Are you walking in the FOG, the Favor Of God? If so, then you know the feeling of being overwhelmed and encompassed by His love, guidance and beneficence.
But God's blessings, whether material or spiritual, are not intended just to help you with your own life. They are designed to help you help others and extend the kingdom of God here on earth. How? Let's look at 12 benefits of walking in the FOG.
- Favor promotes you. It will take you to higher levels of success and service. It did for Esther. One day she was an orphaned Jewish refugee. One year later she was crowned Queen of Persia. God's favor caused Esther to gain the goodwill of everyone she met. She didn't even have to work for it. One day of God's favor is worth a thousand days of your labor.
- Favor pushes open doors that otherwise would be closed to you. It puts you into position for blessings. When I just had started in ministry, I had a meeting with the pastor of a large, influential church. I had prayed for favor with him and before I left his church, I was booked to preach several revivals and attend an important conference for free. What seems impossible is very possible in God.
- Favor protects you. It will keep you safe and shielded from the effects of evil. Even when bad things happen to you, God will use them for your good and His glory. Look at the life of Joseph. He went from the pit to Potiphar's house, from imprisonment to interpreting dreams in the Pharaoh's palace. God spared his life so that he could be named as Egypt's prime minister and save his family and the world from death from famine.
- Favor puts you in victory over your enemies. It will help you conquer and triumph over your foes. Because of divine favor, Queen Esther was able to foil a wicked conspiracy to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire. She saw Haman, the king's evil advisor, hanged on the same gallows built to murder her cousin, Mordecai.
- Favor pacifies your enemies. It will even cause your opponents to be at peace with you. God will calm your adversaries and make them leave you alone. That's what happened for Moses and the children of Israel. As they were being freed from centuries of slavery, Exodus says, "The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians," who just let them leave.
- Favor places the wealth of the wicked at your disposal. It will transfer the resources of evil or unsaved people to your stewardship or ownership. The Egyptians were so eager to see the Israelites leave that they gave them anything and everything they asked for - silver, gold, clothing. God gave His people favor to plunder their enemies.
- Favor positions you to have your needs met and be blessed. It will put you in a place where you will lack for nothing and be exalted. Remember the story of Ruth, the Moabite? She followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to her Jewish homeland though she knew nobody there. God gave her favor with a wealthy businessman named Boaz. Not only did he see that she was safe and well fed, he married her and their offspring were in the lineage of King David and Jesus.
- Favor posts you on a great platform. It will bring you before huge audiences or important people and give you influence with decision makers. It did for David. Long before he was named king, God gave him favor with the king of Israel. This unknown shepherd boy became Saul's favorite musician. Eventually he became his armor-bearer and greatest warrior and gained the notice of the entire country.
- Favor proceeds from generation to generation. It will last beyond your lifetime and can continue in the lives of your children and their children. King David continued to bless the family of his covenant friend, Jonathan, even after the prince's death. David brought Jonathan's lame son, Mephibosheth, to live in his court until his death, all because of his eternal friendship with his father.
- Favor procreates in your life. It will breed in your own life so that you find favor upon favor upon favor. You will grow in favor with God and men, just as the Bible says the young prophet Samuel did. It says the same thing about Jesus, too, in the New Testament. Favor increases.
- Favor "preferentializes" you. It will make influential people agree with your godly plans and allow you to serve God. Even though Daniel and his Jewish friends were taken into captivity in Babylon, their excellence stood out. Their caretaker was willing to risk his life to let them follow their convictions. For three weeks they ate nothing but vegetables and water. The four youths were able to avoid spiritual defilement and turned out to be the healthiest of all the slaves.
- Favor promotes Church growth and influence. The FOG will increase the size of the Body of Christ. That's how it was for the early Church. Acts 2:47 says its members were "praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Divine favor draws unbelievers to Christians as well as to Christ. And it does the same with vision, resources, opportunities, cooperation, and impact - all so that the Lord's Kingdom will grow!
Adapted from The Favor Of God: Discover the FOG, copyright 2002 by Daniel E. Barrick. Published by Insight Publishing Group, Tulsa, Okla. Order from Family Christian Center, P.O. Box 1074, Gastonia, NC 28052, 704-867-5841.
Daniel E. Barrick is founder and senior pastor of Family Christian Center, a thriving multiracial, nondenominational church in Gastonia, N.C. He travels both nationally and internationally, offering practical and biblical insights to empower believers to fulfill their destinies in Christ.
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