What Pleases God

Psalm 135:6 “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.”

What greater peace than to walk through a valley of flowers, the gentle sun shining, the stillness of God’s beauty showing forth in the birds, insects, and creatures of the earth. Each partaking of all that God provides, each living with the breath that He has given. The gentle breeze blows, the bubbling brook ripples along, and we are left with a perspective that reminds us how life should be.

Genesis 2:9 “Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

When was the last time you separated yourself from the craziness of the world and just walked and appreciated all that God provides?

It pleases God to see His creation and walk in it. It says in Genesis 3 that as the Lord walked through the garden in the cool of the day, He called out to Adam and Eve. I believe that it wasn’t a single event, but rather the Lord regularly walked through His garden to enjoy all that He had formed. Sadly, Adam and Eve had sinned and corrupted all that was made beautiful.

Contentment is a valuable commodity, but once the heart yearns for more than God allotted, it enters into a path of destruction.

Remember how the serpent deceived them?

Genesis 3:4-5 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The deception was rooted in a lust for more. More knowledge, to be more than God ordained for her to be, to understand more than she was prepared to handle. Each of these attributes were promises that the serpent made to Eve. If Eve had truly been content, none of the lies would have seemed appealing.

God’s Provision

One aspect of life that pleases God is when His people are content with all that He has provided.

Deuteronomy 5:21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

What God gives is all we need for the moment. We may think it isn’t enough, or this will never sustain me for the future. But God is more concerned with us trusting Him now, knowing that He will provide in the future when the circumstances are different.

What has God provided you? When you trust Him for the present, there is peace and satisfaction in knowing that you are cared for, that He knows your needs, and that you have nothing to fear. If the Lord lead you into the place you are now, you can have confidence that He will lead you through. He will sustain you no matter what you face.

This is a message I have had to learn through the years and likewise continue to remind myself of today. Life seems to continually change, whether it’s on a personal basis or what’s going on in the world around us. There are so many aspects of life that affect our circumstances, without a guiding point of focus, it’s easy to get caught trying to fix everything.

We cannot anticipate every scenario that may come our way, in a way it’s like walking in the dark. If we are blind to our future, it becomes easy to fear what lies ahead.

Isaiah 42:16 “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.”

Remember God’s promises to His people. If you trust Him, He will lead you through every circumstance.

God’s Holy Standard

When Jesus came as the Messiah, He had a standard by which He lived. The prophecy in Isaiah revealed an element of Jesus’ ministry that is often overlooked.

Isaiah 42:21 “The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious.”

The Moral law was revealed in the 10 commandments. The law given to Moses at Mt. Horeb was a revelation of God’s righteousness, the expectation for how God wants His people to live. If magnifying the law is pleasing to God, then it also pleases to God to see His people magnifying the law as well.

Deuteronomy 30:16 “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

The command given to Israel is the same command we are given today.

John 15:10 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

To abide in God’s love is to know what pleases Him. For those who are grateful for God’s love poured into their lives, the act of pleasing God is the least we could do.

Faith in God

A final look into all that pleases God is the demonstration of faith exhibited by His people.

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

To show faith in God is to trust Him with your life. It is to believe His Word and follow it with conviction. It is to draw near when times are difficult, not blaming Him for your circumstances, but thanking Him as He guides you through. Demonstrating faith is to live by conviction and that my friends comes by way of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of God leads in all the ways that pleases God. The Spirit draws near to the one who desires holiness and hopes in His love. It begins with a faith in Christ and flourishes in obedience.

Romans 8:8 “Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.”

The one who chooses not to live by faith, choses to live in the flesh. In other words, they live by their own understanding, they choose to go their own way, they live by their own standard of righteousness, and their hope rests in all that they know or have accomplished.

The one who continually offends God’s law is the one who lives in the flesh. Their own sense of morality takes precedence over God’s standard of righteousness, revealed in Jesus Christ.

Pleasing or Offending God?

The choices we make in life bring consequences. Sometimes our own journey leads us into a trouble of our own making. Sometimes God’s wrath is directed toward those who continually refuse to submit to His authority.

Whatever choices we have made, the Lord is gracious to lead us back to Him. He is patient with us, through our weaknesses and failures, and He knows that a good day may be followed by a bad one.

James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Sometimes all we can do is fall on our knees and cry out to God. The repentant heart is what God desires in each of us. I wish I could be consistently holy, never struggling with sin. The more I know the pleasure of walking with Him, the more I desire to continue that walk. He is so good. There is no greater joy than knowing Him and to please Him is like experiencing heaven on earth.

One day He will make all things new, including His people. The old sinful nature will be gone and all of the sorrows that come with it. Hold on, don’t give up, your redemption draws nearer each day.

Press on, knowing that a crown of righteousness awaits those who finish the race. It will be then that you know how pleased He was with you. You didn’t give up. You might have failed a thousand times but kept returning to Him, knowing that He loves you.

That will be the day like no other. The moment you look into your Saviors eyes and see the measure of His love for you.