God's Pleasure

About 5 years ago, God impressed me that if I wanted to draw closer to Him, I needed to set aside a time to be with Him and listen to Him. Since then I've followed that discipline, spending time with Him, usually in our church' sanctuary on Saturday afternoon.

I've learned in that experience mindfulness of Who He IS: to not rush into the King's Presence, but to approach Him in all reverence, and wait to be called into His Presence. Waiting hopefully, it's joy each time He receives me in Jesus' Name. Received in His love for The Son, I know and rejoice in Him as my own Father, when He joyfully bids me approach.

In His Presence, I try to open my heart to listen for whatever He wants to speak to my spirit. Sometimes it's that I pray for fellow-Christians; specific people, or our poor congregation, or the back-slidden American Church. Sometimes it's worship, praising Him to His Face for His great power, for His mercy extending eternally. Sometimes it's to sit in wordless reverence before His all-encompassing Majesty. But sometimes I spend most of the hour frustrated, trying to bring my own intruding thoughts under control so I can hear Him.

This week, He chose to impress on me His pleasure. It's not that He never has before: but this time it was His entire purpose toward me, and surprised me. I seldom think of God being pleased with me.

I know the theological theory: that pleasing God is the absolute HIGHEST purpose anyone can ever aspire to, or achieve. And perhaps because I know it is the ultimate, I tend to think of it happening only extremely rarely...and then only to the spiritual giants of the past: Moses, Isaiah, Paul, John. I know that's false; but still operate often in that attitude.

So it caught me completely by surprise to hear He is pleased with me.

The only thought that came in my surprise was, "Why, Father ?"

He impressed on my mind, "That you obey Me."

But for my wrong mindset, it should have been no surprise: it's the only way any human being ever has or ever can please God. It was everything that Jesus claimed for Himself; that He came "...to do...the will of Him Who sent Me" (John 6:38).

Meditating since, Praise Him !! The Only integral sovereign BE-ING, I AM THAT I AM from everlasting to everlasting perfect and complete, sovereignly deigns to receive even our least tentative faltering attempt to obey Him as worthy of HIS pleasure !

Again I say, PRAISE HIM !! PRAISE HIM !!