Monday, July 23, 2012

Pleasing the Lord...

"We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:7-10)

Do you share Paul’s goal? Is your aim to please your Lord?

Far too few people have their hearts set on that, far too few have serving Jesus as their top priority. They love God with half their heart and half their mind and half their soul and half their strength. They mostly live to please themselves and they find preachers who encourage them to focus their efforts and their faith on the stuff of this world.

The message that is most popular today is the one that says Jesus wants you to be rich and have all you want. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that is not what faith is about! Faith is about pleasing God and bringing him honor! The things that you do that bring glory to God now will be the things that you will receive commendation for when you find yourself at the judgment seat. You will not receive God’s "Well done, good and faithful servant!" for asking boldly for a bigger house or a nice car or more money to spend on your wants. His “Well done” will be spoken to those whose faith led them to do His will not their own.

Do you believe God is able to reward those whose devotion is unfaltering? Then live like you believe it! Obey him! Enjoy him! Serve others! Live by faith, not by sight! Trust God to work out the things that don’t make sense. Trust God to see you through the difficult times in your life. Trust God to right every wrong done do you, to give you grace when you fall, to bless and bless some more. Trust God for all your life and see how good he is at rewarding those who love him. What you will receive in eternity from your Father’s hand is far beyond what you can imagine!

No comments: