black t shirt
Pleasing God
There is so much joy and peace for those of us that are living a lifestyle that is pleasing before God. We can all agree that while it has its rewards, there are those moments that seems very difficult and painful (Especially in college where you can get anything you want) Those times when we feel like giving up because it seems as if we are the only people living holy while everyone else is not. I can relate to the frustration, pain, and aggravation it.
I use to have that attitude. But as I grew (and I am still growing) in my walk with God I began to understand that just because everyone else is not living according to the word of God, doesn’t mean I don’t have to. Everyone will be judge according to what they did. Let’s look at some the blessings:
A holy lifestyle impresses God
The windows of heaven will open
A closer walk with God
Draw others to the Jesus you
A holy lifestyle impresses God
In Leviticus 11:45, God said, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (emphasis added). I talk to or had an encounter with. I remember one time in high school, while I was in the gym working out. One of the young ladies I had a huge crush walk in. When I saw her, I rushed over to the bench press machine and asked someone to spot (help me with the weights) as fast as I could.
I put on as much weight as I could to impress her. When I started lifting it, that’s when I realized that it was too heavy. Boy, did I feel embarrassed. There I was, trying to impress this girl. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out.
You might be saying what does this have to do with pleasing God? Well, it has everything to do with it. See, sometimes we try to impress God so bad but don’t know how. Reading your bible just so you can tell people that you read it doesn’t impress God, dancing in church to show off doesn’t please God, or quoting scriptures without understanding it doesn’t impress God either. Do you want to know what impresses God? Then learn how to live Holy. Why does living holy impress God?
We are commanded to “be holy”. God word didn’t say, “pretty please be holy,” or “I will pay you if you are holy,” but “be!” commanding us. God is impressed when you are living holy because you are being obedient to His commandments. Doesn’t it feel good when someone is obedient to you? That’s how it is with God. He loves it when you don’t put yourself in a situation that causes you to fall.
He also knows how challenging it can be to live holy on a college campus, especially in today’s’ society where everything is perverted. You have to understand that He was on earth and went through what you and I did. The scripture say, “The word became flesh and dwelt amongst us” (John 1:14). He understands exactly how you feel. However, even though he was tempted in all areas, He was without sin. Meaning he never sinned.
The windows of heaven will open
There is a story about a young man in the book of Genesis 37 by the name of Joseph, the son of Jacob (God later changed his name to Israel) who was sold into slavery to the Egyptians by his brothers because they were jealous of him.
While in Egypt, God blessed him tremendously. However, before God poured out his blessings on him, he was tested. Potipher (Josephs slave master) wife was very attracted to Joseph and wanted him to sleep with her but he refused.
One day while working in the house, she grabbed a hold of his clothes, dragging him to sleep with her. In the midst of all these, he pulled away from her leaving his shirt.
Joseph was only seventeen years old when that happened. At that age, I know his hormones were “kicking”. He could have easily chosen to sleep with her, but he didn’t. He knew that if he slept with her, it wouldn’t be pleasing before God. Because of his actions, God made him second in command in Egypt one of the greatest nations at the time.
When you are obedient to God’s word, there is no limit of how much he will bless you. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Corinthians. 2:9) God will reward you for your holiness.
During my first year in college, even though I had some personal struggles. I was still able to receive some of the blessings God had for me because of His grace and mercy. My dad had lost his job because of 911. I had to support myself. It was only by the grace of God that I survived.
He blessed me academically was well. After my first semester I had a 4.0 GPA (to God be all the glory). All my basic needs were met one way or the other.
Is there something that you want to have but can’t afford it? A car, house, etc, I wanted a car my freshman but due to my financial circumstances, I couldn’t afford one so I had to hop on the bus like everyone else.
Whatever it is, God wants to bless you with it; what about your future spouse? Do you want God to give you anyone? I would hope not. You want the best. There are so many ways for God to bless you. However, when some people think about God blessing them they only think about materialistic things. I am not saying that there is something wrong with that. God can bless you any way He chooses. Don’t limit God’s blessing just on materialistic things; God wants to bless you; are you ready to receive it?
A closer walk with God
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8 emphasis added). When I first came across this verse, it literally changed my life. However, I made a mistake most people make in that; I did not apply the whole verse, but part of it. In order to understand this verse, we have to break it down. Allow me.
“Therefore submit to God.” How do you submit to God? For a while, I thought submitting meant to simple say, “God I submit to you.” Before answering that question, let’s define the word submit. To submit means to give in to the authority, power, or desires of another.
To my surprise, submitting to God was more than just saying it. When you give God your authority, power and desires, you are saying “Lord, I don’t want to be head of my life anymore, I want you to be in charge”. Remember, God will only go where He is welcome. Submit is an action word, meaning you actually have to do something. Even though hurts at first, the rewards however, are greater than any pain you will go through. Trust me.
This became more effective in my life after I understood the verse better. As soon as I had that revelation, it changed my whole life. I started become more victorious in my spiritual battle.
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” One of the questions I use to as was how can you resist the devil? When you resist the devil, you stop doing the things you use to do, hanging around people you use to hang around, watching shows or going to website that are not spiritually healthy for you. Resisting him is simple another way of saying, “don’t succumb to temptation.”
The moment you stop doing the things you use to do, in essence, you are telling Satan that he has no authority over you. You are a child of God and you were bought at a price. I will be very honest with you; it takes a lot to get through this stage. Nevertheless, ones you do, not everything else is as difficult.
When you stop hanging around individuals that negatively influence you, it shows that you are not willing to be corrupted by their sinful ways. This is one of the areas most people struggle with. One of the reasons being, it can be very hard to break certain relationships/friendships with people you’ve known or been with for a while. But until you do that, you are not resisting the devil. You are allowing him to use those individuals to mess up your walk with God. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” (Rom. 12:2).
When you stop watching certain shows like Howard stern, real sex, Sex and the City, etc. or going to uncensored websites, you are letting the devil and his “boys” know that he does not have control over your mind. More men are affected in these areas than women are. For a while, I couldn’t understand why most females don’t struggle with the battle of the eyes as men do. Then I learned that men are visual while women are emotional. Putting filth in our mind will not draw us closer to God.
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” I ones saw a t- philadelphia phillies hoodies that read, “If God seems far, who moved?” I found that to be very interesting because sometimes we feel like God is so far away from us. God is as close to you as your finger is to your nail. The scriptures did not say, “He will draw near to you when you draw near to Him” but rather the opposite. He is already near you, waiting for you. The more you draw closer to him, the better your relationship with Him will improve.
This verse will no be effective if you don’t apply all of it. Sad to say that sometimes when we read certain verses, we only take the part we feel is more important to us. We are all guilty of it. When you learn to apply the whole verse, it changes your life forever.
Draws others to the Jesus in you
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father in Heaven” (Mat. 5:16).
Most of us know or have come across certain individuals whose walk make you want to know God better, even the unbelievers. Have you ever met someone and feel like you can tell them anything without be afraid of everyone else knowing about it?
I remember one day after coming back from class, one of the students approached me and said he needed to talk to me. He said, “I really don’t know you that well, I see you here and there and say hi but I feel like I can talk to you about this problem I am having” I didn’t know this guy, I had seen him on campus and our relationship was that of a “what’s up” and “bye” type. He did not know anything about me other than that I was a Christian.
The point I am making here is that as a Christian, we should all strive to be like Jesus. Others should be drawn not only to the Jesus in us at church, but also to the church in us at school, in the dorms, etc.
Learn to live a lifestyle that shows others that the God you are serving is real. And He can change you if you let Him. So many people call themselves Christians when their actions do not reflect it.
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write by Agnes
