Unmerited Favor (24 page)

It does not matter if you do not have the right educational qualifications or the necessary experience. You may be born in a poor family, you may be a divorcee or a single parent, but whatever the case may be, don’t give up on God’s abundant grace in your life to turn your situation around. All you need is one
qarah
moment and for God’s unmerited favor to place you at the right place at the right time. Have faith in His grace in your life. Your blessings are just around the corner!

There is a lady in my church who was an orphan and a foreigner. She did not have much when she first joined us and nobody knew who she was. After hearing the gospel of grace, she began to depend on the unmerited favor of Jesus and to believe God for big things. She attended a business convention in Israel where she met with some scientists who had a special membrane technology for water treatment, and that was her
qarah
moment.

Because of God’s unmerited favor upon her, these scientists wanted to work with her. She went on to start a business in the water treatment industry, and in a short time, was able to take the company public. When she decided to do so, the timing was perfect as the scarcity of water was all over the media, and it resulted in her company being oversubscribed several times when it was listed. Talk about being at the right place at the right time!

Her success did not end there. By the unmerited favor and wisdom of Jesus, she went on to build a company that is worth several hundred million dollars today. She also won several major awards and is now recognized as the richest woman in Southeast Asia.

Not too long ago, some of my key leaders and I met up with her. As I listened to her speak, it was obvious to me that this businesswoman was not only humble, but she was also someone who understood and walked in the unmerited favor of Jesus. She travels extensively for work and she shared with me that wherever she goes around the world, she would bring along my sermon DVDs and watch them in her hotel room. She emphasized to me how vital it was for her to keep hearing the gospel of grace to stay grounded on and rooted in the unmerited favor of Jesus. Hearing her say that made me feel like watching my own DVDs when I got home! She truly caught a revelation of making the gospel of Jesus a priority in her life, no matter how busy she got with her business. She is a fine example of a person who is safe for success. She has no illusions about the source of her blessings. Like Joseph in the Bible, she is conscious of the Lord’s presence and knows that everything she touches will be blessed because of His unmerited favor upon her. This is what I call good success!

Don’t look at your natural circumstances. This businesswoman started with literally nothing, and in the natural, the odds were stacked up against her. However, as she depended on God’s grace (unmerited favor), the Lord turned everything around for her in one
qarah
moment. Beloved, Jesus can do the same thing for you. Pray the prayer of the unnamed servant and ask the Lord to give you
qarah
today!

Chapter 20: Divine Wisdom To Succeed

In this chapter, I want to talk about how you can depend on God’s wisdom to succeed. Wisdom from the Lord comes by God’s unmerited favor. It is not something that you can study for or acquire with your own efforts. Wisdom from the Lord is something that the world cannot have. This is not to say that the world does not have wisdom. Step into any bookstore today and you will find shelves full of books containing experts’ theories and methods on all sorts of subjects. The great majority of these, however, stem from
human wisdom
, which strengthens and builds up only the flesh. Whether they know it or not, the people of the world are crying out for true wisdom from the Lord. Just look at the constant demand for self-help books. But what we need is not more “self-help.” What we need is the Lord’s help! Read books that are written by Spirit-filled believers and Christian leaders who encourage you to look to Jesus and not to yourself.

Psalm 1:1 tells us this from the start: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” This means that there
is
counsel in human wisdom. But the man who does
not
walk according to the wisdom of the world is the man who is blessed.

At the same time, if his delight is in Jesus, and he meditates on Jesus day and night, Psalm 1:3 says, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Sounds familiar? God’s Word is very consistent. The promises in Psalm 1 are the same as those we covered in Jeremiah 17 about the blessed man!

When Jesus was on earth, He was never in a  situation where He lacked wisdom.

My friend, make a decision to walk in the counsel of the godly and not in the counsel of the world, and you will see whatever you do prosper. God has raised up men and women who are established in the truths of the new covenant, and who will help you keep your eyes on Jesus. In Him, you will find all the wisdom that pertains to life. The Bible tells us that in Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
¹
for your success.

See The Wisdom Of Christ In Action

See the wisdom of Jesus in action for yourself. When Jesus was on earth, He was never in a situation where He lacked wisdom. Look at what happened when the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Him. The Pharisees came to Him and quoted from the law, saying, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
²

They thought that they had succeeded in trapping Jesus because if He told them to stone her, then they would accuse Him of not demonstrating the forgiveness and grace that He had been preaching about. If Jesus were to say that they should not stone her, then the Pharisees would accuse Him publicly of breaking the law of Moses and bring a charge against Him.

The Pharisees were probably confidently gloating over the clever trap that they had devised. That is why they confronted Jesus with this woman in the public area around the temple. They wanted to embarrass Him in front of the multitudes that had come to hear Him teach. Now, observe the wisdom of Jesus in operation. He simply told them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
³

What majesty! They came to Jesus with the law of Moses and Jesus gave them the perfect standard of the law. Without flinching, He simply challenged the person who was perfect before the law to cast the first stone. The Pharisees who had come to ensnare Jesus began to walk away one by one, completely silenced. This same Jesus, with all His wisdom, is today our ascended Christ, who is seated at the Father’s right hand, and whom the Bible says is “made unto us wisdom!”
⁴

Before we leave this story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, I want you to see something important. Who was the only person on the scene who was without sin? It was Jesus Himself. But instead of condemning the woman, He silenced her accusers and showed her His grace, asking, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?... Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”
⁵

Isn’t it amazing to know that the most powerful being in the universe is also the kindest, most gracious and forgiving One?

It is vital that you know that “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
⁶
Jesus did not come to condemn us. He came to save us! By extending the gift of no condemnation to the woman caught in adultery, He gave her the power to “go and sin no more.” In the same way, that is how Jesus’ unmerited favor toward us brings us to repentance, and gives us the power to overcome the failures in our lives!

Our Savior is altogether lovely. He is never early, never late. He is always at the right place at the right time. He is always in perfect peace and there is no sense of hurry about Him. When it was time to be tender, He was infinitely gentle. When it was time to overturn the tables of the money changers, He did it with passion. He was never frazzled by the Pharisees’ attempts to trip Him up and He was always flowing with divine wisdom. He is steel and velvet, meekness and majesty, perfect manhood and deity. This is Jesus, and you are
in Him
!

You Are In Christ

Now, what does it mean to be in Christ? It means that we are new creations.
⁷
When we are in Christ, we are blessed with every blessing.
⁸
When we are in Christ, we are in the secret place of the Most High
⁹
and we are protected. When we are in Christ, we are the head and not the tail, above only and not beneath.
¹⁰
Don’t be like the world and say things like “I am doing okay under the circumstances.” You don’t have to be “under” the circumstances. The Lord can cause you to rise over and above all your circumstances!

God’s Word tells us that “you are
in Christ Jesus
, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
¹¹
When we are in Christ, God makes Jesus to become for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Throughout this book, we have been talking about righteousness, holiness and your redemption through the finished work of Jesus. By now, I hope you know that the question to ask today is no longer if you are righteous or holy in God’s eyes. The questions to ask are, “Is Christ righteous in God’s eyes?” and “Is Christ holy in God’s eyes?” When you are in Christ, as Christ is,
so are you
!
¹²
Is Christ healthy, full of favor and well-pleasing to God today? Then, so are you!

You don’t have to be intimidated by your circumstances. Whether you are facing giants of financial lack, sickness or depression, they are all bread for you.

All the blessings of the righteous that are recorded in God’s Word are yours today. When the Bible says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,”
¹³
you don’t have to wish that you were a righteous man, or go around looking for a righteous man to pray for you. My friend, you are in Christ. Christ has made you righteous. As He is righteous, so are you. Based on God’s Word, that means that you can pray and have a confident expectation that your prayers will avail much! God will hear and answer your prayers. The Bible says that you have not because you ask not.
¹⁴
So be bold and very courageous, and ask God for big things!

Here is another description of the righteous: “the righteous are bold as a lion.”
¹⁵
That’s describing
you
, beloved. You don’t have to be intimidated by your circumstances. You are bold and you have the courage to face off with any giant in your life. Whether you are facing giants of financial lack, sickness or depression, they are all bread for you.

But you know what? The greatest boldness you can have when you are established in righteousness is to stand before God with no fear or consciousness of sin, and to receive His unmerited favor. When you are confident of your righteous standing based on Christ’s righteousness, you don’t have to be afraid that God will come after you to judge or condemn you. You are free to be bold with the Lord and claim His promises for you even when you have failed, or I should say
especially
when you have failed.

God wants us to “come boldly to the
throne of grace
[unmerited favor], that we may obtain mercy and find grace [unmerited favor] to help in time of need.”
¹⁶
Notice that for the believer, God’s throne is not a throne of judgment. It is a throne of grace, a throne of unmerited favor. You can have the courage to believe for God’s favor in your life only when you are secure in your righteousness in Christ. So make sure that you are believing right today.

Wisdom Is The Principal Thing

Now, notice that in 1 Corinthians 1:30, Christ is made unto us
wisdom first
, then righteousness, holiness and redemption. Wisdom comes first! Jesus as our wisdom is given first importance. There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge puffs up.
¹⁷
It can make one proud and arrogant. But wisdom will make you humble and teachable. You can read extensively and accumulate a lot of knowledge, but still lack wisdom. You also don’t become wise just by growing older and having more experience in life. Wisdom is not natural. It does not matter if you are young or old, experienced or inexperienced, highly educated or not. Wisdom comes from God’s unmerited favor.

Promotion and honor all come as a result of receiving Jesus as your wisdom.

Listen to what God’s Word says about the importance of wisdom: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace [unmerited favor]; a crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
¹⁸
You see, promotion and honor all come as a result of receiving Jesus as your wisdom.

I remember how the key thing that I would pray for every day in the early days of our church was for the wisdom of God to guide us in everything that we did. That was my focus. I did not want to manage the church with my own wisdom. I wanted to depend on Jesus’ wisdom. In fact, it was during this time of believing for God’s wisdom that the Lord opened my eyes to the gospel of grace!

When my eyes were opened to the gospel of Jesus’ unmerited favor, lives began to be tremendously changed and transformed, and from just a few hundred people in the mid-nineties, our highest attendance for our Sunday services to date was more than 22,000 precious people. Whenever I am asked to explain how we grew the church, my answer is plain and simple—it was and is entirely by the unmerited favor of Jesus. I know that it is grace and grace alone that caused our church to experience such explosive growth.

Before our church experienced such an explosion in numbers, the Lord asked me if I would do something. As I was spending time in His presence and reading His Word one day, He asked me if I would preach Jesus in every sermon. To be honest, my first thought then was that if I preached only Jesus in every message, many people would stop coming and the size of our church would shrink. Then, the Lord asked me, “If people stop coming, will you still preach Jesus in all your messages?” Like all young pastors, I was ambitious and wanted to grow the church, but I submitted to the Lord and said, “Yes, Lord, even if the church grows smaller, I will keep on preaching Jesus!”

Wisdom will always lead you to the person of Jesus and the cross!

Little did I know that this was actually a test from the Lord, because from the moment I began preaching Jesus, unveiling His loveliness and the perfection of His finished work every Sunday, as a church, we have never looked back. I didn’t realize that throughout all those years of praying for wisdom, the wisdom of God would lead me to the unveiling of the gospel of grace—the gospel of grace that is unadulterated by the law and man’s works, and based entirely on the finished work of Jesus. That is what wisdom does. It will always lead you to the person of Jesus and the cross!