You and I were created by God, and He has made known to us the mystery of His will and purposes through Christ, according to His good pleasure…and not the other way around. (Eph. 1:9; Rev. 4:11).

The sooner we come to a place of realization that we exist to please Him, instead of pleasing ourselves…which comes about by aligning our lives and purposes with His will, the sooner we begin to walk in His peace and come to know His goodness and love. This is called walking in covenant with Him, and reaping the blessing that come with being a child of God. Clearly…not everyone will subscribe to this mindset nor surrender to this way of living. (John 1:11; 3:19-21)

Have you ever been accused of being a ‘people pleaser’? You probably know what that is all about. Or have you ever known people who ‘lived to please themselves’? That doesn’t sound like any better of a reputation to have, to me at least. But then we read in the Bible about a man named Enoch…”who had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Heb. 11:5). Interestingly, his life was also summarized by this statement found in Genesis 5:24: “He walked with God.” That almost sounds like what it means to ‘abide in Jesus’, as in we ‘walk with Him’ (John 15:1-8).

If anyone claims to ‘abide in Him, they themselves also should walk just as He walked’ (1 John 2:6). Yep…says so right there in your Bible. Now listen to what Jesus said in reference to His relationship with the Father: “I always to those things that please Him” (John 8:29).

Did Jesus not teach us to pray,  in word and by His example: “Not my will be done, by thy will…”? (Matt. 6:10; Luke 22:42)

I have mentioned in previous postings… hearing people openly admit that they don’t always ‘want to abide in Jesus’; and if we are honest, most sincere believers can relate to that sentiment. But just because we can identify with that heart attitude doesn’t make it a good thing; on the contrary….(Matt. 7:21-23)

Do you know what is required of us in order to ‘please God’? It begins with ‘faith’, and without faith…it is ‘impossible to please Him’ (Heb. 11:6). And as we have come to learn, ‘faith’ is just a tad more than making a verbal admission that you ‘believe’ God (or in Him). Faith will most likely produce a response of ‘obedience’ (Heb. 3:16-19). That’s the chapter that talks about that first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt, having been set free from slavery and bondage.

Paul spends some time addressing their ‘issues’ in 1 Cor. 10, even reminding us that “with most of them God was not well pleased.” (1 Cor. 10:5). Do you know why? “They always go astray in their hearts” (Heb. 3:10); which is probably why we are told that the unfortunate events that befell them in the wilderness…were written down as warnings and examples to us, upon whom the end of the ages have come’ (1 Cor. 10:6,11).

Friends…God has never changed (Mal. 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb. 13:8). Do you want things to go well for you …and your children and their children? Then learn to ‘do’ what He ask of us. That has always been the cry of His heart (Deut. 5:29; 30:15-20) Faith always produces action (James 2:26); and for all those who believe that ‘eternal life’ is granted to those who say they ‘believe in/on the name of the Son’ …you might want to jot down Hebrews 5:9 next to John 3:16 in your Bibles.

So yes, pleasing God begins with ‘faith’, and in turn…produces the response of ‘repentance’ (turning away from) as we then begin to ‘follow Him’ (Matt. 4:17,19). What did Jesus say about those who profess to ‘love Him’, in John 14:15? “If you love Me…keep My commandments.” I know, easier said than done, right? And God knows what the ‘roadblock’ is that lies within all of us; which is why the first order of business… is to begin dealing with that part of your ‘nature’ that doesn’t always ‘want to abide in Jesus’. It is your ‘carnal’ nature.

Let’s read what Paul wrote regarding what it means to be ‘carnally minded’ vs. ‘spiritually minded in Romans 8. “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (6). He continues on….

“The carnal mind is hostile towards God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”(7). Is that the kind of ‘testimony’ we want to have in regards to our relationship with God…that we were ‘hostile’ towards Him? Paul was not finished; look at vs. 8 –

“Those who are in the flesh (remain carnally minded)…CANNOT ‘please God’”.

And if you read just a little further on, here comes another one of those ‘warnings’: “If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body (carnal nature) you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God…these are the sons/children of God.” (Rom. 8:13-14).

Circling back to this idea of who are we living to please, you do realize the first two options, pleasing self or pleasing others…boils down to ‘pleasing flesh’. We are either going to live to please our flesh first…or the flesh of others. Here’s a thought…what if we purposed in our hearts to please God…who has no flesh, but is Spirit (John 4:24). What might that look like? I mean, we were created by Him…for ‘His good pleasure’. And that brings us to a subject matter that might do us all well to delve into, when it comes to the topic of ‘pleasure’.

We are told that in the ‘last days…perilous times will come…and men will be lovers of pleasure rather than, or more than…lovers of God’ despite ‘having a form of godliness’ (2 Tim. 3:1,4-5). And what concerns did Jesus voice in Luke 8:14, regarding ‘pleasures’? Go look that up and then meet me back here tomorrow.