"Gratitude And Thankfulness Pleases God And Jesus" - Inspirational Weekend

"Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it."  -  A.W. Tozer

The quote above is so true.  When things are going badly or I get a little discouraged, all I have to do is remember how God has blessed me in so many ways and when I pray and thank the Lord for His goodness and His blessings, it relieves any negativity that has crept into my thoughts and puts me back on the right track. Worshiping and praising the Lord is the most positive and powerful antidote for any type of upset or discouragement.  It causes me to remember all the ways God has "rescued" me in the past, and that in turn increases my gratitude many times over.  It also increases my faith tremendously to recall His goodness to me in times past, as well as in the here and now.

"God wants to see prayers that are filled with genuine praise and thanksgiving for what He has done in the past.  He wants our hearts to be filled with awe and gratitude for His blessings.  He wants us to set up memorials in our hearts testifying to the provisions He has given us."  -  Michael Youssef

The Bible is full of men of God who expressed their gratitude and thankfulness to their Creator.   Job lost all of his children and all of his wealth and was stricken with painful boils all over his body (all at satan's wicked hand).   Although Job did not realize the evil one was behind all his troubles and pain, still Job had faith in the goodness of God and said at Job 1:21, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."  Job was grateful to God and still praised Him in his adversity.

Consider how the apostle Paul was persecuted and all of the hardships that he endured during his ministry and in preaching of the Gospel.   Yet his letters to the churches were full of thanksgiving.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Paul wrote,  (16) "Rejoice evermore.  (17) Pray without ceasing. (18) In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

All one has to do is read the Psalms of David to grasp how much he gave praise to God and that he was grateful for all the LORD's provisions and protection and guidance.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." - Psalm 100:4

Consider how Jesus Christ suffered and died at Calvary so that all who believe in Him and in His resurrection may have eternal life. How could we not be grateful for His sacrifice and for the extreme and supreme love He demonstrated in doing so for us!!

"If we comprehend what Christ has done for us, then surely out of gratitude we will strive to live "worthy" of such great love.  We will strive for holiness not to make God love us but because He already does."  -  Philip Yancy

May all of us say a prayer like what George Herbert said, "Thou who has given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart."

Just as parents are pleased when their children show them gratitude, so it pleases God and Jesus when we are thankful and grateful to them for their many blessings.

Here is a lovely song on thankfulness by Josh Groban:

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."  -  Colossians 3:15

"Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and  power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.  Amen."  -  Revelation 7:12



  

"How To Please God" (With Sermon by Chuck Smith) - Inspirational Weekend

Gorgeous male peacocks always make me think of pride.   I believe some of them think they are "it." Pride is spoken of as an abomination, one of the 7 things that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).  Chuck Smith mentions all 7 of them in his sermon found below, so I will not list them here.  Besides, I wanted to concentrate now on the things that please God.  

First, we need to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus, and have a heartfelt, sincere repentance and the willingness to surrender our lives to Jesus and to live for Him and to do His will, not our will.   Having faith in God and Jesus pleases God.   Hebrews 11:6 tells us ,  "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone that comes to Him must believe that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Next, we need to make sure that we are walking in the Holy Spirit.  Once you repent and surrender to Jesus, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit if you were sincere.  So we need to be spiritually minded and not carnal,  not with desires of the flesh and worldly tendencies.  Romans 8:6-8 tells us, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. "  To mature in the faith takes time and much prayer and much time spent in God's Word.  One needs to develop a close, intimate, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Also, we need to obey God.   Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  - John 14:15.  As your relationship with the Lord grows, so will your love for Him.   God"s commands  are beneficial, and if we obey them, we will grow spiritually and be more Christ-like.   Your character will become more holy, more righteous.   Jesus said He always did what pleased God the Father (John 8:29).  As followers of Christ, we need to endeavor to always please God as well.

We need to have a healthy, reverent fear of God.  He is the all-powerful Creator of the universe; He created us as well, of course, and we should be in awe of His majesty and sovereignty.   Proper fear and honor of God will help us to avoid sin (Exodus 20:20).

The Bible was given to us to help us know what God's will is.  If we read it daily, God will reveal to us His will in all areas.   Jesus set the grand example of doing God's will when He went to the cross and shed His blood for us, so we that believe in Him may have eternal life.  Jesus did His Father's will; He was totally committed to God and showed His love by His obedience.   We need to seek God's help to always do His will and thereby be true followers of Jesus.   If we obey the two great commandments at Mark 12:29-31, we definitely please God :  "And Jesus answered him,  The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these."

Love is the key to pleasing God, for God is love (1 John 4:16).  If we love the Lord, we will want to please Him.   As Chuck Smith says in his sermon below, "Pleasing God is the purpose of our existence."

"And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."  -  1 John 3:22