DAY 4: UNDERSTANDING THE MERCIES OF GOD III- THE FAVOUR DIMENSION

 THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY

(A DAILY DEVOTIONAL WITH PREACHER SAM)

 

TOPIC: UNDERSTANDING THE MERCIES OF GOD III- THE FAVOUR DIMENSION

DATE: 4 SEPTEMBER, 2021

BIBLE READING: PSALMS 103:1-7

VERSE FOR MEDITATION: PSALMS 103: 2 NKJV

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

 

     Favour simply means an acceptable benefit or benevolent regard. Remember, ‘the mercy of God is an act of God’s benevolence towards man…’ So favour being a benevolent regard, is a dimension of the mercies of God. Our verse for meditation says that we should not forget all His benefits. That is it is a reminder, revealing to us the possibilities that we can forget even one. In other words, it is a revelation of the riches of God’s favour.

       ‘The Lord is merciful and gracious’ (Ps. 103:8) can also be seen as, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…’ (Ps. 23:6). How good God is, reveals how rich is the mercy. The goodness of God can either be a gift or a reward. A gift is what you did not ask or work for, a reward, is the price for what you worked for. So the gift of God’s goodness is grace, and the reward of God’s goodness is favour.

        When Jesus was teaching on the model of prayer, He said, ‘… pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly’. (Matt. 6:6). The phrase, ‘will reward you openly’; is the same as saying ‘finding favour in the sight of the Lord’. Hannah prayed to God for a child in the secret place, and she found favour in the sight of the God, and God gave her a child. The reward for labouring in prayers in the secret place is the favour of the Lord.

         Yesterday, we said, ‘grace is when mercy meets with favour’. That is you received a reward you did not work for, because you obtained mercy. On the other hand, favour of the Lord is freely given by His act of mercy, but the difference is that there are some sacrifices you must pay for the goodness of God to cooperate with the mercy of God to follow you (Ps. 23:6) in order that you may find favour with both God and men. But to clear your confusion, both the grace and favour of God are the expression of the goodness reveals how rich is His mercy.

 

PRAYER: O God and the Father of all mercies. I thank You for all Your benefits that You have showered on me. My soul will continually bless You.

 

DECLARATION: SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.

 

JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAULINE’S EPISTLE: ROMANS 10-12