The Root of Pleasing God

THE ROOT OF PLEASING GOD

ANCHOR SCRIPTURES:

Psalm 63:1, O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy
glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

 

INTRODUCTION:

Text– Luke 19:1-6.
Everything that will either be big or small, great or of no significance, known or unknown are connected to a root. A root is the foundation of every offshoot. Not springs up without a root. Evil has its root so also good. You are a product of your root and that is why the gospel of the kingdom affects the root and not the symptomatic aspect of life. A root is the origin of anything. You reflect your root.

Pleasing God has its root from somewhere. No man can just wake up to start pleasing God. Natural men are disenfranchised with God. They don’t like him, nor his ways although that like his blessings and goodness but majority are not willing to please God knowing it will cost them all.

1 Samuel 8:7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and the covenant that he made with their fathers, and his
testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after
the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.

God is so despised amongst men they hated his ways, his government, his ways, his personality.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid
as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Luke 7:30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not
baptized of him.

Pleasing God is costly hence many weigh the option of it is what they are willing to afford. All those who have pleased God had something in common a very strong denominator that underlines their lives. As we study we will see what exactly it is that forms the bedrock of grace to please God. There are four things we will consider in this study.

A. DEEP LOVE FOR GOOD IS A KEY ROOT.
How can you please the one you don’t love? Paul the apostle explained this in 1 Corinthians 7:34
There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Any meaningful relationship starts with Love. This theme explains that we need to take our relationship to a deeper level. When two people are dating there is no much commitment but as soon as they get married, there is a serious commitment and each party is seeking how to please each other. Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. That is the spring of everything LOVE. That’s where it starts. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Pleasing someone has to do with what you can give to that person. It can only be love that gives.
John 3:35 The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand. John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. We can see that there is a transaction an indication that something is being sacrificed from both ends and LOVE is the connecting point to all these. In John 21:15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. Love is at the center of a major request. The master was making a request of what pleases him and He tied it to love. In Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? This is a love confession. This confessional statement of love is a resolve to please the one you love at all costs. Love is a central key to our relationship pursuit. It is love that constrains. 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

B. HUNGER
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. One major root for where the stem of pleasing God comes from is no other than Hunger. What we hunger for is what attracts us What we hunger for is what we adore, we worship, spend time with, we talk about, we pursue, we labour for, we spend our time on and with. When God is the supreme hunger in our hearts he becomes supreme in all things –John Piper. Psalm 42:1-4 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. A man that is hungry and thirsty Pours out.
Psalm 63:1-5 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. The Life that will praise God is that which thirsts for him. In Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. When you look at the end goal of this man making this statement. That I may KNOW HIM, WIN HIM…you will see the heart of a man panting for God. And this hunger has led him to take up a consecrated life which is a mark of those that pleases the Lord.

C. DETERMINATION
Nothing may seem impossible to a man that is determined to do anything. Determination has dared the fierceness of the Lion and bear, determination has brought down Goliath, determination has wrestled and prevailed with God Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. A mission statement of a determined Apostle. I PRESS Determination presses, It presses against all odds, presses against the wind and challenges. Pleasing God is challenging but when you are determined to please him you have the roots in you to shoot out a tree that pleases Him. Luke 19: 3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature 4 And he ran before and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.. We could see a combination of passion and determination. A longing to see Jesus, deep hunger to have an encounter with him. There is no obstacle before any determined soul. Daniel 1:8-16 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. When you purpose in your heart to please God. You will. Acts 19:21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. Men of purpose are only those that can please God.

D. STRONG DESIRE & PASSION
Psalm 27:4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. What you desire and are passionate about is what you prioritise in your life. That is what you pursue and give attention to. Psalm 84:2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. When you consider these statements. You will know that David has an ultimate desire to go to any extent for God. The three realms of a man where we are required to worship God are all covered in his statement. The Soul, The Spirit and The
Flesh are all the key areas that are strongly affectionate to God. They are all drawn to God according to his confession. Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. You can’t separate this person from pleasing God. What will make you please God is the desire of our souls that is deeply connected to Him. Isaiah 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. God remains the center of gravity that is drawing us.
Pleasing God is not an issue to he/she that has great affection and passion for Him. We pursue him and please him because we delight in him.

 

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