Favor Through Hardship

Proverbs 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.

The Lord's favor has always been a bit of a puzzle for me. I have to be careful because my mind wants to equate favor and blessings. I would love to hear Mary's perspective on God's favor. I'll bet it would surprise us. We know God desires the best possible life for us, and sometimes that comes through hardship. As a matter of fact, I would say, from my own experiences, that God uses the hardship to grow us closer to Him and He becomes more tangible during the most difficult times of life. That closeness is true favor. Favor from the Lord is unconditional, eternal love from our almighty creator. That type of love is all our souls thirst for anyway. If we could only let ourselves be so loved, then we would have our thirst quenched once and for all.

Comments

Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. This is God's word through Ezekiel in the Valley of the Dry Bones. There are a couple of thoughts that come to mind with this verse. First, I have to admit that sometimes I feel as though I have dry bones. I continue on my path and lose sight of the One who brings life. At times I am surrounded by things, people, or situations that suck the life out of me and I need the breath of life from the Spirit again. It is a conscious effort for me to not involve myself in things that are life taking. I make the decision to spend alone time with Jesus in order to experience His life giving power. Second, one word in particular stands out to me in this verse. It is the word settle. It is speaking to me today of a peace and calm that is ahead. Things ha...

By Grace

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Works and grace are two terms that are so difficult to grasp in the Christian walk. We know that if we are living by grace then works should be seen. The issue is that we often times try to do the works on our own rather than letting the works be a by-product of the Spirit within us. We take over our own lives trying to do good and be good rather than letting the grace of God work in us to transform us into the new creation that is good. Instead, we like to list off all of the ways we have shown God's goodness to those around us, or how we've conquered a sinful habit, or how we've been nice to someone who was not. Unfortunately, these are what become the "works" Paul wrote about. We completely remove God's grace from our lives and therefore lose sight of what is most important, the Spirit working in us to transform us. It is a tricky concept and ...

Mercy and Compassion

Jude 22-23 Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. This is something I have struggles with, loving those who frustrate me. How can we be merciful to those who are "corrupt" without being judgmental? It is definitely not our place to judge one another, it is our place to love one another. Sometimes loving the people who are rude or cruel is the hardest part of being a Christian. My humanity would like to judge people for their behaviors and choices and lash out at them. I believe we are only able to show true mercy and compassion for others when we accept these for ourselves from Jesus and then He lives them through us. Allowing God to change our hearts in order that Jesus' mercy and compassion shine through is a journey. It's not always easy. On those difficult days, I remain quiet and ask God to love on me, so I...

Abbie Coffey

Search This Blog