By Pastor Pete Norris

To live for God is to be nourished by the nectar of heaven. As the days unfold toward Christ’s return, an increasing number of voices will clamor for our attention. There will be church programs and prayer strategies, activities and powerful movements. Signs and wonders will splatter the world, dazzling the mind of man. In this environment, we must find the place of God’s pleasure.

We must be intimately acquainted with that in which His soul delights. Remember also, the days ahead shall increase in pressure and troubles; because as iniquity abounds the love of many shall grow cold. Is not the world in which we live, even today, shaken with cold love? We must not conform to our environment; we must conform to Christ. He always chose to give God pleasure even in the midst of conflict and cruelty. We must redeem our encounters with the difficulties of human existence. Let us identify them as opportunities to worship our God. Our Christ-like spirit toward adversities gives great pleasure to the Father. We were not created to live for ourselves but to live for God. As it is written,

And while the Lord desires that we enjoy His gifts and the people to whom we are joined, He wants us to know that we were created first for His pleasure.

To His neighbor, Jesus was just a carpenter’s son. Yet, before Jesus’ public ministry began -- before there were any miracles or multitudes -- there was a quality in Christ that, even as a carpenter, swelled the heart of God with pleasure. From His youth, the compelling vision of Christ’s life was more than just becoming a good man. As magnified as it was, His aim reached beyond even His commitment to sinless adherence to the law. The life goal of Jesus Christ was to give pleasure to His Father. In truth, He only did the things that pleased God. Thus, could Jesus have heard a more wondrous utterance than that which God Himself spoke at His baptism in the Jordan River? At the sound of the Father’s voice, the heavens opened; the river of God’s pleasure flowed to His Son;

Remember, Jesus was still a “lay person” when the Father spoke to Him. He had not yet entered into public ministry. It was Jesus’ life as a tradesman, which increased the Father’s bliss.

To give pleasure to God is the purpose of our existence, also. Jesus’ ability to please the Father while working a secular job tells us God is looking for something deeper than theological degrees and correct doctrine. He is looking for our love. And in this, we also can please Him. Whether we are housewives, secretaries, auto mechanics, in God’s eyes, true ministry is not in what we do but in what we become to Him.

Jesus said it often: The Father sees in secret. Amazingly, it is from this very world of our hearts that the gaze of God seeks pleasure. When He finds a soul who, as an act of worship, gives of himself or perseveres in prayer or suffers patiently or loves purely, the Father’s heart is drawn to such as these.

Let us consider it deeply: we can actually bring pleasure to God! What a wondrous privilege! Since it is possible, let us not grope through life without knowing the things that please the Lord. Indeed, let us specifically isolate that one way above all others which touches the heart of God. Paul said that God “was pleased to reveal His Son in me.” (Galatians 1:15-16)

The first and most essential pleasure to God is to see His Son revealed in our lives. No one, nor any thing, brings pleasure to the Father as does His Son. Every time we obey Jesus, giving Him access to this world, we please God. Each time Christ forgives or loves or blesses us, the heart of God finds pleasure in our lives.

Jesus did only the things that He first saw His Father do. As we enter into the depth of His presence, let us also seek to know how, in every situation, we may reveal Christ, for in the love between the Father and His Son the river of God’s pleasure flows.

Oh God, the thought that my life may bring pleasure to you is so exciting, I can barely believe it. Lord, look upon me as your workmanship. Create in me that which will most glorify you. Make my life an aroma of thanksgiving that ever brings pleasure to your heart.