Pleasing the Lord
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to sit with you, walk with you, and stand with you. I pray that no matter whether we are sitting, walking, or standing, we emulate your image and make you proud. You say that we are the lights of the world. I pray that we shine as bright as the heavens and bring glory to your name!
Focus
What pleases the Lord in your life?
Devotion
Sketchy, I thought, as I looked out the door in my friend's kitchen that dropped two stories down to the dirt ground below. The sight shocked me for a second, but I had heavier things on my heart and mind.
I sat down next to the door, grabbed another cigarette, lit it, and inhaled the smoke. My friend was in the kitchen with me. She was watching me. You could tell she was concerned.
I encountered God back in 2016 and fell overwhelmingly in love with him, and chose to follow him. However, having not really grown up in the church, I did not know what following God looked like. Did I have to give up my unhealthy ways—drinking, partying, and living an impure lifestyle? I imagined so, but I did not know if this was totally accurate. Uncertainty and a lack of knowledge led me to return to my sinful ways.
Not long before I sat where I was in my friend's kitchen, smoking a cigarette, I was on my way to the beach when my ear popped and I lost my balance and almost fell. Almost falling wasn’t the part that worried me though. What really scared me was that I felt like I had fallen off God’s path. I thought I would be wandering in darkness forever.
As I sat on my friend's kitchen floor after a hard night of living in sin, smelly, hungover, afraid that I had fallen off God’s path, and worried that I would never be able to get back on the path again, my heart and mind reached out to God like an injured kid wanting his Father to make it all better. And, he would.
God’s presence entered into the atmosphere and he, gently, told me: “Sacrifice.”
As soon as God told me “Sacrifice,” I became afraid. I became afraid because I associated the word sacrifice with death—but I did not believe God was asking me to end my life. No. I knew this word must mean something else. As I wondered what God meant by telling me that word, I turned to my friend and said to her, “I think God is asking me to sacrifice myself.”
My friend, probably associating the word sacrifice with something negative as well, said to me, “No Matthew, God would not ask you to sacrifice yourself.”
With a heavy heart and confused mind, I sat there and wondered what God meant by sacrifice. Then, God met me where I was at.
A vision entered my heart and mind of me giving up my sinful ways—drinking, partying, and living impurely—to serve others. At the time I was doing more art, so images of me painting for people, writing for people, and serving people with my talents filled me. In a sense, God was asking me to sacrifice my sinful self to live as my new self—someone who served God by serving others. In my life, this is what would please God.
Ephesians 5:8-10 reminds us that there was a time when we were living in darkness—sinful, unrighteous, impure, etc.—but then scripture lets us know that now we are light. We are to walk as children of light and produce the fruit of light. We are also asked to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
On that transformative day on my friend's kitchen floor, God entered into my fear and confusion and illuminated the path for me. He let me know that what pleased him was a life lived sacrificially—a life lived serving others with the gifts and talents he made me with (more artsy stuff, and writing).
How God uses us is infinitely different, though.
We can get confused sometimes as we try to serve God. We may not be the preacher, the evangelist, leading worship, or on the stage, but those things are only a fraction of the body of Christ. If you want to know a way to know how to serve God, check out how he’s made you. How does God use you?
What are your gifts? Host? Comedian? Doctor? And tons of other gifts. What are your talents? Musician? Skateboarder? A great listener? Thoughtful? And tons of other talents. Every part of us can be used to serve the kingdom. Ask yourself, How can I use my gifts and talents to serve others? This is a good way to discern what will please God.
I sat down next to the door, grabbed another cigarette, lit it, and inhaled the smoke. My friend was in the kitchen with me. She was watching me. You could tell she was concerned.
I encountered God back in 2016 and fell overwhelmingly in love with him, and chose to follow him. However, having not really grown up in the church, I did not know what following God looked like. Did I have to give up my unhealthy ways—drinking, partying, and living an impure lifestyle? I imagined so, but I did not know if this was totally accurate. Uncertainty and a lack of knowledge led me to return to my sinful ways.
Not long before I sat where I was in my friend's kitchen, smoking a cigarette, I was on my way to the beach when my ear popped and I lost my balance and almost fell. Almost falling wasn’t the part that worried me though. What really scared me was that I felt like I had fallen off God’s path. I thought I would be wandering in darkness forever.
As I sat on my friend's kitchen floor after a hard night of living in sin, smelly, hungover, afraid that I had fallen off God’s path, and worried that I would never be able to get back on the path again, my heart and mind reached out to God like an injured kid wanting his Father to make it all better. And, he would.
God’s presence entered into the atmosphere and he, gently, told me: “Sacrifice.”
As soon as God told me “Sacrifice,” I became afraid. I became afraid because I associated the word sacrifice with death—but I did not believe God was asking me to end my life. No. I knew this word must mean something else. As I wondered what God meant by telling me that word, I turned to my friend and said to her, “I think God is asking me to sacrifice myself.”
My friend, probably associating the word sacrifice with something negative as well, said to me, “No Matthew, God would not ask you to sacrifice yourself.”
With a heavy heart and confused mind, I sat there and wondered what God meant by sacrifice. Then, God met me where I was at.
A vision entered my heart and mind of me giving up my sinful ways—drinking, partying, and living impurely—to serve others. At the time I was doing more art, so images of me painting for people, writing for people, and serving people with my talents filled me. In a sense, God was asking me to sacrifice my sinful self to live as my new self—someone who served God by serving others. In my life, this is what would please God.
Ephesians 5:8-10 reminds us that there was a time when we were living in darkness—sinful, unrighteous, impure, etc.—but then scripture lets us know that now we are light. We are to walk as children of light and produce the fruit of light. We are also asked to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
On that transformative day on my friend's kitchen floor, God entered into my fear and confusion and illuminated the path for me. He let me know that what pleased him was a life lived sacrificially—a life lived serving others with the gifts and talents he made me with (more artsy stuff, and writing).
How God uses us is infinitely different, though.
We can get confused sometimes as we try to serve God. We may not be the preacher, the evangelist, leading worship, or on the stage, but those things are only a fraction of the body of Christ. If you want to know a way to know how to serve God, check out how he’s made you. How does God use you?
What are your gifts? Host? Comedian? Doctor? And tons of other gifts. What are your talents? Musician? Skateboarder? A great listener? Thoughtful? And tons of other talents. Every part of us can be used to serve the kingdom. Ask yourself, How can I use my gifts and talents to serve others? This is a good way to discern what will please God.
Posted in Message Reflection
Recent
Archive
2024
March
April
No Comments