Saturday, January 2, 2010

TO PLEASE HIM

2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.


There are some opportunities for pleasing God that we will only have while present in these bodies here on earth. When we get to heaven, there will no longer be the need for faith, no more need for endurance through trials, no more need for courage and boldness in telling others about Jesus. But now, while we are present in these bodies, it is our only opportunity in all eternity to please God in these areas.

I wonder sometimes if I am truly pleasing Him with my life in all I not only do, but what I think? If Jesus is truly my Savior and my Lord, then the deepest desires of my heart should be to serve and please Him, and that desire will be expressed in a longing for holiness and a pattern of righteous living. It won't be caught up in trying to please everyone else around me. I have certainly learned over the years that it never quite happens anyway. Pleasing God must be my goal. As this New Year begins I have prayerfully considered what my goals for this year might be. I haven't done too well in the past making resolutions and trying to stick to those, but have found that I do much better setting goals for myself and working towards them. I have many areas I need and could focus on, but I have decided for me that if I just stick with the one goal of pleasing God in any way that I can, pretty much all the other ones will be addressed anyway. I have chosen two verses that I am going to cling to this year...

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The Lord knows the plans He has for my life. They are GOOD plans..to both bring about my ultimate good and give me hope and a future. I don't have to stress and worry and wonder what I might or should do, but just trust that Lord has all the pages of my life firmly in His capable hands, and I will trust Him to lead me day by day. I just need to strive EACH DAY to please Him.

Lamentations 3:22-24 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."

It is not as a question of "if" I will fail, but "when" I will fail. But in spite of this fact, I love that the love the Lord has for me will NEVER stop. His mercies toward me NEVER come to an end. That every day is a new day with new opportunities to please Him. To serve Him. He is all I will ever need. And therefore, I WILL hope in Him.

PSALM 34: 1-4 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

I want this favorite portion of scripture to be my mindset for 2010. I want Him to be what I seek after in this next year and for my goal to be to please Him in any way that I can. I want praise for Him to be continually in my mouth. For if I seek the Lord, He WILL hear me, and deliver me from all my fears.

Many thanks go to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting this Spiritual Sundays.  For other posts click HERE.

27 comments:

  1. These are important thoughts as we enter the new year. Be blessed in all you do!

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  2. beautiful post. And amazingly He does change fear into faith. thank you. Sarah

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  3. Beautiful post. The Lord be with you always.

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  4. Jeremiah 29! Beautiful to see it again this week. I see a theme coming on!

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  5. Powerful goals to achieve, not by our might or strength, but by His. Seems like the Lord is calling His children to seek Him first as He always does...But louder for those who had strayed far away from Him, so they can hear Him. I've been reading many messages about seeking Him first, my heart included whenever I talk to Him. Happy New Year to you sister Debbie and may God bless you abundantly.

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  6. What blessed resolve, Debbie! I pray your words will be contagious!

    Happy New Year!

    Myra

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  7. Hello Debbie,
    As always wonderful sweet meat for me to have today, I too have decided not to make resolutions but to set before me goals, number one being to sit more at His feet and learn of Him. I too want to please Him and like you realize if I do everything else will fall into place. I love your scriptures for your New Year. some of my favorites.
    Psalm 34;1 is on a plaque in my bathroom and I read it everyday. I want to praise Him more, and try not com[plain.
    Thank you for sharing your heart today and I always leave here blessed and challenged.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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  8. Powerful, positive, uplifting words and Scripture. Thank you.

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  9. Wonderful verses Debbie. Blessings to you this year.

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  10. HI Sis,
    Happy New Year ((((Hugz))) I surely remember those pleasing people days lol. I am so glad the Lord continues to work on me each day and now I realize it's all about pleasing the Lord. Beautiful post and much tp ponder.

    Hugz Lorie

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  11. I think that seeking to please God is the only resolution we need to make. If we do that, everything else will fall into place. Thank you for sharing this excellent post.
    Blessings in this new year.
    Charlotte

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  12. What a wonderful post...and two subjects I have been hearing often this week....Jeremiah 29:11 and the subject of fear! I have been reading Max Lucado's book entitled "Fearless" and it has been helping me through this week when fear came to visit....Jeremiah 29:11 is a great comfort. Thank you for your insights.
    God bless.

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  13. An excellent goal! My Pastor said yesterday, don't make new year resolutions, make new year revolutions! =)

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  14. Lovely scripture verses for us to keep in our hearts and minds. Thank you Debbie for your post today.


    Blessings,
    Jean

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  15. This are great scriptures to go buy the this new year. Thank-you for sharing them today.
    God Bless,
    Ginger

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  16. Lamentations 3:22-24 - two of my very favorite Scriptures. What would we do without His new mercies every morning?

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  17. You quoted some of my favorite verses! Such great wisdom you've shared; I, too, "need to strive EACH DAY to please Him".

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  18. What wonderful goals - genuine heart desires - for this year ahead. Striving to know Him, to trust His plans that are only good, and praising Him wherever He may lead through the year.....it can only be a wonderful 2010 for you!!

    Perfect verses for the year...hope you have them printed off and posted or stashed away in several places to remember them often!

    Have a blessed week:)

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  19. Those are wonderful verses for the year. May God bless you!

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  20. thank you for stopping by-so wonderful to meet you. Your words were encouraging thanks for sharing them. I too have decided to have some anchor scriptures for 2010. blessings to you.

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  21. Debbie, Your post was just lovely. First of all I really enjoyed reading it, and most of all it helped strengthen my resolve to be more pleasing to him this year too! Nothing is more important than this....thank you so much for reminding me.
    Blessings,
    Elaine

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  22. Hi Deb!! This is just such good stuff Gal!! I want to be so identified with Christ that people see Him and not me! I want to help people to know that they can have a deep abiding joy if they know Him and commit to serve Him with their lives. Oh how sweet the fruit we bear when we abide!! Your branches are hanging with plump juicy fruit gal, and you are indeed an inspiration!!

    Have a delightful week!!
    Love ya,
    Becky

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  23. Hey Debbie...
    Oh how I loved these scriptures that you shared.

    I wanted to see if you got my email I sent to you? email me at supermom4jc@yahoo.com if you didn't and I will resend it.

    hope you have an awesome day! -Laurie

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  24. That should be all our goals, to be pleasing to him . We are to be faithful to what he has called us to do . If we can remain faithful to that ,we will be pleasing to him. He has promised to give us strength for what He has called us to do. I have a criteria in my life , if i try hard to do something & it doesn't work out . I conclude he didn't want me to do it, or I would have had his strength to complete it .
    I wish you a Happy & Blessed New Year!
    ~Myrna

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  25. Hi Debbie!

    I love this post. There are so many things that I want to say, but each time I start to write something out, I delete it, because I can't put into words what I'm feeling. I love this post. My no resolution resolution is to just have faith. The Lord will guide my way, and I have to believe in that. I feel that. Now, I just have to act on what He wants from me. Easier said then done right?? I'm hoping that I can give in all the way to live my life for Him, all the time. Thanks for all of your spiritual posts, you are an inspiration Debbie!

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  26. So glad you stopped by this afternoon- I always look forward to your "visits" :) Hope that you are having a good week - that 2010 is starting off well! Take care, friend.

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  27. Deb, for way too many years I was caught up in the people pleasing ways. But I've learned there is always someone who will not be happy with me. So, I finally gave up (but not entirely at times). But I do know the only ONE we need to please is our Lord. I pray that His desires will become my desires. That way I submit it all to Him and allow Him to live in and through me. And that impacts those I come into contact with and especially my loved ones.

    Thank you so much for all of your encouraging comments on Heart Choices. I'm so thankful.

    Love you,
    Debbie

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!