I have learned that the journey you are on can be determined by your mindset, and how you look upon every situation that you face. “Do you want to favor or do you want justice?” My grandfather used to have a saying, “Poor people have poor ways.” As I grew older and wiser, I began to see this unfortunate characteristic in my own life, because many times I was always seeking justice, or “things to be fair,” but my results were that I would always end up getting the least amount of blessing that I could possibly receive. And to make things worse, my result in getting complete justice meant that which I already had was sometimes taken away.
Justice had always been taught to me by my British family heritage, and the proper English desire to be biblically correct and to live by the law. But I’ve discovered, “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Following the rules is always the pathway to justice, but following favor is the way of the Spirit.
Years ago I wanted justice when it came to the income tax, and I would literally spend months of time collecting receipts and filling out my tax forms ~ and every year I was audited. It was so stressful and I caused my family to experience much of my stress. At that time my children were very young so they didn’t know what mom and dad were fussing over. To make the tax situation even worse, for three years in a row the IRS agent who audited my taxes would wear dark sunglasses when he met with me. This made him seem so spooky that it just freaked me out.
I finally cried out before the Lord and said, “Help me, God! I need Your favor. What do You want me to do?” After about six months the Lord talked to me about a certain Christian accounting firm and I hired them to do my taxes. I dropped my opinion of wanting things to be “fair.” I just wanted to gain the favor of God. Guess what it happened? They began begin doing my taxes I started to forget about the stress. It was that easy. For the last 25 years I have been living in the favor of God and tax time is no longer stressful. It actually is kind of fun to see how God’s favor always follows me ~ even with someone like the taxman.
The spirit of poverty is a work of the flesh, and we know, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Anytime your flesh (or carnal mind) is seeking justice, it is actually seeking the lowest reward you can possibly receive ~ which is judgment. That is why Jesus came to give us life and that more abundantly. His life is always discovered through the seeking of divine favor.
A person I know was working at a large company at a low level position that dealt with the maintenance of very complex machines. One day the company faced an incredible conflict because the machines were in disrepair and not maintained correctly. Everybody in their department was looking for justice. Who could they blame for the problems and how could they defend themselves so that they did not lose their jobs? But the person I knew, who was a divine favor-seeking Christian, looked at the situation completely differently, and began to look for God’s favor on how to fix the problem forever. Soon God gave him an answer, which included a way to make up for everybody’s mistakes. The result was that they were all promoted, their paychecks were doubled, and they were advanced to management-level positions.
Favor is the way to obtain rulership. Remember that Moses taught this truth to the people of Israel, when he prophesied, “And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath.” This prophecy is still real today and is God’s true purpose over your life. In other words it is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua. Otherwise God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people.”
The thing about favor is that it is so cool and so relaxing. It is like living every day on a vacation beach with cup of tea and a sparkling slice of lemon in it ~ smiling and giggling because you are on a vacation resting in the favor of God. To meditate more upon this subject, read Hebrews the fourth chapter in the Message Bible this week.
A Place To Meet Jesus 