We all need favor

In the early 1900s, a 16-year-old girl, named Mildred, from Alabama gave birth to a baby girl and named her Julia Jean Mildred Frances Turner. As if all those names weren’t enough, she went by the nickname, “Judy.”

Judy’s daddy, John Turner, was a hard working, and hard living, miner from Tennessee who had a knack for gambling. Hard times eventually forced the family to relocate to San Francisco, but things weren’t any better on the west coast — John and Mildred soon separated.

John’s lack of work didn’t keep him from playing cards, and on December 14, 1930, he won a bit of money from some traveling gamblers.

“I’m gonna go buy my little girl a bicycle,” he said, holding up his wad of cash before stuffing it into his left sock. Before he left the table and hit the streets, the other gamblers took note of where he stashed the money.

Several hours later, John Turner was found dead on the edge of the Mission District in San Francisco — his left sock was missing, and the robbery and murder were never solved.

Judy, who was 9 at the time, was devastated. Mildred got sick and was advised by her doctor to move to a drier climate. So, one year later Mildred and Judy moved to Los Angeles.

Six years later, Judy was a sophomore at Hollywood High School. She decided to skip a typing class and headed to a drug store, where she sat at the counter drinking a Coke. She didn’t know it, but her life was about to change drastically — she had just entered, “the favor zone.”

As she sat at the counter, she caught the eye of the publisher for the Hollywood Reporter. He leaned over, introduced himself and said those famous words, “How’d you like to be in pictures?”

Several weeks latter she was connected with famous movie director Mervyn LeRoy, and he cast her in the first of her many great films. It prophetically was titled, “A Star is Born.” Melvyn changed Judy’s name to Lana Turner and, well, you may have heard of her.

The ability to get noticed and promoted into really cool places is something we Christians call “favor.” Brother Webster, the guy who wrote the dictionary, defines favor as, “approving consideration or attention.” Another understanding of favor could be “good will, acceptance, and the benefits flowing from these.”

The Brewer would define favor as the process of getting noticed and getting promoted.

This week’s confession from a highly caffeinated Christian comes flavored with favor.
You need favor. I need favor. We all need favor.

Did you know there were only 200 million people on the entire planet at the time of Christ? Today there are more than 300 million in the United States alone. More than 6 billion people are walking around right now, and scientist’s say that’s more people than have ever lived before us.

It’s hard to get noticed and promoted when every day is like the busiest day at Disney World. Sip on this and savor the thought, God sees you.

A little bit of favor goes a long way and contrary to the gospel according to Brooks and Dunn, God is not too busy. Not only do I believe God sees you, but I also believe He would love to call you his favorite.

We live in a very messed up world, but somehow God is perfectly right there in the midst. God’s presence is everywhere but his manifest presence is not. When you need Him to show up on your behalf, there’s a certain protocol for the King to arrive. It’s not about traditional religious ritual, it’s about the condition of your heart and how you position yourself.

You may have heard it said that God is no respecter of persons, but I promise you, He will favor certain people and things more than others. All you have to do to be God’s favorite is to walk in what God favors. When you walk in what God favors, you are in “the favor zone.”

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." — Galatians 5:22 & 23

The Brewer pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua, and can be found on the Web at www.opendoorministries.org.