To Please Him

                  2 Corinthians 5:9 

"So whether we are at home or away, 

we make it our aim to please him (the Lord)."

                  Hebrews 11:5 -6

"By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should no see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

                  Proverbs 17:16

"When a man's ways please the Lord,

 he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him."

                  2 Timothy 2:4

"No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, 

since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him."

Is your aim to please the Lord? Are you seeking to please him first, or please him if it pleases you? I know I often am found doing what I want to do. "I'll do that if I feel like it," enters my thoughts quite frequently. I'm sure it's true that anything we think of doing in disobedience or avoiding doing will give us no joy or satisfaction relatable to the Joy we get from his good pleasure. That's why Paul could say "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." He says this in Romans 8:18. Not worth comparing. 

Do you think Jesus knows how to have a good time? Do you think he can actually dance and sing and laugh? Does the Jesus you know do these things? The real Jesus does. He is anointed "with the oil of gladness beyond (his) companions." Hebrews 1:9 tells us this is the Son of God. Jesus himself. Anointed joy. What does that look like? Freedom. Complete happiness. I want to see him like that. I want him to be like that when he thinks of me. 

What pleases the Lord? The Spirit will show you if you're willing to listen.