Fuse Jakarta

W1 | Walking In The Favor Of God

FUSE Jakarta

REFERENCE BIBLE VERSES

1 Corinthians 15:10 (NIV) |But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

OBJECTIVE

 As a believer, we are to recognize, expect, activate and walk in the favor of God in our lives.

CONTENT

UNDERSTANDING THE FAVOR OF GOD

  • We often associate excellence with hard work, dedication, and persistence. While these qualities are important, what separates us in the pursuit of our human endeavors is that God blesses us with His favor (Ps. 5:12).
  • Favor is the supernatural influence and blessing of God. It is a gift as opposed to something earned. While diligence is important, the favor of God brings supernatural intervention that sheer effort cannot bring to fruition.
  • The favor of God can come in the form of His help throughout our trials in life. He helped the Israelites to escape Egypt. He helped Esther and the Jews from being killed by Haman’s plot (Exo. 13:17-22, Est. 8). When we faithfully expect His favor, He enables us to achieve impossible success.
  • Success doesn’t always equal God’s approval. But when we realign our endeavors to His will, He makes the way (Isa. 43:19, Ps. 32:23).
  • Even though Paul worked tirelessly (1 Cor. 15:10), he recognized that the ultimate source of his success was God’s grace. He talks about how he’s able to serve God with uncommon strength to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. This kind of commitment and passion doesn’t come from our deprived nature as sinful human beings (Isaiah 53:6). It is by God’s grace only, that we are saved and receive the Holy Spirit who renews our old way of thinking and brings us new heavenly desires (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:23-24). He enables us to do the things that our flesh hates (Galatians 5:17). When we are walking in His plan, God can even open closed doors for us, doing the impossible things that we could have never imagined, to bring us victory (Matthew 19:26, Isaiah 43:2). Success doesn’t always equal God’s approval. But when God approves, He will make the way (Isaiah 43:19).

WALKING IN GOD’S FAVOR

  • The Lord invites us to seek out His favor (2 Kings 13:4), even in the midst of trials and tribulations. He looks on those who are humble and contrite in spirit, trembling at His word (Is. 66:2). This means we dedicate a portion of our day in quiet time, prayers, reading His word, etc. We put God’s wisdom above every lofty views of worldly success so that we may fix our eyes on Him. In all our ways we acknowledge His favor upon us, and He shall direct our paths (Pro. 3:6).
  • As we believers face the woes of the world we can have faith that His presence will always be with us (Ps. 9:9, Jos. 1:9) and that He will strengthen us through even the most trying times (Phil. 4:13).
  • As believers, we’re also faced daily with the choice to speak favor over our life (Pro. 18:21) or give in to the temptation to speak the opposite, for life and death lies in the power of the tongue. We may not realize it as it is happening, but we often cancel out God’s favor through negative speech and doubt (Pro. 18:21).
  • Speaking words of faith aligns us with God’s promises and activates the Holy Spirit to work in us, reminding us of the favor we have upon receiving our salvation in Christ. The ten spies spoke words of fear, saying “we are like grasshoppers” (Num. 14:28-30). This negative confession kept an entire generation from entering the promised land. In contrast, Joshua and Caleb declared “We are well able” and they received the blessing. Thus, favor is often released through the truth we speak.
  • Take courage, brothers and sisters. We can bring to fruition His will against all odds. Declare God’s already present favor daily upon us, and witness Him doing impossible things in our lives!

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  • Are there signs in your life that show you are indeed walking in alignment with God’s purpose? How did He demonstrate His favor in those moments?
  • Do you always expect God’s favor in your day-to-day life, even during trying seasons?
  • How do you cultivate a heart of humility to receive God’s favor, especially when we already have much personal achievement or success?

REFERENCES