Living in the Favor of God

4/10/05

 

Do you live in such a way that you expect what you deserve or do you live in such a way that you expect the favor of God?

Ps. 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. ⁹ He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; ¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; ¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

Lk. 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. ¹⁵ He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 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. And he stood up to read. ¹⁷ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

You cannot earn His favor, you must learn to walk in His favor.

None of us deserve His favor, but the Lord wants us to learn to receive His favor and walk in it.

There is no such thing as luck!

Mat. 5:45 He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Ja. 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Everyone on the earth receives a certain amount of favor, but God desires to bestow His favor on those who will receive it and walk in it!

The favor of God cannot be measured monetarily or materially, even though that is part of it.

The sad thing about distorted teaching is that it always has a certain amount of truth or it would not be embraced at all.

The prosperity teachings over the last twenty five years or so, is true in the fact that God desires to bless His people with His favor, but false in the respect that it is measured in materialism or in getting anything you want.

It is very important for God’s people to recognize the favor of God and give Him the glory for it.

God desires to bless His people.

The Bible makes it so clear that we cannot live by law. No one is justified by the works of the law. We cannot be saved by following the law and we cannot be blessed by keeping the law.

But does that mean that God no longer desires to show His favor to His people?

Lev. 26:3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, ⁴ I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. ⁶ “‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. ⁹ “‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. ¹¹ I will put my dwelling place£ among you, and I will not abhor you. ¹² I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

If something bad happens in my life does it mean that the favor of God has been lifted or not even given? It depends.

Before I answer this question, let me ask another question.

Can bad things happen to God’s people who love Jesus with all their heart? The answer is yes.

Jo. 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 9 is so clear about the Pharisees believing that all illness was a result of sin.

Now let’s go back to the first question...

If something bad happens in my life does it mean that the favor of God has been lifted or not even given? It depends.

I can live in such a way that I hinder or block God’s favor.

Without question I know those who have turned their back on Jesus in areas of their lives, and the consequences have been serious!

Gen. 4:2 ....Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. ⁴ But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. ⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

In this case favor was a result of making the right choice.

There is a difference between earning something and making the right choice.

God’s favor is a tremendous promise!

Ps. 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. ¹² For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Ps. 30:4 Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. ⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Noah found favor with God.

Joseph found favor with God.

Moses found favor with God.

Ruth found favor with God.

David found favor with God.

Mary found favor with God.

Elizabeth found favor with God.

Paul found favor with God.

How about you?

Say in your heart...

I should live my life in expectation of God’s favor.

I should live my life in such a way to not put any barrier between me and the blessing or favor of God.

I should live my life in such a way that if the unexpected happens or disappoints come that I still believe that all things work together for the good according to the promise of God.

Walls that hinder the favor of God.

One of the most subtle and biggest hindrances to the favor of God is false humility.

Col. 2:20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? ²² These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Putting yourself down is false humility.

“I’m no good.” “I can’t do anything right.” “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” “I don’t know how God puts up with me.”

It’s impossible to have that kind of mentality and expect the favor of God!

There’s a difference between stating a fact and wallowing in it.

Paul stated the fact...

Rom. 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

Paul never wallowed in self-pity!

Phil. 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Rom. 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Cor. 4:3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

The centurion didn’t wallow in self-pity!

Mat. 8:5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.” ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one,’ Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

Lk. 7:4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” ⁶ So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

More Walls that hinder the favor of God.

Unconfessed sin...

Ps. 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. ⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. ⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Are you living in a situation and hinders the favor of God? I have had couples come to me for counseling and the first problem is that they are living together.

Doubt and unbelief...

Ja. 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.