You are God's Favorite!

"Let the favor of the Lord be upon us." God declares in Psalm 90:12.   We are called upon to let, or to allow, His favor to be upon us.  Reminds me of one of the faith statements that Smith Wigglesworth often quoted, "God is more eager to answer than we are to ask."  God desires His favor to rest on us.  

As in all things, it is God who both initiates and completes this work.  In Psalm 5:12, He declares, "For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield."  What a great deal!  He gives us His righteousness (Remember 2 Corinthians 5:21, He became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.) and then because we have His righteousness, we can also then enjoy His favor which surrounds us like a shield.  A shield protects us from all the attacks of the enemy, as the shield of faith in the armor of God promises. 

There is a difference between doing a favor for someone and having favor.  Doing a favor is a one-time act, but having favor is a continuing attitude toward you that desires to bless and give to you all the time.  In our family, whenever one of the kids gets something at Christmas or at other times, they tease each other saying that this is because they are "Mom's favorite."  Well, that is not far from the truth of how God feels about you.  The verse in Psalm 21:6 states we, (or I) have been made kings and are the "most blessed forever."  In short, the truth is that because you have His favor, you can know you are God's favorite.  Only God is such a magnanimous person that He can treat each of us as "His favorite."

We can grow in realizing that we have His favor.  Jesus, in Luke 2:52, is reported that He grew "in favor with God and men."  Let this Word of truth daily settle in your thoughts and heart, because of His fresh mercy, you can be assured that He is pleased with you and that His favor rests upon you.

Rejoice and be gald, you favorite of God!

Will Jesus Find Faith on the Earth?

 What an amazing question Jesus asks in the Luke 18 parable of the lady persistently coming to the judge for justice, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?   Obviously, God wants His people to walk by faith, not by sight or by our senses.  Yet, the implication is that faith may be rare in the last days.  My heart says, "Holy Spirit, keep me strong and increasing in faith, so that I can be like Stephen (Acts 6), a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, in these last days."  

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) Most of us believe He is, but our challenge is to believe He responds to our "faith" when we seek Him.  The goal of this second foundation doctrine is to establish this truth as bed rock, so we can move on to maturity.  Let's look at how to let God settle this once and for all.   

In the previous post, we discussed that in our hearts we can embrace the truth and love He declared because Jesus is trustworthy.  Let's establish another unshakeable fact.  Everything that can and will be done for fallen man has already been done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Sin, sickness, death are paid for and completely defeated.  Faith is receiving what has already been done.

The greatest truth the world could ever hear, that God Himself paid the supreme price so we could be free, is done.  It sounds too good to be true.  Our unrenewed mind wants to doubt and fear that God may not really be so good.  Yet, truly everything due to the sin of man, (guilt, sickness, lack, death) has not only been removed, but replaced by the new creation made in the righteousness of God.  Those who come to Christ are a new creation, the old is gone.  The point is, we are NOT trying to believe and get God to do something, but rather God has done it all and as we know this truth, we believe it is already given.

None of us would say to the sinner, Jesus is going to die for you.  No!  We share the good news, Jesus has died for you.  It is finished.  All has been accomplished.  Notice how the Bible declares this same truth by using the past tense we "have been redeemed," and "by His stripes you were healed,"  Likewise, in 2 Peter 1:3-4 "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him."  

Did you see the key in that last verse?  Through the knowledge of Him.  The prophet Hosea said it well, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge "  Jesus (John 8) said if we continue in the Word, we will know the truth, which will set us free.  Many of us lack faith because we have not renewed our minds to know the truth.  Colossians 3:10 instructs us to put on the new man renewed in the knowledge of God.

Renewing the mind is a process.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ.  Isaiah points out that truth is, "line upon line, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little."  Jesus explained it through the illustration of a seed becoming a fruitful plant, "For the earth yields crops by itself, first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head." (Mark 4:28)  The Word or faith seed grows by itself as "we receive the Word with meekness" allowing God's truth to replace our fallen nature thinking.  As a man thinks, so is he.  Paul left the Ephesian church with this word, "I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."

Make the choice to live by the Word of God.  Take thoughts captive to obey Christ.  The foundation stone, faith toward God, declares we have rejected living for and thinking by selfish desires, and have chosen to let God and His Word be the direction of our lives.  The Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, has been sent to lead you and guide you into all truth so you can always stand on this Rock.