We are committed by showing engagement. This devotional reading looks at how we begin to engage our hearts by delighting in pleasing God.
Nuggets
- Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means having faith in Him.
- It pleases God when we commit in our hearts to become like Him.
- Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means we approach Him humbly.
- Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means we work toward expanding God’s kingdom.
There are several ways that we can commit our hearts. In this devotion, we will look at delighting in pleasing God. Instead of self-gratification, we need to look to God to determine how we should live.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the Commit to Grow Our Habits study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
Pleasing Him through Faith
“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” (Heb. 11:6 ESV)
Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means having faith in Him.
We please God when we believe He is real. He is alive. He is all-powerful and all-knowing.
God is Sovereign God Who constantly sees us and controls our being. He is concerned about what we think, what we feel, and who we love.
We just have to believe that.
We need to commit all of our heart – all of our life – every part of it – to God. Jesus said the burden of doing that is light when we totally submit our hearts to God (Mt. 11: 30).
In other words, we want to walk with God. Walking is the term used to describe how we live our lives, specifically our habitual state of mind, behavior, and manners. Walking with God means we are humble, reverent, teachable servants of God.
We have to be seeking God. We have to be loving Him. We have to be serving Him.
Faith starts our change to become more like Christ. It launches us on the Sanctification Road. Sanctification is the transformational process of the mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
- The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
One thing we generally don’t think about — that Noel pointed out — is faith moves both direction. We grow in faith but we also lose faith at times.
This is how Noel described our losing faith. He wrote,
“Let the true Christian become unduly eager about earthly emoluments; let him diminish voluntarily the time he passes in secret converse with God; let him call away his thoughts from the character and friendship of his [Savior]; let him thwart the precious influences of the Holy Spirit — and his faith will necessarily contract its operations; the finer and more ethereal parts of Christianity will begin to grow indistinct; his affections will be disordered; he will believe less, in reference to God and eternity, than he did before; his faith will shrink, or will vacillate as to real good and evil.”
Resource
Ooo, baby. It is real easy to do all those things.
We have to remember that the only way we can approach God is through faith. This faith opens the eyes of our hearts so recognize the invisible, spiritual things.
Pleasing Him through Having the Mind of Christ
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2: 5 ESV).
It pleases God when we commit in our hearts to become like Him.
We are called to be like God. Think about what Raleigh said. He wrote, “There is a God who is pleased always when the least cause for pleasure is presented to Him.”
Resource
God wants to be involved in our small things as well as our big things. He wants to be involved in our physical things as well as our spiritual things.
This also tells us that God takes pleasure in our small successes. Have you ever said to someone, “I know it is a little thing, but I just ….” God wants to hear about those times, too.
God is pleased when we have the mind of Christ. But what does that mean?
The New International Version translates it as mindset. Another way to translate it is “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Phil. 2: 5 NLT emphasis added).
We’ve talked about attitude a lot. We have to choose to have the mindset that Jesus did.
- Think the same way.
- Act the same way.
- Live the same way.
In other words, we have to imitate Jesus. When people see us, they should be seeing Jesus.
Vaughan noted that Jesus’ mind was totally human as well as being totally Spirit. He could be both.
Resource
But then, we can, too. We are human, yet we are to to worship “… in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4: 24 ESV).
Leifchild gave us a list of three things that imitation looks like. They are righteousness, devotion, and zeal.
Resource
It may be hard to do be righteous, but we can do righteousness. Righteousness is the indwelling goodness that is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of conscientious obedience to God’s laws and commandments and from which all virtues flow.
It is easy because it is not our own righteousness. It comes from Jesus. “And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3: 9 ESV).
We are to love God as Jesus loved Him. That means obeying Him, spending time with Him, and serving Him.
Having zeal for God means we are committed. We choose to be all in.
Raleigh brought up a good point. Is it okay to attempt to please God, or should we always be right?
Resource
Our definition of right is different than God’s. We think being right is the opposite of being wrong. From God’s perspective, right is being righteous. Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
Glossary
No, until we are perfected in Heaven, there is no way we are going to never sin. We will continue to sin.
What that means is we need to be sincere in navigating the Sanctification Road. We have to sincerely commit to trying not to sin.
We will never be able to do all the do’s and not do all the don’ts. It isn’t about checking everything off the list anyway.
Being a good person does not please God if we do not submit our lives to Him. We please God by accepting the offer of the Plan of Salvation. Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
Glossary
We must be navigating the Sanctification Road in order to be like Him.
Don’t believe me that being a good enough person doesn’t count? Listen to Raleigh. He wrote, “A little we know by our native moral sense, but for the perfect ideal of goodness we are indebted solely to Him. Therefore we must try to please Him.”
Resource
It is only through God do we get the character we need.
Pleasing Him through Being Humble
“But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me — and not without results …” (I Cor. 15: 10 NLT)
Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means we approach Him humbly.
Paul knew God had completely changed Him. He gave us a list of who he had been.
“If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3: 4-6 CSB).
Yeah, Paul had a really big head back when he was Saul.
While some may argue that Paul never lost his pride, he was thankful for the change he knew only God could have accomplished in him. “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (I Tim. 1: 15 ESV).
Instead of thinking we have merit, we need to humbly submit ourselves to God. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (Jas. 4: 10 ESV).
We please God when acknowledge Him as Sovereign God and submit our lives to Him. The only way we can do that is by acknowledging that He is so much greater than we are.
Pleasing Him through Being Diligent
“… For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace” (I Cor. 15: 10 NLT)
Committing our hearts by delighting in pleasing God means we work toward expanding God’s kingdom.
Man, serving God is hard work sometimes! It can be physically tiring and draining. It can be mentally exhausting.
But we can’t sit back on the laurels of our salvation. We must do God’s bidding.
Beecher echoed this. He wrote, “It is our duty to work as long as there is work, and we have strength to do it.”
Resource
The beautiful thing is that it is not us really doing the work. It is God working through us.
We please God when we cheerfully come alongside Him in His work.
Making the Connections
Don’t miss this. Our goal is not that we please God. It is that we delight in pleasing Him.
It is not just our actions, but our attitude for which God is looking.
We are to serve God cheerfully. “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (II Cor. 9: 7 ESV).
No, this isn’t necessarily limited to money, even though it is in the context of a collection.
We aren’t a cheerful giver if we begrudge the time it takes to read our devotions. If we rail at the time needed to cultivate a relationship, we are not witnessing cheerfully.
We have to constantly look to do God’s Will with the right attitude.
How Do We Apply This?
- Grow our faith by meditating on the gospel story.
- Diligently search for the glory of God.
- Attain peace and joy.
- Diminish the pull of earthly things.
- Believe more each day.
- Increase our faith in eternity.
- Move from a human faith to a divine faith.
- Make growing our faith the most important thing in our lives.
- Seek God, not just expect Him to come to us.
- Practice our faith.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Resource
Father God. We commit to pleasing You. We want our hearts to seek You and grow to be more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.