"Floating" Fish

I've been working on setting up a new aquarium. The interesting thing about adding fish to an aquarium is the means by which you normally add them so that they don't die. You usually get your fish in plastic bags from the fish store, and you first dump off about a quarter of the pet store water, and add that much of your tank water back to the bag. Then you reseal the bag, and drop it in the water. Every 10 minutes you add another cup of your water to the bag for 30 minutes. Then you take the fish out of the bags and put them in the aquarium.

This process is call acclimation; the fish become acclimated to your water. It's how fish get accustomed to the different chemicals in your water that wasn't in the pet store water. In this process, I recognize a pattern that the devil often uses in our lives. Often, we're stuck with having to "just deal" with a little bit of ungodliness. Then a little bit later, after we've gotten used to that, we go for some more. Next thing you know, we're swimming free in the water that would have killed us just a short time ago.

Romans 12:2 says that we shouldn't conform to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We don't have to just let someone watch dirty movies while we're around, or gossip to us, or tell us dirty jokes. Those are the patterns of the world, "Oh, that guy just always tells dirty jokes and I just shrug it off and go on."

Our minds are supposed to be being renewed, we shouldn't be thinking like that any more, and we don't have to listen, watch, or participate in those things just because we're not in our own home. We shouldn't participate in anything that we wouldn't participate in at church. Let's not allow ourselves to be made into the pattern of the world, let's seek God in everything we do, so that we will be found as faithful servants.

Our Morning Prayer

Do we take time in the morning to make our needs known to God? Psalms 5:1-3 shows us that David did. David made his needs known to God in the morning, and then waited in expectation through the day for those needs to be met. When we ask God for something, how often do we truly expect an answer? How often do we expect an answer so much that we wait in expectation through the day for the answers to our morning prayers to come?

How often, if we were to show the simple faith that David shows here, would our needs be met much quicker, or how much quicker would we recognize that our needs had been met? How often do we miss the answer to our prayer because we're never expecting it to be answered in the first place?

My prayer is that God will help me to have this simple faith so that when I pray, I will not only have faith that God will answer my prayer, but have such faith that I expect it to be answered in the very same day.

Ezekiel's Mission

What makes a mission a success or a failure? Does a successful work for God mean that every person we talk to turns to God, or are we successful just for our obedience? God gave Ezekiel a mission, and He also provided the means by which to measure the success of that mission.

In Ezekiel 2:3-5, God's mission for Ezekiel is to simply go and tell the Israelites that they have rebelled against God. Just as we are now commanded to go and preach the gospel, Ezekiel was commanded to go to his own countrymen and preach the gospel. Ezekiel 2:6 adds that Ezekiel was not to be afraid of them or their words. Both them and their words are specified. God protects those who are following His will.

Ezekiel 2:7-8 then defines what will constitute success on Ezekiel's mission: listen to God's words, don't rebel. That's all Ezekiel had to do. His success wasn't reliant upon the response his message would generate; it wasn't based on the number of people who agreed with the word of God. His success would only be measured by his obedience to God.

So, when we feel like we're failing in our mission because we don't have new converts every day or week or month, or when we feel like we're doing something wrong because we aren't seeing the results we expected, we should remember that our success is not measured by the response of men, but by our own response to the will of God.

The Valorious Armor Bearer

In 1 Samuel 14:1 we find the beginning of an interesting story, of two men who single-handedly conquered a Philistine garrison. This story catches my interest because we often hear the name of one of the men, but the name of the other isn't even mentioned in the Bible. Nearly everyone knows who Jonathan was, great friend of King David, son of Saul, David's mortal enemy. However, we are never given the name of the armor-bearer. We do find that, throughout the story, this man follows Jonathan's every instruction.

1 Samuel 14:6-7 shows us the amazing faith of Jonathan, that he knew God did not need great numbers to remove opposition. God could use just these two young men to win a great victory. Jonathan's armor-bearer obviously shared his faith, as he told Jonathan, "I'm with you whatever you want to do." Here was a young man who had complete confidence, both in Jonathan, and in God.

And their faith in God was greatly rewarded, as in 1 Samuel 14:11-14 we read that Jonathan and his un-named armor-bearer were greatly victorious. With this single act of heroism, one act of bravery, God was able to bring a victory that was never expected. Israelites that had gone with the Philistines once again fought with Saul and Jonathan, Israelites that were in hiding came out to fight. The Philistines began to take their swords to one another. We can read the end of the story in 1 Samuel 14:20-23.

What an amazing story this armor-bearer had to tell: how he stood with Jonathan against a garrison of Philistines, and how that such a great victory was won for God. Sometimes we all want to play the part of Jonathan, the son of the king, the victorious warrior. We forget how that the armor-bearer is needed as well. We fail to see the need just to be an extremely faithful follower. We should notice that 1 Samuel 14:13 indicates that Jonathan didn't kill the Philistines, the armor-bearer followed him killing the men the Jonathan brought down. God uses faithful followers right along behind faithful leaders, all we have to do is be willing.

Confidence in God

Do you have confidence in God? Would you tell someone who opposed you that God listens to you when you pray? David had the courage to do just that. Psalms 4 is believed to have been written the morning after Psalms 3. This is during the time when Absolom is leading a rebellion against David. It's almost as if David sings this prayer to God knowing that some of his enemies might hear it.

David starts this psalm out with thanks to God (Psalms 4:1), then begins directly addressing his enemies (Psalms 4:2-5). He addresses them in such a manner that shows that he has the utmost confidence that God will take care of him, and protect him from them.

Then, in Psalms 4:6-7, David contrasts hid faith in God with the faith that his enemies have. He shows that his enemies have faith in the things of the world: grain and new wine. David's faith, however, is in the joy of the Lord. David is an example here of Colossians 3:2, having set his faith in God, not on the things of the world like his enemies.

Lastly, in Psalms 4:8, we see David's confidence again in God. He says he can rest well at night because his peace comes from God. Do we have enough confidence in God to place our entire trust in Him, and have peace knowing that He's watching over us?

Life's Not Just a Bed of Roses

Did you get saved expecting it to make life easier? Did you get saved expecting God to make you rich or famous? Do you preach, teach, and believe the Word of Faith doctrine? 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 would tend to disagree with your idea of what it means to be saved. Certainly, God does richly bless His children, but it is not always so.

God always meets the needs of His children though. Consider the children of Israel in Exodus 16:3, out in the desert, hungry; then in Exodus 16:11-15 God sent bread in the morning with the dew for them to eat. And no, it wasn't just some bland bread, according to Exodus 16:31 it was like wafers made with honey. Ultimately though, God's people got tired of the provision of God and longed for the enslavement of Egypt again in Numbers 11:1-6. Their greed brought the wrath of God on them though, and many died of a plague in Numbers 11:33-34.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes good things happen to bad people. Matthew 5:45 tells us that God causes the sun to rise on everyone, and rain to fall on everyone. So then, ultimately, did you become a Christian because you love Jesus because He died on a cross as a sacrifice for the sins you had committed and because God in His supreme love reached down His hand of grace to you, or did you become a Christian because you wanted earthly treasures? Wanting things you don't need or deserve is greed. Is your entire faith is based on greed? Matthew 6:19-21 says to store up treasure in Heaven, nothing on this earth is going to last.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 now gives us the greatest thing we have. For as much hardship, as much pain, and us much suffering as we go through, we have an equal amount of comfort in Christ. We can rejoice that we have hope in Jesus that through our suffering for Him we are drawn closer to Him, and that one day we will see Him face to face.

What Are You Looking For?

You get what you pay for. You get as much out of it as you put into it. As you make your bed, so must you lie in it. These are all sayings that most of us are probably familiar, and there's quite a bit of truth in them all. What I want to focus on though, are the questions: "What are you looking for when you study God's Word?", "What are you looking for when you go to church?", and "What are you looking for in your relationship with God?"

Jesus asked the people that were following Him about John the Baptist, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." (Matthew 11:7-9) A lot of people went out to see John the Baptist, but there were a lot of reasons that they went. Some went to see the crazy guy eating locusts and honey, some to see a prophet.

All of the people found what they were looking for, but because many were looking lower, they were disappointed when they found the very thing they expected to see. Had they all been looking to find a prophet, they all would have found a prophet, and would have been amazed by God's presence in him. John the Baptist ended up in prison and beheaded because of this. Is this the attitude we take with us into prayer, into church, and into reading the Bible? Do we see what we expect to see, or do we open our hearts to receive the Word of God in a way that changes our lives?

Here's one we don't hear as often: "A bad workman blames his tools." If you're looking to find fault, if you're looking for something to give you an excuse for your attitude and behavior, look inside. The people around you can't make you into something that you aren't. As Hebrew 12:2 says, we need to keep our eye on Jesus, and not forget who He is. That is the only way we will be able to rightly see what we're looking at, and to receive the joy of the Lord, instead of being disappointed at finding what we sought.

The Will of God

God has a particular place in which we are to be. He has a specific task laid out for us. We can do great things in His name, and be as far from serving Him as the man who is openly rebelling against God (Matthew 7:22). Paul is even grateful in 1 Corinthians 1:15-17 that he didn't baptize many people, because that wasn't his calling.

When we try to use our intelligence and our logic to determine what that purpose is that God has called us for, we miss the very purpose that God has laid out for us. In 1 Corinthians 1:21 says "in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him". We can't even begin to comprehend God or His will through our greatest understanding. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom.

Our faith in Jesus, and our following the will of God even when it doesn't make sense to us is the only thing we can do. 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says, "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God" and "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." All of our thoughts, all of our knowledge, and all of our desires are meaningless in light of the wisdom of God. None of the things of the world are as important as following Him.

Fruit

What kind of fruit do we bear? Matthew 7:15-20 tells us a little bit about the type of fruit we bear, and it tells us also that "a good tree cannot bear bad fruit". Do we only bear good fruit? I know that sometimes still my depraved nature of Adam takes over and I bear bad fruit. I have to continuously watch for these bad branches, and ask the Gardner to remove them; ask for Him to prune me so I don't have bad branches, and bear bad fruit.

Matthew 7:21-23 goes on to tell us that there are a lot of people who will even claim to have performed miracles and cast out demons in the name of Jesus, but God will tell them, "I never knew you." Galatians 6:3 tells us that if we lift ourselves up undeservingly, we are lying to ourselves. We may show "some" good works, point to some things that we've done and say, "but look at what I did", but we are not saved by works, we are saved by faith.

Galatians 5:19-26 then gives us a good reference point for what fruit is of God, and what fruit is of the flesh. It sets a basic moral code, it's not all-inclusive; we do need to follow it in spirit, and not just by letter. We should confess our faults, and pray for each other according to James 5:16. We shouldn't be shy about falling into an altar and asking God's forgiveness. And we shouldn't hesitate to go pray with a brother at the altar.

Stephen: The Love of God, Loved by Godly Men

In Acts 6:5-8 we are introduced to Stephen. Stephen was chosen as one of the first leaders of the church by the apostles. He was "full of faith and the Holy Spirit." We even see that the people who persecuted him saw his face was "like the face of an angel" in Acts 6:15. Stephen, though it was apparent even to those unbelievers, was killed for his faith, becoming the first recorded Christian to be martyred. We can read the entire account of his persecution and death in Acts 7.

The verses that I'd like to point out, however, are the verses at the very last of Stephen's life, Acts 7:59-60. In these verses, we see the love of Christ spilling out of Stephen much in the same manner as Christ's love as he died for our sins in Luke 23:34 and Luke 23:46. Stephen showed a perfect example of Christ's love for us as he showed Christ's love to those who were stoning him.

We follow the end of Stephen's story into Acts 8:2, where we find that "Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him." These men knew the character of Stephen, Godly men, and they mourned deeply for him. Will Godly men mourn deeply for us when we die? Will they say we were "full of faith and the Holy Spirit"? What kind of people will mourn our passing? I pray that the world because of conviction will be glad to hasten my departure, but that Godly men will mourn when I die.

Sacrifices (Part 2 of 2)

Yesterday, we looked at Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his own son in order to follow God's command. If you didn't read it and you aren't very familiar with the story, you should go back and read it now. We're going to pick up in Genesis 22:11-12, where we see the angel of the Lord stop Abraham from sacrificing his son. Abraham didn't have to kill his son. God knew the intention of Abraham's heart, and that he would have sacrificed his son to serve God.

And now, in Genesis 22:13, we see the faith that Abraham had exhibited in Genesis 22:8 paying off. Abraham finds a ram stuck in a thicket. There's another recurring theme here, though, that we should be aware of: a sacrifice still had to be made. The angel didn't just stop Abraham from sacrificing his son, and they just go on home. There was a replacement sacrifice offered in place of Isaac. This is very much symbolic of the way that God provided His Son to die in place of us, the Lamb of God, that we wouldn't have to die for our sins.

In Genesis 22:14, we see Abraham give a name to the place, and it's a phrase that we hear from time to time. He called it Jehovahjireh (Genesis 22:14 KJV (KJV)), which interpreted means "The Lord Will Provide". The Lord provided a sacrifice in place of Isaac, and because of Abraham's complete obedience, He makes him another promise in Genesis 22:15-18. Our complete obedience to God will never lose us more than we gain. Sometimes it may seem like we're following God, and we're going to lose everything that's important to us, everything we hold dear.

Remember that no matter what we're tasked with, we need to do it in faith believing that God will provide for us. If we do that, we will be blessed. Jehovahjireh, The Lord Will Provide!

Sacrifices (Part 1 of 2)

Today, we enter the life of Abraham, and we see God, much like in the instance of Job, placing a burden on a man as a test to see if that man will follow through with the instruction of the Lord. The story begins in Genesis 22:1-2, where we see God tell Abraham to take the only son he has with his wife Sarah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. The very next thing we see is Genesis 22:3, and Abraham has gotten up early the next morning, packed everything he needed, and set out to where God had told him to go.

As the story goes on, we see that Abraham arrives and takes his son up the mountain. We pick up again in Genesis 22:7, and we see now the son Isaac questioning his father, "Where is the lamb?" The response from Abraham is amazing in Genesis 22:8. Abraham says the one thing that is both true and faithful that he can in this situation. God had already provided him his son, as we see in Genesis 18:1-15, and Abraham had faith that the Lord would provide a sacrifice. Both options were true, and both options were faithful.

God had promised Abraham that he would establish his covenant through Abraham's heirs through Isaac (Genesis 17:19). Isaac at this time was still very young, and, as far as we know, had no children. Abraham had to have faith that God's promise would be fulfilled, and that Isaac would somehow survive this. And if Isaac were not to survive, the Lord had still provided the sacrifice, as He had provided the son, Isaac.

The story continues, and we see in Genesis 22:9-10 Abraham builds an altar, binds his son on the altar, and prepares to sacrifice his son. How far would we go to serve God? Would we go all the way to giving up the ones we love in service to our Master? This is an amazing example of faith and obedience, we see that Abraham never questions, never complains, and never hesitates. He simply does as God commanded. If we do question, hesitate, or complain, we're not much of a servant, are we? How can we call Jesus our Master, but not do as He commands?

A man of God may question his elder, he may question his spiritual leaders, he may even question his pastor, but a man of God can't hesitate in following God's commands. Tomorrow we'll see the result of this blind faith and obedience, and how God provides for those who follow Him. We'll see how one of the names we call God came to be.

Being "Good"

Proverbs 12:2 tells us that the Lord delights in us if we are good. So how can we be "good"? It stands to reason that if God delights in a good man, that this is an attainable goal. The word "good in the context is literally the loosest version of the word. It is just "not intentionally doing wrong".

So if we keep from intentionally doing wrong, God will delight in us. But no man is without sin, and sin by it's very definition is a willful transgression against God. So then, the only thing we can do is to be purified by the blood of Jesus Christ and let the God sanctify us. To be sanctified is to make holy, to purify, or to consecrate.

The definition of consecrate is to give up entirely to some person or purpose. Ephesians 5:26 tells us that Christ sanctifies and cleanses us with the washing of water by the word. When we give ourselves entirely to Him, He bathes us in His truth. We become a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:12), our old sins and habits are taken away and replaced by new habit and good things.

Is this something that we can in ourselves do? Romans 3:10-18 tells us that nobody does good; we are a bitter mess of sin and ruin. But Romans 3:22-26 tells us that our justification and salvation from our wrongdoing lies in Jesus Christ whose blood was shed for us. It is only by turning our whole being over to Christ that we can become a new and "good" creature.

I pray daily that I will give myself entirely over to Christ; it is a daily struggle. The old man still desires to take back what was once his. In 1 Corinthians 9:27, Paul tells us that he has to beat his body into subjection so that he isn't "disqualified for the prize". He has to fight the old man that still wants to do the things the old man did. If Paul, who is one of the most well-known and read authors of the New Testament had to struggle against this, how could we dare to say that we ourselves have no struggles with our old man?

Satan vs. Job round 2 (Part 6)

Job 2:7-8
I cannot imagine the torture this must have been. The Hebrew word for the sores is shĕchiyn. It is the same word used for the boils that were sent as a plague on Egypt. I've had a boil before, but I cannot imagine having them from head to toe. He was broken. He lost everything. With all of this happening, the worst was still to come.

Job 2:9-10
Satan must have felt that this would be the key. Everything else, and Job's wife was done. "Curse God and die" are not the words of a compassionate loving wife. These are the only words of Job's wife recorded in the Bible. With no one left to help him, at this point, the loneliness must have been unbearable. Pain, humiliation, and loss can be suffered by most people, but that feeling of separation from everyone and everything is one of the scariest feelings known to man. I truly believe that this is why the Bible describes Hell as a place of eternal separation from God. What could be worse? Here we see Job getting a small taste of that.

Job 2:11-13
Sympathy of friends can really be a good thing. Sometimes a simple vote of confidence from a friend can make a huge difference. These three started with good intentions. They obviously met first and surely they meant well for the Bible says they were setting out to comfort him. Yet what can it do to you when your three friends pull up on their camels, start crying, tear their clothes, sprinkle dust on their heads, and can't seem to come up with one word of sympathy. It's like they've seen his death certificate already. In their mind Job is already done.

Job still hasn't faltered. Up until now he's still put his faith solidly in his maker. "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" These words echo a faith so mighty that it wasn't toppled. For the one piece that Satan missed is that faith this mighty cannot live in the flesh. It lives in the soul. Job's soul belonged to God, so his faith rested in God. No matter what Satan did to Job's flesh, he couldn't steal his soul.

Satan vs. Job (Part 3)

Job 1:13-19
This pretty much wiped the slate clean for Job. Nothing left except his wife. While I've never been in this situation, I have lost loved ones, jobs, and goods before. Although I've never cursed God for it, I did have a lot of doubt and anger in my heart. In retrospect, I truly wish that my heart had been closer to God when it happened. If so, my reaction might have been more like Job's.

Job 1:20-22
While at first glance verse twenty might look like the acts of a crazy man, understand that in those days this was how one showed that they were in mourning. So we see Job do two things. First, he began to grieve. This is fairly normal for most people who just lost everything. Second, we see something that doesn't usually happen with most people. We see Job fall on his face before God, and worship. He basically says, "I started with nothing, and I'll die with nothing, praise God." What astounding faith he had. I am reminded of the verse of a famous hymn penned by Horatio Spafford at a time of great loss in his own life.

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, though hast taught me to say
It is well, It is well with my soul

This perhaps should be our prayer in those times when we experience great loss, yet we find ourselves as men needing to be strong for our families. Being at peace with God through these times means that you know He holds the future, and that he cares about you. With this in mind you can rest assured that He will see you through whatever mint come your way.

Once there was this guy named Job (Part 1)

It almost sounds like the beginning of a joke, or even a fairy tale. This is neither of the two.

Job 1:1
As a man of God, is there any better description you could desire? I love the way the Scriptures get right down to brass tacks. Here's two things he was, and two things he did. Together making a tremendous testimony about Job's life. As we read on, we see the blessings that God had given Job.

Job 1:2-3
Here we see an amazing amount of worldly goods. I think it's safe to say that Job was a successful father, business man, and man of God. This says a lot about Job. The following speaks volumes about what Job did.

Job 1:4-5
So, like a good father, Job regularly attended to the spiritual well being of his children. This is a good lesson for Godly men today. Are you looking after your children's souls? Do you pray for them, and check up on them? Are they on your minds as you go about your career? If not they should be. As the spiritual leader of your house you are responsible for your families spiritual well being. You can't make them follow God, but you can pray for them, and set a good example.

Saved by Faith!

In the last devotion I wrote about a woman whom I had stopped to help on the side of the road. If you haven’t read that article yet, you need to at a minimum go back in time a day and read that first paragraph. Now, why did I stop to help this woman? As I stated in the previous article, most of the time I consider myself “too busy” to stop. Rarely is this really true, most of the time I just don’t feel like it. In this particular case, I just felt like stopping to help.

But now I want to examine things on her side of the white line. She obviously knew something was wrong with her car, or she wouldn’t have been sitting there in the first place. Think for a moment to yourself if there was anything that she could have done to MAKE me stop? If she had jumped out into the busy street waving her arms, she might have been hit. She could have put on some sort of show on the side of the road, or even used sign language. But none of that would have made me stop if I had not already decided to stop in the first place.

Now we know that we were once sinners, and that Jesus died to forgive us of our sins, but is is there anything that we can do to earn our salvation? Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” So nothing we could have possibly ever done would have gained us the salvation that is now given to us by God through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. The only thing we can do for salvation is the same thing that everyone else has to: make Jesus the ruler of our lives, believe that God raised Him from the dead, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins.

You can’t buy yourself a gift from someone. Can I take a gift from the One who I have made Master of my life and say, “I earned this.”? If I earned it, then it’s not a gift, it’s a payment. If I could have earned my salvation or paid for it myself, then the sacrifice of Christ’s death on the cross is meaningless; I could have my salvation without Him. If there were some thing that we could do to be saved, then we would be equal with Christ; we would have to be spotless and without sin. This would be contrary to Romans 3:23’s statement that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Instead of being prideful, and instead of bragging about how great we are that we are saved, we should do as the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14: “But we ought always thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Saved!

Today, as I was driving home, I spotted a car on the side of the road with the hood up, the standard symbol of “my car isn’t running”, and I decided to stop and offer a hand. I did all that my limited knowledge allowed, offered all the advice i could, asked if I could offer any further assistance, and then when there was nothing more I could do for her, I went on to my house.

Are you “broke down?” The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Every one of us has been broken down spiritually. And like a car with a broken thermostat, if we go down the road ignoring the problem, we will ultimately be far worse, and often irreparable damage will be done. Romans 6:23 tells us that the payment for our sin is death, but that debt is paid through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8 explains why the blood is important; because, despite our sins, Jesus died for us in a demonstration of God’s love. Jesus was crucified and died so that we could be forgiven. He’s stopped on the side of the road to give us a hand. But how do we let Him help us? Romans 10:9 says that the one and only thing we can do is acknowledge that Jesus died for our sins, believe that God raised Him from the dead, and then confess (declare) that Jesus is now the Master (Lord) of our life.

Romans 5:1 tells us that because of our belief, we are no longer at war with God, because now our Master gives us peace with Him. Jesus started this intercession for us with God as he was hanging crucified on the cross, when he said in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

If you haven’t done so already, I can tell you that turning your life over into the hands of Jesus is the single best thing you can ever do. All you have to do is just believe that Jesus died for your sins, and was raised from the dead by God, and then just talk to Jesus like you would talk to a friend. Tell Him that He is the Master of your life. Admit that you’re a sinner, and that you need forgiveness. Just like the lady on the side of the road, we have to get out of the car, admit we have a problem, and then let the One who stopped to help us take care of it. If we just take that step of faith, He will help us with everything else.

God's Pleasure

I have one simple question today. Is God pleased with you? Often in our lives we seek the approval of colleagues, friends, and our spouses, but how often do we look to God for approval? In the Bible there are two occurrences where God speaks about people directly that have gained his approval. The first one we find in an exchange with Moses regarding the Children of Israel.

Let's look at Exodus 33:13-17. What an amazing request to ask God. So simple, yet so profound. “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” What I find even more awesome is the reply that God gives him. “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know your name.” Such a great testimony to have directly from God himself.

One other occurrence that is actually recorded four times (once per Gospel) is when Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized.

In Mark 1:9-11, not settling for a simple whisper, God tears open heaven and exclaims “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” It’s reminiscent of a Father standing up at a baseball game and yelling “That’s My Boy!”

So how do you know if you are pleasing God? There have been multiple books, sermons, and other writings on this subject for years, but I think the best example again comes direct from the Word. The author of Hebrews is speaking about Enoch when he writes this passage.

Let's look at Hebrews 11:5-6.So here we see that the fancy Latin term Sola fide (Faith Alone) rings true. By faith alone can you please God. The author of Hebrews makes it even clearer by stating “And without faith it is impossible to please God.”

So to answer the simple question posed above, you have to ask yourself one simple question. Do you have Faith?

Hebrews 11:1-2
1 - Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
2 - This is what the ancients were commended for.