Day 30 – How to Please God – Julie Earl

Romans 14:17-18

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [rules and regulations about what you can and can’t eat and drink, etc.], but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men” (Romans 14:17-18).

Being a believer in Jesus and submitting your heart and life to His loving leadership is not about following a bunch of rules, but about an intimate relationship with Him. Out of the overflow of that intimacy is where righteousness, peace and joy come from. And when we walk in righteousness, peace and joy we please God! Let’s take a peek:

Righteousness: I used to think my righteousness (right standing with God) was dependent on my behaviors, but as we’ve seen in our study of Romans, our righteousness is a gift we receive when we believe in Jesus and receive His forgiveness.

• “through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19)
• “how much more will those who receive…the gift of righteousness reign in life through…Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17)
• “not through law…, but through the righteousness that comes by faith“  (Romans 4:13)
• “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe” (Romans 3:22)

Righteousness is truly a gift that can’t be earned. As I mentioned in the article Power-Up Your Super Suit, we are clothed with Christ. We are in Christ, and His Spirit is within us. Once we choose to be in Him, we become righteous just as Jesus is righteous.

It breaks my heart when people, even Christians, try to earn their way to right standing with God when Jesus already paid for us to become righteous. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 to seek His righteousness rather than our own. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

God is not pleased when we try to earn our way to Him (and to right standing with Him) through our own righteousness. Romans 4:14 says, “For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless.” We can’t earn our own way to salvation or righteousness. But the good news is that as believers and followers of Jesus, we have been made righteous. Once we’ve been made righteous, we have the privilege of falling in love with Jesus and growing into who we are – righteous, holy, and beloved children of God!

Peace: Another by-product of being in Christ is that we are finally at peace – at peace with God and at peace with others. Stress, worry and strife dissolve as we fix our eyes on Jesus and trust Him in every circumstance. The Father is incredibly pleased when we simply say yes to His leading in every area of our lives and trust Him with the outcome.

Ron and I have been able to walk in God’s peace even though medical and other expenses have drained our savings the past 4 years. God has made it clear that I am to push forward with Crazy About You Ministries even though it isn’t bringing in any income for me yet. We’ve had the privilege of watching God provide miraculously again and again, and it’s rather fun to see what He’ll do next! When my van needed a new transmission a few months ago, we received our tax return that same week. When my van needed repairs again a few weeks ago, Ron got a surprise bonus from work that was slightly over what we needed. How awesome is that! When we are walking in God’s wisdom and following His leading, He is more than able to provide for our needs in every area of our lives. We can walk in peace that passes understanding!

Joy: God is pleased with our joy, which comes as a result of being in Christ and walking intimately with Him every day – spending time reading His love letter (the Bible), talking to Him all day long and staying in an attitude of gratitude and praise.

If we grump, whine and complain – fixing our eyes on our problems – then we won’t walk in joy. But if we fix our eyes on Jesus and give thanks in every circumstance (see 1 Thes.5:18), we will have joy that will be our strength in every circumstance. “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

When you wake up every morning, you can say, “Thank you, God, that I am able to walk in righteousness, peace and joy today. Your heart will be pleased because my heart will be happy – and how you love it when your kids are happy!”

Julie Earl with Crazy About You Ministries (CAYM)

All Scripture taken from the New International Version 1984 edition. Emphasis and notes in brackets mine.