What would it be like to be highly favored by God? Imagine God thinking to himself, "I really like those people. I'm going to pour out my favor on them." What would life be like for those people?

Mary was highly favored, so I'm going to use her life to draw some examples of what we can expect in our own lives when God favors us. Really favors us.

Luke 1:26-33
²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

The number one thing that will happen in the life of someone who God highly favors is this; Jesus will be birthed in them. The Lord who sits on the throne of David, who reigns over Jacob's descendants forever, whose kingdom will never end, will live in the person God favors. This is the heritage of the saints of God, the Church; those who have this incredible life in them to share with the world.

Ephesians 4:11-13
¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

This is God's desire for all of us. This is our path through life. That we reach the fullness of Christ.

Luke 4:16-21
¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This scripture is also fulfilled today (everyday) in the lives of those God favors. Jesus of Nazareth, with his anointing, his message, his ministry, and his proclamation of the Lord's favor, will live in you if God favors you. And the amazing and glorious thing is that God has made this incredible favor available to all the world; to every sinner, to every "saint", to all of us. Jesus can live in us.