Another definition of judgment is “to be set right.” The second reason that judgment may be triggered is to set things right. In the case of the captive children of Israel, this is what happened when they were finally released from bondage.
God said, “ I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment” (Exod. 12:12).
In essence, God was saying, “It’s time for My people to leave; their sentence is over. I’m going to execute judgment on those who have kept them in bondage, and I’m going to set things right.”
So, what, exactly, did setting things right entail? Exodus 12:36 says, “And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” The Amplified translation says, “And they stripped the Egyptians [of those things],” referring to gold, silver and clothing.
Notice the two things that happened as a result of Israel’s obedience: First, they experienced favor as they’d never known it before. Second, they experienced a restoration of all that had been stolen from them. Not only did these people get back what belonged to them, but God also saw to it that they got back what had belonged to their ancestors. They didn’t walk out of captivity with just what belonged to their own generation; they walked out with what had belonged to previous generations as well. God indeed had set things right for the children of Israel, just as He had promised when He said to Abraham, “ I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you” (Gen. 12:3).
Earlier, we discussed Abraham’s being an example for us, his spiritual seed, in that he left his country and his family in order to obtain the lifestyle of faith and favor that God had planned for him. Abraham was also an example for his natural seed, the children of Israel, who exercised their faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when they obeyed the words that God had given to Moses. They knew that Abraham had once been called to go to a place that he would receive as an inheritance, and they believed that what God had done for Abraham, He would do for them, too.
They could have chosen to remain in captivity, where they had become accustomed to the comfort of the familiar: the familiar culture, the familiar mindsets, and the familiar way of doing things. But they were willing to pay the price of obedience—which involved leaving the familiar behind—in order to obtain all that God had promised them.
As a result of their obedience to leave behind a life of captivity to the culture in which they had been born, God poured out His favor upon His people. As He led them out of Egypt, He went before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. He provided them with food to eat and water to drink. He led them across the sea on dry ground and then destroyed their enemies before their eyes. Although at times the lure of the familiar tugged at the Israelites and they desired to return to Egypt, ultimately the Lord led them into the land of promise, just as He had declared He would.
Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed from the curse and are entitled to walk in the blessing and the favor of God. We can choose not to conform to our culture and the ways of thinking that have been passed on to us by former generations. We can renew our minds to the Word of God, leaving behind the mindset of mediocrity and believing instead that
God’s favor will cause us to be blessed when we come in and when we go out. It will cause our enemies to flee before us, and it will make us the head and not the tail as God opens His good treasure to us to bless all the work of our hands.
Make the decision right now to pay the price of obedience. Once you do that, it won’t be long before you begin to experience a higher level of God’s favor manifesting in every area of your life.
6
CONSISTENT FAVOR REQUIRES CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE
In the more than 40 years since Carolyn and I first received a revelation of the favor of God and began walking and living in it, we have enjoyed a very blessed life—but that’s not to say we’ve never faced adversity. Over the same 40 years, we have also experienced numerous attacks: attacks on our health, our family, our ministry and our finances—attacks just like everyone else in the Body of Christ experiences.
However, because we know that the favor of God is upon our lives, we are confident that if we do not give up under the pressure of the attack, our enemy will not triumph over us. We can say with David, “By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me” (Ps. 41:11, KJV). We might get knocked down, but we don’t believe in staying down. When we fall, we shall arise. Why? Because the favor of God is upon our lives.
Have you ever wondered why some people never seem to enter the flow of God’s blessing and favor, while others appear to walk in it continuously? Why is that? Is God arbitrarily picking and choosing? Of course not. We are the ones who do the choosing. The Word of God is very clear about whom God intends to bless: all of mankind. God wants every person to experience His blessing and favor—but we must make the choice to receive what He offers.
After God had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Joshua spoke these words to the people: “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Josh. 24:14-15). Just as deciding to set aside old mindsets is a choice we have to make, so is choosing to serve and obey the Lord. With the choice to serve Him come His blessing and favor.
The book of Proverbs provides us with both wisdom and instruction for successful living. I particularly like the way Proverbs 3 lays out the benefits of blessing and favor that come with choosing to serve the Lord:
My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.
Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.
Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine (Prov. 3:1-10).
As you can see, when we choose to be obedient to God’s instruction, not only will we find favor and esteem in His sight and in the sight of man, but we can also expect that God will direct our paths, give us physical health and well-being, and bless us with material prosperity.
While God’s favor and blessing have been freely given and made available to us through faith in Jesus Christ, not everyone will walk in that favor. As Proverbs 3 goes on to say, “The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just” (Prov. 3:33).
Who are the wicked? When we think of wicked people, we usually think of evil, ungodly, nasty people—people you certainly wouldn’t want hanging out at your house all the time. That’s one form of wickedness—and one that the Bible certainly covers. But in the book of Matthew, we find a different application of the word “wicked.”
As Jesus shares with His disciples what we have come to know as the parable of the talents, He talks about how the master entrusted a different number of talents to each of his three servants to invest while he was away on a journey. Two of the servants invested the talents wisely, doubling their master’s resources. The master commended each of those two, saying, “Well don
e, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:23). But out of fear, the third servant buried the talent that had been entrusted to his care. When his master found out that this servant had produced nothing with what he’d been given, his response was: “You wicked and lazy servant … you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest” (vv. 26-27).
As we can see from this example, wickedness is not just evil or ungodliness. It can also be defined as being unfaithful. So when we read that the curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, what does the Bible mean by that?
First, let’s look at the word “curse.” In order to understand the concept of the curse correctly, let’s remember the covenant God made with mankind when He created the first man and woman (see Gen. 1:28-30). Within that covenant He established His favor, His blessing, and everything they would need for living a fruitful life—provided that they chose to obey His instructions (see Gen. 2:16-17). But instead, they chose to disobey God, essentially committing high treason against Him (see Gen 3:1-7). As a result of their disobedience, the curse came upon all mankind (see Gen. 3:8-19). God never intended for His creation to experience this curse, but every act of disobedience carries consequences.
Proverbs 26:2 says, “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.” The New Living Translation says that “an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.” In other words, if you do not give the curse a cause, then it cannot land on your house.
The word “house” certainly pertains to a physical structure in which people live. But it also refers to the person or persons who live in the structure, as well as their possessions. That’s where we get the word “household.”
The Amplified translation of Proverbs 3:33 says, “The curse of the Lord is in and on the house of the wicked, but He declares blessed (joyful and favored with blessings) the home of the just and consistently righteous.” As I said earlier, God doesn’t go around picking certain people to bless and leaving out others. The choice to walk in the favor and blessing of God is ours.
In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” God says He has two offers for us: life and blessing, or death and cursing. I like to say that He then gives us an inside tip: Choose life. Choose the blessing. But notice whose choice it is.
God does not make the decision for us; He just tells us it’s a whole lot better if we choose life and blessing. That initial choice then leads to countless day-to-day choices. How we live our lives determines whether or not we experience the continuous flow of His favor and blessing.
GOD SAYS HE HAS TWO OFFERS FOR US: LIFE AND BLESSING, OR DEATH AND CURSING. I LIKE TO SAY THAT HE THEN GIVES US AN INSIDE TIP: CHOOSE LIFE.
My heart goes out to people who are struggling. It particularly grieves me to see so many of God’s people just give up and choose to quit operating in the truths they have learned. Now, please understand that I am not being judgmental. It’s just that over four decades, I’ve learned some things. I’ve made some mistakes, but I’ve gained insight from those mistakes. I’ve learned what brings God’s favor to my house, and I know what keeps it away. My intention in sharing these truths with you is that you might experience God’s favor operating in your life on a daily basis.
I believe three choices determine whether or not we walk in the favor of God that is available to us: obedience, consistency, and what we say.
Develop a Lifestyle of Obedience
Once again, when the Bible talks about the curse of the Lord, it’s talking about the curse that comes through disobedience. When God laid out the choice of life or death, blessing or cursing, He made it clear that the curse can’t touch those who are obedient to choose life. This is why it is so important that we develop a lifestyle of obedience.
As the Israelites were about to take possession of the Promised Land, Moses stressed the importance of being obedient to the commandments they had been given:
Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you … all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.… And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (Deut. 6:1-2,6-7).
What was Moses doing? He was sowing seeds for a lifestyle of obedience. He was creating a new mindset that would enable this nation of people to walk in the favor and blessing of God. But practicing obedience was the key.
Jesus Himself had to practice obedience. He said, “ I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Jesus’ job was to do the will of the Father, and our job is to follow Jesus’ example and do the same. Luke 6:46 records a very blunt question Jesus once posed: “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” When someone refers to Jesus as Lord, it’s the same as calling Him Master. It means—or should mean—that person is totally submitted to Him, and that He has final authority in that person’s life. So Jesus was asking, “Why are you calling Me Lord when you don’t do what I say?” The Amplified translation says, “Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?”
I played lots of baseball when I was young, and I can tell you that our team spent more time practicing than we did actually playing the game. Practice was designed to get us to the point that we could excel at the sport. Whether or not we won the game, we’d have practice again the next day. If we won the championship at the end of one season, we’d start the next season with practice. I never told my coach, “Hey, I practiced all last year. We won the championship. I know how to do this, so I’ll just skip practice and see you at the game.” If I had been foolish enough to say that, he would have told me not to bother showing up for the game.
To return to Jesus’ question, in essence, He was asking, “Why are you calling Me Lord if you’re not practicing what I tell you?” In this context, we could define the word “practice” as “to apply repeatedly until it becomes a lifestyle.” When we determine to develop lifestyles of obedience, it won’t be long before we’ll see the blessing and favor of God manifesting on our houses.
Baseball was a good teacher for me, but so was the military. In the Army, I learned not to question orders and not to make excuses. If you made a mistake, you didn’t give your commanding officer an excuse—even if you thought the order you’d been given was the dumbest thing you’d ever heard. You just said, “No excuse, sir.” That’s the way you acted if you wanted to maintain right standing and not end up in the brig.
God is not going to hurt us if we mess up, but we can certainly hurt ourselves when we get out from under the umbrella of His protection that is established in our lives through our obedience. For this reason, Carolyn and I knew it was important to teach our children obedience from an early age.
GOD IS NOT GOING TO HURT US IF WE MESS UP, BUT WE CAN HURT OURSELVES WHEN WE GET OUT FROM UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF HIS PROTECTION.
When our girls were very young, I found the Scripture verse that says, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord” (Col. 3:20). One translation refers to children who obey quickly and quietly (see 1 Tim. 3:4, TLB). That was just what I was looking for. I went to my daughters and said, “From now on, this is the way you will obey your mother and dad: quickly and quietly. This means don’t argue, don’t hesitate, don’t debate, and don’t try to come up with a better idea.”
I was so glad I’d found that Scripture, but when I’d finished laying it on
my children, the Lord said to me, “That goes for you, too, sonny boy.”
When we choose to enter into lifestyles of obedience to God’s Word, we’ll find that the blessing and favor of God will rest upon our houses, as we’ve already read in Proverbs 3:33: “He declares blessed (joyful and favored with blessings) the home of the just and consistently righteous” (AMP). I particularly like this translation of the verse, because it uses a word that other translations do not use. That word is “consistently.”
This brings us to the second factor that determines the level of favor and blessing in our lives: consistency.
Consistency: The Missing Ingredient
I once stopped in the middle of a sermon and asked an elderly man in the church where I was preaching, “Sir, how long have you been in this church?”
His matter-of-fact answer was: “Thirty years.”
“Really? Where’d you get saved?”
“In this church.”
“So you’ve been in this church ever since you got saved,” I said. “Let me ask you this: Does your pastor ever preach anything that you don’t agree with?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re still here?”
“Yes.”
So I asked him, “How can that be, if you don’t agree with everything he preaches?”
“Well, when I went home and read the Bible for myself, I found out he was right.” This man’s consistency and faithfulness spoke volumes to me.
Unfortunately, he is an exception rather than the rule—I would even go so far as to say that inconsistency is a disease that afflicts the Body of Christ today. It’s not unusual for a pastor to say something that people may not like. But instead of setting it aside for further study, as this man did, how do many people respond? “I’m out of here!” They lack consistency, or “stickability.”
The Favor of God Page 9
