Biblical ABC’s: P is for – Pleasure
by Mrs. Rick Jackson
Luke 12:32 says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is
your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.”
Have you ever thought much about what it is that pleases God? I have been slowly reading a book entitled, 100 Days Prayer Journal, and the
object of the book is to teach one to be more mindful of their prayer
time. One day recently the Scripture
passage for the day was, John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” And
the meditation guide said to ask God to reveal Himself to you throughout the
day. Now, I have to be honest with you,
that one thought provoked me to be more prayerful towards God that day because
I must admit that a lot of my prayer life is self-seeking. Prayer is, after all, asking. But, there are times when we can and should
draw attention AWAY from ourselves.
Tonight is one of those times.
Together, we are going to look at what pleases God Almighty.
I.
Jesus
There
is something special about being a parent, isn’t there? Rachel and I get to laughing whenever we
start to reminisce about her childhood – she was one of those children who
needed constant affirmations that she was doing well. I would constantly hear from her, “Mommy, how
do you like this? Mommy, isn’t this
pretty? Mommy, what do you think about
this?” Children NEED to hear that we are
pleased with what
they are doing. God the Father did the
same with Jesus when He was here.
Matthew 3:17 – “And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 12:18 – “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in
whom my soul is well pleased:
I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Matthew 17:5 – “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him.”
Mark 1:11 – “And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou
art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Luke 3:22 – “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a
dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
2 Peter 1:17 – “For he received from God the Father honour and glory,
when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Yet,
for all that good pleasing
that God had in Christ and what He was accomplishing, his job was not to remain
a Son on earth, was it? God’s real pleasure was in the job
that He sent Christ to do. This is what Isaiah 53:10 says, “Yet it pleased
the LORD
to bruise
him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days,
and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper
in his hand.”
II.
Creation
We read in Psalm 135:6, “Whatsoever
the LORD
pleased, that did he in heaven,
and in earth,
in the seas,
and all deep places.”
If
we go back to our previous studies in Genesis, do you remember what the Bible
quotes God as saying at the end of each day of creation --- “it was good”?
Genesis 1:4 – “And
God saw the light, that it was
good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
Genesis
1:10 – “And God called the dry land Earth; and the
gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.”
tree yielding fruit, whose
seed was in itself, after his kind: and
God saw that it was good.”
Genesis
1:18 – “And to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness: and
God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:21 – “And
God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the
waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after
his kind: and God saw that it was
good.”
Genesis
1:25 – “And God
made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and
every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
Genesis
1:31 – “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”
We don’t think, sometimes, about this world as being anything
but the planet on which we live. Stop for
a moment and remember that this is God’s creation. He put time and thought and effort into making
this wonderful place for us! But, not
primarily for us! Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created
all things, and for thy
pleasure they are and were created.” This world was created for His pleasure! What an awesome thought! And in the beginning, in its perfection, it
was all VERY GOOD!
III.
People
Do you know that God takes pleasure in you? Do you give that much thought? Does your life reflect the knowledge that God
is watching you? Are you constantly
aware of God’s presence in your life? Do
we daily take note of the fact that our lives are a testimony of the presence
of the Almighty in our being?
Psalm 147:11 – “The LORD taketh pleasure
in them that fear
him, in those that hope in his mercy.”
Psalm 149:4 – “For
the LORD taketh pleasure
in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.”
1 Samuel 12:22 – “For
the LORD
will not forsake
his people
for his great
name's
sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make
you his people.”
Not only does
God take pleasure
in us, He also, as we know, was pleased to provide a way for us to get saved! We read in 1 Corinthians 1:21, “For after
that in
the wisdom
of God
the world
by
wisdom
knew
not
God,
it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching
to save
them that believe.”
In addition
to being pleased to
provide a way for our salvation, He works through us for His pleasure. Paul wrote in Philippians
2:13, “For it is
God
which
worketh
in
you
both
to will
and
to do
of
his good pleasure.”
And how is it that God can take pleasure in us?
Is He pleased
with our mere existence? Well, yes, in
the sense that we are His creation. But
in order for us to bring real pleasure, Colossians
1:10 says, “That
ye
might walk
worthy
of the Lord
unto
all
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and
increasing
in
the knowledge
of God;” We also
see in Hebrews 13:16, “But to do good and to communicate
forget
not:
for
with such
sacrifices
God
is well pleased.” We read also in 1 John 3:22, “And whatsoever we ask,
we receive
of
him,
because
we keep
his
commandments,
and
do
those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
Paul put it this way in 2
Thessalonians 1:11, “Wherefore also we pray always
for
you,
that
our
God
would count
you
worthy
of this calling,
and
fulfil
all
the good pleasure of his goodness, and
the work
of faith
with
power:”
And, in fact, when we have done our part, when we have given
the Lord pleasure,
He, in turn blesses us! How wonderful!
Here is what Solomon says in Proverbs 16:7, “When
a man's
ways
please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace
with him.” Remember what we just
read in 1 John 3:22, “And whatsoever we ask,
we receive
of
him,
because
we keep
his
commandments,
and
do
those things that are pleasing in his sight.”
IV.
His Word
We cannot forget that of utmost important to our God is His
Word. We always come back to this, don’t
we? Why is that? Because of just that! God’s Word is vital to us – it’s how we get
to know God, it’s how we grow in our faith, it’s how we learn to lead others to
a saving knowledge of Jesus – God’s Word is EVERYTHING! Do you believe that? I do! Do we act like that? Are we reading it EVERY DAY? Are we hiding God’s Word in our hearts? This Book is what brings God pleasure!
Isaiah 42:21 – “The LORD is well pleased
for his righteousness
sake; he will magnify
the law, and
make it honourable.”
Isaiah 55:11 – “So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.”
What have we learned – what brings
God pleasure? First, it is His Son, Jesus, which we know John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved
the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Doesn’t that just about sum up His pleasure in His Son, Jesus?
Then, there is His pleasure in His creation
and we know Colossians 1:16 says, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven,
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and
for him:”
Then, there
is His pleasure in
the people that He created – that would be you and me! Oh, that we could be faithful in our service
to Him that it could be said of us as it was said of Enoch in Hebrews 11:5, “By faith Enoch
was translated
that he should
not
see
death;
and
was
not
found,
because
God
had translated
him:
for
before
his
translation
he had this testimony,
that he pleased God.”
And,
finally, there is always, the pleasure that God takes in His Word! We have learned over and over again these
many months how important God’s Word is – “I will
worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and
for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” (Psalm 138:2)
His Son, His creation, His people,
His Word – God takes pleasure
in these! Think on these things!
No comments:
Post a Comment