WHAT PLEASES THE LORD

-

Proverbs 21:3

The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.


We cannot getting tired of emphasizing what matters.

The truth is that religious practices are not all wrong in themselves but there are things that are important to God, this things we must take care of and make priority.


Let us take the issue of giving, which is what it is, the legalistic part was never preached to or given to believers, Christ did not instruct it neither did any of His disciples.


When Christ mentioned it He focused on what matters. 


Listen:


Matthew 23:23

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.


Can you see what Christ was interested in, Justice, Mercy and Faith. God is interested in the important things.


Let us look at the second instance where He mentioned it:


Luke 18:11-12

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!

I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’


He used it to describe a hypocrite!


Now, did Christ say don't pay tithe or give a license to commit sin? NO. However, He made us know what matters.


Listen, Giving matters and the criteria for it is Love!


1 John 3:17

If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?


So does the Lord want us to live in sin? Never!


However remember that formication, adultery, murder are sins, so also is hate, envy, backbiting, hypocrisy etc.


So one will say: "I am helpless".


I will ask:


Why do you think the Lord sent us a helper - the Holy Spirit?


Because He knows we will need help.


Listen to this popular verse:


Romans 12:1-2

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.


The moment you know that it is not all about feelings and emotions, you are already in victory.


So we must understand what pleases God. We must be cautious not to use a worldly or religious measuring stick to determine what is priority. God's priority should be our priority.


Help us Good Lord.


He calls us blessed.


Love

@the watcher 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DO YOU STILL SEE?

-
Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. It may have been easy when we first believed, to visualize the promises. We reach out with zeal, loving God, seeking to do exploits. That was when we first believed, just as Jesus said: John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When we become born again we see God's kingdom, our spirit man is reborn and we count the flesh as nothing. Then time passes by, we are in the world, all its distractions, temptations, responsibilities, challenges and so on begin to reveal themselves. The question then is: * Can we still see heaven? John 3:3 * Are we still zealous? John 2:17 * Are we continuing in those things? Acts 2:42 * Are we walking in love? 1John 4:7 or Has the cares and worries of life and service ta
Read more

DO UNTO OTHERS . . .

-
Matthew 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. It is hypocritical of us to expect people to stand with us when we are experiencing challenges yet when we see others face their own challenges, we begin to imagine what they must have done wrong or maybe they annoyed God or did one evil or the other instead of reaching out to help as we would desire others to do for us. The same thing goes for prosperity, when the Lord opens a door for us and we have abundance of wealth or a breakthrough we expect others to rejoice with us, more so, some would even find it hard to give to others. What is our reaction when someone else gets this breakthrough, do we get suddenly suspicious without reason. Do we expect the person to reach out to us? It is better to stay on the side of encouragement than to sit as a judge or prosecutor. Jesus said, Matthew 7:2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same
Read more

MY YEAR OF FULFILMENT

-
Psalms 57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. We just finished the book of 1Samuel, in this book we see the cry of Israel for a king and how God raised Saul to rule them. We also saw how Saul disobeyed God and lost kingship for himself and his generation. He did not stop there, he went on to seek for the death of David, whom he saw as the next heir of the throne. In chapter 31, the last chapter, we see how Saul and all his sons and men were killed, it was tragic, however it was as a sign of relief for David. We could go on counting all the struggles and difficulties we faced in the past year. No, we should not, we should begin to look at all the positives, remembering all the good things God has done for us. If He promised it, He will do it and that is what we hold onto as we go through this year. Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. This is the year of fulfilment, and
Read more