Pleasing the Father
(notes)
By Suzanne Leitz |
please:
to give pleasure to
pleasure:
a source of delight or joy
Proverbs
16:7
When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
Galatians
1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying
to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not
be a servant of Christ.
1
Thessalonians 2:4
On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with
the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests
our hearts.
Ecclesiastes
2:26
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness,
but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand
it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing
after the wind.
So, we need to….
Ephesians
5:10
and find out what pleases the Lord.
Really, if you look at this
entire chapter you can get an overview of what DOESN’T please the Lord, and
a few things that DO please the Lord.
Some other things that
please the Lord….
OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS.
Colossians
3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the
Lord.
PRAYER.
1
Timothy 2:1-3
1I urge, then,
first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for everyone-- 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may
live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This
is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to
be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Proverbs
15:8
The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright
pleases him.
INTEGRITY.
1
Chronicles 29:17
I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with
integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent.
And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given
to you.
DOING GOOD AND SHARING
WITH OTHERS.
Hebrews
13:16
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such
sacrifices God is pleased.
BEING
SPIRIT-CONTROLLED.
Romans
8:8
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (NKJV)
So then those who are living
the life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulses of their carnal
nature] cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. (AMP)
Those controlled by the
sinful nature cannot please God. (NIV)
BEARING FRUIT, ETC.
Colossians
1:9-12
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not
stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray
this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please
him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the
knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to
his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and
joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to
share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
FEARING HIM.
Psalm
147:11
The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, in
those who hope in His mercy and loving-kindness. (AMP)
The LORD takes pleasure in
those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. (KJV)
Those who fear GOD get GOD's
attention; they can depend on his strength. (MSG)
FAITH.
Hebrews
11:5-6
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death;
he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was
taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 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.
Hebrews
10:38
But the righteous will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will
not be pleased with him."
How great for it to be
said of us as it was said of Moses….
Exodus
33:16
How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your
people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people
from all the other people on the face of the earth?"
Exodus
33:17
And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked,
because I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
But the bottom line is….
OBEDIENCE.
1
John 3:22
and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and
do what pleases him.
If we want an example of
someone who truly pleased the Father….
John
8:29 Jesus
said:
The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what
pleases him."
On
two separate occasions, God the Father spoke audibly from heaven, saying of
Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in Him I am well pleased.”
(Matthew 3:17,
Matthew 17:5)
© 2003 by Suzanne Leitz |
