Boyce Mouton
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PLEASING MEN OR PLEASING GOD

Boyce Mouton · 11 pages · 5,679 words

PLEASING MEN OR PLEASING GOD

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

  • The choice is clear cut and simple. No man can serve two masters! In the final analysis, the focus of your life is either to please men or to please God! You cannot do both! The Scriptures are clear. If your focus is to please men you cannot be a servant of Christ!
  • Jesus had this same temptation for He was tempted in all points just like we are (Hebrews 4:15). Satan tempted Jesus to become famous by pleasing men and surviving a leap from the highest point of the temple (Matthew 4:5-7). Had Jesus traded pleasing God for men’s applause, however, He never would have become the Savior of the world!
  • In reality, Jesus made Himself nothing and God exalted Him to the highest place man can conceive (Philippians 2:5-11).
  • Noah did not build an ark to please men, he did it to please God (Genesis 6:13-17).
  • Abram left his country and his kindred to please God (Genesis 12:1-3).
  • David fought Goliath to please God (1 Samuel 17)
  • Etc.

SOMETIMES PLEASING GOD SEEMS CONTRARY TO HUMAN WISDOM

  • It is common for men to do things contrary to human wisdom when they are pleasing God!
  • Gideon attacked 135,000 Midianites with only 300 men because God told him to (Judges 7:1-7).
  • Joshua marched around Jericho for 7 days because God told him to (Joshua 6:3-5).
  • Samson became a Nazirite because God told him to (Judges 13:5).
  • Isaiah went naked and barefoot for 3 years because God told him to (Isaiah 20:1-3).
  • Ezekiel laid on his side for 390 days because God told him to (Ezekiel 4:4-5).
  • Etc.
  • VIRTUALLY EVERY DAY WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO PLEASE MEN, OR TO PLEASE GOD!
  • PLEASING GOD, OF COURSE, IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT CHOICE!
  • Paul said it like this: “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18)

THE INVITATION OF CHRIST

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

The Greek word translated as “easy” is “chrestos”. It is said that Jesus had a reputation as a carpenter for making yokes that fit perfectly. If you will only come to Jesus, He promises to give you a “yoke” that fits so perfectly that using it is “easy.”

The Greek word “charisma” refers to spiritual gifts and is used 17 times in the New Testament Scriptures. This word comes from the root word “chara” which means “joy”. Jesus gives every Christian a “yoke” or “spiritual gift”. When you use your spiritual gift to please God, you discover that it is so “easy” that it brings “joy”.

Peter said: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

When you do what God has gifted you to do, you not only find joy, but as a member of Christ’s Spiritual Body, you continue to do the work Jesus began in His physical body!

WHEN YOU ARE BORN AGAIN GOD GIVE YOU NEW DESIRES

  • “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
  • The Greek word translated as “transformed” is “metamorphoo” from which we get our word “metamorphosis”. When the caterpillar is “transformed” into a butterfly it has new desires an abilities.
  • Saul of Tarsus “desired” to persecute Christ, but when he was born again he wrote: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:10).
  • David wrote: “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
  • God not only gives you new “desires” but He also gives you the “ability” to make those desires come true. Therefore “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

THE STRATEGY OF GOD!

God thinks differently from the way that men think. God said through Isaiah the prophet: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Let’s begin with the birth of Jesus. Jesus was not born in a big important city, but in the little town of Bethlehem: When Herod asked where the king of the Jew was going to be born, the chief priests and teachers of the law said “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; f or out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel .’” (Matthew 2:5-6)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a poor peasant who was amazed that God had been mindful of her humble estate (Luke 1:48).

Joseph, Mary’s husband, was an impoverished carpenter who could not afford a lamb for sacrifice: “‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’” (Leviticus 12:7-8; Luke 2:23-24)

Jesus grew up in Nazareth (Matthew 2:23). This was a small town so insignificant that there was a popular saying that nothing good could come out of Nazareth (John 1:46).

If Jesus had wanted to please men he would have selected disciples that were rich, powerful, and well educated. Jesus, however, did just the opposite! He chose His followers from people who were lowly and despised and considered “unschooled and ordinary” (Acts 4:13). Virtually every book of the Bible was written by men without credentials, yet the Bible is the best selling and most widely distributed book in the world!

Jesus consistently chose the weak and useless that were overlooked by the world. This fulfilled this prophecy made by Isaiah: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12:18-21) Reeds were so plentiful and common that nobody but Jesus would value a “bruised reed”.

Please consider these inspired words of the Apostle Paul: “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

Paul practiced what he preached: “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

In fact, Paul confessed that he received so many revelations from God that the Lord permitted Satan to give him a thorn in his flesh “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations.” (2 Corinthians 12:7)

Paul continued: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I

will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

Pleasing God is the pathway to power!

NOT MANY WISE

  • Throughout all of history God has consistently chosen those rejected by the world!
  • Peter and John were neither rich, powerful, or popular and were considered unschooled and ordinary by their fellow Jews (Acts 4:13). When God inspired Peter to write wrote his first letter Peter had to do so with the help of a scribe named Silas (1 Peter 5:12).
  • Saul of Tarsus was the only apostle with an education respected by the Jews. He was a Roman citizen born in Tarsus of Cilicia which was an important city. He was educated in Jerusalem under a famous Jewish teacher named Gamaliel. Saul was a good student and advanced in Judaism beyond those of his own age. He went to the High Priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that he might arrest believers and bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. It is interesting, however, that God sent Saul to the gentiles where his Jewish credentials meant nothing, and sent Peter and John to the Jews who considered them unlearned and ignorant (Galatians 2:9).
  • Jews were not popular in the Roman empire. In fact, at one point in time the Emperor Claudius ordered all Jews to leave Rome (Acts 18:2). The educated men of Athens made fun of Paul when he tried to convince them that Jesus rose from the dead (Acts 17:18). During a riot in Ephesus a man named Alexander tried to speak to the crowd but when they realized he was a Jew they shouted praise to their pagan goddess for about two hours (Acts 19:32-34). Jews were consistently persecuted by the Roman Government because they refused to worship Caesar. In A.D. 70 the Roman army completely destroyed the Jewish temple so that one stone was not left upon another that was not cast down.
  • Yet Jesus chose Jewish apostles to evangelize the entire world (Matthew 28:18-20).

A LESSON FROM GIDEON

“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.” (Judges 6:1-6)

God heard the prayers of the Israelites and decided to deliver them by the hand of a man named Gideon: “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you,

mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judges 6:11-16)

When God reduced the army of Gideon from 32,000 to 300 He explained “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that their own strength has saved her.” (Judges 7:2)

Gideon gained the victory over superior numbers because he chose to please God and not men!

A LESSON FROM HEROD

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake”. (2 Corinthians 4:5) King Herod, by contrast, did not preach Christ, he preached himself. “On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” (Acts 12:21-23)

Herod will be eternally sorry he did not make pleasing God a priority in his life!

A LESSON FROM KING SAUL

  • King Saul had a record of pleasing men rather than pleasing God!
  • When Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel to make a burnt offering to the Lord, he foolishly did it himself because he saw that his own soldiers were scattering. “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:13-14)
  • When God gave Saul victory over the Amalekites, instead of giving God the glory Saul went to Carmel and set up a monument in his own honor (1 Samuel 15:12)
  • When Saul deliberately disobeyed God he explained: “I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.” (1 Samuel 15:24)
  • Even after Saul sinned he still wanted to be please people and said to Samuel: “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:30)
  • When Saul foolishly decided to kill his own son Jonathan, his own soldiers rescued Jonathan so that his wicked father did not put him to death (1 Samuel 14:45).
  • Samuel explained to Saul that “Rebellion is like the sin of divination.” (1 Samuel 15:23) Samuel was right! Because Saul was not seeking to please God, but was seeking his own glory, he actually sought the help of a witch at Endor (1 Samuel 28:4-25).
  • Finally Saul committed the ultimate act of rebellion against God by killing himself by falling on his own sword (1 Samuel 31:4)
  • Yes! We can learn something from wicked King Saul. Paul wrote to the Romans: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

A LESSON FROM MOSES

  • God had informed Abram years in advance that his descendants would be enslaved and mistreated 400 years (Genesis 15:13).
  • After the Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years a Levite woman named Jocebed gave birth to a little baby boy named Moses. Even though the wicked king of Egypt ordered all little boy babies to be killed, his parents were not afraid of the king’s commandment. So they hid this baby for three months because they saw that he was no ordinary child (Hebrews 11:23)
  • Perhaps Amram and Jocebed remembered the prophecy made by God to Abram!
  • At any rate, little baby Moses became the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:5-10).
  • “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” (Acts 7:22)
  • “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” (Acts 7:23-25)
  • When Pharaoh heard about this he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled to the land of Midian. There Moses married Zipporah, who was the daughter of Ruel, the priest of Midian. Ruel was also known as Jethro (Exodus 2:15 – 3:1).
  • Please note that when Moses was relying on human power he did not deliver anyone from bondage! When Moses obeyed God he could stretch out his staff, part the Red Sea, and drown the army of Pharaoh!
  • Moses became a shepherd and was so poor that he didn’t even have sheep of his own but took care of Jethro’s sheep. His poverty and his occupation are significant because “All shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34)
  • After forty years God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and said: “Now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10)
  • The task seemed impossible! Moses was wanted in Egypt as a murderer. After forty years he was no longer fluent in the Egyptian language. When he was an importance prince in Egypt he was unable to deliver Israel from slavery, now he was a despised shepherd. Not only was Moses rejected by the Egyptians, but he had also been rejected by his fellow Hebrews. After killing an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew, his fellow Hebrew rejected Moses saying: “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking about killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14)
  • Fortunately - “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
  • The secret of success by Moses involved pleasing God! This is also the secret of our success!

HUMAN WISDOM AND HEAVENLY WISDOMN

Human wisdom would perhaps send Moses to school to refresh his skills in speaking the Egyptian language. Human wisdom would definitely not want Pharaoh to know that Moses was a lowly and despised shepherd! Human wisdom would try to make Pharaoh think that Moses was a rich and important citizen of Midian with powerful friends in their government.

When Moses asked God to send somebody else - “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” (Exodus 14-17)

Instead of hiding the fact that Moses was a shepherd, God emphasized it! In fact this shepherd’s staff became the instrument by which:

  • God started and stopped all of the 10 plagues.
  • As we have mentioned, this staff was also used to divide the Red Sea (Ex. 14:16).
  • God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb with this staff so it would bring forth

water (Ex. 17:5, 6).

  • In Ex. 17:9 the same staff was called the “rod of God” and was used to help bring victory

over the Amalekites.

In the book of Numbers when Israel rebelled against Moses we are told that each of the 12 tribes was to place a “rod” or “staff” in front of the Testimony. This is way God vindicated Moses. “The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron's name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you. The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites." So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron's staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony. The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD's presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff. The LORD said to Moses, "Put back Aaron's staff in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign

to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die." Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.” (Num 17:1-11)

While it may be impossible to prove, it seems probable that the miraculous shepherd’s staff of Moses was used to represent the tribe of Levi. As you know, Moses and Aaron were brothers and both came from the tribe of Levi (Ex. 2:1).

A WORD OF CAUTION

Jesus expects us to use common sense and make decisions based on evidence. Jesus said: “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” (Luke 14:28-33)

Moses used common sense and followed the evidence when he obeyed God and went to Egypt as God commanded. Remember! God spoke to him out of a burning bush that was not consumed by the fire. Remember! His shepherd’s staff turned into a serpent when he obeyed God and turned back into a staff when he obeyed God. Remember! When Moses obeyed God his hand was covered with leprosy, and when he obeyed God again his hand was healed.

God explained to Moses: “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” Exodus 3:19-20)

MOSES OBEYED GOD BASED ON EVIDENCE AND WE SHOULD DO THE SAME!

GIDEON ALSO MADE HIS DECISION TO OBEY GOD BASED ON EVIDENCE

  • The angel of God who spoke to Gideon miraculously consumed meat and bread with fire and then miraculously disappeared (Judges 6:20-22).
  • At Gideon’s request God miraculously put a bowl full of water on a fleece of wool while everything around it was dry. Then, at Gideon’s request God did the opposite and cause the fleece of wool to be dry while the ground around it was covered with dew (Judges 6:36-40).
  • Then God graciously gave Gideon even more evidence by a dream when He gave to a Midianite soldier (Judges 7:7-15).
  • So Gideon went to battle against the Midianites with only 300 men based on evidence.

ANYONE CAN TELL GOOD NEWS

When Beh-Hadad laid siege to Samaria the people inside the city were starving. Outside the city were four lepers who were also starving. “They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” (2 Kings 7:3-4)

When these lepers entered the camp of the Arameans they found that God had worked a miracle and all the enemy soldiers had fled leaving everything behind. “The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace.” (2 Kings 7:8-11)

  • The “Good News” was that the famine was over!
  • There was now plenty of food, gold, silver and clothing for everyone!
  • The fact that this “Good News” was told by lepers did not decrease it’s value!
  • The “Good News” was the important thing, not the people who delivered the “Good News”.
  • If you want to please God you too will share the “Good News” with others!

SINFUL PEOPLE CAN BE GOOD WITNESSES

  • “When Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.” (Mark 16:9)
  • Mary was honored by Jesus to be the first person to whom He appeared after His resurrection!
  • Sadly, when Mary reported this “Good News” to those who had been with Jesus “They did not believe it.” (Mark 16:11)
  • If we want to please God we will consider the evidence regardless of who presents it!
  • Not everybody wants the truth! “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.” (Matthew 26:59)
  • When the Roman guards reported to the chief priests and elders that Jesus was risen from the dead the Jews gave these soldiers a large sum of money to lie about what happened (Matthew 28:11-15)
  • When two other disciples reported to the apostles that they had seen the resurrected Christ on the Road to Emmaus “They did not believe them either.” (Mark 16:13)
  • “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.” (Mark 16:14)
  • PLEASE BE HONEST IN EVALUATING EVIDENCE REGARDLESS OF WHO PRESENTS IT!

WHATEVER YOU DO

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)

Christians are members of the Body of Christ. Each member is different, but each member must do what Jesus, the Head of His Body, tells them to do (1 Corinthians 12:12-31).

  • Some eat only vegetables while others eat everything, but each believer must do what the believe Jesus wants them to do (Romans 14:1-4).
  • Some consider one day more sacred than another, others consider every day alike. But each member of Christ’s Body must do what they believe Jesus wants them to do (Romans 14:5-8).
  • Even slaves can serve Christ by serving their masters as though they were serving Christ (Ephesians 6:5-8).
  • Hannah glorified God by being a mother (1 Samuel 1:9-17); Deborah glorified God by being a prophetess and a Judge (Judges 4:4-14); Esther glorified God by being a queen (Esther 2:8-17); Phoebe glorified God as a servant of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1); and Mary, the sister of Lazarus, glorified God by anointing Jesus for His burial (John 12:1-8). Even though these godly women did different things, each one of them did so to please God!
  • Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles and Peter was an apostle to the Jews (Galatians 2:9). Philip was a deacon and an evangelist (Acts 6:5; 21:8); Cornelius was a Centurion (Acts 10:1); Simon was a tanner (Acts 10:6); Philemon was a slave owner and Onesimus was his slave (Philemon 1-21). Tertius wrote the book of Romans for Paul, Gaius provided hospitality to the whole church, and Erastus was the city’s director of public works (Romans 16:22-24). Even though these godly men did different things, each one of them did so to please God!
  • Robert Dick Wilson (February 4, 1856 – October 11, 1930) was a Christian scholar who became fluent in 45 different languages in order to prove the accuracy of the Scriptures.
  • James A. Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was a Christian preacher who became president of the United States.
  • R. G. LeTourneau was a devout Christian businessman with 300 patents. He became a multi- millionaire who was famous for living on 10% of his income and giving 90% away.
  • Eric Liddell was the son of missionaries to China. He went to school in Scotland and became a famous runner who was known as the fastest man in Scotland. He trained as an athlete to glorify God and was featured in the award winning movie Chariots of Fire in 1981. He also became a missionary and died of a brain tumor in a Japanese prison camp February 21 1945. His last words described his relationship to Christ “It’s complete surrender.”
  • Paul Anderson was a devout Christian who began lifting weights in his back yard as a small child. He trained with home made weights fashioned out of concrete by his father. Due to the many weight lifting records he set he became known as the strongest man in the world. Paul was an outstanding Christian who was famous for saying: “If I, the strongest man in the world, cannot get through a day without Jesus Christ, how can you?”
  • Paul was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes which began in 1954. This organization has 365 international leaders operating in 106 different countries, with 2,161 staff members. Pleasing God offers unlimited possibilities!
  • Dr. Henry M. Morris (October 6, 1918 – February 26, 2006) was a brilliant scientist who believed the Bible. In 1963, Dr. Morris and nine others started the Creation Research Society. Among the many books he wrote was Men of Science, Men of God (1982) In this book he
  • provides brief biographies of 101 famous scientists who all believed in God! Pleasing God provides unlimited possibilities!
  • YES! PLEASING GOD HAS UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES!

DON’T FORGET THESE INSPIRED WORDS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)