The Spirit of Favor on Your House Read online

  Published by Jerry Savelle Ministries

  Crowley, Texas, U.S.A.

  www.jerrysavelle.org

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

  Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  Other versions used are

  NKJV-New King James Version. Authorized New King James Version.

  AMP-Scripture taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE, Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

  CEV-Contemporary English Version. Copyright © American Bible Society, 1995.

  KJV-King James Version. Authorized King James Version.

  THE MESSAGE-Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson, 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

  NASB-Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

  OJB-Orthodox Jewish Bible. Authorized Orthodox Jewish Version.

  NCV-Scriptures quoted from The Holy Bible, New Century Version, copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Nashville, Tennessee. Used by permission.

  NLT-Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

  © 2014 Jerry Savelle.

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 978-1-939934-04-8

  Rights for publishing this book outside the U.S.A. or in non-English languages are administered by Jerry Savelle Ministries, an international not-for-profit ministry. For additional information, please visit jerrysavelle.org or, email [email protected], or write to

  Jerry Savelle Ministries, PO Box 748, Crowley, TX 76036, U.S.A.

  To order copies of this book and other resources in bulk quantities,

  please contact us at 1-817-297-3155.

  contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1: Understanding The Favor Of God

  Chapter 2: Empowered To Prosper, Favored With Opportunity

  Chapter 3: The Commanded Blessing

  Chapter 4: Favor On Our House

  Chapter 5: A Hedge Of Favor

  Chapter 6: Faith And Fear Cannot Exist

  Chapter 7: A Divinely Appointed Jubilee

  Chapter 8: Never Give Up

  Introduction

  For those of us who live in Texas, the arrival of spring is traditionally marked by two things. One is the bursting forth of the Texas bluebonnets. Considered by many to be the state’s most beautiful wildflowers, these colorful bloomers create a blanket of blue that covers the rolling prairies and roadsides of Texas. But the brilliant beauty of the bluebonnets is often overshadowed by ominous dark skies and the ever-present threat of tornadoes.

  Over a period of three days in May, 2013, an outbreak of some sixteen tornadoes struck parts of northern and eastern Texas, including Granbury, a historic lake community located about thirty-five miles from Fort Worth. Carolyn and I have owned a lake house there for more than thirty years, so when I heard about the first storms, I drove down there to check on it.

  I was relieved to find no damage in our neighborhood, so I went inside the house and decided to call and check on a friend of mine who also lived in the area. As I was looking out the window at the lake, I watched as a tornado began to form, its vortex extending downward toward the lake right in front of me. I immediately started rebuking that thing, and it quickly ascended. As I stood praying, it came down and went back up two more times before remaining grounded as it headed straight for my house.

  All of a sudden I felt the walls begin to shake, and I heard the sound of wood snapping. I moved to the safety of the hallway to avoid any flying glass, all the while proclaiming, “God’s blessing is upon this house! God’s favor is upon this house!”

  That crazy thing came right up to my property. For a while, it was so dark and windy outside that I couldn’t see a thing. I thought that funnel was going to suck the roof right off of the house, but just as quickly as it came, the tornado left. When I went outside to survey the damage, I saw some of the trees on our property had been downed. The largest tree was now lying squarely across the deck, but the deck was not damaged. That tornado took down some trees, but it didn’t break one board on the deck, and not one shingle was missing from my roof.

  Sometime later my wife, Carolyn, and I went to the local landscape nursery to purchase new trees to replace those we’d lost. Until that day, I hadn’t realized what it cost to replace large trees. The woman who checked us out gave us a generous discount, and she said she’d even arrange to have the trees delivered free of charge. I looked at Carolyn and said, “That’s the favor of God!”

  The favor of God not only had protected our house, but it also allowed us to have the world’s very best new trees without having to pay the world’s price for them.

  These occurrences were not mere coincidences. When something like this happens only once, it may be a coincidence. But when it happens every day of your life—as it does in mine—it can only be explained as the favor of God in operation.

  What God does for me on a regular basis, He also wants to do for you. He is no respecter of persons. The only difference between what God does for me and what happens (or doesn’t happen) in the lives of others is this: For some, “the favor of God” is a nice sermon title. For me, operating in the favor of God is a lifestyle.

  Many years ago, when I found out I could have God’s blessing and favor upon my house, I started decreeing it my life and leaning heavily upon it. This lifestyle I’ve chosen has opened the door to the miraculous in my life.

  In 1997, I wrote a book entitled Walking in Divine Favor. That book was sold literally around the world, introducing scores of people to the biblical truths concerning the favor of God. By 2012, God had given me a considerable amount of new revelation about His favor and how it operates. So I wrote a new book that included all of the material from Walking in Divine Favor and several other publications, as well as the more recent revelation on the topic. That book, entitled (not surprisingly) The Favor of God, was published by Regal Books and has been distributed worldwide. We even created a comprehensive, personal and small-group study curriculum for this book.

  Finally, Jerry Savelle Ministries International had a complete and easy-to-understand resource that contained all the material we had on the biblical topic of God’s favor.

  Or so I thought.

  Over the following months, as I continued to teach the Body of Christ about the favor of God, my study of His Word revealed new insights. The one that was most significant to me was revealed as I read this passage of scripture from the book of Zechariah: “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication” (Zechariah 12:10 AMP). I’d read this verse many times before, but this time the words “the Spirit of grace” caught my attention in a new way.

  The words grace and favor are synonymous when they appear in the Bible. Any time we read the word grace in a passage of scripture, we can accurately replace it with favor. That’s why the Amplified Bible translates Zechariah 12:10 like this: “And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace or unmerited favor and supplication.” In other words, God said a time was coming when He would pour out the Spirit of favor. But what exactly is
the Spirit of favor?

  In the Old Testament, the word spirit is derived from the original word ruwach. It means “wind, breath, or life.” The first time this word appears in the Bible is in the book of Genesis:

  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

  Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

  (Genesis 1:1–3)

  Notice that something happened when the Spirit of God came into contact with darkness. God declared the existence of light, and light came forth.

  In addition to meaning “wind, breath, and life,” the word ruwach also means “resemblance; a rational being including its expression and functions.” In the beginning, the Spirit of God was the very resemblance of God Himself, expressed and functioning as the Creator. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

  In the New Testament, the word spirit is derived from the Greek word pneuma, which means “wind; mental disposition.”

  Throughout the Bible, the word spirit is attached to numerous expressions, functions, and dispositions—both good and bad. The Bible talks about the spirit of life, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of truth, as well as familiar spirits, a lying spirit, and a jealous spirit. In each instance, the spirit functions just as its name suggests. Likewise, the Spirit of favor functions just as its name suggests.

  In my book The Favor of God, we spent time examining the blessing of God conferred upon mankind in the beginning. The word blessing means “empowered to prosper.” We learned that wherever the blessing of God is in operation, the favor of God is also present to bring about the opportunities to prosper.

  Don’t be concerned if you haven’t yet read The Favor of God. Chapter 1 of this book, The Spirit of Favor on Your House, provides an overview of the key topics found in The Favor of God, including a study of our heritage of favor and the importance of declaring God’s favor. You’ll also enjoy learning about the ten specific benefits we can come to expect when we make walking in God’s favor our lifestyle.

  As we progress through The Spirit of Favor on Your House, you’ll learn the difference between the conferred blessing of God and the commanded blessing of God that was promised to all who would obey Him. You’ll see how the blessing and favor work hand in hand to prosper those who are willing to apply these biblical truths to their lives.

  You will also come to understand how the Spirit of favor functions in the life of a believer, providing a wall of protection around his or her house—the entirety of that person’s earthly existence and influence. And I’ll present a biblical picture of the house upon which the Spirit of favor has been poured out.

  Let me be clear: Just because the Spirit of favor has been poured out upon our house doesn’t mean we will never face adversity. As long as we are alive and living on this earth, we will have adversity. But we do not have to be overcome by it.

  Joseph was a man who knew the adversity of slavery and imprisonment, yet we will see in the final chapter of this book how the favor of God that was upon Joseph enabled him to flourish throughout every phase of his life. And in the end, the favor of God even restored Joseph to his loving father, Jacob, who had long thought him dead.

  I can only imagine the joy and wonder Jacob must have felt when he saw his son, now an adult and the governor of Egypt. I also am a father of two adult children. My daughters are both grown and married, and have blessed me with seven grandchildren—but they are still my little girls as far as I’m concerned.

  I started this ministry when my daughters were young; they grew up with a daddy who preached and traveled all over the world. In those early days, before I would leave to preach, I’d go into their room while they were still sleeping and place an envelope filled with change on the table between their beds. I’d write on the envelope, “Terri and Jerri—Daddy loves you. Here’s some pocket change for you to spend while Daddy’s gone.” I loved pouring out my love and favor upon my girls.

  Well, it’s been more than forty years since I used to leave them envelopes filled with change, and I still enjoy giving them envelopes filled with pocket money. The only difference between then and now is that the amount of money has increased considerably. They say, “Daddy, you don’t have to do this. We have jobs; we earn money.”

  I tell them, “I can’t help it. Every time I think of you, I want to bless you.”

  My older daughter and her husband were in the process of buying a new home when they discovered they didn’t have quite enough money to make it happen. I said, “I can help; I can make it happen.”

  “No, Daddy,” she said. “We’re not going to let you do it.’

  “Why not?” I asked. “I can help you, so let me do it.”

  “No, Daddy,” she insisted, “you don’t need to do this.”

  So I said, “Okay then, if you don’t want the money, I’ll just give it to your sister.”

  That’s when she said, “Well, wait a minute. Let’s pray about it.”

  I can’t help wanting to be a blessing to my daughters. That’s just the way good daddies are. We have a heavenly Father who wants to do the same for us. He wants to bless us. He wants us to flourish in the life He’s given us. That’s why He’s already poured out His Spirit of favor upon us.

  Because of the redemptive work Jesus Christ did at Calvary, offering His holy blood as atonement for our sins, the Bible says that we can now “fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners)” (Hebrews 4:16 AMP). Sadly, not everyone will accept God’s gift of redemption. The Bible says, “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace [favor]?” (Hebrews 10:28–29).

  I have no intention of rejecting any gift from God that was paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. Instead, like Paul, I intend to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me, pressing toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (see Philippians 3:12–14).

  I invite you to join me now to explore a biblical perspective of what to expect when the Spirit of favor is on your house.

  Chapter 1

  Understanding the Favor of God

  Oftentimes, people tend to blame God when they do not see their prayers being answered when they want them answered and in the way they expect them to be answered. I’ve been asked, “Brother Jerry, why isn’t God listening to me? Why isn’t He doing something? What’s the problem?”

  My answer is always, “God is not the problem. The problem is a lack of understanding.”

  Most of the time, the reason we experience delays in our prayers being answered is that we do not have an understanding of the power of the favor of God. And without an understanding of the favor of God, we will not appropriate it and confess it on a consistent basis. In order to understand the favor of God, we first need to understand the meaning of the word favor, of which there are four definitions.

  The first definition of favor is “something granted out of goodwill.” In other words, the favor of God is granted out of His goodwill toward us. It’s not something that can be bought, and it’s not something that can be earned. God’s favor belongs to us because of the price Jesus paid on the cross, and we are therefore entitled to walk in it.

  The second definition of favor is “a gift bestowed as a token of regard, love, or friendliness.” Have you ever asked someone, “Would you do me a favor?” What you’re actually asking is, “Would you bestow on me a gift or a token of our friendship?” That’s what favor is, a token of friendship.

  The third definition of favor is simply “preferential treatment.” We already know we have the favor o
f God, but according to His Word, we also have favor with man: “But let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them round your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:1–3).

  The fourth definition of favor is “advantage.” To have an advantage means we have something working for us that others may not have working for them. For believers, we know it is the favor of God.

  Getting a revelation of the favor of God can change every negative circumstance and situation a person may be facing; yet the very revelation of God’s favor comes first through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

  The Word of God says, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). The Amplified Bible text of this verse says, “Set your hope wholly . . . on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you.”

  Notice that the New King James text uses the word grace, which the Amplified Bible translates as “divine favor.” The Hebrew word for grace is chen, which is defined as “favor, kindness, and graciousness.” So as you read and study God’s Word, anytime you see the word grace, stop and translate it as “divine favor,” and then meditate on that verse. When we stop and translate it as such, Scripture takes on a whole new meaning.