To The Man Who Please Him

To The Man Who Please Him

 

Ephesians 5:8-10

Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Today as I read Ecclesiastes 2:26:

“To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness”

This led me to a bible study on pleasing God. How can I please Him?

I asked my children what they think we can do to please God. These are the answers I got from my 2-8 year olds.

1.      Obey God

2.      Worship God

3.      Offering yourself to God

4.      Do Right

5.      Be peaceful

6.      Be good

Then I said, well, let’s check the concordance and see what we can find out about pleasing God.

Psalm 69:31

“I will praise God’s name in song
    and glorify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox,
    more than a bull with its horns and hooves.”

God is pleased with our worship, amen! “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalm 100:2) It is such a sweet aroma and offering to the Lord to praise and worship Him in spirit and truth. God is more pleased with our praise and songs and glorifying Him with thanksgiving than with sacrifices of animals on an altar.

Hebrews 11:6:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

So we must believe, as Abraham trusted God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, we must also have faith, and this pleases God.

1 Kings 3:10-12

“The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”

James 1:5 is like this and says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

God will give us wisdom if we ask Him. It is His will to give us good things. 

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Our faith leads us to ask to ask God for wisdom. This is pleasing to the Lord.

1 Chronicles 29:17

“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.”

God is pleased with our honesty. The truth shall set us free. It will lead us back to Ecc. 2:26 as all these verses do; God will then give us wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.

Hebrews 13:16

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

God loves a cheerful giver. Giving of our time, our money, our things, and sharing them pleases God.

Proverbs 15:8

“The prayer of the upright pleases him.”

Our prayers are pleasing to the Lord. So when we think about skipping our prayers, we can know that if we do pray we are pleasing God, so this is a good thing, to pray. Paul says, pray without ceasing. Our prayers should go on and on, worse than the Energizer bunny. Everything in our lives and those around us should be filled with prayer and supplication, talking to God.

Colossians 3:20

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

I speak this often to my children and remind them that their obedience pleases God and just like God’s plans for us are good, parents have the best interests of the children in mind as well. I teach my children not to lie, not to talk back, hit, or say unkind things, to read and pray, to be diligent in all they do, and their obedience pleases God.

1 Timothy 2:1-5

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

Our godliness and holiness is seen among the people and by God. God is pleased in our prayers for others because it is his desire for all to be saved and not that anyone should perish but to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Romans 12:1

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Our bodies are important to God and created for His good pleasure to be used for His glory. When we keep ourselves from evil and offer up to Him our own selves, as a sacrifice is offered on the altar, holy unto God, this too pleases the Lord.

Philippians 4:18

“I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.”

Our gifts and offering to the Lord which we give to our pastors, teachers, missionaries and preachers for the gospel’s sake, are pleasing to the Lord. Paul says they are a “fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice.”

1 Timothy 5:4

“But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”

Caring for our families pleases the Lord. God placed us all in a family of His choosing. It was not our choice but it is up to us to choose to do right to those who have raised us and repay them for their love towards us. Even if they did not raise us the way we think we should have been raised, it is our duty to love others as we love our selves or as we believe we should have been treated, do to them likewise.

In closing, God will then give us wisdom, knowledge, and happiness when we do these things. We went back over the list my children gave me and compared them to scripture. All those that they mentioned are in scripture and they were correct. Praise God! Let us all look forward to pleasing God this New Year and every year to come!

Walk In The Spirit,

Prophetess Deanna Mack