Full transcript
0:02Before we pray, let's first take a
0:04moment to listen to God's word and then
0:07we'll pray together.
0:09There is a blessing in the book of
0:10Numbers that the Lord instructed Aaron
0:13and his sons to speak over the children
0:15of Israel.
0:18Number 6 24- 26 records it this way.
0:24The Lord bless you and keep you. The
0:27Lord make his face shine on you and be
0:30gracious to you. The Lord turn his face
0:33toward you and give you peace.
0:37Notice something about this blessing
0:39today.
0:41It does not ask God to bless his people
0:43in only one way.
0:46It asks for keeping which is protection.
0:50It asks for his face to [music] shine
0:52which is favor.
0:55It asks for him to be gracious, which is
0:58grace.
1:00And then it ends with peace, the fruit
1:03of all three working together.
1:06Favor, grace, and protection were never
1:10meant to be three separate requests we
1:13bring to God on different days.
1:16They are one covering.
1:19When God's face shines on a person, that
1:22person is kept.
1:25When God is gracious to a person, that
1:28person is favored.
1:30They move together. And today we are
1:33going to look at all three.
1:35Let's start with favor. Favor is not
1:38something we manufacture on our own.
1:41Proverbs 3:es 3-4
1:45tells us, "Let love and faithfulness
1:48never leave you. Bind them around your
1:51neck. Write them on the tablet of your
1:54heart. Then you will win favor and a
1:57good name in the sight of God and man.
2:01Favor comes from a heart that stays
2:04close to God. A heart that holds on to
2:07love and faithfulness even when it would
2:10be easier to let go. And when favor
2:13comes, it does something remarkable.
2:17Psalm 5:12
2:19describes it this way.
2:22Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous.
2:26You surround them with your favor as
2:28with a shield.
2:31A shield does not [music] only guard the
2:33front of a soldier. It surrounds him
2:36completely.
2:38That is what favor does in a person's
2:41life.
2:42It goes ahead into rooms they have not
2:45entered yet and it stays present [music]
2:48even after they have left.
2:52Think about Esther for a moment.
2:55She was a young Jewish woman living in a
2:58foreign palace without status without a
3:02family name that carried any [music]
3:04weight in that kingdom.
3:07Yet the Bible tells us that when she
3:09[music] was brought before the king, she
3:12won the admiration of everyone who saw
3:14her. And in time, she won the king's own
3:18favor more than any other woman brought
3:21before him.
3:23She did not fight for that position.
3:26She did not scheme her way into it. It
3:29rested on her because it was given to
3:32her. That same favor later placed her at
3:36exactly the right moment in a position
3:39to save her entire nation from
3:42destruction.
3:44Esther walked into a moment she never
3:47could have arranged for herself and
3:50favor carried her the rest of the way.
3:53That is what favor still does today.
3:56It puts a person in front of the right
3:58people at the right time.
4:01It opens conversations that had no
4:03reason to open.
4:05It settles in a single day what could
4:08have taken months.
4:10This is the hand of God going ahead of
4:12someone he has chosen to lift.
4:16Now let's talk about grace.
4:19Grace works closely with favor, but it
4:22is not the same thing.
4:25Grace is God's strength given to us for
4:28the very places where our own strength
4:30runs out.
4:32The Apostle Paul understood this well.
4:35He carried a thorn in his flesh,
4:37something that troubled him deeply. And
4:40he asked the Lord three times to take it
4:43away.
4:45God did not remove it. Instead, he
4:48answered Paul in words many of us have
4:50had to learn to receive.
4:542 Corinthians 12:9
4:56records it.
4:58My grace is sufficient for you, for my
5:01power is made perfect in weakness.
5:03[music]
5:06Grace carried Paul through his thorn
5:08without removing it.
5:11That is often how grace works for us,
5:13too. It gives us what we need to keep
5:16standing while the hard thing is still
5:18there.
5:21And then there is protection
5:24which many of us think about often
5:27especially with everything happening in
5:29the world today.
5:32Psalm 91 says, "Whoever dwells in the
5:36shelter of the most high will rest in
5:39the shadow of the almighty.
5:41I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge
5:45and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.
5:51A few verses later, it adds, "For he
5:54will command his angels concerning you
5:56to guard you in all your ways."
5:59This is not a vague promise. It is
6:02specific.
6:04Angels assigned and commanded, watching
6:08over the details of a life, its ways,
6:11and its [music] movements.
6:14Psalm 121 says, "The Lord will keep you
6:18from all harm. He will watch over your
6:21life. The Lord will watch over your
6:24coming and going, both now and forever
6:26more."
6:28Both now and forever more.
6:32This protection has no season where it
6:34runs out.
6:36Jacob understood [music] this kind of
6:37protection.
6:39He left his father's house, running from
6:42his brother's anger, with nothing but a
6:45stone for a pillow and an uncertain road
6:48ahead of him.
6:50That night, God met him in a dream and
6:53told him.
6:55I am with you and will watch over you
6:57wherever you go, and I will bring you
6:59back to this land.
7:02I will not leave you until I have done
7:04what I have promised you."
7:07Jacob had no army with him and no
7:10possessions of any weight.
7:12What he had was a promise and that
7:16promise carried him through every mile
7:18of a journey he could not have survived
7:20by himself.
7:23Do you feel like Jacob today walking
7:26into something uncertain?
7:28Do you feel like Esther standing at a
7:31threshold you did not choose but must
7:34now walk through?
7:37The same God who favored them, who was
7:39gracious to them, who protected them, is
7:42not a different God today.
7:45His face still shines. His grace is
7:48still sufficient. His hand still keeps.
7:53Today we are not just going to listen
7:55about favor, grace, and protection.
7:59We are going to ask the Lord for them
8:00specifically over our own lives.
8:04Let's pray.
8:09Heavenly Father, you are the God who
8:11blesses,
8:13the God who keeps,
8:16the God whose face turns toward your
8:18children.
8:19I worship you today for who you are.
8:23You are gracious. You are faithful.
8:27You do not change from one day to the
8:29next. And I am grateful that I get to
8:31come before a God like you.
8:35Thank you, Lord, for this word today.
8:38Thank you for reminding me that favor,
8:41grace, and protection are yours to give
8:44and that you are willing to give them.
8:48I did not come across this message by
8:50accident. You arranged for me to hear it
8:53and I receive it today with an [music]
8:55open heart.
8:57Father, today I ask for your favor over
9:01my life. Let your face shine on me the
9:05way Numbers 6 describes it.
9:09The Lord bless you and keep you. The
9:12Lord make his face shine on you and be
9:14gracious to you. The Lord turn his face
9:17toward you and give you peace.
9:21I receive that blessing over my life
9:23today, Lord, in Jesus' name.
9:26Let it rest on my work, on the decisions
9:29in front of me, and on every
9:31conversation I am yet to have this week.
9:35Where I have applied and waited, let
9:38favor speed up the answer. where I have
9:41hoped and been disappointed. Let favor
9:44turn the situation around. [music]
9:47Surround me the way your word describes
9:50as with a shield so that I stand out for
9:52good in the eyes of the people who hold
9:55the answers I need.
9:58Lord, as favor increases in my life, I
10:02ask you to keep me humble. I do not want
10:05to forget where every good thing comes
10:07from.
10:09I do not want an open door to make me
10:11proud or careless with the people
10:13[music] around me.
10:15Help me hold each blessing with humility
10:18and gratitude.
10:21Let me remember that I did not earn
10:23this,
10:25that it is a gift from your hand so that
10:28I stay close to you even after the
10:31blessing arrives.
10:34Grace is what I need next. Lord, there
10:37are decisions in front of me that I do
10:40not know how to make well.
10:42There is a relationship I am still
10:44learning to [music] navigate without
10:46overthinking every word, every silence,
10:50every delay in a [music] reply.
10:54Your word says your grace is sufficient
10:56that your power is made perfect in
10:58weakness. And I receive that today.
11:03I do not need to have everything figured
11:05out before I trust you.
11:07I only need your grace to carry me
11:10through what I do not yet understand.
11:13Lord, I also bring my family before you
11:16today.
11:18Cover the people I love with the same
11:20favor, grace, and protection I'm asking
11:23for myself.
11:26Watch over my parents, my siblings, and
11:29everyone under my roof.
11:32where any of them are walking through
11:34something hard right now, let your hand
11:37rest on them, too.
11:39I ask for peace over our home and safety
11:43over everyone who bears my name.
11:47Father, I ask specifically for
11:49protection today.
11:52Your word says, "Whoever dwells in the
11:55shelter of the most high will rest in
11:57the shadow of the Almighty,
11:59and that he will command his angels
12:01concerning you to guard you in all your
12:03ways.
12:05I ask you to command your angels
12:07concerning me today, Lord.
12:10Protect me on the road. Protect me at
12:13work. Guard my health, my mind, and my
12:17body from anything that means to cause
12:19harm.
12:21Your word also says, "The Lord will keep
12:24you from all harm. He will watch over
12:27your life. The Lord will watch over your
12:30coming and going, both now and forever
12:32more." And I hold on to that promise
12:35today.
12:37Let nothing that means harm succeeded
12:39against me or against the people I love.
12:44I ask you also, Lord, to guard my heart
12:47from bitterness while I wait for some of
12:50these answers.
12:52It is easy to grow hard when things are
12:54delayed, and I do not want that to
12:57happen to me.
12:59Keep my trust in you steady, even on the
13:02days when I cannot see what you are
13:04doing behind the scenes of my life.
13:09Lord, I think today of others who are
13:12believing you for the same things I'm
13:13asking for right now. People who feel
13:17forgotten.
13:18People who are tired of trying. People
13:21who are afraid for their own safety or
13:24the safety of someone they love.
13:27I lift them before you.
13:30Let the same favor, grace, and
13:34protection rest on them as well.
13:37Let no one who has prayed alongside me
13:39today walk away from this moment
13:42unchanged.
13:44There are also things I do not fully
13:46understand right now. Lord,
13:49some situations have not resolved the
13:51way I hoped they would. I surrender the
13:54timing of my breakthrough to you.
13:57I surrender my need to control every
14:00outcome.
14:02Have your way, Lord, even in the places
14:04where I do not yet have clarity.
14:08Today, I make a decision to stand on
14:10your word. Your favor goes ahead of me
14:13into this week.
14:15Your grace covers every place where I
14:18feel weak. Your protection surrounds my
14:21life and the lives of the people [music]
14:23I love. No disappointment or fear gets
14:26the final say over what you have spoken
14:29concerning me.
14:31Thank you, Father, for going before me
14:34and for standing behind me at the same
14:36[music] time.
14:38To you alone be the glory. In Jesus'
14:41name, amen.
14:46I hope this devotion reminds you that
14:48God's favor, grace, and protection are
14:51not far from you today and that you can
14:54ask for them with confidence [music]
14:56in Jesus' name. If you have any special
14:58prayer requests, we would be honored to
15:01pray for you. Feel free to share them in
15:03the comments.
15:05And if Grace Oasis Ministry has blessed
15:07your life, please consider joining our
15:09Patreon or supporting us through buy me
15:12a coffee. At this time, your [music]
15:14support is the only source of funding
15:16for this ministry as we continue sharing
15:18God's word everyday. If you are not able
15:21to support today, that is completely
15:23okay. Your prayers and support mean so
15:26much to us. May the peace of our Lord
15:28Jesus Christ be with you always. God
15:31bless you.