This Sunday my sermon is going to be on favor. As I started to research favor, I realized that it is similar to grace in that it comes from the same root word, or Greek root word (Charis). And so to see what the Twitter world thought of the two words, I simply asked.
I have to admit I was surprised that everyone was right on. To sum it all up they mainly said that the difference is that grace is gifted and favor is earned. To elaborate on that a bit, Grace is the gift that God has given us to make us acceptable to be in His presence. It’s the agent that cleans us from our sin, so it can be defined as the gift that gets us to God.
Favor is the agent we earn that propels us to be better than just graced enough to get to God. So therefore, walking in favor is different than walking in grace. We walk in grace when we confess our sins and seek God. We walk in favor when God releases an influence on us, so that others are inclined to cooperate with us.
But favor doesn’t come just by knowing God! There’s more to it! I’m reminded of Jacob. You remember that story right? In a nutshell, the story goes that Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (some say it was God Himself and other’s have said it was Jesus) and Jacob said that he wasn’t going to let the angel go until it blessed him. Hosea has something interesting to say about this wrestling match. In Chapter 12:4, Hosea says, “Yes, he (Jacob) struggled with the Angel and prevailed; He wept, and sought favor from Him. He found Him in Bethel.” To put it bluntly, Jacob wrestled with God! God would have known who He was wrestling with don’t you think? I would at least!
Now, I don’t know what you all think of favor, but I have to admit it’s something that I’m searching for in my life. Proverbs 19:12 says, "The king’s anger is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like welcome rain."
For me that means it takes a dry and empty walk with the Lord and makes it refreshing (sounds good to me!). But this doesn’t come from just knowing God; it comes from embracing God’s mission, embodying God’s name, and Obeying God’s Word.
So my question is, and you don’t have to answer this on here if you don’t want, do we do as little as it takes to still be Christian, or do we do what it takes to find favor? For me, I want to find favor!
Friday, January 23, 2009
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3 comments:
I want favor! And in many ways, I feel that I've found it.
Most definately, favor!
There's so much MORE to being a Christian than 'just being saved.'
We have a destiny to fulfill.
"Refreshing" is such a good word to describe the 'welcome rain.'
Rain on, Jesus! Reign on!!!
I think a lot of people do as little as possible to still be a Christian.. Shoot I am guilty of that... I mean probably from 16-25 thats all I did. Just enough to think...yah God and I are still cool.
The past 3 years I have really wanted more of Christ. Not just to say that Him and I are still cool...but I wanted to model my own life after His. I now am wanting His favor on my life. But it takes a whole heck of a lot more work on my end. I have finally gotten to a place where I want to dig into everything Christ has for me. Messy stuff and all.
Great Post!! Definitely got me thinking.
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