224. SYMPTOMS OF A PERSON OUTSIDE THE FAVOUR OF GOD

(The Faith Forum Series – Batch 3)

Don’t we just love to tell people, when they ask us how we’re doing: “I’m blessed and highly favoured!”

If those words could really grant us the blessing and favour we desire from God in life, everyone would have it.

Unfortunately though, the truth is that not everybody operates under special blessing and favour from God. First of all, only those who are in covenant relationship (not religion) with him, through their genuine belief in and surrender to Jesus Christ His son, (who is Lord over all), get the privilege of partaking of his divine blessings and favour.

Also, even those who are in covenant with him, can at times operate in such disobedience and engage in such sin, that they do not walk in his blessings and no longer enjoy his favour.

When a person who was once within the favour of God is now on the outside of it through disobedience, he or she tends to manifest the same symptoms king Saul in the Bible manifested, when he disobeyed God and was thrust outside his favour.

These are as follows:-

1 – The person is Fearful – (1 Samuel 18:12, 15, 29)

2 – The person is Envious – (1 Samuel 18:6-9)

3 – The person is Paranoid – (1 Samuel 22:7-8, 13)

4 – The person has a Sharp Discernment For Those Who Have The Favour Of The Lord – (1 Samuel 18:8-9, 12, 14-15)

5 – The person is Very Angry And Lacks Self Control – (1 Samuel 18:8, 20:19, 30-33)

6 – The person Thinks He Can Frustrate The Will Of God And Works Hard To Do So – So he fights a useless battle against God – (1 Samuel 18:17-25; 22:17)

7 – The person Becomes Deluded, Overwrought By Pride And Self-Centredness – Evidenced in 6 above + going after the Lord’s anointed (God’s people) relentlessly, actually believing that he will be victorious, that it will preserve self or some benefit for self and that God is on his side in his wicked efforts – (1 Samuel 23:7; 14, 19-21; 24:1-2) Saul pursued after David every day, from one place to the next and whenever he was told where David was, he would pronounce the blessings of the Lord on the people who told him. For example, he told the Ziphites, “Blessed be ye of the Lord, for ye have compassion on me”. He therefore was deluded, thinking even after he had killed about eight five of the Lord’s priests and then, to secure his own kingship, was wickedly and desperately pursuing David, the one that God had had anointed, that God was on his side and would therefore bless whoever helped him to take David down. When he was told that David was in Keilah, his deluded response was, “God hath delivered him into mine hand…”. Saul was also deluded into thinking that if he killed David, his throne would be established. For, whether David was alive or not, God could have snuffed out his life at any time. Yet, he did not consider this but went all out to destroy David, thinking that this would secure him.

8 – The person Has No Peace – (1 Samuel 18:10, 19:9)

9 – The person Loses Popularity – (1 Samuel 22:2, 7-8)

10 – The person Wants To Destroy Those Who Have Favour – (1 Samuel 19: 1, 15; 1 Samuel 19:10; 1 Samuel 20:31)

11 – The person Has A Victim/Woe Is Me Mentality – (1 Samuel 22:6-8)

12 – The person is Irrational And Murderous – Due to the paranoia – (1 Samuel 19:1, 10, 15; 20:31; 1 Samuel 22:16-19); (Even if not physically, he seeks to destroy and kill the reputation of others with his mouth and actions)

13 – The person is Unrepentant – Saul said he had sinned but was not truly repentant as if he had been, he would have accepted his punishment as just. Instead, he fought against God, tried to kill David because God was with him and he perceived that David was to be his replacement, tried to kill his own son Jonathon once with a javelin and had all 85 priests of the Lord killed, along with an entire village, including women, children and animals.

14 – The person Has The Tendency To Pull Innocent People Into His Mess – (1 Samuel 22:11-18)

15 – The person Relies On His Own Strength And Does Not Seek The Lord – Which is a natural result of fighting against God. Much of what Saul did, he did not seek the Lord about, as there was a wall of unrepentance standing between. Also, he knew that he was acting contrary to God’s will, so he simply pretended that God did not exist, like when he had the Priests of the Lord and an entire village killed. Even when he did seek the Lord in 1 Samuel 28:6, it was not from the heart, as if it was he would have repented first. God is not mocked, so he did not answer him. (1 Samuel 28:5-8)

16 – The person is Willing To Accept Help From The Devil – He has an anything to get ahead mentality. Instead of accepting that God’s silence was justified, Saul then went to get help from a woman with a familiar spirit. Today, we would call such a woman a Psychic or Obeah woman. (1 Samuel 28:4-11)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article useful, informative, edifying or interesting, you may also be interested in reading the following:

Note 164 – ‘Seven (7) Mindsets That Will Keep You Stuck In The Land Of Sterility’
Note 187 –‘Could It Be That You Don’t Like Her Because…’