Sunday, July 26th, 2009
Reflections: “Living To Please God”
“I beseech you therefore, brethern, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2
Scripture reading for this week: Deuteronomy 10, Psalm 63; 104; 117, Proverbs 9, Romans 12, Ephesians 5...
What a joy many miss out on: To be in service to the Lord. Oh, I know; many find it boring, laborious, quaint, and old fashion. Oh, but if you but knew the joy, peace, strength, and even excitement that comes from not only being in service to the Lord; but knowing that what you do, is pleasing to God. It is incomparable to any other feeling when you know that what you do, brings joy to the heart of God. And how do you know if what you are doing is bringing joy to the heart of God? He tells you. For anyone who has spent time serving the Lord, has also spent time in His presence, and therefore knows the heart of God, and the voice of God. It’s unmistakable.
It is my prayer that this week’s Reflection, will bring a smile to your face, laughter to your heart, joy to your spirit, and encouragement to your soul. For what God has ordained for you is beyond your imagination. And you can believe that everything with God, is all good.
My heart is filled with joy today. Why—you might ask? Because it’s been two years since the inception of Reflections. I can hardly believe that the Lord has blessed me these past two years to bring forth His Word. Not only to encourage and inspire anyone that may read Reflections. But also to encourage and inspire me, as well.
I cannot deny the joy my heart feels when I have posted a Reflection. Because I know without a doubt, that I am being obedient to my Father, and that someone, somewhere, needs to hear that word from the Lord. It doesn’t matter to me whether one person, or a 1,000 read Reflections. What matters is that the person who needs to hear a word from God, receives it. I’m just the messenger; but God is the Deliverer. Hallelujah!
Am I excited? Yes I am! Not because I reached two years; but because I can honestly say, that being obedient to the Father, serving Him, seeking to please Him, I have been blessed! Isn’t that awesome? How God can touch your heart in such a way, that it fills you with such endearing love for not only Him, but His creation? I pray daily that each and every person comes into the knowledge of how much God truly loves them and cares for them. God is real. His love is real. And so are His blessings.
I am not only grateful to the Lord for His blessings; I am also grateful to you. For your kindness and support, and for taking the time to read, or even peruse Reflections each Sunday. I am also thankful for each person who brought a copy of my book, Reflections: Encouragement in The Face of Adversity. You may never know, only because words cannot do justice, how grateful I am, And how much love I sincerely hoard in my heart for you. Believe when I say: I am praying for you. Because I do. I want God to meet your every need, and to fulfill the desires of your heart according to His will for you. And, to bless you beyond measure. Yes. You are that special to me!
When we hear preachers, priests, pastors say that we should be living to please God, do we really understand what they mean? We can say it, but unless we know what it means, it’s just another euphemism for saying: go to church. But that’s not what God means. It’s more than just going to church. Living to please God is more than attending a church service…it is a way of life. A way of life that God gave us the answer to how accomplish this:
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love him, and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
There it is. If you fear the Lord God, walk in all His ways, love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul, then you are living a life pleasing to God. Fear, walk, love and serve. Not so hard. But we certainly make it hard. Because we have seen so many people fail miserably. We have witnessed so many people twist and turn the word of God into an impossible book of tasks, rather than the instructions for this journey we call life, that holds the answers to the questions that we have. And which contains the mysteries of the heart of God.
When you love God with all your heart, service to Him becomes that much easier for you to do. Because you desire to please God, and God alone; regardless to what other people may say or think. Many times we are too concerned with what people say or think about us, and this hinders us from living a life that is sold out to God. Instead of having a fear of God, we have a fear of man and their mouths!
Don’t get it twisted: When God says that we should fear Him, it does not mean to be afraid of Him. It is not the kind of fear that we have for the unknown. It is not the kind of fear that is dread or that causes an uneasiness. It is reverence. To revere God. To honor Him, to respect Him, or to have an adoring awe for Him. God wants us to show Him respect, and reverence for who He is as our Creator. Our God.
When we come to know God, learn His Word, walk with Him, know His voice, we will not only have reverence for who He is, but we will gain confidence in who we are in Him. When we understand this, then we are well on our way to pleasing God.
God desires that we walk in all His ways. Whatever the Father has spoken to us, that is what we should be doing. We should walk in the mindset of Christ. In Romans 12:2, it states: “…be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”.
It is going to take the mind of Christ dwelling in us, for us to walk in all the ways of God. Will we fail sometimes? I’m certain we will. But we can determine to rise above those failures, and stand strong and walk in the ways of God, until it becomes like breathing.
If you truly desire to walk in the ways of God, you will spend time in the presence of God. How can you know how the Father’s ways if you have never spent time getting to know Him? Walking in the ways of God conditions your heart and soul to be in righteousness. You become the righteousness of God. And there are blessings for the righteous of God.
Psalm 5:12
“For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.”
How awesome is that! The Lord will surround His righteous with favor. And if you know anything about the favor of God; then you should know that favor is better than money! Don’t believe me? Then you need to be reading the Word of God more!
You want to please God? Then love Him with all your heart. Many people say that they love God. But don’t fully understand that it is not an emotional cornucopia of feelings. If you love God, then you are obedient to God. Loving God brings out of you a desire to be obedient to God at all cost. It stirs in you a desire in you to love others, as God requires us to. It stirs in you, a heart for the people, and an urgency to see the love of God shown and manifested in all that you do, and in the lives of those that you come in contact with.
And when you are loving God with all your heart, you will find that you are serving God with all of your heart. When you have within you a fear of the Lord; a reverence for God, you will find that you want to please the heart of God. You desire to be in His presence, to walk in His ways, following His instructions, to love Him and to show others. You find that you want to express the love of God in many different fashions, that will not only bring joy to the heart of God; but will lead others to the saving knowledge of who God truly is, and how much He loves them.
I love the Lord so much. Truly, I do not have the vernacular to duly express what is in my heart. But I do know, that Reflections, has become one of my reasonable services unto the Lord. A way in which I can express my service and gratitude for all that God has done for me. I get so much joy in sharing the word of God. Not to show off what I know; because the truth is, I really don’t know anything…only what God grants me to know through His wisdom. But I do it so that whoever is seeking, whoever is in need, whoever needs encouragement, will find it in the words of this Reflection; because God has ordained it that way.
Service unto God is not menial or hard tasked labor when you love the Lord with all of you. When you are so in love with God, you seek out ways to serve Him; to please Him. To bring a smile to the face of God. How do you know if God is smiling? You know it in your heart. It’s the joy you experience. A feeling of peace that overwhelms. A knowing that you can’t possibly describe. You just know. Because the heart of God beats within you. And His voice is known to you…even in a whisper.
Thank you so much, again, for your support, words of gratitude, time (for I know I can be quite loquacious!!), and encouragement. All glory is given to God. For without Him, we could not be. Thank you for another year of enlightenment. Because when I share with you, I learn more about God, myself, and about you, and the beautiful hearts that you have. I am truly blessed. Blessed beyond words and measure. And I pray that the next year brings much blessings, revelation, and answered prayers and miracles.
You remain in my prayers. May the spirit of peace and prosperity find rest in your: spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, social, and financial lives. Live to please God. Allow Him to fill you, and teach you, and show you who you are, and who He is. You are greatly loved, appreciated, and endeared in my heart. Be Blessed, dear friends.
©2009. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.
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Comments: 16
Yes, what a joy so many miss out on: To be in service to our Lord.
In His Light is where we find truth, peace, love, hope, joy, enlightenment, and our heart's desire. Keep up your good work. You are a shining example of what leading by example truly means.
God Bless and Good Light to you always Ruthie!
I hope you're blessed as always.
God bless, Randi
I found that the true desires of my heart are not the things that they used to be, I will accept the love of God over any bass boat. God blesses us so much by going out and touching lives. What an awsum thing for the creator of heaven and earth to use us to express His love to each other. God bless you and thanks so much. I got a reason to be happy.
Thanks for the email with your link to this post. It was reassuring and inspiring. "God has a way..." -- ah, words for my thirsty soul!
"It is my prayer that this week’s Reflection, will bring a smile to your face, laughter to your heart, joy to your spirit, and encouragement to your soul. For what God has ordained for you is beyond your imagination. And you can believe that everything with God, is all good."
Such encouragement! These words are springs in the desert.
"...matter to me whether one person, or a 1,000 read Reflections. What matters is that the person who needs to hear a word from God, receives it..."
God sees that one person. In a sea of 10,000 that one stands out. Beautiful.
There's a saying, "It's none of our business what other people think of us!"
:)
I believe you serve the Lord, our Father, more than well enough to please Him. You also, serve to please many that read your words of encouragement, written with the help of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Know that you are loved.
"Oh, but if you but knew the joy, peace, strength, and even excitement that comes from not only being in service to the Lord; but knowing that what you do, is pleasing to God. It is incomparable to any other feeling when you know that what you do, brings joy to the heart of God. And how do you know if what you are doing is bringing joy to the heart of God? He tells you. For anyone who has spent time serving the Lord, has also spent time in His presence, and therefore knows the heart of God, and the voice of God. It’s unmistakable." ~ Ruthe M.
I'm glad to hear you say this. I can so relate to what you are saying. It is very difficult to explain this to people who cannot conceive of a REAL God. A God Who is indwelling, and speaks, and whose Holy Spirit interacts with those who follow the Lord. When a Christian is directed by the Holy Spirit of God, it is explainable, but yet, not conceivable to those who do not KNOW nor understand, nor BELIEVE in Jesus Christ. I can not speak for any other god.
JOY UNSPEAKABLE is what you've relayed, and I say AMEN.