Favor
“And Yeshua kept increasing in
wisdom and stature, and in FAVOR with God and men.” (Luke 2:52 TLV, emphasis mine)
“A good man obtains favor from
Adonai, but He condemns a person with evil schemes.” (Pro 12:2 TLV)
Most of us have been taught that friendship with the world
means being in opposition, and an enemy, to our Creator (see Jam 4:4), and to
some extent, this is correct. However,
‘favor’ is something completely different from friendship. The Hebrew word that has been translated as ‘grace’,
or ‘favor’, is the word chên
(Strong’s H2580), and can mean acceptance, and approval. Jeff Benner, in his Ancient Hebrew Dictionary,
defines chên as “The qualities in a person or
thing that give pleasure to the senses. Someone or something that is desired,
approved, favored or in agreement by another”[1]. Noah Webster also defines favor as: “to regard with kindness;
to support; to aid or have the disposition to aid; to wish success to; to
befriend; to encourage; to be merciful to”[2].
Favor with Abba Father is evident every time a prayer or petition is answered, every time a need is met, and a care is dealt with. Favor with our Elohim is His acceptance and approval of us, something that IS dependent on our actions and obedience, as we see from the quoted verse in Proverbs.
Favor with man is found when doors have been opened that no man could possibly have opened. When trust is established where there has never been trust before – this is walking in the favor of man. Favor does not mean that everyone will like us; Messiah Yeshua had favor, and the Word says that “He was despised and rejected by men” (Isa 53:3). When we walk with the favor (approval) and integrity of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He will see to it that we walk with the favor (approval) and integrity of men.
Do we need this favor to fulfill our Elohim’s work here on earth? If our Messiah Yeshua walked with favor, should we not do so also? But what are the conditions we need to meet to walk in the favor of our Creator? To those of us who profess to belong to the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it is really very simple:
“My son, DO NOT forget my Torah,
And let your heart WATCH OVER my commands; For length of days and long life And
peace they add to you. LET NOT kindness
and truth forsake you – Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of
your heart, Thus finding favour and good insight In the eyes of Elohim and
man.”
(Pro 3:1-4 ISR, emphasis mine)
©2021
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