Proverbs 16:14 "The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.15 In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain." In His favor is life! It is as the cloud of the latter rain; What exactly does that mean? It is to have the blessing of God upon one's life; in other words the crippling effects of the Adam nature on the Christian life are broken, there is a beautiful relationship with Him full of peace and joy. He keeps that one who has found His favor on the right path and prospers their journey. What are the crippling effects of the Adamic nature? The Crippling Effects of Adam are bondages from a sinful past (either our past or inherited from our ancestors), pits and snares, which are the direct results of a lack of wisdom in one's choices and perpetual troubles, frustrations and vexations for which there seems to be no remedy. And so what is the criteria for obtaining favor from the Lord? We might say, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and we would be partially right, however, that statement does not completely capture it. We certainly must accept Him as our Savior, accept the covering of His blood for our sins but additionally as we grow we must submit our selves to Him in every area of our lives (Note: this is more than one can offer at salvation and more than He requires but as we grow in Him we surrender more and more). For some, they have indeed accepted His free gift but they have not yet yielded every area to Him.
It must be clear that having Gods favor is relevant to growth; what I mean is He does not require everything at salvation but rather strengthens us and allows us to mature. As we are maturing His restraints upon us increase because He is bringing us to the place where every area is free from any remnant of the former life though a complete surrender to His leading, His will and His plan for our lives. As God matures us I want to reveal certain areas that I have observed over the years where one must learn to surrender to Him as they mature in order to have His favor upon their lives:
1.Friendships and companions - I have observed that people generally do not rise above their circle of friends. People who make friends with the world tend to be worldly and people who make friends with the saints tend to be saintly. Additionally, people who make their close companions those who are offended or back bitters or the bitter tend to be those things themselves. The old saying is true "Birds of a feather, flock together". I have seen people rise up against the church, slander it and the leadership and yet those who remain in the church refuse to break fellowship with them; inevitably what happens is they who remained in the church end up becoming disillusioned with the church and eventually leave as well. Prov 13:20 states that those who walk with the wise are wise. Just because someone says they are a believer does not mean they always offer good companionship; we must be wise and discerning. 1 Cor 5:9-11 - do not make fornicators your companions, but deeper than that, if a brother is walking out of order then do not make him your companion - if you walk with dissemblers then you too will eventually dissemble.
2.Attitudes and Opinions Towards Gods Plan (criticism) - Be careful of the opinions you allow yourself to formulate about God, especially in your trials. The Lord painstakingly delivered Israel from their bitter bondage in Egypt; He heard their cries, raised up a deliverer, sent him to Egypt a great personal cost to himself, brought them out, separated the Red Sea in a demonstration of His power. He said,"I was a Father to them" and yet, when the going got tough (and there is no mistake, it got bitter) they turned on the Lord and said "Would to God we died in Egypt; You have brought us out here to kill us!" One of the evil influences in the wilderness was Korah; Jude called him a "Gainsayer". Jude 1:11 - this word gainsayer or gainsaying actually means contradicting Gods plan. He found fault with Gods plan and he injected that evil opinion into others and many perished along with him. This would become a way with Israel; they again found fault with His plan when Samuel was old and in spite of God expressing His displeasure in rejecting HIs plan they insisted they knew better and demanded a king. In Hosea 13 the Lord confessed; "I gave them a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath". And so we see finding fault with Gods plan does not release His favor but rather His anger. The point is this, you want His favor then do not find fault with His plan for your life and what it takes to work it out, there will be trials, pain and heartache but do not let this produce in you a questioning of His Fatherly nature.
3.Speech and Confessions - The Children of Israel got it wrong; "you brought us out here to kill us" but Job got it right, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord". One of the most important disciplines we have in this world is to master our tongues. James tells us that those who bridle the tongue can also bridle the whole body. This is the key to so many things where our deliverance and salvation are concerned: Psalm 50:10 "And to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God" One of the keys to having Gods favor is the word of our confession, "As you have spoken in my ears so will I be unto you" Num 14
4.Behavior and Actions - There is a misconception in the (mostly Pentecostal) church world; that because of the blood of Jesus our behavior does not matter. One feels they can sin without impunity,after all, Jesus paid it all so what do we have to do. But this is in error; everything we do will be judged, either in this world or in the world to come, therefore God deals with us to straighten us in this life and if we accept this working then we are straigtened but if we do not then we will give account for falling short in eternity. There is a real incentive for being straight and upright, it is one who is upright, truly upright has Gods favor on their lives and they are preserved in life. Prov 11:8 - The wicked are destroyed whilst the righteous are preserved. Proverbs 3:1-4 "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.". There is one more attribute I have observed that releases the hand of God for good, it is the virtue of goodness itself; we need to be good to our fellow man because this attitude and behavior will bring Gods's favor into our lives. Prov 12:2 - Goodness in a man is pleasant thing before the Lord and that man will find Gods favor
And so let me paint a true picture; for some, they accept Him as their Savior but they say: "We will allow you here, here and here but we do not want you to touch this area, this area or this area"...and in those areas they do as they please. As they willfully do as they please in those areas then they suffer the crippling effects of Adam in those areas, however,if they allow the Holy Ghost to touch those areas and learn the secret of surrender then Gods smile comes upon their lives and with His smile comes His favor and in His favor is life!
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