FAVOR WITH GOD AND MAN
Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
This scripture says that Jesus increased (grew) in these areas. He grew in wisdom, He grew taller as He got older, and He grew in favor with God and man. The point of reference here is growth. It seems to me that to grow in anything spiritual, it is done by faith. Faith comes from hearing scripture on a certain subject; and the more you hear, the more you will grow in faith. Jesus had to grow in favor with the Father. If He didn’t need to, the Word wouldn’t say Jesus grew in it. Favor wasn’t automatic for Jesus, even though He was the Word made flesh. He had to find out what the Word said about Him and about favor to believe it about Himself.
You have favor with God. It was made available to you the moment you were born again, the moment you were made righteous. Why do some people seem to have more favor than others? Is it because God loves them more or because He likes them better? The answer is, “No.” Profuse favor is available all day and every day of your life when you have a revelation of that favor, receive it, and walk in it. Jesus needed favor with God, and He also needed favor with people, and so do we.
How did Jesus’ favor translate to having favor with people? They followed Him. They served in His ministry. They gave to Him. They listened to Him. They brought others to Him. Yes, He had the religious who tried to make His life and ministry hard, but the favor of God overrode those who tried to put up roadblocks between Him and the people who needed His message about the Kingdom. How does that apply to you? Do you have favor with God? Yes, if you will believe it. Do you need favor with people? Yes. What does that look like for you? It’s different for each one of us but some examples would be: you have favor with your boss, with co-workers, with neighbors, with your children’s teachers, with coaches, and even when you go shopping for big and small things, etc.
Are you ready to grow in favor? Then, just keep meditating on His favor, as we go through this favor journey because it is your season for the favor of the Lord!