For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12.

Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:

Do you have faith for favor? Not for others, but for YOU? This is something you will have to settle in your heart or you will not be able to fully receive My favor in your life.

This is Life Lesson No. 6 in our series of teachings on how to live by faith and it is called “Faith for Favor.” Everyone is looking for favor in their life and I desire to give favor to everyone but unless you have faith for it, you will block receiving it. You will be like the barren bush in the desert who never sees the good when it comes. Jeremiah 17:6.

To have faith for favor in your life there are three things you must have faith in:

First, you must know that I have forgiven all your sins and that I remember them no more. Many people are trapped in guilt and shame over their sins and they feel condemned and far from Me. They see Me as angry and disappointed that they have sinned though they are sorry that they have done so. They see themselves as cast away and as having lost their destiny. When you do this you build a dividing wall between us and hold Me back out of your life. You just cannot cross over and enter with confidence to fellowship with Me and receive favor when you are living under a cloud of gilt. If you still see yourself as at fault before Me you do not understand what I have done for you in Christ Jesus. If you still feel dirty with sin, you will not come with joy to the wedding feast. You won’t let yourself participate. You will cast yourself out.

But the good news is you can renew your mind in this area and get revelation of what Jesus’ death and resurrection means to you. I took ALL your sins, iniquities, shame, guilt, and blame and I put them on Him, thus condemning sin in the flesh and He carried all your sins in His body on the Cross. He redeemed you and washed away all your sins and unrighteousness with His blood. And as you walk in Him in the Light, the Blood continually cleanses you. It is an eternal redemption done once by Him for all but continually before Me speaking mercy and favor for you.

Many just do not understand the extent to which you are forgiven in Christ. It is not like a covering over the sin but you still have it underneath that cover, nor is it like I just forgave you in My mercy but the sin is still there, forgiven but there, NO, it is GONE. He took your fault—He bore your sins and I punished them justly on Him—and when He did that, your fault was no longer “your” fault, it became “His” fault. For I made Jesus who knew no sin to BE sin on YOUR behalf so that in Him you might BE righteous with My own righteousness before Me. And that is spotless, sinless, perfect righteousness. In Me there is no sin and no unrighteousness. And that is how I have recreated you in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

It is true that you were once dead to Me in your sins and trespasses—and the unrighteous will not inherit My kingdom; but you have been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 6:9-11. And My Holy Spirit testifies to your spirit that your sins and offenses I remember NO MORE. Hebrews 10:17. Therefore there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, I did: sending My own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, I condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in you, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4.

If you understand that in Christ I have made you holy, blameless and beyond reproach before Me, Colossians 1:22, you can relax in My presence and have no fear of rejection. My Son told you that He would never reject anyone who comes to Him. John 6:37. I have commanded Him not too. John 6:38-40. The redemption is for all. 1 Timothy 2:6. But it is up to you to receive the gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace so that you may reign in life through Jesus. Romans 5:17.

It is written, and My Word is established forever in Heaven, that I have forgiven ALL your sins. Psalm 103:3; Ephesians 1:7. When Jesus had made purification of sins, He sat down at My right hand on high, and I raised you up and seated you there with Him. Hebrews 1:3; Ephesians 2:6. He freed you from all your sins and the punishment due them, He saved you from the wrath to come. You are purified. Do not let Satan blind your eyes, making you forget, or never really grasp, the purification from your former sins that I have wrought for you in Christ, 2 Peter 1:9, 2 Corinthians 4:4, or you will not be to forget what lies behind and press on to what lies ahead to the high calling I have for you in Christ. My apostle Paul, though he acknowledged he had committed serious sins in the past, declared his conscience was now cleared by the blood of My Son so that he focused on My high calling in Christ on his life, forgetting what lay behind. How could he do that? Because he knew I had. And that is the only way you can do that too. You must KNOW and BELIEVE you are totally forgiven with nothing dividing us. Your sins are not just forgiven they are GONE, like the midst in the morning sun, borne by Him who knew no sin but became sin for you all. Jesus. The only name given among men by which you are saved.

In this is love, not that you have loved Me, but that I have loved you and sent My Son to be the propitiation for your sins. 1 John 4:10.

Next, once you know you are forgiven, there is another hurdle you must overcome by faith or it will be a stumbling block to you for receiving My favor. You have to know that I am pleased with you—that you are pleasing in My sight. So many believers operate under a cloud of displeasure that they have created over themselves because they are disappointed in their own behavior, their lack of worldly accomplishments, or even what they consider spiritual accomplishments, they feel lacking in that area as well.

You will notice that when I spoke over Jesus I called Him My beloved Son in WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. And hence He always did what pleased Me, whether it was the silent years as a boy in Nazareth as He grew in wisdom and grace before Me, or the years in which He ministered to My people Israel. He told you that He remained in My love by keeping My commandments. And I tell you that when you have received Jesus as your Lord, He has given you the authority to be My children, My own special treasure, and that you who are baptized into Christ are clothed in Christ. Now as He is so are you in this world. 1 John 4:17. By this My love was manifested in you, that I have sent My only begotten Son into the world so that you might live through Him. 1 John 4:9. And I am well pleased in you for believing in the greatness of My love for you knowing what I did for you in My Son. John 16:27.

And this also has to do with knowing that I am for you and not against you. You must know that to have faith for favor. David went through may trials and seasons in his life but he sang through them all, “This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.” Psalm 56:9-11. I am for you, so who can be against you? I did not spare My own Son, but delivered Him over for YOU, how will I not also with Him freely give YOU all things? Romans 8:31-32.

And finally, to have faith for favor in your life, you must have faith that I am good and that I reward those who seek Me. Hebrews 11:6. Taste and see My goodness! It is all around you and it is in you. Plant your roots deeply in My goodness and let it fill your life. If you consider what I have done for you in Christ, how He went about doing GOOD and healing all those oppressed by the devil, and how I sent Him to undo what the devil has done in your life, in your world, and to give you His abundant life instead, to give you His peace, His joy, His righteousness, His sinless life, His health, His power, His Name, His riches—all this in your heavenly account for withdrawing whenever you need it by praise and thanksgiving, you will be overwhelmed with the blessings of My goodness, which is My glory.

Now if your faith is growing in these things you will be able to have faith for favor—faith for seeing every day filled with good things.

What is favor? In Psalm 34 I describe it as a long satisfying life filled with good. And I tell you how to have it: “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Psalm 34:13-14. Speaking only My Words and following Me in love. I reward the good and faithful servant with favor—that is, with authority and prosperity. Favor is eating the best of the land, and I tell you that comes from being willing to obey My Word. Not perfect performance, but a WILLING HEART. I reward those who seek Me. Favor has many facets—promotion, food in time of famine, wealth and riches in your house, protection, deliverance, doors that open to you that seem impossible to enter, good health, peace, the windows of heaven open to you pouring out a blessing you cannot contain—but you could sum it up by saying that favor makes your life stand out above the crowd. Wherever Jesus went, He could not escape notice.

Jacob’s son Joseph is a beautiful example of living a life of divine favor. And it made him stand out above the crowd. He was a prince among his brothers. Why? He walked in love and forgiveness. He lived a life of obedience and humility and kept his eyes more on Me than on what those who tried to harm him were doing, so consequently though others meant what they did to Joseph for harm, I turned around to promote him for good. That is favor. And you will notice with Joseph I gave him favor though turning the hearts of those in authority, such a Potiphar, the chief jailor, and Pharaoh, to choose, promote, and favor Joseph.

And here is another principle of divine favor: Favor is having the one with the highest authority in the area in which you are living, working, or studying showing favor to you—then you do not fear whatever the lower ones that lack that ultimate authority try to do to you. You are protected from their evil schemes to take you down by the higher authority that is promoting you. The Egyptian army found this out as they tried to pursue My people Israel through the Red Sea to do them harm.

When your life is pleasing to Me I even make your enemies show you favor—like Daniel. Though he was a prisoner of war, the pagan kings of three different empires just kept promoting him to higher and higher positions of governing authority. And how about the when the Israelites left Egypt and I made the Egyptians so favorably disposed towards them that they gave them their jewels, fine garments, gold and silver. When you have My favor on you, you never leave empty handed or feeble.

I can show you favor directly from Me, like the manna falling on the dew from Heaven to provide food for My people for over 40 years in the wilderness, or divine healing as you sit alone in our bedroom as you open your heart to Me in thankful praise. Often I show favor through the angels of My heavenly host, such as the angel that came and released Peter from prison and the angel who fought the Assyrians for Hezekiah. But most often I show you favor though people, such as Pharaoh for Joseph, the three magi for Jesus, Cyrus to supply for the rebuilding of My temple in Jerusalem, the widow with the flour and oil for Elijah, and many others. You can probably think of people in your life whom I have sent to give you favor. Especially the ones who tell you the good news of salvation and of the Kingdom. When your life is pleasing to Me, I even make your enemies be at peace with you.

Your gift will bring you before great men. I can turn the heart of a king towards you. Like Esther.

I bless the righteous man, I surround him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12. The word that is translated “favor” in that passage is the Hebrew word “ratson (רָצוֹן),” which means “will,” as in doing My Will for your life, but it can also mean “goodwill,” “favor,” and “acceptance.” What this tells you is that My Will for you is good, pleasing and perfect. My Will for you is favorable, it is to show you favor, to give you a future and a hope. To give you shalom and not evil. I delight in doing good to you, in showing you favor. I love to see you prospering and in good health. I love to see you walking in the truth and obtaining all My promises.

And you will notice the promise is for the one who is righteous. And if you are in Christ Jesus you are righteous. Believe for My favor to surround you wherever you go. Expect it. It is actually the BLESSING with which I blessed you on the day I created man, Genesis 1:28, and confirmed with Noah, and then with Abraham, and now with Jesus and in Him I have blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Heaven and opened to you the Blessing of Abraham as well.

I love you. I am overjoyed when I can show you favor, will you open up your heart and have faith for favor today? Faithful I am who calls you, and I also will bring it to pass.