The Shield of Favor

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing;

and I will cause the shower to come down in his season;

there shall be showers of blessing.

And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit,

and the earth shall yield her increase,

and they shall be safe in their land,

and shall know that I am the Lord,

when I have broken the bands of their yoke,

and delivered them out of the hand of those

that served themselves of them.

- Ezekiel 34:26,27


Ask the Lord for rain in the spring,
for He makes the storm clouds.
And He will send showers of rain
so every field becomes a lush pasture.
- Zechariah 10:1




For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
- Psalm 5:12

In my end of April blog post entitled In A Dry and Weary Land, I wrote of how dry and hot the past weeks had been. In fact, on the very last day of the month, the temps registered a sweltering 39 degrees on the Celsius scale. 

Lying very close to the equator, our country doesn't experience the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall. What we have is like a perpetual summer, with some rainy months thrown in, and a cooler, pleasant season from December to February, the season of the trade winds, when gentle breezes blow in from the northeast.

On the very first day of May, shortly after lunch, a heavy downpour fell over our city for nearly two hours. I could almost hear the ground sizzling with the first few drops of rain. But as the rain continued, there was the sound of laughter from children in the streets, dancing under the pouring rain. 

The heat had been so oppressive, but with that heavy downpour, I felt the heaviness in the atmosphere lifting.

The rain showers couldn't have come at a better time. Farmers in our province had been praying for rain to save their crops. Just a two-hour downpour immediately changed the spiritual climate all around us.

I thanked God for the spiritual rains that drenched the dry ground of my heart that day, a physical manifestation of divine favor.

Graham Cooke, one of my favorite prophetic teachers, talks about favor as a lifestyle. It is living with a consciousness of divine advantage. God's favor is intended to make His children experience the reality of His goodness.

Living favor minded. That is how I want to live - living with an awareness of good things coming my way.

Not in a demanding way... but knowing in my heart of hearts that my God is on my side... He is for me, not against me.

It is so easy to fall back into the rut of self focus. A subtle, unspoken demand that people, and life, in general, live up to my expectations. Or that I be always on the receiving end of so-called "favor."

But for the favor cycle to work, favor has to first be given away. 

It is so easy to lose sight of this; because of the fall, there is a natural bent in us to be self-centered.

One has to constantly make the choice to die to self, and put others first.

That evening, a cool gentle breeze wafted in through the windows, and I went down on my knees, thanking God for the refreshing rains that fell over our city.

 Falling on the very first day of the month, the rains were a harbinger of good things to come.

Father God always begins the favor cycle. The greatest favor God did is to give His son Jesus to us, to redeem us and set us free from the horrible prison of self-centeredness and self-focus, by giving Himself in the greatest act of self-sacrifice.

Praying quietly in my prayer room that night, I sensed that this month was going to be a special month for me in more ways than one.

On the second, third, and fourth days of this month, it also rained every evening and early morning.

One very special event that I want put on record is the conversation I had with my grandson Forerunner while we were having breakfast on May 6, a conversation about heaven. He mentioned what his dad told him, that when people go to heaven, they will stay there forever. He wanted to know more.

I then told him that those who go to heaven love Jesus very much.

To which he replied, "But Nana... I LOVE Jesus very much!"

This was a perfect time to ask him if he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his heart, as I explained to him what it meant to have a true relationship with God.

My grandson was born again that very day... a day of rejoicing!

On May 7, my friends William and Ruby, their daughter Stef, and I flew to Manila to do an Ancient Paths seminar for roughly 100 doctors and medical students. Our ministry teams from Iloilo, Davao, and Manila were all going to be a part of this endeavor.

The venue was a beautiful resort in Lipa City, in the heart of Batangas province.

There were breakthroughs, release from bondage, healing of inner wounds, in the hearts of many.

It rained every evening in Lipa City, a reminder to me of God's favor.

It was truly such an encouraging time of refreshing for all of us. 

Upon reaching our home in Metro Manila on Saturday evening, the first thing I saw was the myrtle tree in our front yard, full of buds and ready to fully bloom!

How glad this made me... for just a month ago, I had been praying over this particular tree as I watered it every morning and evening, speaking life to it, and thanking God in advance for new life to flow through it. 

The next day, daughter Obedient One and I celebrated Mother's Day at my favorite Greek restaurant.

At this time tomorrow, I will have arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand... reunited with my dear Thai friends Oy and Ut, the beginning of my "sentimental journey" back to the place where Ernie and I spent the last year of his earthly life.

Chiang Mai reminds me of God's special favor working in my life when I had no idea it was going to be our last year together in this side of eternity.

I will go back to Chiang Mai to re-live some beautiful memories... but also to create some new ones!

Indeed, favor surrounds me like a shield.

God's favor covers and... protects me.

God's favor sustains ... nourishes ... re-invigorates!

I am actually speechless... as I think of what God's favor really means.

This is truly going to be one, beautiful, refreshing, favor-filled month!

Below are some photos I have taken the past two weeks:

With family during First Born Son's early celebration of his birthday 

A lovely sunset photo I took during dinner with a friend
taken at the rooftop of a nearby hotel

At the wedding of Edward and Janice
me with friends Eileen and Melanie

Edward and Janice, first dance

beautiful wedding reception

Ancient Paths ministry team after the ministry sessions

our last morning in Batangas City, unwinding with friends

Daughter and me, Mother's Day lunch 2015