PLEASING GOD OR MAN?
ROMANS 12:1
"Therefore I urge you brethren,by the mercies of God,to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,acceptable to God,which is your spiritual service of worship."
It is very sad to hear that some Christians are not serving to please God but man. I think after reading this,you will know why and how to please our heavenly Father which is God.
"PLEASING GOD" means doing what makes Him happy,making Him to be proud of you,releasing your total soul,spirit and body in the service connected to Him on the throne. When you please God,it makes Him feel proud of you and makes you His favourite. When you please God,you will be called His favourite.
In churches today,most especially the ladies tends to please man with their voices and bodies rather than pleasing God. They do these all in the name of "I am the most singer,the beautiful lady among all". They make known themselves to man instead of God.
And when they do these,their spirit is not connected to heaven neither their voices but are only mere singing to the congregations and this makes God sad and makes you unpleasing to God.
Someone who pleases God will always surrender him/herself to God totally forgetting about what goes on around them because their spirit is connected to God and this makes God very pleased with such person.
In our text(Rom 12:1),the Bible admonishes us to always present our bodies to a holy and living sacrifice that is acceptable to God which is our spiritual service to God.
When I read the text,I realized we have two types of service to God (Physical and Spiritual service to God). The physical service is unacceptable to God because when you are serving God while still in sin,your service cannot be unacceptable. But the spiritual service is the one you totally release yourself and attach to the heavenly kingdom realm and by this,God will be pleased with your service to Him.
When you finish fornicating and then holds a microphone to sing to God,will your service be pleased with God? Or you are always full of lies,then in church you are called the choir master or deacon,can your service be acceptable or pleased to God? Never,it cannot.
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,but the prayer of the upright is His delight".(Proverbs 15:8).
"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,but those who deal faithfully are His delight".(Proverbs 12:22)
We should follow the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ because all His service on earth was pleased to God. God made Jesus His favourite because He laid His life down for us and then God chose Him as His beloved son.
"and behold,a voice out of the heavens said,This is my beloved Son,in whom I am well pleased"(Matthew 3:17)
Do you want to live your life to please God? Do you want your service to be acceptable and not sing or pray in vain? Then you have to surrender yourself totally to Him.
EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE THAT PLEASED GOD IN THE BIBLE
1 ENOCH(Gen 5:21-24)
source
Enoch pleased God because all the days of his life,he walked with God and in the spirit.
2 NOAH(Gen 6:5-13)
Noah was a perfect man in his generations,he found grace in the eyes of God,which made God tell him to build and ark for him and his families. Noah walked with God and He was pleased with him.
3 ABRAHAM(Gen 17:1-2)
Abraham walked with God through obedience and God was pleased with him and that was why he was called the "Father of Faith".
4 ZACHARIAH(Luke 1:5-6)
Zachariah was faithful in all things and that made him to please God.
As Christians,we need to be obedient,walk in the spirit,be faithful,perfect in all things,have the circumcision of the heart(Newbirth),must not be conformed to the world in any way and we should walk in the spirit of Christ if we want God to be pleased with us.
HOW DO YOU PLEASE GOD?
A. Surrender yourself totally and read His word,by so doing,you will be able to know the truth and walk in Him always.
B. Living a holy life: This is simply living in total obedience to His word. When you obey God,you will always please Him.
C. Do not be yoked with the flesh: The Bible says in Romans 8:18 that "and those who are in flesh cannot please God." When you are doing what is right and releasing your body,soul and spirit to God,the flesh will not be able to control you.
D. Faith: When you have faith,you will please God. Hebrews 11:6,"And without faith,it is impossible to please Him,for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him"
When you don't believe there is God and you hold a microphone to sing,who do you think you are praising? Ofcourse it is the congregations and not God because He will never listen to the one who did not believed His existence.
E. Do good at all times- Hebrews 13:16 says "And do not neglect doing good and sharing,for with such sacrifice God is pleased"
When you sacrifice yourself in giving and sharing what you have,God will be pleased with you.
F. Be humble- When you totally humble and surrender yourself to God,not minding the way you are or what people will say about you,God will be pleased with your service to Him. Do not be like the Pharisee who never humbled God while praying (Luke 18:11)
G. Let your ways be ordered by God- When you allow God to be your director and everywhere He directs you is where you go,then consider yourself pleasing to God.
When you please God,He will make you His favourite and will always guide you in all ways.
When you follow these guidelines I listed above,then you will see that you are living a life to please God and not man.
Man cannot offer you what God has already destined for you. When God is pleased with your service to Him,all these will be given to you.
When you are at peace with God, you will be at peace with yourself. And the only way to be at peace with God is through obedience with His word
Exactly,nothing is more than that. Thanks for your contribution