What Pleases God?

 One of the great challenges of Christmas shopping is finding something that will please the person you are gifting (at least for me!).  How much more when the person already HAS everything.  So what would please God?  

First, the amazing thing about God is He is not hard to please, and He has given us some really clear "hints."  We please God by receiving His love and believing what He has done for us.  It pleased the Father to see His Son bruised, because He wanted us to have a way to be cleansed of sin and enjoy the glory of being with Him forever.  Faith pleases God, so it pleases God when we receive His gift.  God delights in mercy (according to Malachi 5:12), and willingly welcomes those who come to Him with a broken and contrite heart.  Nothing pleases God more than believing Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins through His death and resurrection.  And this faith gives us the right to become children of God who are changed by the Spirit of God into new creations.  Therefore, as a new creation we share Jesus' abundant life, and He is pleased to let us enjoy His glory forever.   

It pleases God when we die to our natural fleshy ways and choose to obey the Word of God.  Romans 8 points out that flesh cannot please God.  It is the Spirit that gives life.  We live not by bread but by every Word that  proceeds from the mouth of God. Those who abide in Jesus and let His Word abide in them will please the Father and bear much fruit.  Notice how Jesus declares that whoever loves Him will keep His commandments, with the amazing promise that to him who keeps His Word, Jesus and the Father will come to him and make their home with him.    

One specific request, found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, is that we "give thanks always, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Doing His will pleases God.  Even Psalm 103 tells us to forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit (hell), crowns you with lovingkindness and mercy, and fills your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.  Our natural thinking and feeling may quickly forget how good God is and all He has done for us.  Clearly God loves to give, for it is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32), but He does want us to be like the tenth leper who at least returns to give thanks.  "Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" screams Psalm 107 repeatedly. 

Jesus, according to Hebrews 12, willingly submitted to the agony and pain of the cross, "because of the joy set before Him."  Likewise, God promises joy and great blessings if you obey His command to give of yourself.  Freely you have received, freely give.  You can never "out give" God.  One of God's eternal principles is sowing and reaping, give and it will be given.  Notice this principle in these verses.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else will be added.  It almost seems like God wants to bless us, Isaiah 30:18  states that He "will wait that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you."  When we exalt God by our obeying and giving of ourselves, we allow God to move in our behalf. 

Yet Scripture is honest to point out that "through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of God."  Very few people in the Bible have had the difficulties of David, yet He desired only one thing, that He could see the beauty or glory of the Lord.  In God's presence is fullness of joy and strength.  He knew that as He saw God's greatness and kept the commitment that he gives in Psalm 34, "I will bless the Lord at all times," God would fight for Him.  Likewise, Psalm 108 instructs us to give thanks and praise to God, "Be exalted, O God, and Your glory above all the earth."  Honoring God brings us to this psalm's concluding statement of faith, "Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies."  

God promised that we will not lose our reward when we give a glass of water to a child, how much more when we are faithful "in little things" that He gives us to do.  May the Holy Spirit lead us and guide us into all truth so that we imitate the angels who "harken to the voice of His Word" and "do His pleasure." (Psalm 103) 

Root Up All the Wicked in the Land

"Morning by morning I will root up all the wicked in the land, that I may eliminate all the evildoers from the city of the Lord." (Psalm 101, AMP)  This may sound like a necessary prayer to deal with the evils of our society today, but that is not its primary application.  We know that the Old Testament presents things externally, while the New Testament calls us to adapt these truths internally.  The wicked in the land are the things in our hearts that defile the city of God that we are. 

God has made provision through the blood of Jesus to not only forgive sin, but also to cleanse all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9)  Notice He covers our sins, not our excuses.  The key is that we acknowledge sin to be sin, a deliberate wrong choice of flesh over God's way.  Paul made a bold statement that he wasn't subject to be judged by others, but then he acknowledged that he couldn't judge himself. Only God knows the heart.  Search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me. (Ps 139) 

Yet God delights in showing mercy.  The Word overwhelmingly declares He is merciful, gracious, and slow to anger.  There is no condemnation in Jesus Christ.  Just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem, God comes to our hearts longing to set us free and make us whole.  Ephesians 5:13 points out that in His mercy He exposes darkness to light so He can make it light.  As he exposes our hearts, we humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to change us.  Paul encourages us in showing that godly sorrow produces repentance, zeal, and a fresh eagerness to please God. 

The Holy Spirit is our sanctifier.  To sanctify means to set apart for God's use.  Since our body is meant to be the very dwelling place of God, the temple of God, it follows that our reasonable service is to present our bodies to Him for His purpose.  God calls us in 2 Corinthians 6:17 to "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.  Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.  I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters."  

Scripture tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him.  We likewise can let the Spirit search our hearts, even if it hurts to admit our failures, so that we can experience the joy of His presence and the peace of being right with Him.  Jesus promised the Holy Spirit is here to help us, and according to Romans 8, by His Spirit we can put to death the flesh.  Our flesh is not boss, and He helps us pick up our cross and die to ourselves. Perhaps 2 Corinthians 4:10 says it best, "always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body."    

  

Behold Him

Our infinite, awesome beyond description, God of love, is on the throne, today and forever.  Psalm 93 reminds us that "The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is robed, He has girded Himself with strength and power; the world also is established, that it cannot be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting."  Clearly all creation is His handiwork and reveals His glorious nature.  However, more than His greatness, He is also very present and desiring to meet personally with you.  Hear the words of Jesus, "Come to Me." 

Do you remember David's key to life in Psalm 27:4, one thing I have desired all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord?.   So "Behold Him."  There is an amazing transfer of God's nature when we take time to focus on Him.  Isaiah promises that God keeps him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee (Is 26:3).  David in Psalm 17 states that he will continue to behold God's face in righteousness and be fully satisfied.  Jesus, the obvious light of the world, also declared that if we believe in the light, we would become sons of light. (John 12:36)   God desires that in His light we become light, even going so far as to announce to us in the sermon on the mount, "you are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).     

May I suggest three key ways to behold Jesus, glorify the Father, and be fruitful.  As you recall, in John 15, Jesus said "if you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit."  Abiding in Jesus, first of all, suggests that we talk to Him. Since He is with us always, He simply longs for us to share our heart and be open to His voice. Do this often and always. 

Secondly, we need to trust God's Word and deliberately choose to have our thoughts and emotions align with His truth.  As a man thinks, so is he, according to Proverbs.  Jesus said, "If you continue in My Word, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."  2 Corinthians 10 would have us take every thought captive to obey Christ, thus releasing divine power to overcome the enemy.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.   

Finally, the third way to behold Him, is to obey His commands.  Jesus, in John 14, points out that if you love Me you will keep My commandments.  Not only does obedience demonstrate genuine love, but Jesus further promises that He and the Father will manifest themselves to the one who keeps His Word.  Nothing will ever replace God showing Himself to you.

When we draw near to God, He draws near to us.  As we behold Him, our hearts and minds are open to hear His voice, both directly and through His Word, which transforms our mind and enlightens our heart.  Paul reminds us that "we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the gory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Spirit of the Lord."  

Take time today, to be still and behold Him.  

Greatest Famine - Pass the Potatoes

What will be the greatest famine in the last days?

When I was a kid growing up in a denominational church, if someone said to me, "Isn't it great that we are saved?" I might have replied, "Yes, would you please pass the potatoes?  In my heart having my physical appetite met was just as important as my spiritual values.  My heart may have been more like Esau than I want to admit.

Jesus evaluated His generation in a very similar manner.  "They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying, 'We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we mourned to you and you did not weep.'"  In other words, they chose to be mere spectators who refused to respond to the message given to them.  Several times He addressed the crowd, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  There must be a difference in having physical ears and choosing to hear.  

Flesh is flesh and has not changed since Adam sinned.  Romans 8 points out that flesh is at enmity with God and cannot please Him.  So sin abounds but He gives more grace.  He has given every man the measure of faith to receive His grace and be saved.  Yet we have to deliberately respond to His grace, His gift of eternal life through Jesus' death and resurrection.  The Spirit of God empowers our spirit to choose life, and reveals truth through the Word that sets us free from the flesh.  The Word accomplishes His purpose to bring us to God and change us.  Jesus said we are to abide in Him and let His Word abide in us.   

Solomon, in his wisdom, likewise gave us instruction on how to receive God's Word.  "Apply you heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge (Proverbs 23:12)   Ezekiel was told by God, "Son of man, receive into your heart all my words I speak to you, and hear with your ears."  On the other hand, Ezekiel understood that he was "in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house (Ezekiel 12:2)  When you hear and respond to God's Word, you often have to go against the stream of public opinion.

So what is this great famine coming to the earth in the last days?  Not food or drink, but according to Amos 8:11, "Famine of hearing the Word of God."  (Notice it is not the Word of God, but rather "hearing" the Word of God.)

Isaiah reminds us (50:4) that every morning God awakens us to behold His image and opens our ears to hear.  Therefore, let you ears "hear" the Word of the Lord.  Let the Word dwell in you richly.  Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed in your mind through God's truth.  In the days of this famine, you will be a light that shines in the darkness and leads many to safety. So let's obey in faith with Solomon, "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ears to my sayings.  Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."  Proverbs 4:20-22  Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.

Oh, that Men would Give Thanks

Truly God is absolutely good.  Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, and His mercy endures forever! Do you hear the heart of God, as expressed many times in Psalm 107, after God responds to our desperate need: "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

Yet man in his fallen nature condition seems frozen in his response to all God has done.  1 Corinthians 4:7 asks us the question, "What do you have that you did not receive?"  We may be aware for the moment when God intervenes, but there is a reason Psalm 103 calls us to "forget not his benefits." He has done so much for us, forgiven us our iniquities, delivered us from the consequences of sin that we deserve, healed our diseases, filled our mouth with good things, and crowned us with loving kindness and tender mercies.  Yet our natural mind tends to only think about the negative.  So God gave us the Word of God to transform our thinking and reveal the truth of what an awesome, loving God He is!  

Let's consider three situations that demand a response.  First, there are many times when things go well and it is only reasonable and even compelling to return to the Lord Jesus to give thanks.  For example, the tenth leper was quick to return to Jesus to give thanks after he realized he was healed.  Secondly, there are times when we have to remind ourselves of how blessed we really are and we "count our blessings one by one." The truth is we are infinitely blessed.  We have been given the gift of salvation (saved and delivered from all the evil consequences of sin) with an eternal future of rejoicing in His presence with all our needs and desires perfectly met forever.  Luke 12:32 encourages us, "Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."  

Perhaps the third situation is the greatest challenge, when things aren't going well.  Yet, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 instructs us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  In other words, God wants us to live giving thanks to Him in everything that happens.  This takes faith that God's way is perfect and that He is working all things for our good.  We show our faith by obeying the command to give thanks.  It also glorifies God to thank Him when our feelings want to complain and entertain self-pity.  The good news is that even in that situation Jesus Christ has already defeated the enemy and all his attacks and we can afford to focus instead of His victory.  Hebrews 13:15 calls us to "continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."  He is always worthy of praise and thanksgiving, and when our eyes are opened for eternity, we will be so glad that we chose to give thanks and trust Him. 

We are not in this fight of faith alone. The Holy Spirit is here to help us, to lead us into all truth and to bear witness all Jesus has done so we have a grateful heart.  Line upon line and precept upon precept, He teaches us the Word so we can know the truth that sets us free.  We then have the foundation to take every though captive to obey Christ Jesus, and use the divine-powered weapons to overcome the enemy.  When we fail He reminds us that God "delights in mercy" (Micah 7:18).  He reminds us  "Now thanks be to God who always lead us in triumph in Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14).  He works in us "to will and to work" for His pleasure.  All that the Lord does for us is deserving of our thanks, now and always.  The Spirit empowers us and bears witness as we thank God.

So today, the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) gives life to your mortal body and encourages you to receive the goodness of God with thanksgiving.  Hear His plea in a personal way, Oh that you would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness to you, for His wonderful works done for you.  

Taste and See that the Lord is Good!

Taste and See that the Lord is Good.  Doesn't that sound great?  However, the subtitle may also be, "He is a very present help in times of trouble."

Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). The truth is that we all go through battles.  David in Psalm 86 cries out to God to preserve his life, yet not without hope, declaring that "You are my God."  He reminds himself with this bedrock line, "For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you."

Yet there are times when we stand in the battle, wondering if and how He is going to come through. In our minds we know He is infinite and faithful, so the challenge is to trust that victory to our situation. He is a very present help in times of trouble.  I compare this to how the disciples must have felt between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, sort of a mental and emotional roller coaster challenge to believe when things look lost.  As we know, in desperate situations, David encouraged himself in the Lord.  

Draw near to God with thanksgiving and fresh consecration.  Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  This is a time to hold on to some of the powerful Scriptural promises. For example, Psalm 34:19 states that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.  Revelation 12:11 "They overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives even to death."  Or how about 1 Peter 5:10-11, "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."  

Clearly, as the song "Waymaker" reminds us, "even when I don't feel it, You are working."  My point is that during the battle is not the time to doubt or quit standing on God's promises, but rather to choose to fight the good fight by speaking the Word, and trusting God to confirm it.  Nothing (or no one, especially the devil) has a right to steal your joy.  Run for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24)  What is the prize?  Giving glory to God (He is worthy).  Abraham chose to glorify God until he tasted the goodness of the Lord.  Every attack is an opportunity to be thankful that Jesus has overcome, and by our faith we overcome the world (1 John 5:4).  All things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  

With Jesus in the battle, we taste and see that the Lord is good.  The Holy Spirit is here to always lead us in triumph.  So lets just receive the Romans 15:13 promise, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  In the name of Jesus, and by the power of the resurrection, may you experience His overcoming peace, joy, and victory.  Jesus reveals that "as the Father loves Me, so do I love you."  His love overcomes all.  He is with you and for you.  

 

Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory Forever!

 What eye has not seen or ear heard, nor the mind of man conceived, what God has for those who love Him.  We have no idea of what an awesome and absolutely perfect God we serve, and how beyond description it will only get better and better forever!  A billion years from now, we will be completely overwhelmed with and "satisfied" to enjoy His glory and beauty.  Psalm 21 is right, we are the most blessed forever who know our God.

God is the master at understating His goodness and power.  He is exalted "far above" all gods.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy toward us.  The heavens declare the glory of God and His handiwork. This simple work of God, His handiwork, seems to man to be almost infinite when we view the heavens and consider the way the planets and stars are set and maintained in space. Likewise, take the description, God is good.  Notice Jesus wouldn't even let men call him good, saying there is only one who is good, God the Father in heaven.  In Ephesians 1, consider the adjectives necessary to describe what God does when He reveals "the knowledge of Him."  The eyes of your understanding will be enlightened so you may know "what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power." Clearly God has to touch us and enable us to receive all He has for us.  What an awesome God!!!

So this final provision in the Lord's prayer opens up our imagination and allows us to express our heart appreciation for Who He is and how great His everlasting kingdom will be.  Sometimes in the daily routines of life, in the chaos of the world, and maybe in the trials of our own situation, we tend to focus on our difficulties.  But Jesus gave us a prayer with a conclusion that helps establish a correct understanding and vision of reality. Without a vision the people perish.  His kingdom and His power, and His glory are now and forever.  Amen. (That is the way it will always be!)