Loyal
WORD OF THE DAY (— Hebrews 11:6 )
" But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
MEDITATE ON THIS ( Faith makes pleasing God possible )
Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is no secret that the Christian relationship is centered on love (1st John 4:7). Love for God and love for our fellow
neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). As most will be familiar, when in a loving relationship, there is a desire to please the other.
A loving husband should seek to please His wife, as a loving wife aims to please her husband. Loving children should
try to please their parents, and loving and respectful employees should seek to please their employers. As Christians,
how can we give pleasure or please an infinite God who has everything? One might wonder if our actions have any ability
to sway the emotions or heartstrings of an infinite God. The good news is yes, it is possible to please God. In our series
"Pleasing God," we will explore in-depth this topic to transform our minds and live a life that better pleases God for the purpose
of a more excellent, more fulfilling relationship with our creator.
There are many things which God loves (Micah 6:8), and these things give Him pleasure. However, for the Christian,
our journey to please God must rest(start) upon(with) one item. There is one thing that is essential to pleasing God, for without it,
everything else that we do to please God ends up being like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). This one and essential component of
pleasing God is faith. Our verse of the day reads, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh
to God must believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The verse does not tells us
that without faith it is difficult to please God, it states that it is impossible. If you have vision problems, it is difficult to read
without your glasses, but if you don't have eyes reading is impossible. If you have very little money, it will be challenging to
buy a mansion, but if you have no money, the purchase becomes impossible. Faith makes pleasing God possible. The faith
connection to pleasing God is that we must first believe God exists, and secondly that God will reward those who are seeking
and believe that God will honor God's word.
Thus we realize that God is pleased when we acknowledge God's existence in faith and follow up with this awareness with a
desire to seek God. This seeking God is related to an assurance (Hebrews 10:22) that God can be trusted and will make good
on what God says. We see this illustrated later in the chapter which reads: (Hebrew 11:7-11) "By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out.... (v11)Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." All of these examples illustrate
believers who showed faith in God, and in them, God was pleased.
This begs the question, if step one to pleasing God is faith, how do we get faith? Well...stay tuned to next week's devotional to find out.
Your brother in Christ, WNL
Thought for the week:
Want to please God today? Start with faith in God through His Son Jesus, and God will be pleased.
Prayer for the week:
Dear God, sometimes in my relationship with you I"m more concerned about you pleasing
me than reciprocating your love and pleasing you as well. Please help me to deepen my
relationship with you so that I may see Christianity as a fulfilling relationship with you, not
a religion for you. May faith be my starting point so that my quest to please you starts with
first acknowledging that you are God, and letting this awareness transform me to see you as the
one who rewards those who seek with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the name on
which our faith is founded, Jesus the Christ, amen.
" But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
MEDITATE ON THIS ( Faith makes pleasing God possible )
Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It is no secret that the Christian relationship is centered on love (1st John 4:7). Love for God and love for our fellow
neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). As most will be familiar, when in a loving relationship, there is a desire to please the other.
A loving husband should seek to please His wife, as a loving wife aims to please her husband. Loving children should
try to please their parents, and loving and respectful employees should seek to please their employers. As Christians,
how can we give pleasure or please an infinite God who has everything? One might wonder if our actions have any ability
to sway the emotions or heartstrings of an infinite God. The good news is yes, it is possible to please God. In our series
"Pleasing God," we will explore in-depth this topic to transform our minds and live a life that better pleases God for the purpose
of a more excellent, more fulfilling relationship with our creator.
There are many things which God loves (Micah 6:8), and these things give Him pleasure. However, for the Christian,
our journey to please God must rest(start) upon(with) one item. There is one thing that is essential to pleasing God, for without it,
everything else that we do to please God ends up being like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). This one and essential component of
pleasing God is faith. Our verse of the day reads, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh
to God must believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The verse does not tells us
that without faith it is difficult to please God, it states that it is impossible. If you have vision problems, it is difficult to read
without your glasses, but if you don't have eyes reading is impossible. If you have very little money, it will be challenging to
buy a mansion, but if you have no money, the purchase becomes impossible. Faith makes pleasing God possible. The faith
connection to pleasing God is that we must first believe God exists, and secondly that God will reward those who are seeking
and believe that God will honor God's word.
Thus we realize that God is pleased when we acknowledge God's existence in faith and follow up with this awareness with a
desire to seek God. This seeking God is related to an assurance (Hebrews 10:22) that God can be trusted and will make good
on what God says. We see this illustrated later in the chapter which reads: (Hebrew 11:7-11) "By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out.... (v11)Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." All of these examples illustrate
believers who showed faith in God, and in them, God was pleased.
This begs the question, if step one to pleasing God is faith, how do we get faith? Well...stay tuned to next week's devotional to find out.
Your brother in Christ, WNL
Thought for the week:
Want to please God today? Start with faith in God through His Son Jesus, and God will be pleased.
Prayer for the week:
Dear God, sometimes in my relationship with you I"m more concerned about you pleasing
me than reciprocating your love and pleasing you as well. Please help me to deepen my
relationship with you so that I may see Christianity as a fulfilling relationship with you, not
a religion for you. May faith be my starting point so that my quest to please you starts with
first acknowledging that you are God, and letting this awareness transform me to see you as the
one who rewards those who seek with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the name on
which our faith is founded, Jesus the Christ, amen.