Pleasing to God (Colossians 3:20)

The scriptures inform us that the action of children obeying their parents is well pleasing to the Lord.

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)

It does not say that children who obey their parents are well pleasing to the Lord, but that obeying parents is pleasing to him.  As a child of God which positionally puts you in Christ, God is always pleased with you.  However, there may be things that you do that may be displeasing to the him.

This can be difficult for some to understand.  They are locked into the thought that if a person does something that is displeasing to the Lord, then the Lord must also be displeased with them.

What we must understand is that God does not exist in linear time.  This means that God is not stuck in time like you and me only moving forward from one day to the next.   Time does not affect him: he can see from the beginning to the end and from the end to the beginning.

My children, as all children, have done things that are pleasing to me and also displeasing.  Some of these actions were faults and others we sins.  However when I look at them and assess whether or not I am pleased with them, I am able to see and recall much of their past and even with their faults and sins, I can still truly be pleased with them.

God looks at us from eternity future.  The complete workings of salvation have been accomplished and from that standpoint as he looks at you in today's time, you are pleasing to him.  You are pleasing to God because of Christ and whenever he sees you, he sees you in Christ.  The actions you do may be displeasing, but you are still pleasing to him.  If you remain in disobedience and continue to act in ways that displease the Lord, he may chasten you.  He will do this because he takes pleasure in you, and he cannot allow you to ruin your life.

Remember, your relationship with God is completely based on the works of Christ.  There is nothing that you can do that will make you any more or less acceptable to him.

I Am Well Pleased (Mark 1:11)

When Jesus was baptized, John saw the heavens open and heard the voice of God the Father speak to the Son.  Although what he saw and heard was for a testimony to him, it also was intended to communicate to Jesus, who at this time was God-Man, that his father was pleased with him.

And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:11)

As a loving father, God communicates his pleasure and acceptance to his children.  Have you heard his voice upon your heart declare that you are pleasing to him?  Have you ever heard those words?  Some may argue that God has never spoken these words to them because they are sinners saved by grace and still struggle with sin.  How can God be pleased with us when we struggle and even fall daily?

Did not God say that David was a man after his own heart?  However, David was far removed from perfection.  He killed Uriah and deceived the nation about Bathsheba's pregnancy.  He also trusted in his own might as evidenced by him counting the people, which brought a grievous chastening upon David and the Nation of Israel.  However even with all this, God saw him differently.

Abraham, called a friend of God, lied while in Egypt, sought to bring about the Lord's promise by way of Hagar and troubled God's people even to this day because of it.  However he too was viewed differently by God.

Again, have you ever heard God tell you that he is pleased with you?  If you don't hear his voice, it is because you hear somebody else's voice instead.  Your heart and mind are flooded with the negative messages of those around you.  This may come from family, friends, and even those in the church.  Make sure that the preaching you get is balanced too.  You should hear messages that convict you of sin and also those that strengthen, uplift and edify you.  From the latter, you should be able to hear in your heart the voice of God tell you that he is pleased with you, his precious child.

Listen for his voice.  He wants to show you how he feels.  

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