Pleasing the Lord

God has blessed us to see another new month in this year. Marvelous May! Today's power scripture comes from 2 Corinthians 5:9-10(ESV) -“9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” We often hear people say, and we probably have said it also, that we want to live a life that is pleasing to God. What does that really mean? And what do we have to do to achieve that type of living? Recently during a Bible study I came across an interesting teaching that reminded me of the commitment to live a life that will honor God and I will share it with you.

Pleasing the Lord should be the great ambition of every believer’s heart. Pleasing the Lord is not only to be a primary aim of every believer, but something at which we should all seek to excel, not to be accepted, but because we love the Lord and because of future rewards. The wonderful thing about living a pleasing life is that we do not have to strive to do it all on our own; probably because we could not if we tried. The ability to please the Lord is ultimately the result of His work in our lives as the Great Shepherd. It is the Lord who leads us on the right paths; makes us rest; provides sustenance in the weary places and anoints all that we do.

Pleasing the Lord involves discovering and doing what pleases the Lord through living in the light of the Word. Pleasing the Lord means doing His will and we cannot do his will if we do not know his will. Therefore we must study the Word; through active Bible reading, attending Bible studies and hearing informative sermons. Pleasing the Lord begins in the heart. We can talk a good game on the outside about what we want and wish to do and of all the plans that we have formulated, but only what is truly in the heart is what comes to the surface and evolves. Those who are in the flesh and who do not know God (unbelievers) or those who are walking by the flesh (carnal believers) are incapable of pleasing God.

Pleasing the Lord rather than people ought to be the motive for everything we do. Seeking to please people for selfish reasons ruins our capacity to follow the Lord; hinders us from taking a stand for truth or principle; stops us from loving others unselfishly; and thus it diminishes our function as God’s servants. Pleasing God means learning to live for others and not simply to please ourselves. God pleasers are neither people pleasers nor self-pleasers. The only time we should seek to please people is when we seek to benefit them by putting their needs above our own for their edification or salvation. This may mean displeasing them through tough love.

Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a victoriously GREAT day! Be blessed! Dr. JoAnn










Teachings excerpts from J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. (hamptonk3@bible.org)