Galatians 2:9
“and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.”
James and Peter recognized that God’s favor was on Paul, so they assisted in his ministry. The Lord wants to do the same to all of us.
Psalm 5:12 says, “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.” It’s clear that this is God’s doing.
What can we do to tap into His favor? John 15:7 provides much insight, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” This verse is packed full.
The verse begins by saying “to remain in Him”. We become His child by accepting Him and His forgiveness. That’s the start. We have to stay in Him. This infers yielding to His lordship. We acknowledge He’s the boss and we follow Him.
The next part of the verse is key, “My words remain in you”. The bible is His word. We should be listening to messages preached and reading it often. This does several things. First, we learn and follow His ways. Second and most amazing is what the word does to us.
Hebrews 4:12 says that His word is living and active. As we read or hear it, the word is planted like a seed in our hearts. In Matthew 13, Jesus delivers the parable of the sower (farmer). He says that the attitude of our hearts (soil) can be of four types, good, preoccupied, shallow understanding, victim of theft. Anyone can have these attitudes at different times.
One of them is rewarded. Verse 23 says, “But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.” This is the one walking in God’s favor.
This is done in an exponential manner. As we abide in His word, this process is continual. He heaps His blessings upon us. Psalm 1 says that this person shall be “as a tree planted by rivers of water”. His word produces great spiritual health and success in and through us. It might not be as we have planned, but it’s actually better. He knows us completely and guides us in ways that are the most fulfilling.
Lord, thank You for Your favor. Help us to obey so Your kingdom will come.