How to Please God - 1

Your view of God is based on your belief in God

Pleasing God should be the highest priority of the believer

· I’m so glad I serve a God who is easy to please!

o Especially male and father figures.

· Upbringing- environmental influence

o Mean boss – makes you jump, can never work hard enough, impossible to please, only gives you more work…

o hard teacher, (Just keep quiet and pass the class),

o condemning preacher – Barna study – sizable portion leave church services feeling guilty

o harsh family life – walking on eggshells, just wanting things to not blow up – grades were never good enough, had to be the best in everything.

· People who are trained to work for man’s approval can naturally try to earn God’s approval.

Background

· I said appease in prayer accidentally – did not know what it meant – looked it up

Determine the reason WHY we do WHAT we do

– motives

– love vs fear

Your view of God is based on your belief in God

· Tithe – so we can be blessed under an open heaven afraid of being cursed

· Read Bible – because we are hungry for God’s Word or from fear that bad things might happen?

· Go to church – based on love or out of guilt?

What is Your Basis of approach to God?

Your view of God is based on your belief in God

· Appease – based in fear

· How you believe in God is how you approach God

· Appease – based in fear

· Pleasing – based in love

o Appeasement is the basis for legalism – man trying to earn God’s love and forgiveness – when they are both a gift from God!

· Pleasing – based in love

Faith Pleases God

(NLT)

Hebrews 11:6 NLT

6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Love vs Please

· Parents always love their children – but they are not always pleased with them – actions, decisions, attitude

· Same thing with God – God always loves us (unconditionally) – nothing can separate us from the love of God, but He is not always pleased with His children because we sin.

Appease vs Please

Appease = to ease the anger of

· quieting insistent demands by making concessions.

· soothing hurt feelings or rising anger.

· averting anger of a superior being.

· settling of differences.

· often disapproving: to make (someone) pleased or less angry by giving or saying something desired

· PACIFY

· to make concessions to (someone, such as an aggressor

· appeased the dictator by accepting his demands

· Placaters, who try hard to appease others so as to keep the peace, fear getting hurt in some way.

— Mike Cote

· They appeased the dictator by accepting his demands in an effort to avoid war.

— They made sacrifices to appease the gods.

— to cause to subside – trying to appease a guilty conscience or hunger

· to bring to a state of peace or quiet: CALM

— appease a quarrel

Synonyms

· hush, quiet, soothe, tranquilize

· flatter, overpraise (religious sounding prayer in King James language)

· quench, satiate, satisfy

· cater (to), humor, indulge

· coax, sweet-talk

· baby, coddle, pamper, spoil

· sweeten

Examples

Heathen

· Pharaoh – to stop plagues – , , (nine times!)

· Heathen pray to appease various gods, rain, sun, fertility…

· Beat themselves up in hopes of not being beaten – cut themselves – do penance

LIFE LESSON – Every time the child of God attempts to appease God by his own works, he is in reality acting like the heathen lifestyle that he was rescued from!

OT

Complaining believers

(NLT)

7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

NT

Simon the sorcerer begs for forgiveness

(NLT)

24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”

Please = to make happy or satisfied

· GRATIFY

· agree (with), delight, gladden

Christ Appeased God’s Wrath FOR Us!

· Jesus death appeased God’s wrath for you

· He Who knew no sin became sin for us.

· Cross was the lightning rod for God’s wrath

1 John 4:9–10 NLT

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

o that was intended, directed, originally designed for YOU.

(ESV)

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God’s Pleasure is Based on His Word, Not Our Feelings

We can feel DISPLEASED when God is not

We can feel PLEASED when God is not

We can feel PLEASED when God is not

· We can be pleased with our efforts for that we paid a penance when God is displeased for trying to earn His forgiveness by works!

We Should “Aim to Please” God

(NLT)

2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him.

(NLT)

Philippians 2:13 NLT

13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

(NLT)

21 may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

God Pleaser vs Man Pleaser

(NLT)

Ephesians 1:5 NLT

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

God Pleaser vs Man Pleaser

Pleasing man will often get you in trouble – leads to compromise…

· Herod’s daughter pleased Herod and it led to John the Baptist’s death

· Herod lived to please the Jews and it led to the Messiah’s death

· The Messiah lived to please God and it led to His resurrection!

· We live to please Jesus and it leads to eternal life!

God is Pleased When we Teach the Truth

(NLT)

1 Thessalonians 2:4 NLT

4 For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

Bible Examples of Pleasing God - Enoch, Moses, David, Jesus

Bible Examples of Pleasing God

9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Bible Examples of Pleasing God

Enoch Pleased God with FAITH ()

(NLT)

5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.

6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

· This is the ONLY time God “took” someone – He does not kill people with disease and disasters!

· Note heaven is full of God pleasers!

· Rapture separates the God pleasers from the world.

Moses Pleased God with FRIENDSHIP

· “Friend of God” – spoke to God face to face as a man speaks to his friend

King David Pleased God by being a “Man After God’s own Heart”

· “Man after God’s own heart” – even though he sinned – love vs pleased

· Census () – eyes on man displeased God – sought to appease God to avoid judgement – he threw himself into the arms of a compassionate God to avert disaster

Jesus Pleased God with His LIFE, Obedience, Serving Others

Luke 3:22 NIV84

22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

e.[1]

22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

· NLT – bring Me great joy

· AMP – find delight

· God is OUR Father too! As His CHILDREN, He is loves us the same amount and in the same way as He loves Jesus. God our Father is also PLEASED with us.

2106 εὐδοκέω [eudokeo /yoo·dok·eh·o/]

· “have pleasure”

· “think good”

· to do willingly. - to be ready to, to prefer, choose rather.

· to be favorably inclined towards one.[1]

Jesus Please God with OBEDIENCE ()

(NLT)

28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me.

29 And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.”

· Healed the withered hand

· Healed the multitudes

(NLT)

18 “Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, who pleases me. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

When we do the same works as Jesus (caring, sharing, loving, giving) – we please God like Jesus did.

[1] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.