Pleasing God isn't a big mystery we just need to do it.
23 And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with Him, and He with them. And we know He lives in us because the Spirit He gave us lives in us.
Colossians 1:9-10 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
Does God seem like an impersonal being that you cannot have a friendly relationship with? If that is your idea of who God is then you have a good reason to not like him. The good news is that your idea of what God is like is all wrong and you don't really know him. You need to know that you can please God.
Very few people, including believers, feel like they are pleasing to God. Most of us feel some degree of forgiveness and acceptance but to think that God is actually pleased with us is a difficult concept. Satan knows that we will not feel close to God if we doubt our standing before him as his children that he loves. So he accuses us in an attempt to drive a wedge between us and God, that has been his plan to get back at God ever since the garden, but God destroyed Satan's plans long ago.
One of the reasons we should be concerned with pleasing God is because it is a requirement for our prayers to be answered. If we do not have any concern for what God thinks about our lifestyle then we have no business asking him to be concerned with our request.
| A Sinful Lifestyle Cannot Please God. |
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| Romans 8:7-8 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. |
We don't have to live in fear wondering how to please God. All of the man made gods that man has worshiped have always left their followers wondering how to please the god. Whether it was the sun god or the moon god or any other god they couldn't have any confidence that they could please him. If it didn't rain for a long time they would have to wonder how they could make the rain god happy. Not so with our God, he didn't leave us in the dark without a clue about how to please him, from cover to cover the Bible tells us how to please God.
Knowing God does not come through a program, a study, or a method. Knowing God comes through a relationship with a Person. This is an intimate love relationship with God. Through this relationship, God reveals Himself, His purposes, and His ways; and He invites you to join Him where He is already at work.Pleasing God begins with knowing God, we cannot create an instant relationship, we have to put in the time to cultivate this relationship. When two people are in love, they look for every opportunity to be together, they delight in the process of getting to know each other and pleasing each other. First we need to know him as our Savior and then we need to know him as our Lord.
-Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King
We need to know that we cannot do anything to deserve a relationship with God, we need to know that his son died to pay the penalty that I deserved for my sin, that's where your relationship with God must begin.
After we know him as our Savior then we need to make him the Lord of our life. That is a scary thing for a new believer that just getting to know God. It takes time to build a relationship of trust that will allow somebody else to be in control of our life.
Some of the ways that we can please God:
| 1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Psalms 116:12-13 What can I offer the LORD for all He has done for me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the LORD's name for saving me. Proverbs 21:3 The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer Him sacrifices. Micah 6:8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Romans 12:2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, Hebrews 11:6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 12:28 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. Hebrews 13:16 And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God. |
Even though our best isn't much he is pleased just as a parent appreciates their child's crude Sunday School craft project, God looks at our handiwork and sees a mess, he knows that that's the best we can do on our own. God looks into our hearts and sees the purity of our motives and our desire to please him.
If we are pleasing to God, although we shall not escape trial, we shall find great peace and special happiness. He is not an unhappy man who is pleasing to God. By pleasing God we shall become the means of good to others—our example will rebuke and stimulate. Our peace will convince and invite.Thank you God that we can know you personally and we can learn how to please you. Thank you for allowing me to know you as Savior. Help me to learn more fully how to know you as Lord and live to please you instead of myself.
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