Published by admin on 27 Sep 2013 at 02:41 pm
HOW TO PLEASE GOD
It is written in 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So we can see it isn’t God’s will that any perish. That means God is not pleased if any perish. Now, if it isn’t GOD’S will for any to perish, just whose will IS it that many perish and are lost? Yep, you got it. It’s OUR OWN WILL if we perish, for God has given us a choice either to receive or reject Him. Sadly, many reject the free offer of salvation in Christ Jesus.
So first and foremost, if you really want to please God, you will want to receive Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Now I know many of you reading this have done that, but that’s only a FIRST STEP. Why do I say that? Because it is written in Hebrews 3:14-19,
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Apparently, some feel that a “one time” salvation prayer is all that is needed to inherit eternal life, that they can just live however they want to between now and when they die, and everything will turn out fine, sort of like an “admit one to heaven” ticket. But is that really true according to the Holy Bible? If you were being misled, wouldn’t you want to know it before it’s too late and your chance for eternal life was lost forever? I know I would..
You see, all Israel had been held captive as slaves unto the Egyptians for hundreds of years, and Moses led them out to freedom as God had promised. You’d think everyone would have been overjoyed to have been freed from slavery, but yet, not long after they left Egypt, the people were griping and complaining about the conditions out in the desert, and even though God was taking good care of them, they were ready to return to Egypt and go back to being slaves again. Fast forward that mindset several thousands of years unto today.
What if everything isn’t a bowl of cherries, but rather the pits at times? Did God promise us roses without thorns? Did He say once we receive Christ Jesus that we would cruise to heaven without ever having trials? No, He didn’t. But what He DID promise is that He would never leave or forsake us. And that’s GOOD NEWS, for if God be for us, who can be against us? Now you may not think these following verses have anything to do with anything we are going through right now, but consider them carefully. They are found in James 4:1-12;
Jas 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
Jas 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Jas 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
I have found it to be a common problem among Christians that there is pride, jealousy, envy, backbiting and gossip going on in the Body of Christ. WHAT?? IS CHRIST DIVIDED? And yet, we are taught that Christ Jesus is the Head, and we the believers are the Body of Christ. Well, if that’s so, then why do we act so ugly to each other? Would your left arm beat up your right arm? Would your arm refuse to raise a spoonful of food to the mouth so the body could be fed? No, and yet, in reality, that’s what is going on every day in the Body of Christ. It would be bad enough just with all the denominational problems, how one denomination believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and another thinks it’s the work of the devil, one believes in healing, and another believes in suffering, one believes in God wanting His children blessed and another thinks you’re only holy if you’re broke. Again, is Christ divided? HOW CAN WE PLEASE GOD?
Actually, it’s easier than you think. All we have to do is get in agreement with God. I remember two verses that speak volumes, Isaiah 43:26-27, which says,
Isa 43:26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
Isa 43:27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.
So exactly how do we please God? First, we must get in agreement with Him, we must love the things He loves, and hate the things He hates. But how can we know these things unless we are well familiarized with His Word? How will you remind God what He said if you can’t even find it in His Word? How will you plead with God that you may be justified of Him? Tell Him, He says. Uh, Well God, I want to be healed, but I don’t know, is it YOUR will I be healed? Is that what you will tell Him? Will God justify you in that? No. He says to put Him in remembrance of what He said. Read the Bible every day, then you’ll know. Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. If your teachers have transgressed against God by teaching you things that don’t agree with His Word, that’s still no excuse for you. READ THE BIBLE AND YOU WILL RECOGNIZE FALSE TEACHING WHEN YOU HEAR IT. And when you hear false teaching, reject it as TRASH. It isn’t that God is so old He can’t remember what He said, it’s that if YOU don’t know what He said, you can’t send His word forth to correct your situation. Yes, I said that correctly. God expects YOU to speak to your problems and demand they line up with God’s Word, after all, if God had to speak to create the universe, you will have to speak His Word to get anything accomplished as well. Please note that in Mark 11:23, the Lord Jesus said; For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Now, I have to go back and pick up James 4:7 and fit it into the scheme of things so you can see how it all works together: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
That verse is a three-step verse. Submit yourselves therefore unto God. Stop gossiping and backbiting people, stop your griping and complaining. Do things out of LOVE and not selfish ambition, for that’s why many ask of God and not receive, they don’t have the love of God in them, only the love of themselves. Now, after having done that, THEN, Resist the devil. That’s the second step. Don’t bother advancing to step two until you’ve done step one. That means YOU resist the devil, for God is not going to do it for you. He has given you the authority to do so, IF you are submitted unto Him, that is. What happens next? Step three says, and he will flee from you. See how simple it is when you do it God’s way? That’s how you please God: by doing things HIS way, not YOUR way. He isn’t “Burger King” you know. He’s the KING OF KINGS, and it’s time we all learned that.
It’s funny, we all have the same Bible, God is speaking the same things to all of us, so how is it we are all doing so many different things that aren’t accomplishing God’s will on earth? Like I said earlier, IS CHRIST DIVIDED? No, He isn’t. Lose the pride, lose the “my way or the highway” attitude and just let God show you who He really is. He isn’t one God to one person, and another different God to another. He is the same to all who believe, isn’t it time WE who claim to be His children become in one accord and believe alike according to His Word? Or are we going to keep going around and around the same old mountain of defeat, saying “The mountain is growing”? No, the rut is just getting deeper, that’s all. There’s only one way we can please God; ONE WAY! And that is for all of us to be in one accord, united in love with one another, and against our common enemy the devil.
Our Lord Jesus has already paid in full for the punishment for our sins. Our sicknesses and diseases were put upon Jesus and He bore them in our place. God really DOES have a good plan for our lives, every one of us in fact. But in order for that to happen, we must abandon OUR plan and ask the Lord to do HIS will in our lives. Imagine your life without sin, sickness, poverty, distress, depression, or worry. God has that life waiting for you RIGHT NOW for the asking, if you act NOW. As they say on the TV sales ads, BUT WAIT!! IF YOU ACT RIGHT NOW WE WILL DOUBLE YOUR ORDER…
Well……while I can’t say God will double your order, I can safely say He will more than double your joy. How can you please God? Why don’t you just ask Him right now? Go ahead. Don’t be bashful. His prayer lines are open…. Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Just the fact that you’re wanting to please God, pleases Him. That’s more than the majority of the world is doing right now.