PLEASURE OF GOD (June 2021)
Psa 149:4
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with
salvation.
We have come half way into the year 2021. Nobody wanted this year to shape up the way
that it has become today. April-May used to be our vacation season. We would go to our native places, check into holiday
spots and do everything to enjoy our break. In June, the roads would again be frenzy with students
commuting to start their new academic year.
Will that era ever return? We are
hopeful and praying that it would.
The environment is truly depressing.
Fear, worry, confusion, commotion all around. Unexpected
loss of loved ones is making even the best of the believers despondent. What
to expect now? Who is next in the line?
Suffering Servant
Thousands of years ago there lived a person by name Job. A man who feared God. A man richly blessed. A sudden calamity that striked from nowhere takes
everything away. His possession, power, progenies,
all gone. The prince became a pauper,
overnight. A terrible skin infection
comes upon him and he is asked to forsake God and commit suicide. Though he never complied with that, he could hardly come to terms with what was
happening to him. A dramatic encounter with the Lord altered his perception. His questions were unanswered but his
steadfastness was rewarded. One of the most sublime statements of the
Bible. *I know that you can do all
things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted*" came from his
mouth.
In our times of travail, in seasons of uncertainty, instead of
lamenting and questioning God, we should learn to do what Job said. God was indeed pleased with Job's response
and restored all his fortunes.
His people, His pleasure
1 Cor_10:5
But with many of them God was not well
pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
It pleases God to bless His people(Israel), the Bible says. He is not interested in inflicting pain upon
them. Rather, people suffered when they
moved away from Him. Their suffering was
not God's design, but a derivative of their own disobedience. When they repented and returned to the Lord,
God was pleased to heal the land and bless them again. Logically, the purposes of God concerning us
gets annulled when we fail to please him
or when we live in such a way that is not pleasing to him. We may be called God's children or even believers. We may even be called the anointed ones. But our lives will get caught in the wilderness
delaying and even denying our promised
land. The promises and blessings of
being HIS people is unparalleled. I am reminded of the words of Apostle Paul who
says in 2 Corinthians 4:17
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory". Therefore, we should be mindful to live a
life which pleases God in every way.
And the promise from the Lord to you and me for June 2021 is "The Lord taketh pleasure in you, The Lord
will beautify your life with Salvation".
Amen and Amen!
The Lord is indeed pleased with HIS people. He will withold no good thing from them. Will
a father retain anything from his child?
Never. However, for this word to
become real, for this promise to become
a reality, we who are called to be his people should learn to REMAIN
His people. In this meditation, we look
at FIVE key imperatives that God
expects in HIS people, that God wants HIS people to exemplify in their lives. This is not an exhaustive list. There are many, but we focus only on five for
our submission, for our edification.
(1) THAT FEAR
HIM (Praise, Honour and Glory)
Psa 147:11
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that
fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
What is fearing the Lord? Is it
getting afraid of the Lord? No. It is an holy reverence and respect to God for
who He is. Fearing the Lord means
walking in His ways, keeping his commandments,
living a holy life, hating the evil, to name a few. God is pleased with such. This word fear can also mean a phobic condition. In these times, many are under the dominion of Spirit of
Fear. The Bible says that God has not
given to us the Spirit of fear, but love, power and sound mind (2 Tim
1:7). The Spirit of fear comes from the
devil. Fear about disease, death, dangers,
future and ever so many things. The phrase 'Fear not' comes atleast 365 times in the whole Bible. That means all the days of the year. Fear may be a typical reaction, but we must
never allow that to become a spirit, something that could control and alter our
nature. Perfect love casteth away all
FEAR! One who fears for everything
cannot please God.
Fear God and give glory to HIM!
(2) THAT BELIEVE HIM (Unshakable
Faith)
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw
back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
One who feareth the Lord, must also place his faith, unassailable trust
in Him. In the book of Hebrews, the
author makes a very categorical statement when he says, "It is impossible
to please God without faith (Heb 11:6)".
God cannot be happy with a doubting, questioning, suspecting mind. In the wilderness, the Israelites doubted God.
God was utterly displeased with that. Your faith may be little, or even inadequate,
but we should also yearn for it to grow.
Just as the father of the son with unclean spirit sought the Lord to
help him in his unbelief (Mark 9:26), we should pray to the 'author and finisher'
of faith to give us the Spirit of faith.
One who believes shall surely see the Glory of God (John 11:40).
We walk by Faith, not by
sight.
(3) THAT SEEK MERCY (Grace not works)
Psa 147:11
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that
fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
Who are those who hope in God's mercy, who put their hope in his
unfailing love? We all know that God
is merciful, gracious,longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth. Having a knowledge is one thing, relying and
walking upon it is quite another thing. The
previous verse says that some put their
trust in the strength of the horse and the legs of man. It speaks of our works, our efforts, our
prayers, our offerings and even our own ways.
We may have the money or muscle power.
But that should not become our boast, our strength, our foundation. Now and then we come across news of rich,
successful, wealthy and influential losing their battle against Covid despite
spending a fortune in the premium hospitals.
Surely, their money and might could not save them. God is pleased with the one who always seeks,
calleth out and trusteth in Him, in His God's Loving Kindness, His everlasting
mercies than his own strength. "Son
of David, Have mercy on me", the loud cry of blind Bartimaeus drew the
attention of Jesus.
I will sing of the mercies of
the LORD for ever.
(4) THAT ARE MEEK (Humble, endearing, amiable)
Psa 149:4
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with
salvation.
The ESV translation puts it this way, "He adorns the meek
with salvation". The Bible,
especially the Psalms, lists ever so many blessings of the meek. More than our prayers, our fastings, our
offerings, our good deeds, I feel that God is pleased with the humble. 1 Peter 5:5 says warns to us that "God
opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.". Certainly, we cannot be
standing opposite to God. We need to be
on God's side. God should be on our
side.
The book of Psalms lists out some of the ways he beautifies the
meek. May all these blessings come upon
your life.
(1) Divine Satisfaction (22:26)
(2) Divine Guidance (25:9)
(3) Divine Inheritance
(37:11)
(4) Divine Peace (37:11)
(5) Divine Promotion (147:6). Hallelujah!
Blessed are the meek.
(5) THAT DO GOOD (Acts of Loving Kindness)
Heb 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what
you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
The Bible says that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. God's name in our life can
never be glorified unless our lights shine before men through our good works. A
Christian, is not called to live for himself.
Fearing, trusting, seeking mercy and being humble is all good. But that helps only in our edification. If you are a child of God, you need to be
like Jesus. Jesus came not to be served,
but to serve. Your generous
giving, tireless labour, thoughtful
deeds for the needy both in and outside the Body of Christ matters much Maybe we are sincere in our tithes,
offerings and even spiritual life. But is there a sacrifice involved? A sacrifice involves cutting, bleeding and
killing. A sacrifice bringeth pain. Your
good deeds should be sacrificial. The Israelites were on a journey to a land
flowing with milk and honey. They were
expected to bear with slight inconvenience.
They complained, they murmured over their discomforts. On the other hand, Jesus relinquished his
heavenly comforts to come to the earth.
Even though he was God, he lived
a normal human life. He was thirsty, he
was hungry, he was tired, he rejoiced and even wept. About him the Bible says, he went about doing
good. That made His father declare to
the world that "This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased"
Depart from evil, and do good;
BE
JESUS
On two occasions, God acknowledged Jesus by speaking
directly from heaven. When he took baptism at the river of Jordan, when he appeared along side Moses and Elijah
at the Mount of Transfiguration, the testimony that thundered from heaven was "This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'. In Baptism, his submission and surrender to
God's will was revealed. In
Transfiguration, fulfilment of both Law and Prophecy in him was
represented. God was pleased with His
son Jesus.
Being known
as christian is not going to please God.
Just as the life and deeds of Jesus was pleasing to God, our life and deeds
should also be pleasing to God. Just as
the name of Jesus was exalted above all the name, SURELY GOD WILL BEAUTIFY OUR LIFE WITH HIS SALVATION, HIS GOODNESS, HIS
GRACE. Hallelujah!
God bless you! In His Service,
Vinod Kumar
God's Shadow Ministries
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