The Light of Favor
By Paul Keith Davis

In the course of ministering to His people, the Lord often allows tokens or expressions of His grace that helps identify individuals He desires to bless. This was initiated with me a couple of years ago. I discovered when I looked at certain people they seemed to stand out of the crowd in a specific way. It was as though their countenance shone more brilliantly, like a light of illumination around them.

Invariably I discovered these people were experiencing some measure of God's dealings at that precise moment. On one occasion, the apostle Paul was ministering at Lystra and noticed a crippled man listening to his message. The Bible tells us that Paul looked intently at him and recognized Heaven's virtue on the man and declared with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." The passage goes on to tell us that the man was instantly healed. (See Acts 14:8-10)

There was something imparted to Paul that allowed him to see an anointing of grace and favor sufficient for the man's healing. I recall recognizing something similar on a young woman in an audience of 1600. I identified her and asked her to come forward and describe to the gathering what was taking place the moment I pointed to her.

Unexpectedly, my next thought turned to apprehension as something said to me, "what if she was thinking about going to McDonald's for a hamburger at that precise moment." Nevertheless, I knew that I recognized God's anointing of light around her and believed that He was dealing with her.

Fortunately, this turned out well! She testified before the congregation that at that precise moment something surrounded her and reminded her of an experience she had many years before as a young girl when the Lord spoke to her about her personal destiny.

Grounded in the Word

Naturally, everything we do in a spiritual context needs to be grounded in God's Word. When I began to articulate this unique anointing before God's people, I desired a scripture to biblically highlight its reality. Inevitably, our enemy attempts to counterfeit everything God is doing and I wanted our confidence to be in the Lord and His Word.

I understood that the Bible clearly tells us that our God is the Father of lights. Furthermore, we are described as the "light" of the world and shine as a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. When filled with His Spirit, we are illuminated with His virtue. Though we may not always recognize it in the natural realm, it is nevertheless true.

When I asked the Lord for a scripture to further substantiate what I was seeing, He led me to a passage that was somewhat surprising, but incredibly encouraging.

Oh that I were as in months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone over my head, and by His light I walked through darkness; As I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, and my children were around me; When my steps were bathed in butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
- Job 29:2-6

The Lamp of God shines above our heads as an emblem of His favor and grace. The Holy Spirit emphasized this passage at the end of 2006 as a banner for 2007 and beyond. For those who are desperate to move deeper into the things of His spirit and live the life of one who overcomes, this season will be a time of grace for advancement.

This Scripture provides a word picture of someone living in God's fellowship and favor. At the time of this proclamation, Job was experiencing a period of refinement and pruning that caused him to temporarily lose the awareness of God's friendship and communion. It was only his comprehension that was suspended, not God's love for him.

Perhaps this describes what many believers have been experiencing in this past season. Fortunately, we know that Job emerged from this undertaking with even greater measures of God's blessing and Heavenly light resting upon him.

A Season of Light

The time has now arrived for the Body of Christ to be endowed with eyes of illumination that are flooded with Heaven's light. That is, we are to begin to embody more fully the radiance and revelation of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom. We are not merely to have the message of the Kingdom, but become the message.

We are to be living epistles and God's Word incarnate if we are to meet the needs of this generation and become the army prophesied in Scripture. The lamp of God shining upon us is a symbolic representation of God's favor for this purpose.

The steps of this company will be "bathed in butter" as a portrayal of the walk of those who overcome and live as "victorious ones." This designation illustrates a divine orchestration that establishes the walk of the righteous and the fulfillment of Heavenly purposes.

Likewise, we are to demonstrate the message of healing and deliverance to a needy generation. That is the "butter" that bathes the path of the righteous and the "streams of oil" that prepare the way for those who are called the friends of God. The pathway of God's people should be lined with miracles, signs and wonders to validate the message of the Kingdom and cultivate the souls of those who hear it.

Butter along with olive oil are two of the more perfect oils provided in nature. They are symbolically used to illustrate the favor and blessing placed upon God's covenant people. The Lord has been prophetically releasing these emblems of His grace in this present season of the Spirit.

Favor for Victory

Divine favor is defined as God's goodwill and acceptance that provides spiritual benefits that flow from Him. It was God's favor that allowed Moses to understand His ways and ultimately ask to see His glory.

Without this endowment we simply cannot achieve the mandate placed upon us as God's representation on earth. The arm of the flesh, no matter how articulate or gifted, is woefully inadequate to meet the demands of this needy generation. Only Christ in us, supernaturally doing through us what He did on the earth in human form, can meet the challenge.

That is the model we see demonstrated in the early church. It pleased the Lord to utilize illiterate fishermen by stepping into them and living through them to change the world.

Gods favor promised in this passage will do five things:

1. Provide God's continual friendship and counsel in our homes and ministries.
2. Provide perpetual fellowship in His presence.
3. Our children will return to us and enter their destiny.
4. Our steps will be established with blessings and favor.
5. The Holy Spirit's anointing will flow freely in our lives.

Butter on the Lips of God's Priests

In Isaiah 7: 15 this expression is prophetically utilized to characterize the nature of the Lord's life and ministry and a time of maturing; Butter and honey will He eat until He discovers the distinction between light and darkness and learns to refuse evil and choose good. This is the ministry of extraction and separation of the mature that we are presently being called to.
But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil - Hebrews 5:14

This revelation is prophetically speaking of a people coming to spiritual maturity that experience God's favor and light of revelation that provides a higher wisdom direct from Heaven's Throne.

The Zadok Priesthood portrayed in Ezekiel 44 is also a representation of the Royal Priesthood presently emerging for this divine purpose. It will be their duty to begin to separate and extract the precious from the profane...the clean from the unclean.

Those who emerge in this hour according to the characteristics described in these passages will be the ones who have "butter" on their lips to convey Heavenly wisdom and live under the lamp of His favor.