Favor of God | Girls Gone Bible

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Favor of God | Girls Gone Bible"

Introduction to the Topic: Favor of God

In the December 7, 2024 episode of Girls Gone Bible, hosts Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma delve deep into the concept of God's favor. They explore how favor operates in the lives of believers, drawing parallels between biblical narratives and their personal experiences. The discussion emphasizes that favor is an unmerited blessing bestowed by God, intertwined with grace and deeply rooted in one's relationship with Him.

Defining Favor and Its Significance

Angela begins by defining favor as "unmerited blessing" and underscores its connection to grace. She explains that favor encompasses protection, provision, promotion, and preference—elements that lead to success and open doors without any human effort or merit. Angela emphasizes, “Favor is something that we don't deserve yet. God gives it freely” (03:01).

Biblical Examples of Favor: The Story of Joseph

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the story of Joseph from Genesis. Angela highlights Joseph's journey from being his father's favorite to being sold into slavery, yet consistently experiencing God's favor despite dire circumstances.

• Joseph's Integrity and Promotion

  Angela states, “Joseph was a man of great integrity… He was someone who constantly did the right thing and had humility in his heart” (15:17). This integrity positioned Joseph to receive favor even as a slave, leading to his promotion in Potiphar's household.

• Trials and God's Favor in Adversity

  Despite being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife and thrown into prison, Joseph remained favored. Angela notes, “Even though he's a slave, he's literally on top. God gave him a dream… His character set him up for even more favor” (20:47). Ari adds, “He resisted the devil and he fled” (21:44), illustrating Joseph's unwavering faith and integrity.

• Joseph's Rise to Power

  The episode recounts how Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, leading to his rise as the second-in-command in Egypt. Angela remarks, “Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt” (24:09), showcasing how God's favor elevated Joseph from prison to prosperity.

Personal Anecdotes: Hosts' Journeys with Favor

Angela and Ari share their personal stories of navigating life's challenges and witnessing God's favor in their lives.

• Ari's Struggles and Divine Intervention

  Ari recounts her struggle to find her calling post-COVID, attempting various paths before experiencing a profound change. She shares, “I asked, God, if you give me a platform to help people, I will spend my last dying breath glorifying you” (41:03). This prayer led her to the creation of Girls Gone Bible, where she found God's favor guiding her journey.

• Angela's Transformation and Ministry Calling

  Angela speaks about overcoming addiction and finding purpose through faith. She explains how their podcast thrives on the favor of God, stating, “If we were living in sin, He would have ripped it away from us” (48:37). Their mutual support and shared faith have been pivotal in sustaining their ministry.

Practical Ways to Increase God's Favor

The hosts offer actionable advice for listeners seeking to attract and maintain God's favor in their lives:

1. Walking in Obedience

   Angela emphasizes, “Favor follows obedience. When you are obedient to God, you immediately set yourself up for receiving favor” (58:33). Obedience aligns one’s actions with God’s will, facilitating favor.

2. Seeking God's Presence

   Consistent prayer, worship, and Bible study are highlighted as ways to deepen one's relationship with God. Ari shares her own experience, “All of us are called to help others and share with others” (63:22).

3. Humility

   Living a humble life attracts favor. Angela reflects on Jesus' humility as the ultimate example, stating, “Jesus never had to try to be big. He did the opposite of self-promotion” (62:35). Humility opens doors that pride often closes.

4. Generosity

   Giving sacrificially without expecting anything in return is another pathway to favor. The hosts cite Jesus' teachings on generosity, noting, “What you do with your resources and your money, that's what matters” (63:22).

5. Faith and Declaration

   Maintaining faith and declaring God's favor over one’s life reinforces a believer's alignment with divine will. Angela shares her practice of affirming, “I am highly favored” (64:07).

Signs of Being Outside God's Favor

The episode also discusses indicators that one might be operating outside of God's favor:

• Lack of Peace and Rest

  Constant striving without a sense of peace suggests misalignment with God's plans. Angela warns, “A sign of being out of operating out of God's favor is like if there's absolutely zero movement in a situation” (53:49).

• Unanswered Prayers

  While not always indicative, persistent unanswered prayers can signal misaligned motives. They reference James 4:3, “You ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives” (53:49).

• Unfulfilled Goals Despite Efforts

  When significant efforts yield no results, it may indicate a need to reassess one's alignment with God's will. Ari encourages, “Repent because repentance will immediately bring it to the surface” (67:24).

Encouragement and Final Thoughts

Angela and Ari conclude by reaffirming their faith in God's favor and encouraging listeners to pursue a genuine relationship with Him. They stress the importance of prioritizing God’s glory over personal ambition and trusting His timing.

• Embracing God's Plan

  Angela affirms, “If we have authority, it's because of how dependent we are on Jesus” (48:37). This dependence allows God's favor to work seamlessly in their lives.

• Blessings and Farewell

  The episode ends with a heartfelt blessing, “May the favor of God be on your life. We love you so much” (73:15), encapsulating their mission to inspire and uplift their audience through faith.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Angela: “Favor is something that we don't deserve yet. God gives it freely” (03:01).

• Ari: “He resisted the devil and he fled” (21:44).

• Angela: “Favor follows obedience. When you are obedient to God, you immediately set yourself up for receiving favor” (58:33).

• Angela: “Jesus never had to try to be big. He did the opposite of self-promotion” (62:35).

• Ari: “Repent because repentance will immediately bring it to the surface” (67:24).

Conclusion

This episode of Girls Gone Bible offers a profound exploration of God's favor, intertwining biblical lessons with personal testimonies. Angela and Ari provide both spiritual insights and practical advice, encouraging listeners to seek a deeper relationship with God to experience His unmerited blessings. The heartfelt discussions and actionable guidance make this episode a valuable resource for anyone looking to understand and attract God's favor in their lives.

Transcript

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[Angela]

Do I look like my dad today? You're so mean.

[Ari]

Who do I look like? You look like Betty Boo.

[Angela]

What about me? Back to me. Remember when I was having a full panic attack and you're like, that was so mean. When.

[Ari]

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Angela]

So you guys, in Albanian, a term of endearment, you say spirit. And so my mom will like call me and all my friends speert. And then we started calling each other and then now we say spirit. Whenever we see each other.

[Ari]

I call her mom and go, hi Speerte Nana Nidora. She goes, hi Mina didi di do da. It's like our little thing.

[Angela]

I don't know how to feel about the fact that you guys are always on the phone and nobody calls me.

[Ari]

And her mom stay on the phone. She's literally my best friend.

[Angela]

You guys don't even talk. I've seen you. You just.

[Ari]

I was like, I gotta call you. I'm on the other line with your mom.

[Angela]

I know. And I'M like, no, no, no, no, no. Add me.

[Ari]

Not only that, but everyone at the shows think that she's my mom.

[Angela]

I know. They all go up to her and they say, are you Ari's mom? She's like, yeah, I am. Hi, guys. I'm Ange.

[Ari]

And I'm Ari and this is Girls Gone Bible.

[Angela]

We are a faith based podcast where we talk about Jesus and the Bible and mental health and relationships and anything in life that you could be going through. We have been through it and we probably talk about it on here. We always say, just don't stay that way.

[Ari]

We sure as heck aren't staying the way we came.

[Angela]

No, no, no.

[Ari]

The way we used to dress. We sure aren't staying that way. Huh? Hey, is there. I want to ask you this. Yes.

[Angela]

No one's seen my neck in years. I know.

[Ari]

Well, remember I was wearing the turtlenecks because I have a bigger, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there anything that you miss wearing? Me either?

[Angela]

No, I don't miss wearing crop top. When was the last time you got set on my stomach? Never. Literally. I'm reformed, changed, transformed by the blood of Jesus. Your hair looks amazing.

[Ari]

It does?

[Angela]

Yeah. Really cute. Really?

[Ari]

Yeah, Yours always does.

[Angela]

You just get the hair out of the eye.

[Ari]

My mom. Hi, mom. Shout out to Roberta Birdie, babe. She. Every episode she calls me and tells me how full and beautiful Angela's hair is and how flat my hair has been looking. So thanks, mom. Hopefully you're. You're approved today.

[Angela]

That's what she. My mom does that every single time. She's always like, great episode, girls. Great episode, girls. Beautiful girls. How are you? We just spent two whole weeks away from each other.

[Ari]

I know. And you didn't feel. You barely text me. You didn't.

[Angela]

I called you every day. You never called me.

[Ari]

I said, hey, are we good? Is this friendship? You know? You know what this podcast is built on, right? She goes, yeah. I go, our friendship.

[Angela]

I know. And I literally was like, I called you every day.

[Ari]

No, you didn't. I wrote to you 365 days.

[Angela]

You know, you didn't call me one time, but that's okay. But you know, you didn't. Okay, you don't agree.

[Ari]

Where were you?

[Angela]

Oh, yeah. Every time.

[Ari]

How was your little vacation?

[Angela]

It was amazing. It was amazing. I love the holidays. I love the holidays.

[Ari]

I love the holidays with my family. I love the holidays. Isn't it funny how we just all have a bunch of wacky families? Even if it looks like the perfect family, we all have our things.

[Angela]

Tell me about your wacky family. Did anything crazy happen? Anything?

[Ari]

My dad's hysterical. He's just the funniest thing ever. I hope one day he's able to. Come on, Gigi. Baby.

[Angela]

We have to bring. We should.

[Ari]

Oh, he's like a big kid. You guys are gonna love him. No, everything was really good. I was in Boston. Anyone who lives in Boston, if you have a good Christian church, I'd love to know which one go to. Cuz when I'm home, I don't know where to go.

[Angela]

Wait, can we please tell them this story about. Can we tell them? So Ari and I, two weeks ago. No, three weeks ago. Now we have our shows in Indianapolis and Detroit, which were just the best. That was like, the best weekend of my life. Eat the East Co. Well, Detroit and Indianapolis. You don't remember? Maybe.

[Ari]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That was fun. I loved Indiana. I loved those places.

[Angela]

Indiana. Indianapolis. Yeah, Indiana. You're right. Sorry.

[Ari]

I don't know where they filmed Indiana Jones.

[Angela]

I have no idea. I still don't know where it is. Ari and I, we get to the Enterprise, we land in Indianapolis, and like, you should see Ari and I on tour around the country. It's the funniest thing is what it is.

[Ari]

It's pathetic.

[Angela]

So sad. I don't know how we get to point A to B.

[Ari]

No, I already know everything.

[Angela]

Ari is actually like, you fully go into. What do they call it when, like, your boyfriend is there so you can turn your brain off. Like, when we're traveling. I. I have Ari's id. I have her ticket on my phone. I have her seat. Like, homegirl just shows up and then she ends up.

[Ari]

Can we just pump the brakes for a second? I just want to clarify something real quick. I. With all my friends, I, like, take the lead on everything. I'm like, the leader. If I try to be the leader, even for a second in this friendship, it would not fly. You love it.

[Angela]

I do love to drive.

[Ari]

It's like you're sitting there.

[Angela]

But I have to have the tickets. I know it works.

[Ari]

You have to.

[Angela]

But you so happy.

[Ari]

I am, yes. But sometimes I want to take the lead and I'm putting my foot. Putting my foot down. Will you want to take the lead on.

[Angela]

You want to have the tickets?

[Ari]

No, you can print the tickets. I. No. When it comes.

[Angela]

No, no, you can have the. I'm so tired.

[Ari]

When it comes.

[Angela]

I'm so ready to take a break.

[Ari]

When it comes to traveling, it is like I just hold her hand and Follow her.

[Angela]

It's the best thing in the world. But we get to. We get to Indianapolis. We're at Enterprise. We're exhausted. We've been traveling all day. We get to the thing, and the lady is just. She's not in a good mood. She's not having it with me and Ari. And you hear Ari go, are we in the South? We're in Indianapolis. And I'm not much better because I go. The lady is horrified. Like, literally looks horrified. Ari asked if we're in the South. We're in Indianapolis, which, like, is, I don't know, north somewhere. And I look at Ari before the woman can even respond. I go, ari, please, we're in the Mid East.

[Ari]

I go, angela, the Mid East?

[Angela]

I thought that. I thought that the Mid east was actually. I thought the Midwest means west of the middle part. I still don't understand what the Midwest means. What does it mean?

[Ari]

It's not the east coast and it's not the West.

[Angela]

Then why isn't it just the middle America? What is it?

[Ari]

Well, it is Middle America, but Midwest.

[Angela]

Then where's Mid East?

[Ari]

There is no Mideast.

[Angela]

Okay?

[Ari]

Right. Why, Thomas?

[Angela]

Why?

[Ari]

Google it. Because. Why? Okay.

[Angela]

Okay. And then the ladies.

[Ari]

She didn't want to give us the rental.

[Angela]

She didn't want to give us the car. I was. So we were about to have to pull out the. Like, we're on tour car. You gotta give us this car. She didn't want to give us the car. We.

[Ari]

She thought something was wrong.

[Angela]

And then we're driving, so we have to drive between again, all alone. Me and Ari, we're driving from Indianapolis to Detroit. We have to. For some reason, I don't know how the map really goes, but we're going from one city to the other. We have to go through Ohio to get to Detroit. I'm looking at the map. We've already been driving for, like, three hours. I look at the map, I see you're entering Ohio. I go, ari, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. We went the wrong way. We have a show in two hours, and we just ended up in Ohio. We start freaking out. We pull up a map, we're looking to see, and we're like, okay. Okay. We just had to pass through. This makes sense.

[Ari]

I don't. My mom says it all the time. How have you made it through? I feel bad. The two of us together, it is. You have no idea. I wish we could.

[Angela]

Your mom calls us and goes, did you guys pack your underwear? Because I know that you didn't pack your underwear.

[Ari]

She yells at us, like, pack your underwear because we forgot to time. I don't know if we should.

[Angela]

I did it. You did. I had underwear. No, you didn't. You didn't have eyes.

[Ari]

You wear mine all the time. Okay.

[Angela]

You're such a traitor. You're such a traitor. We're one. We are one.

[Ari]

Why don't you ever let me have your. I mean, I use your toothbrush all the time.

[Angela]

Without my permission.

[Ari]

I don't want you to.

[Angela]

I, I, I.

[Ari]

You do.

[Angela]

Do you know you told me I could.

[Ari]

No, she gets mad.

[Angela]

Do you know what it's like? Literally, we'll be at my house. No, listen, she'll say, yeah, can I use your toothbrush? No, that's disgusting. Use. Use the community 1.

[Ari]

Use the extra community 1 that all her friends use.

[Angela]

Yeah, use the extra one. And then all of a. All of a sudden, a second later, she can't. She gives no cares whatsoever. All of a sudden, I hear, and what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Go stop her? It's already in there. Like, we're done every single time.

[Ari]

Do you use it after I do?

[Angela]

Yeah. I got rid of my teeth. What am I gonna do? We really are one. Before we get into today's episode, you guys, we want to talk again about the fact that Ari and I are on the Girls Gone Bible Live tour. We are going all around the country. We're going to so many different cities. And I'm gonna put the link and a QR code on the screen right now to immediately into the website so you can go and buy tickets. We're having such a good time. We're laughing, we're crying, we're worshiping Jesus. What people always say is, it's so much different than what they expect. You know what I mean?

[Ari]

Yeah. It's so much different in person with you guys. It's the most insane feeling. It's indescribable. And we have some really cool new.

[Angela]

Tour dates and one more announcement. You guys, we are doing something called GGB plus, where it's basically exclusive GGB content. It's extra videos and episodes, and we just like to call them conversations because sometimes we're talking together, sometimes we go into the studio alone, which has been so fun to just kind of be solo, doing some little teeny episodes that are just us having conversations. We're also going to put the QR code and the link on the screen so you guys can immediately go into the website and you can join us on GGB plus. I have always struggled to find jeans that fit me perfectly. They're either too tight in some places or too loose in others and I end up feeling uncomfortable all day. But then I tried Good American jeans and you guys everything changed. Their Always Fits jeans have this incredible stretch that moves with my body no matter what I'm doing. It's like they were designed to adapt to me and I never have to worry about them losing their shape or feeling too tight. Co founded by Khloe Kardashian and Emma Greed With a mission to redefine fashion through inclusivity and comfort, Good American creates denim that feels as good as it looks. Catering to all body shapes and sizes, they have the always perfect fit. Good American's Always Fits denim uses a one size fits four design that adapts to your body's changes and fluctuations, guaranteeing the perfect fit every time so when your body changes, your jeans won't need to. And with the most flexible denim, Good Americans always fits limitless four way stretch and recovery Recovery denim moves with you, stretching up and down four sizes, holding its shape and flattering yours. I love their inclusive sizing available from size double zero to plus size 32 and they're the most comfortable jeans with gap proof waistband, tummy smoothing technology, a hundred percent stretch and reinforced belt loops. I so appreciate their versatility of styles. From skinny jeans to boot cut, high waisted to cropped, Good American offers a variety of styles that cater to every preference and occasion. You guys shop [e-mail] GGB use promo code GGB for $50 off your first pair and don't forget to select podcast at checkout and choose our show to let them know we sent you.

[Ari]

What are we talking about today Ange.

[Angela]

So today we are talking about the favor of God and we have been so excited for this episode because the favor of God is something in the faith that is like one of the most this is one of the most interesting parts of my of our relationship with God. For me it has been so interesting to see favor play out in my life. See it play out in other people's lives. Favor is what Girls Gone Bible Bible Favor is what Girls Gone Bible is actually built on. And so I'm we've been so excited to talk about this because we would not be sitting on here if not for the favor of God. And favor is basically unmerited blessing. It's grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace and favor are very closely connected. Favor is basically just the protection the Provision the promotion, the preference of a person that causes you to have success or open doors or protection or just blessing that you otherwise do not deserve. It's not something that we can gain or earn. It's not, it's nothing that we do that earns us this favor. However, there are things, and we'll talk about them that you can do to position yourself and align your heart in a way that opens you up to receiving favor. Because we can block favor all the time and it's something that we don't deserve yet. God, God gives it freely. And so I am so excited to.

[Ari]

Talk about this today and I'm excited to read Joseph.

[Angela]

Yeah, we're excited to read. We're going to read out of Genesis today a little bit. We're going to read about Joseph's life. I'm going to read a little about Jacob. Ari's going to read a little bit about Noah. These are all men, greats of the faith of the Bible that were men with integrity who received great favor from God and it changed their lives. And we're going to skip around in the story of Joseph as you guys, we talked about in the jealousy episode. Joseph was a man of great, great integrity. I mean, I think that Joseph's character, not only was he given favor from God from the very beginning, he was his dad, he was his father Jacob's favorite. He was receiving dreams. He had so much favor on his life to begin with. But then I think or I know that his good character, his good heart, the purity in his heart, the humility in his heart, his integrity to always do the right, even when no one is watching, just set him up for even more favor, even more promotion. He was someone who constantly, who constantly did the right thing and there was never any self promotion in him. And so God always had the ability to promote him. Because when you resist self promotion, you allow for God's promotion. And we live in a world where everybody wants to be promoted. We are hustlers and we make connections and we find resources and we get to the top and we social climb and we do all the things that we need to do to get on top. And we social climb and we self promote. And God is like, if you would just deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me and don't promote yourself. Watch what I'll do. I'll do things that you can never do yourself.

[Ari]

Yeah, and oftentimes too, you know people, you will. On the outside, it looks like they are getting promoted. And you see that in Hollywood so much but later down the road, they get chewed up and, and spit out. So some people can look like they're getting a promotion, but actually it's coming from another kingdom, which is darkness.

[Angela]

So this is the time, as we read in the jealousy episode, Joseph, he b. He gets sold into slavery by his brothers. Joseph is in a really, really, really tough spot. You're going to see in the life of Joseph through Genesis 39 to Genesis 50. The life of Joseph is absolutely insane. He spends most of his life either in slavery or in prison. But you'll see under the worst circumstances, Joseph is always prom. Joseph is always favored. So I want you to know that whatever situation you're in, it's not necessarily the circumstance you're in that would be. That's the favor. It could even be you having favor in a bad circumstance. And we can't put limitations on the way that God wants to work in that. Basically, Joseph, at this point that we're going to start in Genesis 39, Joseph has already been sold into slavery by his brothers and he ends up in Potiphar's house. And it says that when Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. So Pharaoh was the king of Egypt. Potiphar was the Egyptian officer. And listen to this. It says the Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. The Lord was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did. On our one year anniversary, we read a little bit out of this because we're talking about how everything that's ever happened with us and for us has only been because God has been with us. Nothing about what we've. We've ever done or what we've been able to accomplish, but we've only succeeded because God has been with us. And then it says that Potiphar noticed this and realized that the Lord was with Joseph. Joseph giving him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar, so he soon made Joseph his personal attendant. Favor. Joseph is a slave. He is a slave to this Egyptian officer and he gets promoted even in his slavery. That's what God's promotion is. It doesn't make any sense. He put him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. From the day Joseph was put in charge of his master's household and property, the Lord began to bless Potiphar's household for Joseph's sake. All his Household affairs ran smoothly and his crops and livestock flourished. So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything he owned. With Joseph there, he didn't worry about a thing except what kind of food to eat. That is God's favor. That is the protection that comes with favor. That is the. I just can't believe it. He's. He's sold into slavery, and then he keeps getting promoted. And even though he's a slave, he's literally on top. And God gave him a dream and said, you are going to be the ruler of your brothers, your mother, your sister, your father of everybody. You're going to be the ruler. And even though his circumstance didn't look like that, God's promise still came to pass even in the midst of it looking nothing like what he said it was, which is just so insane. And then we go into a moment that is insane where Potiphar's wife gets a little crush on Joseph. This is like a famous story where he comes on to. She comes on to Joseph, and it's a really bad situation. She tries to sleep with him. And then Joseph, even though nobody was watching, Joseph did the right thing. He ran from her, he fled. Flee.

[Ari]

He.

[Angela]

He fled from her. He resisted the devil and he fled. And. And then she basically causes this whole commotion and says that he assaulted her. He gets in trouble. Potiphar comes, he's livid. He throws Joseph in jail. And then it says Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife's story about how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king's prisoners were held. And there he remained. But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Do you like what? The Lord was with Joseph in prison, showed him his faithful love, and the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. That's what favor does, too. When God's favor is on you, he'll make it so that people will like, attune their eye and their heart towards you, and they'll have favor in their heart towards you. And you'll like. It's just absolutely insane.

[Ari]

You don't have God's favor. You just let him lead the way.

[Angela]

Can I just say, the point of all of this is to just let you guys know that when you have Jesus with you, when you have God on your side, when you're in the will of God, things happen that otherwise wouldn't happen. And it's just a safe place to be. Like, it's just a safe place to be. And then it says that before long, the warden put Joseph in charge. So he gets sold into slavery, he gets put in charge even in slavery, he get then gets thrown into prison. And then he gets put in charge in prison as well. He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners. And over everything that happened in the prison, the warden had no more worries because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. That's favor. And then we move through ow. Genesis 40. We go into this part where Joseph is given the gift of interpreting dreams. And we have, have. We have Pharaoh's cup bearer and chief baker who are also in prison with him. They have these dreams and Joseph interprets them correctly. And then this comes to his aid way later, because two full years later, it says in Genesis 41, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing on the bank. He has this big dream, and he needs someone to come interpret his dream. And then it says that the king's chief cup bearer spoke up. And he says, today I've been reminded of my failure time ago. You were angry and you imprisoned us. And one night, the young Hebrew men with us in prison, who was a slave of the captain of the guard, we told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. And so Pharaoh is like, okay, I need this guy. He sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison to him. He basically, oh, I love this. He says, I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I've heard that when you hear about a dream, you can interpret it. And then Joseph replies, it is beyond my power to do this, but God can tell you what it means and set you at ease. Let's never forget that the gifts we've been given are not for us. They're not by us, but they're by God, for God and for his people. We never get the glory. We never get the glory.

[Ari]

That's right.

[Angela]

Joseph's suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. So Pharaoh asked his officials, can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you clearly, no one else is as intelligent or as wise as you are. You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on my throne, will have a rank higher than yours. Pharaoh said to Joseph, I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh removed his ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph's finger. Singer he dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck. Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for a second in command and whatever Joseph had Sorry. And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, kneel down. So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all of Egypt. And Pharaoh said to him, I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval. You know, this goes on for another for another eight chapters. The life of Joseph his he's then reunited with his brothers. He goes on a long journey. But this is one of the best stories in the entire Bible. I say that about every story that we read, but it's really like except.

[Ari]

For Hosea, because we haven't read that yet. How do you stay cozy during the winter months? For some, wrapping up in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate or watching a movie with family is the best way to spend the month of December. Therapy is a great way to bring yourself some comfort that never goes away, even when the season changes. Therapy was an opportunity for me to unpack things that no one could really understand. It was a time for me to let things out with somebody who could understand me in a different way than my family and friends could. It healed me in ways that I never expected. It was the greatest blessing I could have ever given myself. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give Better Help a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Find comfort this December with better help. Visit betterhelp.com girlsgonebible today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp. H E L p.com girlsgonebible so the story of Joseph, it just goes to show you that we don't always feel favored, even though we are favored. And I know that because I went through this in my life. I mean, when you look at his story from beginning to end, you see his brothers just throw him into this dark pit. Can you only imagine how he feels? Can you imagine how scared and alone and just what he felt in that moment? But God was with him. And then, you know, Potiphar's wife accusing him of rape. I'm sure he didn't feel favored in that moment. But God was with him. Then he gets thrown into the penitentiary for 10 years, and he's. Can you only imagine how he felt in that moment? But God was with him. And so all of these situations just shows you that every trial that we have in our lives, it's not to torment us. It's to show us that. It's to get us ready and to prepare us for the promotion that God actually has for us. And it's connected to so many other things. What we go through in our life's hardships are connected to more than just what we're going through. At the end of Joseph, he says, then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. Look, we are your slaves, they said. But Joseph said, don't be afraid of me. Am I God that I can punish you? So right here, he just shows that he never repays evil with evil. He always remained a man of integrity. He always. Even in prison, he kept helping others. He just. That's what God always looks for, is your heart. And that's where the favor of God begins. It starts with your heart. And then he says, you intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. And then he says, no, don't be afraid. I will continue to take care of your children. So right here, it just shows that everything that Joseph went through was connected to so much more other than Joseph. It was to help the lives of so many people. And so many. I mean, I can relate to that. So. And you can, too. You know, the pit that I was in, I mean, and then my broken heart. If not, if all of these things that I had went through never happened to me, it would have never led me to sitting here today. I mean, so many of you are able to relate to me because of my heartbreak. And so many people can relate to Angela because of her addiction. And though it was the biggest pit her and I have ever been through, it led us to. To this place where we're able to help the lives of you guys. And so it's so encouraging to just read all this, because when we're in the pit, it's so hard to see straight. It's like, man, why am I going through this? And once you're on the other side of it, I know for myself and Angela, we look at each other so much, and we're like, thank you, Jesus, for that broken heart. Thank you, Jesus. Everything got stripped from me. Thank you, Jesus. I mean, no, that addiction Wasn't good, but God is in it and he uses it for your good and it's connected to others. And so it's just. That's what I love about the story of Joseph.

[Angela]

I love that. I love what you said about how sometimes you might not feel favored. Like, Joseph probably didn't feel favored during everything that he was going through. But I think what's so important about favor is that it's not just like a feeling. It's not just an nice feeling. It's a tangible force. Like the favor of God is a tangible force that brings about protection, promotion and provision in your life. And FA that favor is. It's something like God's favor is something that it can open doors that no man can open. And it can bring about a provision that like, is so beyond human understanding, none of it makes sense. Everything that Joseph experienced was like complete, completely, like against everything that he was going through. But that's the thing about the favor of God. One plus one equals 800,000. Like, that's what it's like, right? It doesn't make sense. It fully it. The favor of God lives in a world that is not in the natural. Like, it is completely supernatural. Genesis 31. Because this is like what I think you and I have both experienced in our lives. How things happen that just don't make sense.

[Ari]

You have to see us, by the way, guys.

[Angela]

Okay, I'm gonna see us list.

[Ari]

I mean, can I just say one thing? Angela is different, I have to say. I mean, I always knew you were going to be called to ministry from the minute I met you. The second. Our second day, she was at my house, I was like, you are going to be. You're going to be ministering to people. You're going to be preaching the gospel. I said that to her. I prophesied that over you.

[Angela]

You did.

[Ari]

But me, I did not. Like it is. I had no business when we first. You know what I mean? So. So it's.

[Angela]

Yeah, baby, we both had no business. Nobody's gonna tell me I have any business.

[Ari]

I was only saying the sinners prayer on TikTok.

[Angela]

Yeah. And by the time I met you, I was a little better. I used to be really not having any business. It is the favor of God. It is the grace of God. It is the grace of God.

[Ari]

Don't ever doubt yourself.

[Angela]

Don't. And even things like. Okay, I'm just gonna start out with saying this. There have been so many. So half of what Ari and I do, we're just like gonna give you the pract. What we do is like on social media, it's with clips and it's with the Instagram and the YouTube and the YouTube shorts and the blah, blah, blah. People have legit marketing strategy teams where they figure out the perfect time. They monitor your analytics, they monitor your, your views and your engagement to see like what time you should post when something does well, what does well, how did that go? What song did you use? And that's how people like blow up and like do things. Ariana and they have massive teams. Ari and I, I, we are cutting clips from the very beginning and having no idea what we're doing on iMovie, on the MacBook, posting at midnight, posting at 3:00 in the morning, posting at the most random times. Never one time using even a bit of strategy.

[Ari]

None.

[Angela]

It is the favor of God. I'll say one thing, consistency. That's what we had. We start, we said we were going to do something and then we just always went through. And God isn't just going to magically do things without your involvement. Like we have partner. You have to work hard. He expects us to work hard for sure. But we're never sitting there. We're focusing on Jesus, we're focusing on the ministry, we're focusing on the work and the scripture and like the how rich it is, whatever it is, we're saying. And then God does everything else and then he makes two plus two equal something insane. And God has brought us into rooms and spaces and places that truly it doesn't make sense for us to be there. But it's the purity in our hearts for what we do, the purity in the beginning of all of this is the reason that that favor has been opened up to us, right? And I'll say it every day. And then so there's this moment in Genesis 31. So you guys remember Jacob? Jacob. Jacob is Isaac's son. Jacob basically manipulated his brother Esau into selling him his birthright. Jacob falls in love with Rachel, but then he also has to marry Leah. Laban is the who's also his father's cousin. And it's just this whole mess where Jacob then has to work all these years to get his wife, basically. And so we're in this moment. I remember reading this and going, this is actually what God does in our lives. In verse 27 it says, Please listen to me. Laban replied, I have become wealthy, for the Lord has blessed me because of you. Tell me how much I owe you. Whatever it is, I'll pay it. And I just want to say really quick that, that the gifts of God are contagious in a way. Like, if somebody has favor and you're hanging out with someone with favor, you're going to benefit off of that favor. You'll see it happen, and then you'll, like, remove yourself from that person and you'll see, huh, why is the favor not as much as before? Like, it happens even with gifts. Like, if I'm around someone, like, extremely prophetic, I'll feel myself gain a little bit more of a prophetic edge, and I'll get so excited and, and then it's not as potent when I'm not with them. Like, it's so. It's something that I've realized that's so interesting. But it says, Jacob replied, you know how hard I've worked for you and how your flocks and herds have grown under my care. You have little indeed. You had little indeed before I came, but your wealth has increased enormously. The Lord has blessed you through everything I've done. But now, what about me? When can I start providing for my own family? And so other people are able to benefit off of your favor, which is just so, so, so insane. What wages do you want? Jacob says, don't give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I'll continue to tend and watch over your flocks. Let me inspect your flocks today. And. And he says, I'm going to remove all the sheep and goats that are speckled or spotted along with the black sheep. Give these to me as my wages. In the future, when you check on the animals you have given me as my wages, you'll see that I've been honest. If you find in my flock any goats without speckles or spots or any sheep that are not black, you will know that I've stolen them from you. So he's saying that he's getting all the sheep and goats that are spotted. And then Laban says, all right, it'll be as you say. But that very day, Laban went out and removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted or had white patches, and all the black sheep. So Laban went behind his back and tried to take him out and, like, do something behind his back and look at what God's favor. That's why you also don't ever have to defend yourself. You don't ever have to, like, try and screw some. Someone over to get on top, because God will always handle it for you.

[Ari]

That's right.

[Angela]

Isn't that insane? And so Laban is doing all of this behind his back. And then we move on to Genesis 31:4. It says, so Jacob called Rachel and Leah out to the field where he was watching his flock. He said to them, I have noticed that your father's attitude toward me has changed. But the God of my father has been with me. You know how hard I have worked for your father. But he has cheated me, changing my wages 10 times. But God has not allowed him to do me any harm. For if he said, the speckled animals will be your wages, the whole flock began to produce speckled young. Do you hear that? So he said that he was going to be paid in the spotted animals. And it says that God made the whole flock. Flock produce the spotted young. And when he changed his mind and said, the striped animals will be your wages, then the whole flock produce striped young. In this way, God has taken your father's animals and give them to me. So no matter what Laban was trying to do to screw Joseph over by changing it and maneuvering and being like, no, no, no, actually, I'm going to change it last minute and I'm going to try and screw you over. God is like, oh, you're changing your mind. No problem. I'm going to change them all for him. Isn't that so crazy?

[Ari]

This is so good. But this goes to show you, too, it's all about the heart. You like, you can't cheat your way through life. And so many people in Hollywood, in business, they're all trying to cheat their way to their top. And, and, you know, finagle this and finagle that, and it never. You. It always. You always end up crashing. That's why you see so many wealthy people, they always crash. They're never at peace. They're never happy.

[Angela]

I love the word finagle.

[Ari]

Me, too.

[Angela]

What is.

[Ari]

I don't know. Maybe it's not a word. Is that. Google it.

[Angela]

Finagle. Is that a word?

[Ari]

Yes.

[Angela]

I'm not in. That's my vocabulary. No, that's so true. But isn't that. It's just so crazy. Stop trying. Stop trying to obtain favor through worldly standards. Stop trying to cheat favor into your life. It's just like.

[Ari]

If you guys understood the secret. And I say this all the time. And I say this to people, like, even when I go home, I'm like, if they only knew. If they only.

[Angela]

If they only knew how easy it is. Yeah, it is.

[Ari]

So I. I was, like, working to the bone, stressing out my whole life. And life doesn't have to be that way. It's actually so easy. It's actually like you just literally all you have to do is hold his hand and just he leads you. Yeah, if you allow it.

[Angela]

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[Ari]

I was thinking about, you know, like, my life and stuff and I know I've shared it a lot with you guys, but just being in the entertainment industry and I was always fighting to to book jobs and then I started my business. It was called Ari Body. It was a clothing brand. And then after Covid, I had lost everything. Always had this de desire. And I told you guys this before, but to help others, I. After I saw what happened after Covid, I was like, I want to Be on the front lines and help people. And so I tried to do the nursing school, I tried to work at the elderly homes and just help people.

[Angela]

But you'd be so good at that.

[Ari]

Everything kept falling through, and so it just. God's grace was never on it. And so I. When I lost everything and I was in my pit, I would go into this little church by my house, and I would spend probably three to four hours a day in this church, which is a little bit excessive. You guys don't have to do that. But it was the only place that I felt. I felt relief and I felt safety. And so I would sit in this church and I would just talk to God all day, and I would just be like, God, what? Who. Who do you want me to be? Like, what am I supposed to do? And I'll never forget this day because I verbatim said. I said, God, if you give me a platform to give me the ability that I can help people, I can help young people, I can just help people with what I'm going through right now, I will spend my last dying breath glorifying you and helping you. And so as I continued to go into church, I just kept saying, God, who am I supposed to be? I was struggling so bad, I couldn't book a job. Nothing was working out.

[Angela]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ari]

And I just kept saying, who do you want me to be? And I just. And you know what I kept doing? I kept going in that church every day and I kept hearing him say, this is what I want you to do. I want you to keep being faithful and I want you to keep showing up. That's all you have to do. And you're going to struggle for a little bit. And I did. And I did some jobs that weren't exactly what I wanted to do, but I kept working, I kept fighting, and I. I kept showing up and I kept asking. And so I think with the favor of God, it's showing up, being faithful, and knowing him. Before the favor of God comes upon your life, before anything, before you even think about what you're supposed to do, you have to know Him. And then after you know him, you have to make him known. And then that's why that's was. And everything else will be added to you. And I just. I look back on my life and I can't even believe it's. When I read about every single person in the Bible, it's because they trusted and they had a heart for God. And that's the first thing you have to have A heart for God. If you don't have a heart from God, his hand can't be on your life. If you don't trust him, his hand can't be on your life. That's why Noah was favored. That's why Mary was favored. That's why Joseph was favored, because they trusted him. They didn't question him. They. They didn't go against him. They had the purity of a heart for God. And when I look at my life, everyone thought I had lost my mind, truly. But it's because I had a heart after God. I loved him so much. He made me feel so safe. And I didn't know exactly who he was or what I was doing. But I just remember when I look back on everything, I would run to him with everything. And I sat there for hours and I just kept asking and praying, and I wasn't going to anyone else. I just. I was so hungry for him. And so when I think about the favor of God, there's gotta be a certain hunger. There's gotta be. It's. It all first starts with your heart. I have read the story of Noah probably 15 times. It never gets old. I have new revelations every single time I read his story. He. This man has set the foundation on how to live. He really did. He set the foundation on how to be and how to have God's favor. You obey him, you trust him, and you listen to him and you don't question him. And that's exactly what Noah did. And when you read his story, the things that God had him do is crazy. He had this guy at 600 years old doing labor, and he never questioned him. Can you imagine? Like, he was so old, so cute, and he didn't answer his prayers overnight. That's what I love. Because so many of us are like, well, why isn't this happening? It took me years to find my footing. And so many of us are like, well, is my time up? So many of us are struggling with this, including myself. I was like, is my time up? And if you read about everyone in the Bible, God did not answer prayers overnight. It took time. He had to test them to make sure that they really did trust him and have the heart for him. And so, you know, he promised Noah, I have this covenant for you. I'm going to do this and do this. God had promised him all this. And Noah was now 600 years old when the flood covered the earth. And so he had to wait another 30 days. Then he tried it. Nothing happened. He had to wait another 30 days. And then it finally says, after he was doing all this stuff, doing all this labor, he so old at the end, it says, after everything, God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and livestock with him in the boat. So after everything that Noah went through, in Genesis 8, he says, but God remembered Noah. So God never forgot Noah. He was faithful to his promise. But when I look back on my life, I'm glad God didn't answer that prayer right away because it kept me so hungry for him. And. And then he. He. That's how he tests your faithfulness. Through Noah's faithfulness. God was faithful to him. So many times we sit there and pray for what we want, but we don't take the time to listen. Noah didn't question him. He just listened and he moved. And that is exactly what we did in. In our. In our journey together. We didn't question. There were things that God had told us, no, I don't want you to do that. That most people would have taken. Taken. But we. We listened. We listened to him.

[Angela]

Let's elaborate on that.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Angela]

So what Ari is saying is. She's saying that there were. There have been so many things in even our journey in ministry and in social media and with Girls Gone Bible that we have had hundreds of things thrown at us of like, do this, do this, do this. This is awesome. This will promote you. This will get you big. This will do this. We have said no to so many things because we're like, God's not in this. It's good, but it's not God. And so if we know that God isn't in something, we. His favor and his grace isn't on it, and we don't want to be there.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Angela]

You know?

[Ari]

Yeah. It's so true. God will show you favor in every single area of your life, but it all starts with obeying him and trusting him and listening to him. And let me just say that, you know, God's favor was on us when we started Girls Gone Bible. Now, let me just say to you, if we were to continue Girls Gone Bible and we were living in sin and we were being deceitful and we were not falling following God's word, He would have ripped it away from us right away.

[Angela]

And we had power in it.

[Ari]

We. There would be nothing. It would be completely gone. And so we cannot live a lukewarm Christian life. If you want God's hand on anything on any area of your life, every single person in the Bible that had God's favor on their life, it's because they obeyed him. And that's key, guys. And we knew that. We knew that. We knew that. We were like, we. We cannot have one foot in, one foot out. And so when we made decision to. To completely change our lives and really walk in the will of God, that is when that fear of God set in. And that respect, that reverence, and it was the greatest gift when you're just living however you want to, but saying that, you know, oh, I love Jesus, it's you, and you have no restraint. It's. You're living in hell. You're. You're so blind to the truth and the peace and the light of life that you could be stepping into. Into.

[Angela]

I love what you said about just. If we, like, yeah, there was favor on what we were doing in the beginning, but that favor was only lasting because of our continued obedience to Jesus. And let me just say that we never looked for favor. We never looked for promotion. What we looked for was Jesus, and what we looked for was helping Jesus's people. We have a genuine heart for wanting people to be discipled through a podcast as. As crazy as that sounds. And our favor comes. If there's any power in Girls Gone Bible, it's because Jesus has the affection of our hearts. And if we have authority, it's because. Not because of what we know or how much we know, but because of how dependent we are on Jesus and how humbly, painfully dependent we are on him. And there are so many ways to increase in biblical favor. Because I know people are asking like, okay, we know what favor is now, and we know that it's important. We know that we need it, but how do we increase in it? Is there ways to, like, practically get around it and, like, get favor? Are there things we can do? You can't manipulate God into giving you you favor, but what you can do is align yourself spiritually, mentally, emotionally, get your heart in a position that is aligned with God's will and his plan and the affections of God, what God wants, what he desires. And when you align yourself with God in that way, you immediately open yourself. We can't earn. We said we can't earn God's favor. I can't do X, Y, and Z for him to be like, oh, here you go now. But I can do X. Yeah, Y and Z to position myself to be so in line with him that the blessings just funnel through, that the favor just funnels through. And then I also. We want to talk about what it's like not being under God's favor, what it's like not being in God's grace because grace has the ability to make some things completely effortless. There is so much of God's grace and favor, but like specifically God's grace on me and Ari's friendship first of all and on our partnership. Like we know how hard it is for people to be in partnership. Like it's really hard to co labor, I'm sorry to co lead something. Two leaders can get very difficult. There's been so much grace on us and what we do because it, it's had a bit of like an effortless feeling, you know what I mean? And everything that we do, Girls gone Bible, it feels effortless. We work so hard and only us two and God knows the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into this much. Lack of sleep there's been and how much you know, just what we've put into it. But again, even though we're working so hard, there's a lightness to it. I have done things in my life that I can tell I'm not in God's grace cuz it's just not moving, it's just not budging. There is no opportunity, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. And I see people forcing God's will in their lot, not God's will, forcing their own will in their, their lives. Being like, yeah, this is what God wants because this is a dream of mine. So it's got to be what he wants for me. But that's not necessarily true. And you have to be honest with yourself at some point in being like, am I operating out of God's grace?

[Ari]

That's what it is.

[Angela]

Am I operating out of his favor? Is absolutely nothing working? A sign of being out of operating out of God's favor is like if there's absolutely zero movement in a situation. Now that does not mean that if something is hard or going slowly that you abandon it. You have to have such wisdom and discernment in this and experience with Jesus to know that like there are some things that might just take a little time. Some people are experiencing infertility and that does not mean just try, stop trying to have a baby because the dream is over and the promise is not coming to pass, that is not the same thing. But if you're in something and you're trying so hard, but you know that you're not fully seeking God and it. And he's. He might not fully be in it, but you're just trying to force it to happen, you could easily be out of God's grace.

[Ari]

Yeah.

[Angela]

You know, and it's a horrific feeling.

[Ari]

It is. I, I honestly, it's being in his will and, and, and understanding who he is has truly set me free. Because just like you were talking about, I'm constantly. I was constantly trying to make things happen on my own strength. It never worked out. I was fighting, fighting, fighting. And the beauty of having Jesus is you don't have to fight. Of course, you have to work hard. But if something. It's a p. It's a. It's a feeling that. It's a knowing and a feeling in your heart to know if something's right or wrong.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And you don't have to fight with Jesus.

[Angela]

An opportunity comes when you're walking with Jesus. It just falls in your lap and then it gets to a point. And I'm not saying that everybody is going to experience this, like, you know, insane life with these big things. Like, everybody's life is different. Not everybody's meant for the stage. Not everybody's meant for the camera. Not everybody's meant for big stuff. However, you'll see when you're walking in God's will, when you're walking in his favor, when you're allowing him to make decisions for you, you'll see opportunity to show up in your lap.

[Ari]

And I want you guys to know, too, that no prayer, the one thing I know is no prayer ever goes unheard. When I. Everything I prayed for and even everything I did that I felt that, wow, I really wasted my time. No, he used it. You know, when I had my clothing line, it was the best thing ever because he used it in a different way.

[Angela]

And now we have merch for GGB and you handle all of it, and you know how to do everything. And it's like the coolest. Everything that you learned from that experience, you now get to use for Jesus to glorify him.

[Ari]

Yeah. And it's just everything. Everything we do should never be for ourselves. It should be to glorify God and watch how fulfilled you will be. I thought acting, I thought being in the entertainment industry was what I wanted. I look back, I go, thank you, Jesus. You took that away from me. I thought, this is gonna be the worst thing in my life when I have to stop doing this. I can't even imagine. Now I get to live for him and breathe for him and glorify him and. And that's what God has called each and every single one of us to do. That's why we're here. We're here to know him then to make him known and glorify him with whatever he has for us. Right.

[Angela]

Yeah. No, no, go ahead.

[Ari]

Oh, my foot's asleep.

[Angela]

I was just gonna say that. I just love what you said about the acting because I just want to encourage anyone who has. Even if you have to understand, too, that you're caught calling. All of our callings are the same. All of our purposes are the same. No, Jesus, make him known. But the means in which you carry out that calling can change constantly. Like, we're doing this today. We might be doing something different next year. And it doesn't mean the calling has changed, but it just means our vehicle to carry out our calling is just a little different.

[Ari]

That's right.

[Angela]

And just. I just really want to encourage you not to force things. And again, it's such a fine line. You don't abandon what God has called you to do. You don't quit on something before the time is right just because things might not be working. And at the same time, if you are so certain, and you know that the grace has lifted, the favor's gone. You're not in. It's the expir. Like it's expired. You're. You're beyond the expiration date of whatever it is you're in, have the courage, have the strength to let God disrupt your plans, let him disrupt your life, and move on to whatever God has for you in the next season. Do not get stuck in the season that you're in because it's comfortable and you don't know where else to go. God may have something so. So insanely beautiful for you that's covered, that's filled with favor, but the grace isn't on where you've been at. You know what I mean?

[Ari]

I don't know why, but as you were talking, something just told me to say that sometimes favor looks different for everyone. Yes, I know so many of you are struggling with fertility problems, and God's favor could reach. Look like you adopting, you know, and so I just. I. I feel called to say this right now. I don't want you to limit yourself, and I don't want you to beat yourself up. And I know how hard it is as a woman with fertility issues and things like that, but God's favor, again, you could be watching someone have all these kids, and then you're just struggling so much, but God's favor could. He's. He. He might be trying to say something else to you that, hey, I have a different plan for you. My favor is on you adopting there's someone that needs you.

[Angela]

I love you so much. So beautiful. You have no idea who you just helped. Let's just get into a couple of ways practically, what we can do to increase favor in our lives. You already talked a lot about it, but walking in obedience. Favor follows obedience. When you are obedient to God, you immediately set yourself up for receiving favor like nobody's business. Obedience is the beginning of all things in faith. It's the beginning of anything good happening in your life. For me, any, even the smallest acts of disobedience are resisting your favor. And I just, I want to be so honest with that. The more obedient you are, the more favor there will be. Not because we're manipulating God with our obedience. It's just a natural. The favor is free gift from God. He wants to give us everything. It's up to us to receive it. We're not earning it through our obedience and doing what God wants, but we're just allowing it to come. We're choosing to not put a block between us and his favor. Every act of disobedience is a block, is a block to his favor, his goodness, his mercy. Everything that he has to offer is available if we receive it. One of the ways is through our obedience. And this is something you, I are obsessed with seeking God's presence, spending time with Jesus. The more that we seek Jesus through prayer, worship, reading the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, the more we seek Jesus, the more we align ourselves to him. The more we allow, we, we hear him more clearly. We, we see him more clearly. We see him in things. Favor literally just will rest on you when you have spent more time with Jesus. Yeah, humility attracts favor. Living a humble life. God resists the proud, but he exalts the humble. He gives grace to the humble. God hates arrogance. He hates pride. And I just know, I just know, I just know that a humble heart attracts favor. So much the more humility that you have, I promise you, you, the less you try to self promote, the less you try to put yourself in front of people. And guess what? We're all guilty of it. Because we're human. And we all want to be the best and the biggest and the most successful and the most popular and the most blah blah, blah. But once you actually have the revelation of what humility is. And like if Jesus himself came onto earth as a baby born in the dirt when he should have, everybody expected him to come. Come as this royal politician who would overthrow the Roman government. They thought that he was going to Come in the highest power amongst kings and queens. And he came as a humble suffering servant and he came to dwell among the least of these, to serve people his whole life. He lived an entire life of humility and God exalted him and he never had to try. He did the opposite of self promotion. He literally said, no, no, don't tell people what I've done, don't tell people about the miracles, don't tell people about the healings. He did everything in his power to not self promote. And he becomes the king of kings, the most high, the most exalted. And so I just know once I really realize that because all of us, the temptation to pride into arrogance and to self exaltation is so natural, it's so real, it's normal to feel that way. But in my life I am doing everything I can because I just know, I just know that if I want to be like Jesus, who is the only person we should want to be like, I have to try to do what he did. And he never wanted to be big. He never wanted people to see him. And he lived such an incredible life of impact. And most of us, we, most of us want impact. And sometimes we think that to have impact we have to like make ourselves big and do all this stuff, when in reality the man who did the least had the most impact in the world. How much more do we have to do, do less to have impact.

[Ari]

It's so true, it's so good. Your character is everything. And that's why it is so important to go so deep with Jesus and understand him and spend intimate time because there is no way after you spend so much intimate time with him that you don't come out the best version of yourself. He watches everything. He sees when you do little things for other people. And it all starts with the heart and your character. We all are, and I see it so much, we all are trying to make our money and we're keeping our money for ourselves and we just want to make more in business. No, that's not what we're called to do. We're called to help others. We're called to share with others. We're called to tithe to churches. It all starts with that. Helping, being generous, helping others, being generous.

[Angela]

If you want favor, if you want God's favor on your life, give, give, give, give. Sacrificially give when it hur it costs you something. Like there is nothing, nothing, nothing better than being generous if you are holding on to money and resources and whole and like, like Accumulating all this stuff just for yourself. There's this, there's this parable that Jesus talks about how this man is like gaining all this wealth and doing all this stuff, but he's keeping it all to himself and he never gives it to anybody. And ultimately he like dies the next day, so nothing ever even comes from it. And it's like just basically saying like, what you do with your resources and your money, that's what matters. Giving it away because storing it up for yourself, you can't take it with you.

[Ari]

He hates it in Psalm 112. I love this psalm so much. I opened my Bible this morning. This is the first thing that came up, so I figured I'd share it with you guys. How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying his commands? Their children will succeed every everywhere. An entire generation of godly people will be blessed. They themselves will be wealthy and their deeds will last forever. Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate and righteous. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.

[Angela]

Another couple of ways are to have a heart of worship and gratitude. We know that a grateful heart. We. We just talked about it last week. A grateful heart will attract so much favor and attract so many blessings. Having a complaining spirit or a coveting jealous spirit, or one that just simply isn't unfulfilled and feels like nothing is enough for them is a complete block to what God wants to do. And then living by faith. Faith is central to receiving God's favor. The Bible says that it is impossible to place please God without faith. It's impossible to be in right standing with God without faith. My faith in God's favor, I know opens the door for more. I truly believe in my heart of hearts that I have the favor of God on me. And another thing is I declare it. I am constantly saying I'm highly favored. I have favor. I've been saying that from before I was even like really walking with Jesus. I always say to myself, no, I have the favorite favor of God. Anything I do, I will succeed at because God is with me. And if I didn't succeed, it's just not as will. And I'm totally okay with it. But I am constantly declaring it over myself. And one more thing is you can pray. Pray for God's favor. Say Jesus, first of all, give me favor. Second of all, bring me where the favor is. This is something. It's a gift. Never forget that he is a good God who wants to give gifts. Every single thing he has to offer, he wants to give. To give it to you, all you have to do is ask. One, and then two. Don't block it.

[Ari]

And the one thing when you were talking about Ang is because of your faith, you were able to be, for instance, a seed of faith to me. And so either you are a seed of faith to somebody, or somebody is going to be a seed of faith to you. And so when we look at people's life and we're like, wow, why don't I have what they have? It's not because God is keeping that from you. It's because he's trying to grow you up in your faith. And. And so it's been such a blessing that you had. You got to be a seed of faith for me. And then because I got to see you in your faith, that instilled and ignited a faith in me. And so, you know, oftentimes we think faith is like, you know, act as. Act as if. No, it's sometimes like being on your hands and knees with tears streaming down your eyes. But it's the daily surrender and daily humility of saying, God, take it from me, God, help me. I need your help. Show me. And just praying for faith. That's why Jesus says he prayed for Peter. Peter, I pray that your faith will be strengthened. Pray for strengthen of faith. I had to do that for two years. Jesus helped me with my faith.

[Angela]

Yeah, I think we can just really quickly talk about what it might look like to not be operating inside, you know, the will of God, operating in grace, operating outside, outside of God's favor. Because it can lead to truly a life of struggle, striving, uncertainty. A couple of things is a lack of peace and rest. When you're constantly striving and have a sense of unrest. You will feel it every single day of your life. You will wake up feeling like, oh, and you feel like there is a peace that comes from being in God's grace. There's a peace that comes from his favor. You've said it so many times about the state of your heart. It all comes down to your heart. Because the way that you are, you operate in God's favor is when you're operating from a place of like, genuinely wanting to glorify God because God loves us so much. Yes, he gives us things, he does things for us, he blesses us. But ultimately God knows, and we should know that it's not for us, it is all for Him. And that's not a cliche. And so if we're actually on operating from a place of, I want to glorify Jesus, I want him to be big, I want him to be grand. You will have favor on your life, but it has to be genuine.

[Ari]

It does.

[Angela]

You know, you can say it all day long, you can say all glory to God, but if that's not actually the state of your heart, you're just doing yourself a disservice.

[Ari]

I love, you know, say that. And if you, and if you are one of those people that are listening and you, you know, you don't want to admit that, but you do feel that way, that's okay, we all go through that. But go deeper, go intimate, spend time. Because when you do, when you understand his love and he will show you that you will have this desire of wanting to spend every single day glorifying and honoring him. And your desires of your heart will change. He will start to change. Ask him. Go deeper. When I started to go deeper and I saw how much he loved me and what he was doing for me and how safe he made me feel, it caused this desire in my heart to truly want to start living for Him. And it made me turn my ways from everything that I was doing and that I never thought I could stop doing for him. Because he's worth it. And you will say that too.

[Angela]

I love, love, love, love what you just said so, so much. Another way that you know you might be out of his favor is unanswered prayers. Now sometimes unanswered prayers are not for this reason. Sometimes it's just not yet and it's not time. But sometimes prayers may feel like they go unanswered when someone is operating outside of God's favor. Because favor brings a sense of connection and alignment with his will that opens doors to answering your prayers. And then it says in James 4, 4, 3, you ask and you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives. And that's what we just spoke to. You just have to check your heart. And like Ari said, if you're in a position where you've been operating, maybe operating, maybe not out of a place of like genuine wanting to glorify God, maybe there has been self promotion and self exaltation in your heart. You are not a bad person. It is so normal. But the best thing you can do is repent because repentance will immediately bring it to the surface. You acknowledge it with God, you turn from it and you tell him, yes, this has been in my heart, but I don't want it anymore. And I Want you to replace it with God. Exaltation, Jesus promotion, and not for myself. So just repent. Take this time to repent and say, you know what, God, My motives haven't been right. You haven't been there. You haven't been answering because my motives haven't been right. My heart has not been right. So give me a new heart. That's right, you know, and when you.

[Ari]

Look at the disciples, Peter, John and James, they had to. Jesus said, leave your fishing business and come walk with me. Come follow me. And, and that was, I can only imagine, really hard for them. That's what. That was their job. And so sometimes God will have you do something that's really hard.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ari]

And so he. Yeah, it's, it's, it's not. The will of God is not always going to be easy. We had to struggle a little bit, but it was the right thing to do. We still do. We still do. We do.

[Angela]

And we do so much. And, and I truly believe that we're fully operating in God's grace. And I, and I know we have the. We have tangible favor on our lives. And that does not mean that everything is perfect. That doesn't mean it's not hard. It doesn't mean that we're not tired. It doesn't mean that we don't, you know, but it's just different, you know, once you know Jesus, you know, the difference of when you're actually in his grace and when you're not.

[Ari]

And we didn't even know what we were going to do, but we, we want to walk in the will of God and do everything that glorifies Him. So if you're wondering, well, how do I walk in the will of God and how do I glorify Him? It's all in his word. The minute we started getting deep in the Word and we started understanding his ways and his commandments, we said, okay, okay. Does this glorify God? No. So we're going to get out and we're going to start walking in the will. And he caused all things to work together for us.

[Angela]

If you love me, obey my commands. It all starts in obedience, I swear. We love you guys so much. May the favor of God be on your life. We love you so, so much. And yeah, he love.

[Ari]

We love you. He loves you. He has a mighty plan for your life. If you just follow his lead, leadership, and trust him and he gives you a choice, he can't force you to do anything. So follow his leadership and just obey the commandments, he will have a mighty mighty plans for you.

[Angela]

I love it that we hold hands at the end of this. We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace and favor in Jesus name. We love you love you.

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