For many decades now, I’ve traveled the world as an ambassador for Christ and a herald of His life-changing favor. In every continent and nation, I’ve met people in search of new beginnings, and they yearn to live in the Favor of God (F.O.G.). They see the marvelous promises the Lord has given them in the Scriptures, but often they’re frustrated because they don’t know how to activate those promises.
When I talk with people in my travels, they tell me of their desire for breakthroughs in their life. Some need God’s healing touch in their body or their emotions. Others are desperate for a financial turnaround. Many are seeking a breakthrough in their marriage or their children.
It grieves my heart that many of these precious people can quote Bible verses about the promises of God, yet, they often are missing some crucial ingredient of implementation and activation. They lack the necessary tools to bridge the gap between the doctrine of God’s favor and the actual experience of that favor.
I want to help YOU experience more of God’s favor
so you can receive the breakthroughs you need. As you learn how to implement these truths, your life will never be the same!
If you’ve spent any time reading God’s Word, you’ve surely seen that your Heavenly Father loves you and wants to bless you with the good things of life. Jesus makes this absolutely clear in Matthew 7:11: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
As much as your earthly father may love you, your Heavenly Father loves you more…so much more. Your Father in heaven longs to show you His kindness, approval, and favor. However, it breaks God’s heart—and breaks my heart as well—to see so many of His children missing out
on the abundant life He wants them to have (John 10:10). Often they are trying hard to do the right things, but something is missing.
My friend, if you are frustrated today in some area of your life—such as your finances, your relationships, your emotions, or your health—I have good news for you: The Favor of God (F.O.G.) can reverse your losses and turn things around for you! Living in the F.O.G. will help you turn the head of God, touch the heart of God, and move the hand of God. It’s a place where you can gain affirmation from the Father and His Word rather than from those around you—at home, at work, or wherever else you may be. As God’s favor releases emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial success into your life, you will no longer have to allow people or problems to define you.
When you’re living in God’s favor, you will attract His blessings like a magnet. He will also activate the gifts and tools you need to BE a blessing to others, and you’ll be equipped to fulfill your calling and perform His work on earth. However, I’ve discovered that while many people have heard about God’s favor, they still don’t understand how to activate His favor in the practical areas of their life.
The Favor of God (F.O.G.) is released in your life when you learn how to activate the promises in His Word. Peter writes that you’ve been given “exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). This means you must study the promises of His Word and wait for Him to speak to you by His Spirit. And when God has promised you something, you can’t let anyone talk you out of receiving it!
The Bible describes specific attitudes and actions that touch God’s heart and release His favor. In order to unlock the amazing treasures He has given you in Christ, you must learn to practice Radical Obedience, Forgiveness, Humility, and Generosity. The Bible is filled with stories of people who changed their entire destiny through one step of faith, obedience, forgiveness, humility, or generosity.
The story of a blind man named Bartimaeus is a beautiful illustration of how to unleash more of God’s favor in your life—even when your situation appears hopeless. One minute this man was begging along the roadside, just as he had done for much of his life. But in a moment’s time, everything changed for him.
Suddenly he could see! He had received a new beginning beyond his wildest dreams.
Bartimaeus had stumbled upon the secret to unleashing God’s miracle-working power, and his life would never be the same. When he went to sleep that night, his life was completely different than it was when he had awakened that morning. So, what can we learn from this amazing story, told in Mark 10:46-52? Let’s take a look…
When Bartimaeus encountered Jesus, he “sat by the road begging” (v. 46). This man had learned to depend on the favor of PEOPLE to give him his daily sustenance. However, even though God wants to give you favor with other people (Luke 2:52), you must look to HIM as the main source of your favor and provision. That’s why King David wrote, “those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing” (Psalm 34:10).
You see, the Favor of God (F.O.G.) is all you really need. Everything else will follow when you seek Him and His kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Bartimaeus started his day seeking favor from anyone passing by on the road, but then he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming by. Faith began to rise in the heart of this blind man, for he knew that Jesus was no ordinary man. “‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (v. 47) Bartimaeus cried out. At that point, people in the crowd told him to be quiet, but he “cried out all the more” (vs. 48).
If you need some kind of breakthrough in your life today, it begins when you recognize that Jesus is nearby and you begin to call out to Him by faith. And a crucial principle here is to not let anyone talk you out of your plea to the Savior! There will always be naysayers, trying to discourage you and undermine your faith, but you need to keep crying out to Jesus for your miracle.
Something stunning happens at this point in the story: “So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called” (v. 49). If not for the impassioned cries of Bartimaeus, Jesus would have passed right on by. But sensing faith in the voice of this blind beggar, Jesus “stood still.” If you’ve been crying out to Jesus for some kind of turnaround in your life, I encourage you to take a moment to picture Him stopping…pausing…standing right in front of you. Yes, the Lord of all creation is taking time to stop and hear your petition, ready to meet your need!
Those near Jesus told Bartimaeus, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you” (v. 49). Some other translations say, “Cheer up!” In other words, your negative words or attitude can block God’s favor. Bartimaeus had an attitude of expectancy, and that was a vital factor in the miracle he would soon receive. He was also told to “rise” and hear Jesus’ voice. Without a hint of hesitation, this desperate man sprang into action: “Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus” (v. 50).
Notice that if you want to activate the Favor of God (F.O.G.) in your life, you often must take action of some kind. It’s likely that Bartimaeus never would have received his healing if he had remained seated on the side of the road. OBEDIENCE is one of the most important ways to unleash God’s favor, and we see that principle here in the story of the beggar who needed a breakthrough.
Another thing Bartimaeus did was throw aside his old garment. If you are going to start a new life, you need a fresh set of clothes! We see this in passages such as Isaiah 61:3, where God promises to give us “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” In order to enter into a new dimension of God’s favor, you will need to cast off any old garments of fear, depression, unbelief, or unforgiveness. It’s a new day!
Jesus next asks Bartimaeus one of the most important questions in the entire Bible—and it’s the same question He is asking YOU today: “What do you want Me to do for you?” (v. 51).
Let that sink in for a moment. Jesus is right there with you, and He wants you to tell Him what your greatest need is. What, exactly, do you want Him to do for you? This is a critical component of what it takes to unleash the F.O.G. in your life:
You must be able to define the miracle you are seeking from God. To no one’s surprise, Bartimaeus told Jesus that he wanted to receive his sight. I’m sure Jesus already knew this, just as He already knows the desire of your heart today. However, He wants you to pray it and say it, letting your specific request be known before His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16, Philippians 4:6).
When Bartimaeus’ breakthrough came, it was sudden and amazing: “immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road” (v. 52). Of course, Jesus could have told the blind man that his healing would come gradually, over a long period of time, but that was not the case with Bartimaeus. Jesus had unleashed the miraculous, and the results were instantaneous.
How did this happen? What secret had the blind beggar discovered? Jesus told him plainly: “your faith has made you well” (v. 52). Through faith and obedience, Bartimaeus had activated God’s supernatural favor and healing power.
You must understand that God created you in His image for a purpose. Jehovah God wanted to have an intimate relationship—friendship—with you. There is a DNA component of God that is within us. When He is magnified, this mysterious “X” factor activates His Word. The Bible says in Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Are you increasing in favor, or are you decreasing? The revelation of Living in the F.O.G. will help you to focus on His image and not yours. Once you know how to activate God’s Words, you will find yourself starving your fear and feeding your faith. You will see the Enemy’s attacks from a king’s perspective—as an opportunity for a heavenly promotion.
Fasten your seat belt. You are about to begin a wild heavenly ride that will change your life forever, as it did mine. I wear a bracelet inscribed with the words Living in the F.O.G. I’ve been asked repeatedly what that means. F.O.G. is an acronym for Favor of God.
What is God’s favor and how can you live in it? Favor is “unmerited grace; regard shown by another, especially a superior; an act of kindness; a token of love; effort on one’s behalf.” Because you are His child, God, in an act of kindness and as a token of His love, extends unmerited grace, and works tirelessly on your behalf. Not only does He bestow favor on you, He blesses you with favor and affirmation from those around you. God acknowledged His Son when He said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Living in the F.O.G. will help you reach the place in life where you can turn the head of God, touch the heart of God, and move the hand of God, a place where you can gain affirmation from the Father and His Word rather than from those around you—at home, at work, wherever you may be. You can learn to refuse to allow people and problems to define you. The one thing that has the power to release emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial success in your life is “F.O.G.”
To have the Favor of God in your life, you must focus on the image of God and not your own. Any image that comes before His is a graven image. When Moses delivered the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel, the second one was: “Thou shalt not make thyself any graven image, or any form of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the waters under the earth” (Exodus 20:4).
The Bible says we were created in God’s image. What does that mean? God emotes; He hears; He sees; He feels; He has personality. He created you for friendship, relationship. Knowing that, how can you live in His image? First, surrender your life to Him. Then, you magnify His image in four ways that represent His DNA.
The Favor of God means that He will give you the resources you need to develop His image in your life, to do what He has called you to do—whether it is to be a missionary or an evangelist, a pastor or teacher, a salesman or chief executive officer, a doctor or a stay-at-home parent ministering to your family.
Whatever you need, He will supply, and all because of the Favor of God.
In Matthew 6:33 (NKJV), Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Since my encounter with Jesus at the age of eleven, He has spoken to me again and again—through His Word. I’ve heard His still, small voice through prayer, and I’ve applied the four principles that define God’s very DNA in my life.
This is what Jesus did; He was Radically Obedient, He forgave, He humbled himself to the Father’s will, and He lived a life of Radical Generosity. Those four traits are in His DNA—the same DNA as the Father.
When you magnify the image of God, you are manifesting the DNA of God in your own life. Then, and only then, can you live in the Favor of God and activate the Word of God.
What is DNA? I could give you a long, scientific explanation about deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that contains your genetic code, but I like to use the definition, “Divine Nature Acquired.” Paul wrote that “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I know this is true because it happened to me. And I know that once you experience God’s favor, your life will never be the same.
