Bible.com.au: Reading Plan - The Favour of God

Series Introduction

Experiencing the favour of God is a beautiful thing. We can either experience God as the wind in our sails who pushes us forward or as an oppositional force who presses back on us and makes progress more challenging. In this series as we lead up towards Christmas, we will see how God blesses and works through people’s lives.

Reflection:

There is a big difference between walking uphill and walking downhill. It is the difference that gravity makes. It is similar if you ride a bike into a headwind or when you ride it as a wind behind your back. One is hard work, and one is easy. What is the difference? One has an oppositional force at play, and one has a helping hand at play.

What if we could do life like that? What if we could face life with the invisible hand of God assisting us along the way? James 4:6 tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. This tells us that proud people experience God as a headwind while the humble experience God as an encouraging wind that helps them to go further.

I have experienced both, and I have no doubt that I would rather live life with the favour of God resting upon my life. God’s favour is based upon his grace. God’s grace can be defined as his favour extended to us because of Jesus.

Humility attracts God’s favour, and we all have the option to choose to live a humble life.

Prayer:

Father God in heaven, it is our heart’s desire to live life under your favour. God, I choose now to humble myself in your presence. You are Almighty God, and I offer my life to you for your purposes. I choose to humble myself before you and I thank you for your favour.

James 4:1-17

Submit yourselves to God

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

‘God opposes the proud

but shows favour to the humble.’

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbour?

Boasting about tomorrow

13Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

The Favour of God

Day 1 of 7

NIVUK

James 4:6

Days

James 4:1-17