I spoke about being pleasing in His sight not long ago and the Lord laid on my heart that when we pray, we should pray for His will and good pleasure! For this is most pleasing! By myself, there is nothing pleasing in me! But if I pray according to His will and good pleasure leaning upon Him and His heart will satisfy my reasonable service unto Him! Hope this blesses someone besides myself!!! TR yes! thank you for sharing, TR! i thank the Lord for His lovingkindness and mercy and grace in forgiving me while already His child, living so much of my life for my own will and good pleasure...i can't start over, but i can always start again...i want to want what He wants more than what i want...it's truly dying to self daily...and truly impossible without Holy Spirit doing it within/for us when we choose to submit to and accept His help... i know we are fully accepted and pleasing to Him because we are in Christ Jesus- no matter what, but i'm with you in wanting to be who He made me to be- more and more like His Son in special ways He has planned for each of us personally...i too want to live up to what i have already attained...His love is unconditional, and His salvation is a gift, but i do want to be a blessing to Him like Dr. C. Stanley says- "in character, conduct & conversation" to honor our Lord and Savior in all we are and all we do (or refrain from doing)...may our hearts delight in Him and as you said, desire His will and pleasure above all, Amen!!! It’s about having a proper heart position! Humility and understanding of who we are in Christ according to His word must be in a divine balance! Simply, again being led by His Spirit in obedience pleases His heart immensely! As I have said, love what the Lord loves and hate what the Lord hates will keep us in His favor! TR oh, yes . . Our Lord who counts the gazillions of stars and galaxies and names each one, desires a 'heart to Heart' relationship with us ~ ~ . How breathlessly is our Amazing God desiring us to KNOW Him He deems so Powerful .. such Heavenly Passion our God owns, and delights to draw us in His Presence, up close. Our God has and shares His emotions, Personally through His Spirit of amazing expressive Spiritual communion ~~ John 17 . . Jesus Himself expressing His Love to the Father, in the Father and 'we' to Him, in Him . . ~ HIS very SPIRIT SENT to us, IN US. . What a Heavenly COMFORTER, faithful . . Hallelujah ~ Our God created angels and other creatures, . .ahhhh, but unto mankind, our Creator LORD GOD wanted a Family MADE in His image. . . I do believe our Father's top priority among us IS intimate communion with Him, to Him. . . oh, how blessed is THE PATHWAY, to Him, our God tearing the veil. and His Temple? His beloved children. Hallelujah! Jesus came, lived among us, paid the price so satisfying the Father . . What a Gift, Reconciled we are, unto our God! Thankfully our Wonderful, Beautiful God has granted His dear saved eternity to commune, love, gaze, and experience the joy set before Him. . ~ ~ . what a day when we are lifted upward, drawn to our Glorious Jesus and in His arms as we experience up close His Smile, so Heart to heart . . . What is the favor of God, and how can I get it? The best definition of the word favor is “demonstrated delight.” The favor of God can be described as “tangible evidence that a person has the approval of the Lord.” When we favor someone, we want to be with him or her. We delight in him. We connect with her in a way we don’t connect with everyone...In the same way, God shows favor to the ones who delight in, connect with, and give honor to Him. Isaiah 66:2 says, “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Second Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” To be “perfect” toward Him means we seek His favor more than we seek the favor of anyone else, even ourselves. Favor is closely related to grace in the Bible. Those who have received Jesus as their Savior are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). They know the favor of God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), but those who have saving faith in God’s Son are declared righteous (Romans 4:5; Philippians 3:9) and live in God’s favor. The most basic answer to “how can I get God’s favor” is “believe in the Lord Jesus.” God seeks out those who love Him and love His commands so that He can bless, guide, and protect them (Psalm 37:23; Proverbs 3:5–6). This does not mean that everyone who is prosperous or healthy has found favor with God (Jeremiah 12:1; Psalm 37:7; 73:16). Nor does it mean that those whom the Lord favors will never suffer difficulties. Many people in the Bible had the Lord’s favor but also suffered hardship (2 Corinthians 6:4; Acts 14:22; 20:23; 1 Peter 2:19). Heroes such as Noah (Genesis 6:8), Moses (Exodus 32:11; 33:13), Daniel (Daniel 10:19), and Mary (Luke 1:28) were favored of the Lord, but they also struggled with difficulties like anyone else. Those who are favored of God know that God is with them and that nothing can happen to them apart from His good purpose (Romans 8:28). They have His ear as they walk through dark valleys (Psalm 34:15) and know that their struggle to remain true to Him will not go unrewarded (Matthew 10:42; Revelation 2:10). In addition to outward evidences, God’s favor can be felt in the spirit. When we have the favor of the Lord, we rest in quiet confidence that our sins are forgiven (Romans 4:7), we are within the plan of God (Psalm 86:11), and that He is there for us at all times (Isaiah 41:10; Matthew 28:20). We walk with God as with our closest friend. We begin to see and appreciate the little blessings that God provides for our enjoyment—blessings that we once took for granted. The Lord invites us to seek His favor (Psalm 119:58, 135; 2 Kings 13:4; Jeremiah 26:19; Zephaniah 2:3). When we seek His favor, we humble our hearts before Him (2 Kings 22:19); seek Him for Himself, not just for the blessings He gives (Jeremiah 29:13); and arrange our lives around loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). We seek first His kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). One way to obtain favor from the Lord is to seek wisdom. Proverbs 8:35 says, “For those who find me [wisdom] find life and receive favor from the Lord.” Psalm 5:12 says, “Surely, Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield.” Finding favor with the Lord keeps our lives and thoughts pure because we desire to please Him more than we desire to please ourselves. Hebrews 11:25 says of Moses, “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” Got Questions Well said! :good: Does God have emotions? I'll say! ~ ~ I'm so glad, thankful our God is eternally Good and expresses His emotions too . . and, HE never gets 'moody', never has a 'bad day' ~ ~ . . "God not only has thoughts and plans; He has feelings and desires, too. In contrast to the unreliability and instability of humans’ sin-tainted emotions, God’s emotions are as completely dependable and immutable as He. There are two wonderful things concerning God and emotions: first, He understands our emotions (since He created us with the capacity to feel them), and, second, His own emotions continually flow from His perfection. God will never have a bad day; He will never change His feelings toward His redeemed." What a great topic! Indeed may we all live in His favor! I guess those that do could be called His favorites! TR I guess those that do could be called His favorites! I am very close with all of my siblings but my oldest sister and I have a very tight bond. We are only 22 months apart in age so we grew up together wereas the younger ones are seven years removed and more. So one day I get a text from my oldest sister that read "Jesus loves you but I'm his favorite!" :mdrmdr: A line I have used for years! Great teaching by Kolleen! Again, if Enoch was pleasing before the Lord and raptured, and Abel and his sacrifice was pleasing before the Lord causing the “mark of Cain” , we see and constant separation of those that are pleasing and those that are not! TR
