Dharius Daniels - What Does "God's Favor" Actually Mean

He didn’t just pay for my ticket to Heaven; he paid for my peace. That’s a part of my benefit package. He paid for my joy; that’s a part of my benefit package. He paid for my freedom. I don’t have to be bound to anything that was created because of my Creator; that’s a part of my benefit package. But if I don’t know it exists, I won’t believe for it. This Daniel text says, I don’t know if y’all are ready for this: 12:30. Now God had caused the official to show favor. Y’all missed it already. They missed the keys. Now God had caused—they missed it, Cory—God had caused the official to show favor, which means that the official wouldn’t have been inclined to show favor without God’s influence. It means God made him do what he normally wouldn’t do because he was trying to get something through to Daniel. I want to talk to some people that have been overly glorifying your haters. You’ve been giving other people too much credit when it comes to stopping and blocking you from what God wants to do in your life. God knows how to cause people that would behave one way to behave another way to get you to what he has for you. He caused the officials to show favor; he did it for Noah, he did it for Esther, he did it for Samuel, he did it for Daniel, and in Luke 2:52, we see someone else he did it for: and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. All throughout the scriptures, we see the presence of this spiritual asset called favor. Why does God seem to be consistently and regularly conveying the presence of this asset to all of us? It’s because he wants us to know that if I put it on Noah, and if I put it on Esther, if I put it on Samuel, if I put it on Daniel, and if I put it on Jesus, I’m going to put it on you. I need somebody that received that already to say, «It’s on me!» That’s why I’m in my right mind. It’s on me; that’s why I am where I am. It’s on me; that’s why I’m going where I’m going. It’s on me. What’s on me? Favor. What is it, Pastor? It is unearned, uncommon, unexplainable preferential treatment. It is unearned, uncommon, unexplainable preferential treatment. When you wake up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and before you start your day, say, «I got unearned, uncommon, unexplainable preferential treatment.» Before you go into the business meeting, before you step out of the car, say, «I got unearned, uncommon, unexplainable preferential treatment.» Before you go into the hospital, say, «I got unearned, uncommon, unexplainable preferential treatment.» And if he’s giving me uncommon favor, I’m going to give him uncommon praise. Excuse me for 33 seconds and let me praise Him for favor. Spiritually, everything gets better. Spiritual life is not the only important part of your life; it is the most important part of your life because it affects every other part that’s important. But you don’t get stronger spiritually accidentally. It takes intentionality. You need to get fed, and you have to learn how to interpret, apply, and explain the Bible. The Bible is the blueprint to your best life, and I’m going to tell you Sunday is not enough to give you the tools that you need to improve with the Bible. I want you to join me in my community called Bible U, where I help you take your understanding, application, and explanation of the Bible to another level. «Pastor Darius, if I have this, then why are you telling me I have this? If I have this, won’t I automatically experience it? Why do you have to do a whole sermon on this if I have this? I mean, if I got it, why do we need to do a teaching on it?» It’s because, are y’all ready for this? Just because you have access to it doesn’t mean you’re experiencing it. «Pastor, prove that to me.» Okay, the Bible says in Ephesians we are saved by grace. What is grace? Unearned favor. We’re saved by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. This means God takes the gift of salvation and gives that gift to the whole world. Is that true? But everybody doesn’t access it because the text says it’s only accessed by those who believe it exists. So I have to have faith to access the grace that has been made available to me. I can’t even—come on now—salvation is a gift of grace, but I can’t even access it if I don’t have faith. So I need to have awareness of this so I can release faith for this so I can access what has been spiritually deposited into my spiritual bank account. Are you hearing what I’m saying? This is some of the stuff that we cover in Foundations 101 when we explain salvation. Most people think salvation is a ticket to Heaven, and they don’t even realize it’s a benefit package. If the only thing you get is Heaven, you live your whole life only accessing one part of your benefit package. He didn’t just pay for my ticket to Heaven; he paid for my peace. That’s a part of my benefit package. He paid for my joy; that’s a part of my benefit package. He paid for my freedom. I don’t have to be bound to anything that was created because of my Creator; that’s a part of my benefit package.