Mind of Christ: Ep 9: Path to Divine Favor: The Power of Prompt Obedience

0:12 Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her. This isn't just a podcast. This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen.

0:53 Hello, this is your host Connie Morris from Diary of a Black Woman Podcast. And welcome back to Faith on the Go. Today, we're going to discuss favor, divine favor. I hope your faith is being built up. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So that is why the space was created for your quiet moments, your work day, your commutes, and those in between places where your spirit needs to be refilled. Faith on the go is for those times where you're fighting battles, not yet won, but already finished in Christ. It's for the ones who keep believing, keep pressing, keep walking, even when the road gets long and narrow.

1:37 So wherever you are today, settle in. Let the word of God strengthen you with your faith on the go. Day nine, the path to divine favor, a mind of disobedience, a mind of obedience. Let's go with me to our key scripture, John 14, 31. It says, but he comes to the world, may learn that I love the father and do exactly what my father has commanded me. Divine favor comes from having a mind. Of obedience. If you study the life of Jesus closely, you'll notice a pattern. Every miracle was preceded by obedience. Every display of favor followed a moment of surrender.

2:21 When he turned the water into wine in Cana, his mother simply said, do whatever he tells you, John 2.5. The miracle wasn't in the water, it was in their willingness. The servant obeyed and transformation followed. When Jesus told Peter to cast his net again after a night of catching nothing, Peter hesitated but obeyed. Because you say so, I will let down the nets, Luke 5.5. And suddenly the nets overflowed. When he told the ten lepers, go show yourself to the priests, they were healed as they went. Obedience moves heaven. It invites divine favor into ordinary moments and makes the impossible suddenly possible.

3:10 Even at the cross, obedience crowned his mission. He said, I do exactly what my father has commanded me. The obedience became the bridge of grace for all humanity. Favor is not random. It's the result of alignment. Jesus lived under open heavens because he lived in perfect obedience to the Father's will. The mind of Christ recognizes that obedience is not optional. It's relational. It flows from love, not legalism, from trust, not tradition. Every yes to God is an act of faith that releases divine outcomes. When you walk in obedience, God doesn't just bless your word.

3:53 He breathes on it. He takes ordinary steps and makes them supernatural. Isaiah 119 tells us that if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. Partial obedience is still disobedient. Jesus never did almost what the Father said. He did it fully. That's why his life carried power, peace, and faith. The mind of Christ calls you to trust God's direction even when it defies logic. Obedience doesn't always feel easy, but it always leads to the blessings. Ask yourself, have I delayed obedience while waiting for full understanding?

4:37 Am I trusting outcomes more than instructions? And what miracles might be waiting on the other side of my yes? Let's walk it out like Jesus. Number one, respond promptly. Don't overthink God's instructions. Faith acts, fear delays. James 1.22. Respond promptly. Don't overthink God's instructions. How do we do that? We like to figure if we do this, we might get this or this or that. this is what God is doing. And many times it turns out to be the total opposite. God loves surprising us, but we have to love to be obedient and not delayed obedience, but prompt obedience. Stay in alignment.

5:22 Jesus did what he saw the father doing. John 5, 19. Ask, Lord, is this your will or mind. Many times God is not going to let you run into a wall and get it wrong. He will keep pushing and pulling and telling you exactly what he wants you to do. How do you know what the Father is doing? Because the Holy Spirit is telling you, I need you to go right. I need you to go left. I need you to do this. I need you to do that. And many times it's maybe it's right away or it's a season when it comes, you have to be ready to go. He prepares us for our future, but you have to stay in alignment. And like I mentioned earlier, you have to ask, is this my will or your will?

6:04 And many times we didn't think of that. We couldn't have thought of it that good, especially when the plan falls into play. When it comes to pass, you'd be like, whoa, I would have never thought to do it that way. But if you pay attention and you do what God says promptly and you stay in alignment and you trust him, and then guess what? You will see the fruit of your obedience. Obey in the small. Faithfulness is in little prepares you for greater favor. Luke 16, 10, faithfulness in the little. When God has you do something, you say, I do not want to do this. I remember before I, this is one thing that I'm doing, but it has a great impact on other things.

6:48 The Lord was talking to me way before I became president of the HOA. This is, they need you to get in here and get this done. I'm like, what done? What thing? I don't have time for any more things on my calendar. Lo and behold, I became the HOA president and everything that is happening now is absolutely marvelous because it was the things that I didn't like about it. And God put me in a position to do the small thing. The small thing is just obey. Small thing is like, I'm going to tell you what to do, how to run this board so we can get some things done. And yes, you're going to have resistance because they couldn't do it when they were in the position you are in.

7:29 But you're doing it and things are moving and you're going to have resistance. So when God tells you you're going to have resistance, that means you need to tread through it, tread through it. And it's the little things that have developed the trust of the people. And there's still some people who still don't like what I'm doing only because they didn't do it. It's just changing everything to the best. And they don't know how to respond. The Lord showed me that. They don't know how to respond. And so their only response is always negative. But it doesn't matter. Why? Because I'm not holding them hostage in my heart. I have a shield of protection from obedience. And I'm just walking it out like Jesus. Number four, obey without understanding.

8:11 That's another one. Peter didn't understand why Jesus said cast the net again, but his obedience unlocked. Abundance. Luke 5, 5 through 6. Sometimes we do not understand why God will have us do something. Right now I'm in this position. I took this job. I liked it. It was simple. It's not how I thought it would be. But when I accepted it, the Lord said, you chose righteously. I didn't see what righteously was about at that time because I'm not doing anything that requires a master's degree. But yeah, a position opens up and guess who's considered for that position because I have the master degree because I humbled myself, right?

8:54 And I let God tell me to do this. Didn't have an understanding of why, but I did it anyway. And we always want God to say, you chose righteously. It wasn't the highest paying job. It was pretty much the lowest paying job. Kind of felt like a Joseph. But God said, I need you here for this particular season. And I just kept doing what I needed to do. not seeing anything opening, but yet it did open. Let's continue. Number five, complete what you start. My gosh, Jesus said, I have finished the work you gave me to do. John 17, 4. How hard is that to finish what you start? I'm telling you, I want to quit this HOA because I don't like drama in my life. I like peace.

9:37 I like peace. But I realized that sometimes you got to shake the boats to get things changed. And now I got people participating in in everything. We want this done. We want that done. Good. By the time, everybody woke up because everybody was asleep. We were living in kind of like a, what's that thing that comes on February 1st? It's always, whatever that thing comes out to see a shadow. We was living in one of those moments. Everybody did not want to change. Groundhog. There we go. Groundhog moment where we, thank you, Holy Ghost. Groundhog, groundhog moment where we are waiting to see his shadow. But if he doesn't come out, we don't see his shadow. Or what kind of fluky thing is that?

10:18 And so people are waiting and waiting and waiting for change. And now that change has happened, people are waking up. And I love it. Let's pray. Father, thank you for showing me that obedience isn't a burden. It's a blessing. Teach me to respond quickly when you speak. And when I don't see full the picture, when I don't see the full picture, Woo! Break the habit of hesitation and fill me with your holy confidence. Let my obedience unlock the favor and fulfillment you prepared for me. In Jesus' name, decree I have the mind of Christ. I obey without delay and I trust without fear. My steps align with heaven's direction and divine favor follows my faith.

11:01 Every act of obedience brings supernatural increase and breakthrough. Thank you, Lord. Think on this one. What instructions has God already given you that you've delayed? And how might your immediate obedience release the faith you've been praying for? Something to think about. Thank you for listening to Faith on the Go with your host Connie Morris from the Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I pray that this energized your faith and reminded you of God's promise. His promise of Isaiah 51 11. He says, so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth. It should not return to me void, but should accomplish what I please.

11:43 And it should prosper in a thing for which I sent it. I just pray that this word prospers you, that this word that I'm sending out on this podcast does not return to God void, that you will do what he says, that you will continue to develop the mind of Christ and make him famous, not yourself. Make God famous. May he be confident of this. He will begin a good work and you should carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1.6. He's going to finish the work he started in you. Don't you dare quit. Keep believing, keep walking, and keep trusting.

12:24 I pray for that in you, in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to this episode. Before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29.11-14. Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. You said you will restore us from captivity.

13:04 So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.