We Aim to Please Him

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 ESV

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”

While we live on the earth, if we are true followers of Christ, we are going to go through suffering. Some of it is just the natural course of life which all people face, and some of it is suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel. Especially if we are walking closely with the Lord, and if we are ministering the gospel message to others, and if we are suffering much persecution at all for our walks of faith, we will groan inwardly, longing for our heavenly home. Yet, we rejoice in knowing that when we die that we have a home in heaven guaranteed to those who follow Jesus in obedience with their lives.

And yes, while we live in these flesh bodies, we are physically away from the Lord, but we should never be spiritually away from the Lord. For we should be those who are walking by faith, and not by sight, who are following our Lord in obedience regardless of our circumstances, and regardless of what that faith costs us in the way of rejection and persecution and loneliness. For we should be people of courage who can see beyond our present circumstances to the reality of the promise that we have to be with Jesus for eternity one day, which is when all our suffering will be over. Praise God!

Therefore, during the time the Lord has allotted us on this earth, we are to make it our aim to please the Lord in all that we do and are and say, and in our thinking and attitudes, too. And what does the Lord require of us in order to please him? He requires that we surrender our lives to him as living sacrifices, that we leave our lives of sin behind us, and that we now follow him in obedience to his commands, and in obedience to wherever he leads us by his Spirit, and to whatever he calls us to do, as his followers, and as his servants and messengers, as being led by the Spirit of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:8; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6,16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 1:21-25; Jas 2:17; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10,22-24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]   

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

And this means ALL of us who claim to believe in Jesus Christ, not just the people of the world. We are all going to be judged by God and will receive what is due for what we have done in the body, whether good or evil. And if we have sown to the flesh, and not to the Spirit, we will reap destruction and not eternal life. And if sin was our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord were not our practice, then we will die in our sins because we did not die with Christ to our sins, but we held on to them. And thus we will not inherit eternal life with God, but we will face eternal punishment in hell, even if we professed Christ as Savior with our lips.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

For the whole purpose of why Jesus died for us on that cross was that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. So, contrary to popular opinion, our salvation from sin is not just a get-out-of-jail-free-card. And it isn’t just forgiveness of sins so that when we die we can go to heaven and not to hell, although that is the way many are teaching it. But Jesus died on that cross so that we might be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

So, once we believe in Jesus, the self-life is to be put to death, and daily we should be denying self and dying to sin and following our Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives. For he put our sins to death with him on that cross so that we will no longer live for ourselves and for the sinful pleasures of the flesh, but so we might now live for our Lord who for our sake gave his life up for us on that cross. And God the Father raised from the dead so that we might now live because he lives, and so that we might no longer walk in sin but now in righteousness and holiness, and to the praise and glory of God and for the salvation of our souls from hell.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

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