God's Favor

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)

Some of the deceptive lies we believe are so subtle and so seductive that the truth of it being deception is hard to detect. The manipulative deception is shrouded in what people want so desperately to be true and when intertwined with Bible verses, God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the truth of His promises misaligned to be inline with what is wanted or even needed, it is difficult to blame people for embracing the deception as truth without scrutinizing it.

There are many people out there who boldly declare that they have God's favor because of their doing things that are right and don't do things that are wrong and convince those hearing them that they can have the favor of God by heeding their scriptural perverted teachings.

What usually follows such teaching is glowing reports of their spiritual success, spiritual advancement, or some perceived external “blessing” such as prosperity, healing, etc. These manipulative tricksters look at the nice run that they’re currently experiencing with health, career, relationships or some other tangible measuring stick, and then simply assume that this means that they are in God’s favor and because you are not experiencing the "blessings" they are you are not in God's favor.

This unbiblical, damaging theological hog-wash reduces spiritual life to a simple cause-and-effect system where God rewards those who do right with nice things, happy times, and smooth sailing; while allowing horrible pain and great failure to rightly befall those who cross or disappoint Him. This fraudulent teaching extends to families, towns, cities, provinces and country in that the bad things that happen...sickness...pain...famine...poverty...tsunamis...tornadoes...floods...terrorists attacks...etc. are a part of not being in God's favor!

There is no spiritual formula that guaranties that: favorable experiences = God's favor.

The idea that God has favorites that He favors with His blessings and those He don't favor are cursed with curses is dangerous deceptive theology that damages our relationship with God and with people in that it promotes a seductive false premis; one where pleasant circumstances indicate the presence and approval of God, while difficulty and adversity, expresses God's displeasure. Such an approach to the Gospel is problematic, stress-creating, and guilt-inducing for people who experience all sorts of suffering and disappointment in daily living.

In the life of Jesus and of those who followed him, the idea of God’s provision and affection weren’t synonymous with doing the do's to live in luxury and convenience. In fact the opposite was often the case, Jesus’ disciples were as close to divinity and seemingly as “favored” as one could be, and yet this proximity and affinity often didn’t translate into ease and comfort and material things, but rather homelessness, poverty, duress, exhaustion, and in many cases death.

In other words, back then the followers of Christ weren’t using large followings, amassed wealth, million dollar mansions, private jets, luxury cars, or fleecing the flock to validate their faithfulness or substantiate a favored stand with God.

Though the claimers of God’s favor might seem like just a well-meaning but misguided way for people of faith to express gratitude for what they believe God has provided for them, in reality it’s a slippery path that places people in the dangerous position of using external, visible data to determine one's inherent worth or their spiritual standing in God. When we claim the favor of God for ourselves, we simultaneously declare other people who are just as faithful, just as loving, just as devoted yet are in adverse circumstances to be less-than in His eyes. We wrap our narcissism and ego in religion and we gladly kneel before it.

This all forces us to construct a God in our own making who is able to be swayed by our conduct, who can be lobbied to love us more or love us less depending on our behavior, and whose partisan preferences are manifested in either acceptance or butt-kicking out the door.

The good things that happen to us don’t necessarily make us more favored for or valued in the eyes of God, neither is the really nasty, painful circumstances experienced mean that God is disappointed with us, falls out of love with us or forsakes us. That’s not God's way of dealing with people. Religious people claiming to be in the faith may operate that way, but it is not God godly.

Do yourself and the rest of us a favor and stop saying you’re favored above other people . You aren’t favored by God for God has no favorites...but...you and everyone else are equally in God's love and favor.

This is the unwavering, unearned, undeniable reality you can claim without any reservation regardless of our good or bad circumstances. It is our default status as we live our life. It is God's Grace, love and goodness our life rests securely in.

And it’s equally true for every single one of us...when the sun rises it shines on ALL...and...when the rain falls it falls on ALL.