JANUARY 30 "DO YOU HAVE GOD'S FAVOR?"

     I am not a big supporter of those Christians who find themselves hated by everyone. I understand the word's of Jesus, "they hate you because they hated me" and it is human nature to go to the one scripture in the bible (when there are plenty more) to justify our carnality and un-Christ like behavior.  Time and time again you will read that God's people have always been a people of favor. Yes, we will always have our enemies, we will always have the devil's ponds opposing us, but we will also have God's favor with the heathen. Our scripture clearly states "The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people". Isolated incident???? No, this is a common theme through out the bible and SHOULD BE a common theme throughout your life, my life.  Daniel, Joseph, Ezra, Zerrubabel, Shadrack, Esther and the list goes on and on of "Godly, Spiritual, men/women" whom God gave favor with the heathen.  There is always going to be the exception to the rule, but by and large this ought to be our experience. What I have often seen over the years is neighbors, co-workers and family that were absolutely enraged with us (Christians) be the very same people that come around and do more to help us than anybody else, when we(Christians) were in need, why? Because God made them favorably disposed towards us; even though we may enrage them like nobody else, in time of need, you will see that God makes them favorably disposed towards his people. I am amazed at the empathy, favor and help I have received from the very people that I thought I had so enraged, but when I was in a time of need, God moved upon them to help me even more so than my fellow Christian Brothers and sisters and this is what God does in our text today. It is not an isolated incident, it is a common occurrence, a common theme, that God will give us favor with the unsaved, he will give us favor, with the very ones we have enraged with our witness (not other carnal reasons)

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