What is Favor? Favor is God with us.
Favor is a lot simpler than
we often make it, just like grace is simple as well. The hard part about grace
is learning how to receive; the struggle with favor is learning how to
abide.
In the first chapter of
Luke, an Angel appeared to Mary saying, "28 Greetings, favored one! The Lord is
with you." (NASB) There are actually many verses through out the Bible where
favor is mention in conjunction with the presence of God in that individuals
life. Hints to the fact that favor is not something to do with who we are but
who God is.
In the foretelling of the
birth of Jesus, favor is spoken over Mary. Favor was not based on something she
earned or worked for. Through God's presence in her life, she received
favor.
If you can begin to grasp
the depth of Grace, you can also understand favor. In the New Testament the word
used for Grace is the same word used for favor. The word for Favor in Greek
is derived
from the word Grace. When a
passage says found favor, in the Greek it translates as a benefit of
Grace.
Grace is a gift from God we
can receive through accepting Jesus, who paid all the wages of sin, which is
death. Jesus gave us the gift of eternal life through his death and
resurrection. When we accept Jesus we accept grace. Grace is not earned, it is
not obtained through working, and it is not something you deserve. It is a free
gift from God you receive.
If you were to throw
yourself a birthday party and I was invited and said I was going. When I arrived
at the party, I brought with me a gift for you. Would you accept the gift but
then try to pay for it? A gift is something given to you and is paid for by
someone else. I brought to you a gift for your birthday; all you have to do is
receive the gift. It is already yours; I put your name on it.
I was listening to a sermon
by Brian Houston, Pastor of Hillsong, His message was entitled No other Name,
and it is on Vimeo (you should watch it). Anyhow, he told a story to illustrate
the power of someone's name. He spoke about how because of his name his daughter was able to gain access to the reserve Airport Lounge even though
she was not flying on that Airline. Due to the fact that He was a member his
daughter was able to have access through him.
It is through Jesus we have
access to the Father, it is through Jesus we have found Favor with God and Man.
Jesus spent time with the Father; He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor
with God and man (Luke 2:52). Favor is much of the same nature as Grace; it
is a gift that we receive because God is with us. God's presence in our lives is
Favor.
Favor did not appear for the
first time in the New Testament, there are in fact many stories of favor in the
Old Testament. They are stories of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Gideon, David
and many more all received favor.
In 1 Samuel 18:14, "In
everything he did he found great success because the Lord was with him."
The verse is speaking of David; he had favor because the Lord was with him. We
have favor because the Lord is with us.
Favor is not based on merit.
It is not something you earn. You receive favor, because the Lord is with
you.
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