People and things can fail you because they are not perfect. However, if we trust in favor of God as believers, it can take us places we have never been.
We can receive complete favor from God by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 NIV Version says 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Jesus was a great example to follow. Luke 2:52 says Jesus grew in wisdom and found favor with God and man. Jesus applied the teachings he received from God and gained favor with God and man.
Three people in the bible that come to mind who had the favor of God in their lives were Joseph (Genesis Chapters 37-41), Esther (Chapters 1-10, and Ruth (Chapters 1-4)
The one thing Joseph, Esther, and Ruth had in common was their integrity.
Potiphar’s wife came after Joseph, but instead of sleeping, he ran from her. He said it would be a sin against God. Even though he was thrown in prison, God was with him. Joseph gained favor with the prisoners by operating in his gift of interpreting dreams. Joseph’s gift made room for him, and he went from a prisoner to being promoted to second in command.
Even though the King found her beautiful, Esther had favor with the King because of the God in her. Moreover, she was a praying woman, which gave her the boldness to approach the King and free her people from ruling the kingdom.
Ruth found favor with Boaz. Boaz saw her and asked others about her. She was a young lady but did not chase after young, old, or rich men. She was a hard worker, and she helped her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth was also humble and obedient to what Naomi told her. Her obedience got her a husband that was a business owner. She went from working in Boaz’s field to owning it with him as his wife.
Trust in God and walk in the wisdom of God, and His favor will take you higher. You do not have to impress people or lower your standards for anyone to get what you want or need. God takes care of us. He works on people’s hearts to show us favor. Psalm 5:12 says favor surrounds the righteous as with a shield. We are made righteous through faith in God (Romans 3:22).
People/things are not our savior; all you need is God’s favor!
Prayer: I praise God that I am made righteous through you by trusting in your word and character. I thank you because I am righteous favor surrounds me like a shield. I expect favor every day. God, help me to be more like you. Forgive me for not walking in integrity and doing things in my own strength. I grow in wisdom each day by applying God’s word to my life. I claim it done in Jesus’ name! Amen.
This is a great message. I love how you mentioned and illustrated how Joseph, Esther, and Ruth all had Integrity in common. Integrity is everything and is so important to our God as it is to me. I pray that the favor of God would continue to surround you, I, and all of God’s people and that we would increase more and more in wisdom, in stature and in favor with God and man. Amen
I receive! As we apply the word of God we grow in wisdom and have favor with God and people. We are made righteous through faith and favor surrounds us as with a shield.