audiences and it's among the top point

1:23 Speaker 2: six percent. Like last week, I announced that it's among

1:25 Speaker 2: the top one percent of all the podcasts in the world,

1:28 Speaker 2: but now we are at the top point six percent

1:30 Speaker 2: of all the podcasts in the world. I'm so grateful

1:32 Speaker 2: to God to see the way podcast is growing. So

1:35 Speaker 2: that's when I thought, you know what, if you're able

1:37 Speaker 2: to reach people through these daily segments, which I'm doing

1:40 Speaker 2: along with my work, I thought might as well give

1:43 Speaker 2: it a shot to make the video segments as well,

1:45 Speaker 2: so that it can reach a lot of people. So today,

1:47 Speaker 2: one of the things I want to start off without

1:49 Speaker 2: further do is that this week we want to talk

1:52 Speaker 2: about one important aspect that I want you guys to

1:55 Speaker 2: remember that you and I carry as children of the

1:57 Speaker 2: most highth God. You need to understand, yes, we believe

2:00 Speaker 2: in what Jesus did on the Cross. He finished a

2:02 Speaker 2: work for us so that we have the ability to

2:05 Speaker 2: not only have the gift of eternal life, but also

2:08 Speaker 2: the real life. If you look at John ten ten

2:10 Speaker 2: from the message version, if you look at the different

2:13 Speaker 2: translations it says you can have the life to the fullest,

2:16 Speaker 2: or in an amplified version, it says to enjoy your life,

2:20 Speaker 2: and so on and so forth. So God wants you

2:22 Speaker 2: to lived that Christian life. And I wanted to understand,

2:25 Speaker 2: we have so many things coming against us. We may

2:27 Speaker 2: have challenges, we may have opposition, you may have detaurs,

2:31 Speaker 2: you may have attacks from the enemy, you may face

2:34 Speaker 2: different things coming against you. But you and I have

2:37 Speaker 2: something that we have us an advantage which others do

2:40 Speaker 2: not have. Because you need to understand human think, like

2:43 Speaker 2: you know what, everybody talks about this problem. Everybody faces

2:46 Speaker 2: these challenges. Everybody faces these problems. Everybody has to go

2:49 Speaker 2: through this process. See, there is a place for process,

2:52 Speaker 2: there's a place for protocol, there's a place for strategies,

2:55 Speaker 2: there's a place for you know, going by the steps

2:58 Speaker 2: and the principles that the Lord us on. But I

3:01 Speaker 2: won'ted understand that you and I have a needed advantage

3:05 Speaker 2: that the people who do not know the Lord, people

3:07 Speaker 2: who are not aware of what they hold have. Can

3:11 Speaker 2: I tell you something. The Bible says something very powerful,

3:14 Speaker 2: and this is something that is so dear to my heart.

3:16 Speaker 2: It says in Psalm five, verse twelve. This is how

3:19 Speaker 2: it says that surely the Lord will bless the righteous.

3:22 Speaker 2: You and I are the righteous. Right we are because

3:25 Speaker 2: of the finished work of Christ. When we put our hope,

3:28 Speaker 2: trust and reliance and faith on him, what happens. He

3:31 Speaker 2: has given us the gift of righteousness. So we are

3:33 Speaker 2: the righteous. And it says this so powerfully. It says,

3:37 Speaker 2: God has surrounded you with is favor like a shield.

3:43 Speaker 2: You have God's favor upon you like a shield surround you.

3:48 Speaker 1: Know.

3:48 Speaker 2: In one of the translations, it says that the favor

3:51 Speaker 2: of God is going before you, behind you, besets you,

3:55 Speaker 2: and above you and beneath you. It's you're surrounded by

3:59 Speaker 2: the favor of God.

4:00 Speaker 1: Today.

4:00 Speaker 2: I want you to understand something here. Favor is like

4:03 Speaker 2: a It's like an advantage that you and I carry.

4:07 Speaker 2: Now one more words, I want to remind you, and

4:09 Speaker 2: then I want to git them thro this, it says

4:11 Speaker 2: in Psalm eighty four, verse eleven. For the Lord God

4:14 Speaker 2: is the Son and the shield, and the Lord best

4:17 Speaker 2: those favor and honor. No good thing be leave with

4:21 Speaker 2: all them that walk up rightly. I believe that the

4:23 Speaker 2: fact that you're listening to this. The fact that you're

4:25 Speaker 2: watching this, you are somebody who's saying, you know what,

4:29 Speaker 2: I want to walk up rightly. I want to walk

4:31 Speaker 2: a blameless life. I want to do the best of

4:34 Speaker 2: my ability honor God with my life. I want to

4:36 Speaker 2: live a life of godliness and holiness to give Him

4:39 Speaker 2: the glory, honor, and praise. Here's the thing about it.

4:42 Speaker 2: That is that when you do that, the Bible says,

4:43 Speaker 2: the Lord bestows favor. The Lord is surrounding you with

4:48 Speaker 2: this favor. You have an advantage which other people do

4:51 Speaker 2: not have. You have a benefit that other people do

4:54 Speaker 2: not have. You know what that is. That is the

4:56 Speaker 2: favor of God. It is the unmelted favor. You don't

4:59 Speaker 2: have to earn, you don't have to strive for it.

5:02 Speaker 2: You have something that goes with you wherever you go,

5:05 Speaker 2: and that is the favor of God. I want you

5:09 Speaker 2: to understand, everywhere you go you're not by yourself. You

5:13 Speaker 2: have an advantage, a favor available for you, a favor

5:18 Speaker 2: that's going to make things happen that you can't see

5:21 Speaker 2: happen by yourself, A favor that gives you a hidden

5:24 Speaker 2: advantage that other people cannot understand. How is it that

5:28 Speaker 2: you're getting this when I didn't get it? How is

5:30 Speaker 2: it that you've got this exactly the way you were expecting. Well,

5:34 Speaker 2: you know what I'm not saying. God is going to

5:36 Speaker 2: give you everything you want, but it's going to give

5:38 Speaker 2: you what you need to fulfill your God given purpose.

5:41 Speaker 2: You have that favor. You have that favor in anything

5:44 Speaker 2: that you're looking up to, whether with regard to a carrier, move,

5:47 Speaker 2: with regard to a relationship, with regard to a business strategy,

5:50 Speaker 2: with regard to your calling, your ministry, with regard to

5:53 Speaker 2: your future, in any area that you're looking for, maybe

5:56 Speaker 2: you're even thinking of purchasing a new house. You have

6:00 Speaker 2: to understand don't just think like, oh, you know what,

6:02 Speaker 2: everybody's facing these challenges. Everybody is going through this. No, don't,

6:06 Speaker 2: don't just think in the way everybody else in the world.

6:09 Speaker 2: Things you, as a child of God have an advantage,

6:12 Speaker 2: have a benefit, and that is that you have the

6:15 Speaker 2: favor of God. When you work with that awareness that

6:18 Speaker 2: you have that favor, When you work with that awareness

6:21 Speaker 2: that you have that even advantage for you, everything changes.

6:25 Speaker 2: The next couple of days, we're going to look at

6:27 Speaker 2: various aspects with regard to the favor of God. I'm

6:29 Speaker 2: going to talk about it. I want you to stay tuned,

6:31 Speaker 2: whether it's on YouTube or on the podcast platform, I

6:34 Speaker 2: want you to stay tuned because there's so much to

6:36 Speaker 2: unpack about the favor of God. Understand something. You're not

6:40 Speaker 2: by yourself, Guys, you're not making life on your own.

6:43 Speaker 2: You have God's favor. That's going to cost the right

6:47 Speaker 2: people to like you, the wrong people to shun you.

6:49 Speaker 2: It's going to cost the right doors to open at

6:51 Speaker 2: the right time. It's going to make the right people

6:54 Speaker 2: you know, you know, just step into your life in

6:56 Speaker 2: an unexpected way to make you be at the right

6:58 Speaker 2: place at the right time that you never thought like.

7:01 Speaker 2: This is a point, you know, we're going to unpack.

7:03 Speaker 2: We're going to look at different aspects. And I'm going

7:05 Speaker 2: to tell you this. When you know who you are,

7:09 Speaker 2: that you're a child of God, you will walk with

7:12 Speaker 2: your head high and not with arrogance, but with confidence,

7:19 Speaker 2: knowing that you are a child of the King. So

7:21 Speaker 2: you have that favor that surrounds you. You're not going

7:24 Speaker 2: to look and have an outlook of life from a

7:27 Speaker 2: negative perspective that oh everything is this You know scarcity lack,

7:33 Speaker 2: you know it's a struggle. Instead of having that mindset,

7:35 Speaker 2: you will walk with another mindset saying, you know what, Yes,

7:38 Speaker 2: there may be challenges. There will be challenges because the

7:41 Speaker 2: Bible says Jesus said this. You know in this world

7:43 Speaker 2: you will have trouble. There will be challenges, there will

7:45 Speaker 2: be opposition, there will be the schemes of the enemy

7:47 Speaker 2: thrown at you. But you have an advantage because the

7:51 Speaker 2: one who's for you is greater than the one who's

7:53 Speaker 2: against you. I want you to walk with that awareness.

7:56 Speaker 2: I want you to have that outlook of life, and

7:59 Speaker 2: then we will back to various aspects and various things

8:02 Speaker 2: that we can understand when we know that we have

8:05 Speaker 2: the favor of God upon ours. I want to close

8:08 Speaker 2: with this example, right. I think I've shared this before

8:11 Speaker 2: and I just want to share it again. That look,

8:13 Speaker 2: there was a season when I needed to look for

8:15 Speaker 2: a new job. Because if you guys don't know that,

8:19 Speaker 2: I work in a full time coporage shop and I'm

8:21 Speaker 2: running the ministry, right, I'm an aerospace engineer. So there

8:26 Speaker 2: was a time when, due to a job transition period,

8:30 Speaker 2: I had to get another job and I was praying God,

8:32 Speaker 2: I want you to open the door. Everybody said, you

8:37 Speaker 2: know what, just don't we choose He just the market

8:39 Speaker 2: is bad. There's so many layers happening everywhere. I mean,

8:42 Speaker 2: you just choose something that works. Just get it. You

8:45 Speaker 2: know you'd need a job more than anything. But I said,

8:48 Speaker 2: you know what, Yes, I know I need it. Not

8:51 Speaker 2: denying the problem, but I said, God, you know what,

8:54 Speaker 2: I don't want a job that's going to choke my calling.

8:56 Speaker 2: I don't want a job that's going to derail me

9:00 Speaker 2: from your purpose over my life. I have your favor,

9:04 Speaker 2: and I am aware that when I'm tapping into your favor,

9:08 Speaker 2: you're going to open a door that's not going to

9:11 Speaker 2: choke my calling. That's not gonna get me tied up

9:14 Speaker 2: into the situation on the system so much that you know,

9:17 Speaker 2: the ministry is affected, the podcast is affected, all of

9:20 Speaker 2: those things. I said, you know what, God, I need

9:22 Speaker 2: an opportunity that is going to be filled with your

9:25 Speaker 2: favor so that you know what, I will be able

9:27 Speaker 2: to balance work on ministry. I will be able to

9:30 Speaker 2: get that work club balance or the flexibility, and you know,

9:33 Speaker 2: so that I travel and minister on all of these things.

9:35 Speaker 1: I prayed.

9:36 Speaker 2: People said, you know what, this is the wrong time

9:38 Speaker 2: to pray like that. Don't be choosy, don't have such

9:42 Speaker 2: high standards. Just get a job. That's what we need.

9:44 Speaker 2: But you know what, as I said, I kept declaring, God,

9:49 Speaker 2: I have your favor, and I know that your favor

9:51 Speaker 2: is going to make the right people to like me.

9:53 Speaker 2: I went for hundreds of interviews and people were like

9:56 Speaker 2: rejecting left and right. It feels it felt very sad

10:00 Speaker 2: and scared. You know, when I stood my ground, my

10:04 Speaker 2: God will not let me down. And you know what, finally,

10:08 Speaker 2: after a period of seven months, I was able to

10:11 Speaker 2: land a job back. The person who was hiring was

10:14 Speaker 2: impressed by the fact that I'm doing content, the podcast,

10:17 Speaker 2: the books that I authored, so much so that what

10:20 Speaker 2: was like in this advantage for other organizations ended up

10:23 Speaker 2: being an organized and advantage for this organization. That I

10:27 Speaker 2: was able to land this opportunity and everything that I

10:30 Speaker 2: was praying that this su should not choke my calling

10:33 Speaker 2: in terms of the travel or the you know the

10:36 Speaker 2: nature of work and the work club balance and flexibility.

10:40 Speaker 2: The Lord answered it to the detail, Why am I

10:43 Speaker 2: sharing this is to encourage you? If the Lord did

10:45 Speaker 2: it for me, you will do it for you. The

10:47 Speaker 2: question is will you be bold enough to tap into

10:51 Speaker 2: that favor. Yes, it was not easy, standing firm on

10:55 Speaker 2: my conviction. It was not at all easy. You know,

10:59 Speaker 2: in listening to hurls from people saying, you know what,

11:02 Speaker 2: you've been too see or you're not understanding the situation.

11:05 Speaker 2: You should not have such standards. You should just get it,

11:08 Speaker 2: you know all those things. But I stood my ground saying,

11:11 Speaker 2: you know what, I have the favor of God. And

11:14 Speaker 2: that's the same principle that I want you to follow.

11:17 Speaker 2: That you have an aid advantage, a favor that you

11:20 Speaker 2: can't even comprehend, a favor that will cause the right

11:23 Speaker 2: people to like you, the right job to track you down,

11:27 Speaker 2: same way I believe you know, as a pristan single,

11:29 Speaker 2: I'm like praying that the Lord will bring the right

11:31 Speaker 2: person into my life, and I believe that, you know what,

11:33 Speaker 2: instead of me striving and hurling, I'm going to feel like,

11:36 Speaker 2: you know what, God, You're going to bring the right

11:38 Speaker 2: person into my life at the right appointed time. You're

11:40 Speaker 2: going to make the right connections come my way, the

11:44 Speaker 2: right opportunities that will track me down. I want you

11:47 Speaker 2: to work with that assurance. You're not at a disadvantage.

11:50 Speaker 2: You're a child of the King, so you have a

11:53 Speaker 2: favor that will cause the right people to like you,

11:56 Speaker 2: the right things to open for you, and the right

11:58 Speaker 2: things that will take you to way you need to go.

12:01 Speaker 2: Emmen I challenge you guys to stay tuned the next

12:05 Speaker 2: couple of days as we do the series on Favor.

12:08 Speaker 2: Let these sermons be a great blessing for the glory

12:11 Speaker 2: of God.

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