40 Days of Purpose Week 2 YOU WERE PLANNED FOR GOD’S PLEASURE 2 May 04
“Bringing pleasure to
God is called “worship.” That is true but not with the usual definition of
worship. (Psa 147:10-11 RSV) "His delight is not in the strength of the
horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; {11} but the LORD takes pleasure
in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." “Fear” in
the Old Testament means to have a saving relationship. It means living a
righteous life a John discussed in 1 John. (Deu 6:2 RSV) "that you may
fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his
statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life;
and that your days may be prolonged." (Deu
(Deu 10:12-13 RSV) ""And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, {13} and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good?" All the requirements have a common theme: loyal obedience on the part of the people to Yahweh. (1 John 2:5-6 RSV) "but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: {6} he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked."
True worship is a life-style of
righteousness. Again before Adam and Eve sinned, they lived right lives with
time for themselves and time for God as he wanted with them in the evening.
Book page 64 “Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of
worship.” Church worship services are only one aspect of “anything.” In fact is
not even the major part. It is living a life of keeping God commandments. Book
page 67 “Every activity can be transformed into an act of worship when you do
it for the praise, glory, and pleasure of God.” But we often limit what that
can be to less than what the Bible states. (Eccl
“God smiles when we love him supremely.” He smiles when we seek him and try to do this. Jesus said we are to do (Mat 5:48 RSV) "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." When we make progress toward doing and achieving this, God smiles as well.
“God smiles when we trust him completely.” Book page 71 “Trusting God completely means having faith that he knows what is best for your life.” But that does not means he has laid out an all details breath by breath plan we are to follow as robots. God does not have pleasure by controlling us. He has pleasure when we freely do his will. (Rom 12:1 RSV) "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." So pleasure worship is spiritual worship. Note that the Greek meaning in Rom 12:1 is a one time only sacrifice. The meaning and intent is that we sin not. A sacrifice has meaning only when there is sin. But we do sin as we struggle with doing God’s will. John wrote much about that in 1 John 1-2. For it to be a one-time sacrifice even when we sin is to do (1 John 1:9 RSV) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
“God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly.” If our intent is partial obedience, then we do not do so. To try and sin and repent is obeying him toward achieving Matt 5:48. Note (2 Pet 1:5-11 RSV) "For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, {6} and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, {7} and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. {8} For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. {10} Therefore, brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; {11} so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." If we are moving on the growth path Peter discussed, God is pleased.
“God smiles when we praise and thank him continually.” A proper adopted child to parent relation seeks to continually thank the parent for the adoption by living the family life the parent intends. God the Father has given Christians the freedom to live a huge variety of lives. We are to seek the righteous life that brings pleasure in our work and in our fun and in our relationship to the Father. By doing so, we will move toward doing the will of God for our lives. (Rom 12:2 RSV) "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
“God smiles when we use our abilities.” This includes being creative, loving, honorable, and all our righteous acts of life. God has created a Cosmos that seems never to exhaust our drive to live up to our God-image. We seek to know what God put into the Cosmos and use it for the good and pleasure of ourselves and others. This pleases God that we seek to know what he has done for us in every possible manner. Note the real message of (Psa 37:23-24 RSV) "The steps of a man are from the LORD, and he establishes him in whose way he delights; {24} though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD is the stay of his hand." “The steps” is not a daily plan of control but a plan of growth in righteous with the reality that we are not yet perfect just because God the Father has adopted us. So when we do sin again, God will not cast us out. The Plan of Salvation has also a Growth Plan and Eternal Security.
“Can I trust God?” If Eternal Security is not true, then the answer is no. If the Father did not RAISE Jesus our of death, then the answer is no. (1 Cor 15:15 RSV) "We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised." God seeks our love by showing his love. He forces no one to love him.
“Admitting our limitations.” We made in the image of God but we were not made gods. This is where we must read the Bible correctly. (Psa 82:6 RSV) "I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;" Jesus, in His confrontation with the Jews regarding His deity, quoted the first half of this verse (cf. John 10:34). Since Israel's judges (Heb. elohim, lit. mighty ones or gods) were, in a sense, "sons of God," Jesus, "the Son of God," was not blaspheming when He referred to Himself with this title. So it is true book page 79 “We aren’t God and never will be.” But Christians are children of God and are to assume the image of God found in Jesus to be (Mat 5:48 RSV) "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." We must realize who we are to please God properly. (Psa 8:5 RSV) "Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor." The Hebrew is elohiym and not angels as in the KJV. Since when we see Jesus we will be like him. We will reach the realization of “You are gods” as God created us to be. (1 John 3:2 RSV) "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
“What it means to surrender.” Book page 80 “Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience.” That obedience is to be expressed by doing the Growth Process of Peter and our mission of Matt 28:18-20. (Psa 37:7 RSV) "Be still before the LORD, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!" “Wait” is not sitting and doing nothing. One meaning is to wait for the Second Coming of Jesus by doing what we are to do, grow and witness. Then in fact we are doing (2 Pet 3:11-12 RSV) "Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, {12} waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire!" Look how Jesus lived.
“The blessing of surrender.” Surrender does not mean dictatorship by God. There is get freedom of the highest gratification in total commitment to the Father to live a righteous life. Science, art, business, games, etc. are still a part of life. God does have specific tasks that need to be done over a person’s life, but that is not a person’s total living, even within doing the task. It is true some tasks are inconvenient and some hard and even dangerous. Some we may not want to do, but like Jesus we should say we will do them anyway. God never gives us more than we can do or bear. And remember some tasks require that we gain training and expertise before they can be done. It is like wanting to fly an airplane. To be a pilot is the known goal. But many hours must be spent before it can be done.
“The best way to live.” And it is the only way to live for a Christian, to be under the Lordship of Jesus. It is a reasonable, rational, and understandable thing to do. It is also true that we may live our entire life and not achieve all the tasks God needs done. But it is in the working that God is blessed and that get pleasure. (Eph 2:10 RSV) "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." “Should” n the Greek is a moral and spiritual necessity. Book page 84 “When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. But this is not unique or unexpected. Nor is it exclusive to being a Christian. (John 17:14-15 RSV) "I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. {15} I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one." So we will have troubles from Satan and the lost as we try to do Matt 28:19-20. But Eternal Security is a fact Satan can do nothing about. The book quotes Bill Bright and signing a contract that he would be “a slave of Jesus”. That is not how Jesus, our Lord, sees and thinks of us. (John 15:14-15 RSV) "You are my friends if you do what I command you. {15} No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."
Book page 85 “We were made to live in God’s continual
presence, but after the Fall, that ideal relationship was lost.” Here the
author is wrong. We were made to live on earth and in the Cosmos and be able to
still live when God himself would come down to us. God never meant for us to be
in his continual presence. It is Jesus that brought back the opportunity to
again move toward what humans once had. Book page 86 “”What a friend we have in
Jesus.” But actually, God invites us to enjoy friendship and fellowship with
all three persons of the trinity: our Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit.”
The friendship is with Jesus. The fathership is with the Father. And what of
the Holy Spirit? It is a relationship of
concerned Guide. The Father is known through Jesus.
“Through constant conversation.” Conversation is more than talking it is a relationship on many plains. Prayer is just one aspect. But we must do it correctly. Jesus said to pray TO THE FATHER! (Mat 6:6 RSV) "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Mat 6:9 RSV) "Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Our child relationship is with our father, God the Father.
We are to address all to the Father. He is our Abba Father. (Gal 4:6 RSV) "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"" “Abba” means an endearing relationship. He is still the one who sits on the Throne. But he loves us as a father and wants us to relate to him as a loving parent.
Book page “Practicing the presence of God is a skill, a habit you can develop.” This is both a curious and uninformed statement. There is nothing to practice. EVERY Christian has the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is the supreme presence of God 24/7. The author is nearer being right with “You must train your mind to remember God.” There is no lesser presence or nearer presence of the Holy Spirit with us. It is ourselves that fail to seek his guidance and fail to talk to the Father. We don’t need a prayer hour. We need to live toward righteousness and listen to the guidance the Holy Spirit continually give, whether we ask him or not.
“Through continual
meditation.” Book page 90 “A second way to establish a friendship with God
is by thinking about his Word throughout your day.” That is only good IF you
know the real truth of the Bible. The key then is dedicate, careful,
consistent, and informed study of the Bible. The
“I must choose to be honest with God.” God knows all we do, so it is not the issue of informing God. It is the issue of us admitting what we know to the Father. The amazing thing is the Father wants a close relationship with us even though we still sin. He does not want to wait until after the Judgment. So the love of God is amazing not only that he considered us to have Infinite Worth while we were lost, but that he wants a closeness while we yet sin. But just look at the past to prove this is true. David was a man of many sins, but God was a friend because David had faith in only him. David had a better relationship when he was honest. But that did not get him out of penalties for is sins. Honesty is the best policy. Repenting of sins is the best policy. But there are often still penalties and fallout from the sins we do. And these may come from society. Honesty will not stop this from society but God may stop some spiritual discipline.
“Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God.” This might be true. But the reason is people do not know and appreciate the situation in which God created humans. Humans were given total freedom to live a freewill choice. If God intervened to run each person’s life, there is no freedom. Freedom always has a price. For God the price was autonomy for humans and the potential need for a Plan of Salvation if the freedom was used to sin. We always want to blame someone else for problems. God gets blamed for all sorts of things that he does not do. He allows the weather to work as the earth conditions influenced by humans dictate. Yet he gets blamed for “Acts of God.” He allows humans to will good or evil. Therefore humans can be extremely gross to humans. If freedom full freedom or is it a dictatorship. When we get our way we want hands-off. When we want something we want God to fix or provide it. Life was never designed to work that way.
“I must choose to obey God in faith.” This is a fact. It is freewill in action. The author is write is writing, page 95 “However, Jesus made it clear that obedience is a condition of intimacy with God. He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”” But we don’t have to obey. We are not forced to obey. For Christians, we have the chosen status of being children of the Father. What good parent does not want the best for their children and will discipline children to urge them along the best path until they are mature to make their own decisions. As Paul used the term, most Christians are “babes in Christ.” (Heb 12:6-11 RSV) "For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." {7} It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? {8} If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. {9} Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? {10} For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. {11} For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Even this discipline can be resisted if we wish. God does expect his children to spiritually grow and live write. God uses both formative and reformative discipline. That is not against freedom but is in concert with the chose we made to make Jesus our Lord.
“I must choose to value what God values.” It is a personal choice. If we want to be treated as a good member of any family, we need to live by the rules and code of that family. God cares not only to save a lost person but to grow that saved person into the best the person can be. That best is (Mat 5:48 RSV) "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
“I must desire friendship with God more than anything else.” Here the author forgets that we have two fundamental purposes: A self-life in harmony with other humans and a fellowship life with God. There is no dispute that fellowship has the highest priority, but it is not exclusive. A relationship with the Father is greater than any individual or group relationships with humans. The author stated, page 97 “The more you become God’s friend, the more you will care about the things he cares about.” This is absolutely true. So what does God care about? (John 3:16 RSV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 17:21-23 RSV) "that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. {22} The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, {23} I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me." This is just starters. God wants his children to live in righteousness and to love him out of total freewill.
“God is pleased when our worship is accurate.” This can only be done by real and accurate Bible study that includes following proper principles of Bible study.
“God is pleased when our worship is authentic.” This can only be done out of a real love for God. To merely attend services, even when you do all the actions is not worship. True worship comes out of the heart of a Christian. Our attitude and intentions establish our real level of worship. Israel in Isa 1 did all the visual elements of worship right. That would have passed any human inspection. But there hearts were evil. Book page 102 “of course, sincerity is not enough, you can be sincerely wrong.” Buddish monks are sincere. Leaders of Islam are sincere. But they are neither accurate or authentic. Only a Christian can have authentic worship. Book page 102 “God pleasing worship is deeply emotional and deeply doctrinal. We use both our hearts and heads.” There are not multiple true doctrines about any topic. There is only one. But there can be many styles of worship to express human emotion. Hence Book page 102 “The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God, based on the background and personality God gave you.” So we should seek a church that allows us to be authentic.
“God is pleased when our worship is thoughtful.” We must think as we do. God has never liked rote and mere ritual. He gave us a brain and he intends for us to use in fellowship with him. Don’t use the same words over and over. And remember we worship God the Father as Abba Father. Such is a very personal situation.
“God is pleased when our worship is practical.” The author wrongly uses Rom 12:1 as a repetitive thing. It is to be one time continuously. Real worship must be a focused worship that has one come in total honesty. It is from a less to a Greater.
Not being authentic can lead to disaster. (Mat 23:37-39 RSV) ""O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! {38} Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate. {39} For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"" (Acts 5:8-10 RSV) "And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said, "Yes, for so much." {9} But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Hark, the feet of those that have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." {10} Immediately she fell down at his feet and died. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband." So beware.
So why does God feel distant to a Christian? Because we do not practice what we preach. We say we believe the Bible, but ignore it when we want. We abandon a fellowship with God. God never does so with us.
The author is correct in writing page 109 “The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God.” The author is sadly wrong, or at best careless, in saying (page 109) that God answers prayer for baby Christians “so you’ll know he exists.” NO PERSON IS SAVED WITHOUT KNOWING GOD EXISTS! Hopefully what the author meant was God reminds baby Christians often of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Faith can have feelings or not. Faith is faith.
“Tell God exactly how you feel.” Any relationship with the Father must be based on honesty. God never got after Moses for his honesty. God even change a direction with Israel because of Moses’ honesty. If you cannot trust God who can you trust. The problem is we want instantaneous approval of what we think is the best for us and others. We must accept that “Father knows best.”
“Trust God to keep his promises.” God did not promise us a rose garden of Eden on this earth. In fact, a new Christian must get into immediately trouble with the lost and have nothing but pain and abuse until the Christian dies. This rarely happens to Christians in the United States, but it does in many places in the world. God promises Eternal Security, life on New Earth, and the indwelling Holy Spirit as life’s guide. He does not promise physical safety, happiness, wealth, etc.
“Focus on who God is—his unchanging nature.” God keeps his love for us and his promises to us. In this he is unchanging.
“Trust God to keep his promises.” Since his nature never changes, neither does his promises.
“Remember what God has already done for us.” He has saved you if you have done (Acts 20:21 RSV) "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Remember what Jesus said in (John 20:17 RSV) "Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."" We are the adopted children of the Father and nothing will change that, not even ourselves! (Rom 8:38-39 RSV) "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, {39} nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Marvin Ganote, Hobbs Study Class
Adult Teacher, ganotemd@dma.org Lesson at: http://www.dma.org/~ganotemd/lesson.htm or http://homepages.udayton.edu/~ganotem/bible/lesson.htm