So That We Please Him

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV)

To be an imitator of God is to be one of his followers, one who emulates him in character, mind, heart, and purpose, and who follows him in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And God’s will and purpose for our lives is that we believe on Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God, that we deny self, die to sin (not just once but daily), and that we follow him in obedience to his commands.

And if we are followers of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – then we will be those who make it our practice to deny self, die daily to sin, and to follow our Lord in obedience. We will walk in his ways and in his truth, and we will follow him wherever he leads us in ministry. We will be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit living within us each day so that we are guided by the Spirit in our daily walks of fellowship with our Lord in holy living.

For our faith in Jesus Christ is not solely for the purpose of getting our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven when we die. In fact, without surrender of our lives to Jesus Christ, and to his will and purpose for our lives, and without the forsaking of our sins and our walks of obedience to his commands, our faith in the Lord is not faith at all, but just lip service. And Jesus will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of iniquity.”

For our salvation from sin is not a get-out-of-jail-free-card, but it is deliverance from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we can now live holy lives, pleasing to our Lord, in service to him, according to his will and purpose for our lives. Every day we must put our faith in our Lord in practice by how we conduct our lives in moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness, integrity, obedience, and submission to the will of God.

Basically, when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to righteousness. So, sin is no longer to be what we practice, but righteousness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice. But if obedience is not our practice, but sin is, we will die.

And then we are to walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But this is not human love, but it is a love which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, just, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful, etc. So, we prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power, according to his will and purpose for our lives, for the glory of God.

And to walk has to do with how we conduct our lives day in and day out, and all throughout our day, no matter what we are doing. For our Lord is not just our Savior from sin so that when we die we get to go to heaven, but he is now owner and master of our lives and our lives are to be surrendered to him to doing his will, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all during our waking hours. So our lives are daily to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

And we should have open communication between us and our Lord all throughout our days, every day of the week, and any hour of the day or night. And in this way the Lord can speak to us at any time and guide us in what to do or in what to say or to write or to whom to speak or to do something for or to pray for or to encourage in some way. For the Christian life and practice should be a full-time assignment from our Lord to us.

And everything else in our lives should stem from our relationships with our Lord in service to him, with him directing our lives and giving us the power and strength and wisdom that we need to follow him wherever he leads us in obedience to his commands and in service to him as our Lord. And daily we should be drawing on his strength and wisdom and guidance to know where to go and what to say and what to do or to not do, so that we please him.

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23; Titus 2:11-14; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296