What Pleases God?

1 Thessalonians 4:1

When Jesus was on earth, he saw a man that had been demon possessed. Jesus got on a boat and went to the place where the man was to set him free from the demon. He saw a young boy who was dead with his mother mourning beside him. Jesus gave him life again. He saw a multitude following Him and realized that they were hungry. He fed them. There were many instances in the bible where Jesus went out and did good. But why? Jesus would say, in John 8. “I always do the things that please God.”

This should be the goal and desire of our lives, pleasing God.

1)      It is a radical principle. It changes our lives. If we lived our lives with this method that Jesus used, everything about us would be changed.

2)      It is a flexible principle. Pleasing God doesn’t require us to constrict ourselves to a list of do’s and don’ts. We are called to be obedient to the moral law of God. We aren’t trying to please these laws, but please the one who had given them.

3)      It is a progressive principle. There is no end in pleasing God. We can never reach the fulfillment of it. The more we please the Lord, the deeper we want to please Him. It takes us from one level to another.

What do we need to do to please God?

Colossians 1:9-14

1)      Fruitful living: being fruitful in every work. Bearing fruit for the name of Jesus. As a vine produces its own fruit; Jesus produces His own fruit, us. Are our lives similar to a bowl of fruit? Our lives should be like this. When people walk by us, they should want to come and receive something from us the way they would a beautiful bowl of fruit.

2)      Increasing in the knowledge of God: knowing God and increasing in our knowledge. The way we know God should be more then it was yesterday, last month, and last year. A lot of people know a lot about Him but don’t have knowledge about him in a profound and personal way. Paul says if we want to please God, we must know God.

3)      Strengthened and powerful living: living a life pleasing to God means that you are strengthened by His glorious power. This power in unlimited. God’s power is everlasting. It will continue to carry us through. The bible suggests that we will be strengthened by the lord’s might. Powerful living pleases God. It shows that we are tapping into the power that the Holy Spirit provides. When we depend on Him, it pleases God. We receive powerful living from God so that we will have patience and longsuffering.

4)      Thankful: giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance, pleases Him.