Unmerited Favor - Part 2: Everything You Touched Is Blessed

Dear friends,

Let us go further with the story of Joseph and learn how God made him successful so that everything he touched was a success. I pray that you will believe that God will do the same to you.

Dedo

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Unmerited Favor - Part 2: Everything You Touched Is Blessed



By now, I hope you can see that God’s definition of success is contrary to the world’s. The world looks at what you have, while God sees who you have. The world’s system is based on what you have done, while God looks at what Jesus has done on the cross for you. It sounds simple, but don’t dismiss it just because it is simple. The gospel is simple, and it takes theologians to complicate it!



You can make a choice to live your life depending on yourself to merit, earn, accomplish, fight for and accumulate wealth and success according to the world’s definition, or you can make a decision today to live your life depending wholly and completely on Jesus, His merit and His accomplishment on the cross for your every success. It essentially comes down to the question of dependence. Who are you depending on today – yourself or Jesus? Do you want to fight for yourself, or do you want the Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and earth, to fight for you?



When you depend on yourself, you carry all the stress, burdens and anxieties that your circumstances may present you. But if your dependence is on Jesus for every success in your life, the Bible records a beautiful promise for you: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4: 6-7)” When Jesus is your source of success, there is no stress and God’s peace will garrison your heart and mind. The word “peace” in Hebrew is shalom. Its meaning includes peace, prosperity, health, completeness, soundness and safety. What a wonderful fortress we have in Jesus!



In A Crisis? Jesus Can Rescue You.



My friend, the circumstances around you may appear bleak. Your bank account may have dried up. You may have lost your job due to corporate restructuring and you may have no idea how you are going to pay your bills next month. Perhaps your home may be up for foreclosure soon. You may be mired in credit card debt. Your friends that you once trusted may have disappointed you. Perhaps you have just received bad news from your doctor. The whole world seems to be crashing down around you, and you feel crushed, frustrated and disappointed.



Now, what can you do? Friends, now it is time for you to turn away from yourself and look to Jesus. In your frustration, you may be wondering, “What can Jesus do for me? Can He rescue me from the crisis that I am in?” The answer is sure – yes, He can! That’s what He did for Joseph and He can certainly do the same for you!



Joseph – The Apple Of His Father’s Eye



Let us continue to draw powerful truth from the life of Joseph in the Bible. His story started in Genesis 37. His father made no secret about the fact that he loved Joseph more than his other children, and made an exquisite tunic of many colors that was given to Joseph only. This tunic was a dress of distinction for people of better class. This tunic was distinct from the ordinary laborer’s garb worn by his older brothers. Why is this important? It is important because it did not only mean that Joseph had better looking clothes compared to his brothers, but it also meant that the tunic was a sign to all that Joseph enjoyed a higher status in his father’s eyes. This tunic also sets Joseph apart from his brothers in terms of their responsibilities. Unlike his brothers, Joseph did not have to work in the fields and tend the flock. All he had to do was to attend to his father and bring his father pleasure. Joseph’s tunic, therefore, speaks of a special position of favor and rest with his father.



Joseph Betrayed By His Brothers



One day, as Joseph’s brothers were out tending their father’s sheep in the fields of Dothan, they saw Joseph from a distance and waving innocently at them. They knew that he was sent by their father to check on them, and they burned with resentment because of the many bad reports Joseph gave to Jacob. Overcome with rage and compounded with jealousy towards Joseph, they conspired to kill him. Bright-eyed and unsuspecting, Joseph headed toward his brothers, read to embrace them. Without warning, his brothers seized him and violently stripped him of his beautiful tunic. He was then dragged and put in a pit. The next thing, he was trussed up in ropes and sold like a piece of meat in an Egyptian market.



It Is Not The End When The Lord Is With You



Do you know anyone who is in a worse situation than Joseph was at this point? His whole world appeared to have collapsed around him. Just a few days ago, he was in his father’s embrace, but now, his own brothers had betrayed him. All that he owned had been stripped from him. He was reduced to nothing more than a slave in a foreign land.



Was this the end of Joseph? In the natural scheme of things, it sure looked like it was. But even with the odds stacked up against Joseph, the Lord was far from finished. We learned in the previous chapter that even in this dire situation. The Lord was with Joseph, and at this dark and bleak juncture in Joseph’s life, the Lord called him a successful man! Remember, it is not what you have. It is who you have that makes all the difference.



How can the Lord call this young slave with not a single cent or possession to his name a successful man? Well, let’s continue with the story of Joseph. Genesis 39: 3 tells us, “And his master (Potiphar) saw that the Lord was with him (Joseph) and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.” This is a powerful statement and it offers a promise that you can believe Jesus for, in every area of your life. Can you imagine every project, assignment and even errand that you undertake becoming prosperous? Your hands become the hands of blessing. You touch your family members and they are blessed. Your company may be struggling to manage a difficult project, but once it is placed in your hands, the projects become blessed. You become a blessing waiting to happen to someone, waiting to happen to something, everywhere you go!



God’s Presence In All That We Do



Now, how will this happen? The Lord Jesus will make it happen when you depend on Him the same way that Joseph depended on Him. Joseph had nothing. He could not trust in his skills or experience, nor could he trust in his natural connection (his father was out of the picture). All Joseph had was the Lord’s presence, and he depended on the Lord to manifest His presence, His power and His glory through him. That’s what you and I need – a manifestation of His presence in everything that we do! You see, it is one thing to have His presence (all believers have the presence of God in them), but when His presence is made manifest in your life, that’s when His glory shines forth through you!



Even Potiphar, A Heathen, Could See It



Don’t forget that Joseph’s master, Potiphar, was not a believer in God. He was an Egyptian who worshipped idols. Yet, when the manifested presence of the Lord shone gloriously through the work of Joseph’s hands, even this unbeliever could see the tangible results of the Lord’s special anointing, power and blessing upon Joseph’s life. Potiphar marveled and could not but acknowledge that the Lord was with Joseph, and that “the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand.” Now, isn’t it interesting that Potiphar did not merely conclude that Joseph was a good worker? Instead, he could see that it was not Joseph’s skills, but rather, his God who was prospering all that Joseph set his hands to. This could not have been “spiritual discernment” on Potiphar’s part – he was not a believer. So this tells me that Potiphar must have witnessed tangible esults that were really out of this world. He must have seen results that were so spectacular that he knew they were beyond that of an ordinary human being!



Perhaps Potiphar ordered Joseph to dig new wells for his households and every well that Joseph dug yielded water even in the middle of a drought. Perhaps the field that Joseph tended yielded crops that were shockingly bigger than the crops in the surrounding fields. Perhaps Potiphar saw how Joseph called upon His God when the children in the house were suffering from some epidemic, and they were all healed. Whatever the case was, Potiphar knew that the prosperous results he had witnessed were not a result of Joseph’s natural ability. They had to be due to the fact that the Lord was with Joseph, and God made all he did to prosper in his hand. Isn’t that beautiful?

Desire To Have Jesus-Kind Of Results



My personal prayer and desire for the church is to have the same kind of results that Joseph had. In everything that I do, I want people to see Jesus, and Jesus alone. When I pray for the sick, I certainly do not want the results that my own hands can produce. When I preach about Jesus and His finished work, I want people not to hear what I have to say, but what Jesus is speaking to their hearts through me. I am but a vessel, and my words alone have no power. But at His Word, sinners get born again and are saved for eternity. Sick bodies are healed. Demons flee, marriages are restored and families are brought together. Debts are supernaturally cancelled, fears disappear in His perfect love, hearts are encouraged, hope is restored and joy is renewed. Now, that is the Jesus-kind of results that I want.



Not Our Doing But God’s Unmerited favor



Sadly, the world and even some Christians do not understand what it means to depend on Jesus. Unfortunately, in many Christian circles, “grace” has become a cliché. You see, people are occupied with “doing”. They always want to know what you are doing right to get the results that you have. I am encouraging you not to focus on what you are doing, but to focus on beholding Jesus. Stop trying to merit God’s blessings and start depending on Jesus’ unmerited favor for every success in your life.



Beloved, stop looking at your outward circumstances or the position you are in. Whether your employer is a believer or not, Jesus can make ALL that you do to prosper when you depend on His unmerited favor or grace in your career. And believe me, when that begins to happen, your employer will sit up and notice that there is something special about you. You will stand out in the crowd! Remember that the same Lord who was with Joseph is with you today. His name is Jesus, and because Jesus is with you, you can expect good success in everything that you do!



For example, when you are placed over a sales project, believe that your sales team will hit record levels of sales never achieved before in your organization. When you are overseeing the finances of the company, believe that you will find legal and ethical ways to help your company save on operating expenses and increase its cashflow like never before. When you are placed ina business development role, believe that Jesus will cause doors that have always been closed to your company to be opened to you because of His unmerited favor upon your life. My friend, that’s the unmerited favor of God in action. In the natural way, you may be unqualified and inexperienced, but remember that your disqualifications exist in the realm of the natural. You, beloved, will operate in the supernatural realm! The Lord Jesus is with you 100 percent. You are a successful person in the Lord’s eyes and as you depend on Him, He will cause everything that your hands touch to prosper.



Without Him, We Cannot. Without Us, He Will Not.



I trust that by now, you have no doubts in your heart that Jesus is infinitely interested in your success. However, you may be wondering, “If that’s the case, why isn’t every Christian I know experiencing the Jesus-kind of success in their lives?” Over the years, I have learned this from the Lord: Without Him, we cannot. Without us, He will not. This simply means that if we do not depend on Jesus, there can be no real, long lasting and abiding success – without Him, we cannot. The Bible tells us that unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain.



There are some believers (who may not say it) who believe in their hearts that without Jesus, they can still succeed. By believing and acting on this, they fall from the high place of God’s grace (unmerited favor) back into the law, back into trying to merit and deserve success by their own efforts. God’s Word tells us, “For if you are trying to make yourself right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut-off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace (Galatians 5: 4)” These are strong words of warning. Once you start depending on your own merits and efforts to deserve God’s favor, you are back under the system of law, and you have fallen from the place of grace or unmerited favor. Don’t misunderstand me, Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you, but you effectively cut off His grace in your life if you depend on your self efforts.



What does it mean when I say, “Without us, He will not.” Well, Jesus is a gentleman. He will not force His unmerited favor and success down your throat. He needs you to allow Him to work in your life. He waits patiently for you to trust Him. He waits patiently for you to depend on His unmerited favor, the way Joseph trusted and depended wholly on the Lord’s presence until His manifested presence took over, and His glory radiated from everything that Joseph touched. God’s unmerited favor is ever-flowing toward us and Jesus is waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves. He is waiting for you to stop struggling in your own attempts to somehow “deserve” His favor. So start resting in Jesus’ unmerited favor and begin experiencing His manifested presence and glory upon everything you touch!



Amen!



From "Unmerited Favor" by Joseph Prince