John Hagee - Living in God's Favor
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I want you to capture this scene in the theater of your mind. You were there 2,000 years ago, standing in a massive crowd by the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It’s a hot, sultry day with a sweltering wind spinning little dust clouds and carrying them swiftly down the winding road by the sea. There’s an air of expectancy as thousands come to hear this miracle-working rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth. We hear voices raised in excitement as friends call to friends along every trail leading from Galilee. Groups of people begin to gather.
The word has spread abroad: Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming. Suddenly, he and his little band of 12 followers emerge over the crest of the hill on the Capernaum road. Immediately, a vast multitude of people from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond Jordan scramble for a comfortable place to sit on the mountainside to hear this Nazarene. They follow the little band of 13 robed men who change the history of the world. Jesus stops and motions for them to sit down. The air is charged with excitement. It’s a moment to be captured for all eternity. The crowd hushes as Jesus climbs atop a rock and sits down. A quiet falls on the multitude as their faces gaze expectantly toward Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, «And seeing the multitude"-say that with me-"and seeing the multitudes,» Jesus looked upon the people with an omnipotent eye; he x-rayed their lives. He x-rayed their suffering from the brutality of the Roman government. He saw their anxiety about their future. He saw their fear concerning the future of their nation, their children, and the iron fist of brutality beneath which they were living. Jesus saw their worry. He saw their pain. He saw their heartache. I have great news: just as Jesus saw their need, Jesus Christ can see your need right now, and he can meet it because he is the Son of God, all-powerful and all-knowing. Give him praise in the house!
He opened his mouth. The shallow-minded will ask, «Well, how could he teach without opening his mouth?» This is a Greek utterance meaning to speak with calculated courage-to speak with calculated courage simply to tell it like it is. The literal Greek phrase says, «to remove the curb from the tongue.» Think about that. The Bible says the righteous are as bold as a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion; you just have to turn the lion loose. You don’t have to defend the word of God; you just have to turn it loose. Speak it with authority. Say no to anti- Semitism. Say no to abortion. Say no to socialism and communism that’s coming to the United States of America. Jesus said, «Blessed.» Blessed is the key word in the Beatitudes. Have you ever noticed that the last word in the Old Testament was «curse,» and the first spoken word recorded of Jesus Christ is «blessed»? He came to bring you the blessed life. What does it mean to be blessed? Listen, the blessing is the impartation of the supernatural power of God into the human life by the spoken word of God through delegated authority.
In ancient Israel, God commanded the high priest Aaron to bless Israel. Once the blessing was spoken, God instantly began to pour out his unsearchable riches upon the Israelites. «I will bless them, I will bless them,» Numbers 6:22–27 says. God says over and over, «I will bless them, I will bless them.» You know what? God in heaven is saying right now, «All you have to do to get everything heaven has is ask for it. I will bless you with it. I will bless you with it. I will bless you with it.» Why do I speak a blessing over our congregation every Sunday morning? Because you were born to be blessed; God wants you to be blessed because God Almighty is your heavenly Father and he chooses to bless you with blessings you cannot contain.
Think about that. His grace has no limit. His love has no measure. His compassion knows no boundary. His mercies are renewed every morning. That means every morning you get a new blank sheet. God knows you need it someday. The Bible says your enemies are scattered like straw by the hand of God. The doors of opportunity are opened for you. Your heart, soul, mind, and body are flooded with a new confidence. You have supernatural power that comes from God Almighty. You have it. Use it. Use it! The Bible says what Satan has taken from you, God will force him to give back to you sevenfold. Sevenfold! You are blessed and highly favored. Jesus is the glory and the lifter of your head. What does that mean? When the Jewish people would become discouraged, they put their chin on their chest. Now they have 622 laws to keep, and you can get real depressed over how few of those you’re keeping. Jesus said, «When I see your chin on your chest, I put my hand under your chin and be the lifter of your head.» And now, the world is a beautiful place. He’s the only one that can do that-not your psychiatrist, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
You are blessed and highly favored. Jesus is the glory and the lifter of your head. He is the way; he is the truth; he is the life. Isaiah had called him Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He is the friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is your comforter. He is the savior. He is your deliverer. He is your shield. He is your buckler. He is your fortress. He is your high tower. He is the rock in the weary land. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he wants to bless you, and you, and you, and you, and you. And he wants you to know that he wants to bless you beyond your wildest dreams. Give him praise and glory in this house!
When you read Deuteronomy, the 28th chapter, Moses confirms that you were born to be blessed. He lists those blessings and he says, «All of these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you.» God’s blessings will overtake you. All you have to do is ask for them. The word «overtake» means to flood your life like a tidal wave floods a child’s sandcastle on the beach. Get a picture of that-a little sandcastle and the tidal wave of God’s blessing. Listen to God’s list of blessings in the Bible. He says, «I’ll bless you in the city. I’ll bless you in the country. I’ll bless the fruit of your body.» That’s children! That means turn off the television and have some! «Blessed shall be your basket and store.»
That’s your economy; that’s your finances. You’re going from not enough to more than enough. The Lord shall cause your enemies to be defeated before your face. They will come after you in one direction and flee from you in seven directions because God is your defender. The Lord shall command his blessings on everything that you put your hands to. Your work will be blessed. Your seed will be blessed and bring an abundant harvest. The Bible says, «The Lord will open his treasure and give you rain in your land and bless the work of your hands.» Now, rain is not really an exciting issue to city slickers, but for people who live as farmers and ranchers, rain is treasure; it’s money in the bank. They have to have it. Everyone who eats has an interest in agriculture. And God says, «I will open the windows of heaven and bless you until your crops are more abundant than anybody around you because I control the wind and the waves of everything that exists.»
The Lord says, «I’ll make you the head and not the tail.» The Lord will give you houses you didn’t build, vineyards you didn’t plant, wells you didn’t dig. You were born to be blessed! The brief history of the blessing: Quickly, when God created Adam and Eve, the first thing he did was bless them, Genesis 1:28: «And God blessed them.» They were welcomed to the blessed life. When God created Adam, he breathed into his mouth. The word «breath» is «ruach.» The ruach of God, which is the spirit of God, entered into him.
You are two elements-you are glorified dirt and spirit. The spirit is God’s gift to you. Connect your breath with the breath of God. It’s not possible to speak without expelling your breath. Your speech is supernatural. I urge you, stop saying, «I stop; I can’t.» Don’t use that word «I can’t.» By God’s amazing grace, I will because nothing is impossible! Nothing is impossible! Nothing is impossible! And then comes somebody, «Well, preacher, you don’t know the people who are coming against me.» If God be for you, who can be against you? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Stop saying, «My trials will never end,» and start saying, «Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us from them all.» Hallelujah and amen!
God told Moses, «This is how you ought to bless the children of Israel.» Just as the high priest blessed Israel to release the supernatural power of the blessing, so is God the Father the high priest of your home. And so is the Father who lives in the home the high priest of that home. Dad, you are the high priest of your home. You may not want to be, but God has already given you that office. The most powerful gift you can give to your children or to your grandchildren is to lay your hands upon them and speak a blessing over them. In that instant, God’s supernatural power is in their lives-power to protect, power to control their destiny, power that shapes their self-esteem, power that determines self-confidence, power that levels every success in life. The purpose of the blessing is to take charge and shape the destiny.
Jewish families have practiced this since the days of Moses. Jewish fathers and mothers bless their children every Friday over the Sabbath meal. When their children turn 13, they either bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. They put their hands on them in the house of God and bless them in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Have you ever wondered why the Jewish people are so continuously prosperous? I submit to you it’s because they live under the power of the blessing spoken to them over their parents. Their children go out and live under the power of the blessing and the unlimited success God promises. That King David blessed Israel in Psalm 1: «Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, for he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of living water. His leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.» Say that with me: «whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.» Jesus stopped in the middle of his teachings to bless children, and that was unheard of. But why? Because he knew the power of the blessed life.
Gentiles, as a whole, don’t know that. What’s the difference between the priestly blessing and the prophetic blessing? The priestly blessing is, «Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you. May the Lord…» Amen. Now, what you say after that becomes the prophetic blessing. It follows with an anointed proclamation of the spiritual authority that will become reality. It has unlimited power. The last thing Jesus did when he was going into heaven was to lift his hands and bless his disciples. The Bible says as he rose into heaven, he lifted his hands and blessed them. The first thing Jesus did was to bless. The last thing Jesus did was to bless. Why don’t we consider the power of the blessing in spiritual warfare?
Listen closely to this. Proverbs 26:2: «Like a darting swallow, an undeserved curse cannot come to rest.» Most birds just fly in a straight line, but a darting swallow can be flying in this direction, pivot, and come right back.
So the Bible is saying, «Like a darting swallow, an undeserved curse cannot come to rest.» If someone curses you and you have the blessing of God on you, that curse will go right back to that person like a darting swallow. When I bless you in the name of the Lord, an invisible shield surrounds me. You have a prayer cover, and the curse you speak cannot stick. You become a Teflon Christian. If people curse you, don’t curse them back because if you do, that curse will stick to you. If I bless them, the curse returns to them to torment them. That’s what you want to do. If you really want to get somebody leveled on the ground, just spin that curse and send it back as a blessing.
Elvis Presley said it this way: «Return to sender.» The Bible said it this way: «Overcome evil with good.» Say that with me: «Overcome evil with good.» When someone says something evil about you, bless them in the name of the Lord, and all the hate, the bitterness, the poison ricochets and goes right back to them. The power of the blessing gives you the last word. Once the blessing has been spoken, the power of the blessing becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Listen, when Jacob was dying, he called his sons in sequential order and gave them a blessing, and the blessing he spoke over their lives controlled what happened in Israel for the next 700 years. Think about that! In closing, the mystery of the crossed hands-the blessing given by Jacob to Manasseh and Ephraim-is the foreshadowing of the blessing of the cross for every one of you. The right hand is the greater blessing in the Old Testament; the left hand is the lesser blessing. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. That’s the position of power. You hear people say, «He’s my right- hand man.» That means he is in first position. Jacob, the grandfather, was getting ready to give the blessing to his grandsons, and Jacob blessed Manasseh, who was the firstborn, and Ephraim, the second-born. But Jacob crossed his hands and put his right hand on the second-born son and his left hand on Manasseh, the first-born son. Joseph, the father of the boys, was there and tried to stop his father, «Stop! You’re doing it wrong!» But his father continued. It was a foreshadowing of the cross. Remember, what happens in the Old Testament is a reflection of what is going to be in the New Testament.
Look at Jesus on the cross as the firstborn of the Father. He deserved the right hand of blessing-the best blessing-but he did not get it. He cried in agony, «My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?» The sun refused to shine in darkness. The Father said, «I have not forsaken you, my son. Today I have put my left hand upon you, my only begotten son, and the right hand upon the Gentiles.»
The Gentiles are outside the covenants of Israel, but today I’m bringing them into the family of God. They are aliens without hope, but now they are going to have blessed assurance. God placed upon the head of Jesus Christ our sin and gave us forgiveness. He took death from us and gave us everlasting life. He took sickness and disease from us and became our great physician and divine health. He took rejection and gave us acceptance and adoption. He took our shame and gave us confidence. He took our sorrow and gave joy that’s unspeakable and full of glory. He took our poverty and we receive the riches of Abraham. He took our rejection and gave us acceptance. We are now royalty. You are sons and daughters of the Most High God. You are kings and priests unto God. The royal blood of heaven is flowing in your veins! Hallelujah for the cross! Shout for joy! You were born to be blessed! You were born to be blessed! Give the Lord praise!
Can we stand to our feet? Listen closely. If you’re in this room, your father-and you do not bless or have not blessed your children on a regular basis or you have never done it — how many fathers would make that confession? You have not yet blessed your children as a child of God, and you want to experience the tidal wave of God’s blessing and favor in your life. You need to receive that blessing. How many of you have children at home that you have never blessed? How many of you have children and you haven’t blessed them?
I want you to go home today, and I want you to bless them. «Oh, I don’t know how.» You’re the high priest of your house; do it! It’s a supernatural thing. «I’m not in the ministry.» Yes, you are! When you walk in that house to your wife and children, you’re not the butler; you’re the head of the house. Secondly, you are a child of God, and you want to experience a tidal wave of God’s blessing and favor in your life. Let me see your hand if you want the blessing of God to be in your life, in your business, in your home, in everything you touch. I’m going to speak that blessing after the priestly blessing and then we’re going to receive the holy communion. Just stay in place where you are.