GOD WORKS IN THE BELIEVER TO PLEASE HIM!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY AUGUST 24, 2024.

SUBJECT: GOD WORKS IN THE BELIEVER TO PLEASE HIM!

Memory verse: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2 vs 13.)

READ: Hebrews 13 vs 20 - 21:

13:20: Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

13:21: make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

INTIMATION: 

To please God is to do His Will; to walk in accordance with His precepts. It’s on this pivot that all that pertains to life and godliness revolves. God works in us as we have responded to His work for us. He worked for us through the cross; the gift of His only begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins. We are sinners who had no hopes of saving ourselves from God’s condemnation, but Christ came, took our place, paid the wages we owed—the wages of sin which is death. And died for our sins to salvage us (set us free) from the consequences of sin and death, and separation from God. 

It is on this premise that we work out our salvation in appreciation of what Christ has done for us. Our sense of gratitude to the work of God in reference to our salvation, therefore, should move us into action. In this way God is living in us. When we are motivated into action by the redemptive work of God, then we work according to His purposes. And when we work according to the purposes of God, it is God who works in us. Christians do not work in order to be saved. They work out their salvation because they are saved. When we respond to the sacrificial blood of Jesus on the cross, then it is God who is working in us. 

God has not left us alone in our struggles to do His will—to obey His laws. He wants to come alongside us and be within us to help, hence His gift of the Holy Spirit—our Helper. God gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. As a believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. God created you for His specific purposes that are predetermined by Him, even before the foundation of the world. Consequently, only Him can work out His plan and purpose in you. 

In Ephesians 1 vs 11, the Scripture says, “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His Will.” God is sovereign and in control of all things. He works all things in us according the counsel of His Will. God’s purposes for the believers cannot be thwarted, no matter how hard Satan tries, or what he brings our way.

Jesus gave us the assurances when He said, in John 6 vs 37 - 40, “All the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own Will, but the Will of Him who sent Me. This is the Will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the Will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Godhead—the Trinity—in union with one another, is at work in the world, and in every believer. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never work independently of the other. The Will of the Father (Loving Father) is accomplished by the Son (our Sacrificial Savior) with the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit (our Faithful Companion). Thus, anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior is secure in God’s promises, even the promise of everlasting life with Him. 

God’s work for us began when Christ died on the cross in our place. His work in us began when we first believed. Now, the Holy Spirit—our Helper—lives in us, enabling us to be more like Christ every day, helping us accomplish the Will of God for us. This is the Christian growth and maturity that began when we accepted Jesus, and continues until Christ returns to perfect us and take us home to the Father.

Sometimes, by human assessment, you feel as though you aren’t making progress in your spiritual life, especially when sometimes you fall into sin. But be of good cheer, it is a gradual process that will only come to perfection when Christ returns. Now, look at this Scripture, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1 vs 6.) Be confident that when God starts a project, He completes it! God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us grow in grace until He has completed His work in our lives. Never let your shortcomings, and your feeling of incompleteness, or distress becloud you of God’s promise and provision.

All that is required of the believer is to believe Him and keep His commandments. The same commandments He has sent an Helper—the Holy Spirit—to help us in our weaknesses. God works in us to make us the kind of people that would please Him, and He equips us to do the kind of work that would please Him. Yours is to yield to the total control of the Spirit that His fruit will be fully manifested in you; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In the real sense of it, He does all things. What a benevolent Father!

Prayer: Abba Father, I surrender completely to You. Work Your work in me that I may be complete in every good work to do Your Will and please You at all times, and in all things, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!