Pleasing God – part 1

Romans 12: 1-2 (TNIV) “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Ephesians 5: 1-2 (NIV) “Be imitators of God….and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”

Ephesians 5: 10 (NIV) “And find out what pleases the Lord.” The Message “Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it” Amplified Version “And try to learn [in your experience] what is pleasing to the Lord [let your lives be constant proofs of what is most acceptable to Him]”

Pleasing God involves sacrifice Mark 8: (TNIV) Then he (Jesus) called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Pleasing God means living by faith Hebrews 11:6 (New Century Version) “Without faith no one can please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who truly want to find him.” Romans 10:17 (New Living Translation) “Faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ”

Pleasing God means living by faith John 8: 29 (TNIV) “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV) “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”

Pleasing God means aligning ourselves with His purposes Eric Liddell “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” “To give up running would be to hold him in contempt.” 2 Timothy 2: 4 (TNIV) “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs; rather, they try to please their commanding officer”

Pleasing God means aligning ourselves with His purposes Psalm 14: 2 (Living Bible) “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who are wise, who want to please him” Rick Warren When you live in light of eternity, your focus changes from “How much pleasure am I getting out of life?” to “How much pleasure is God getting out of my life?”

Is pleasing God our deepest desire? 2Corinthians 5: 7 & 9 (TNIV) “We live by faith, not by sight…So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it ” Colossians 1: 9-10 (TNIV) “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God”

Pleasing God  Become a living sacrifice  Live by faith  Align ourselves to God’s purposes