http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3550518&q=lo http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3550518&q=hi
Eph. 1:9-10, ‘Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times. He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him.
HIS PLEASURES - His Prophetic Voice
In the last days, the world will experience a great intensity in the prophetic. Joel: 2:28, ‘……that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…….’ Everyone who has the Spirit of God will hear directly from Him and will obey and every activities and ministries of God on earth will be based in the prophetic, in hearing the voice of God.
To know the heart of the heavenly Father, His pleasures, His will, And His love, is prophetic, from the throne room of His grace. You will have to come closer to the Lord to hear His heartbeat. When we obey His will, God will receive great pleasure and we will also receive great delight and fulfillment.
In these last days, God will raise up a generation of God-pleasers, who will hear and obey to do anything for God unto death, Jesus being the first fruit. Rom: 8:29c ‘….the first born among many brothers….’
Rev.12:11. ‘They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.’
Jesus when He was on earth had given God great pleasure through His obedience to Him even unto death.
Luke: 22:42 ‘…..Father if it is your will, take this cup away from me; nevertheless not my will, but yours be done…’
Jesus knew His sacrificial mission and gave priority to give pleasure to God to fulfill His will. And for that Jesus is now glorified sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
Another hero of faith in the Bible is King David who had given God great delight.
Acts 13:22, ‘…I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will.’
Although he had made many mistakes in his lifetime, David was repentant, humble and teachable. He was willing to yield to God’s heavy dealings until he was so broken and contrite, which is a necessity in true worship, in the caves of Adulam. He did great exploits for the Lord in his time and God granted him many favors.
Psalms 21:2 ‘You have given Him His heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of His lips.’ And so are some of the heroes of faith in the Bible who had given God great pleasures through their obedience and faith. E.g. Abraham, Moses, Joshua etc.
Heb. 11:6, ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God…’
GOD CREATED HUMANITY FOR HIS PLEAURES
Rev: 4:11 ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive Glory and Honor and Power. For you created all things, and by your will (pleasures) they exist and were created.’
God created humanity to worship and fellowship with Him. He derives great pleasure when He receives our fellowship, worship and praise.
Zep. 3:17, ‘ ……He will rejoice over you with gladness (pleasure) , He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing’.
That is God’s desire in creating us. God was and is seeking after worshippers. Jesus clearly confirms this in the New Testament.
John 4:23, ‘But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipper will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him’.
He is not looking for worshippers to worship Him only but for them to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, to worship God with a true heart. That is the heart of worship.
A true heart comes from your choice to worship Him out of the conviction of your own hearts; to worship not with your mouth only but with your heart, mind and soul as well. Isaiah 29:13, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men.’
The heart is the place where the Spirit and the Soul of man meets and belongs to a part of the soul area. In spite of all the temptations to feast their flesh, worldly pleasures, persecutions of the fallen world, the worshippers have made a choice to even suffer afflictions and pains to follow Jesus and deny themselves, crucify their flesh and give glory to Him in worship. And that choice will give God great delight.
He did not want humanity to be like His angels, who have not been given free choice, but to perform according to His bidding; but out of our choices and will, we will give Him, glory, honor and praise.
What had been lost in the Garden of Eden where God visited Adam for fellowship in the cool of the day, God has a plan even before the creation of the earth, in redeeming humanity back into fellowship with Him again, through the cross, according to His plans.
HIS PERMISSIVE WILL - GOD TAKES PLEASURE IN GIVING AND RECEIVING
Eph. 4:8 ‘…..When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train, And gave gifts to men.’
Being a father myself, I can feel the heartbeat of the Father in heaven concerning the areas of provision and expectation. An earthly father gathers great delight in providing for his children’s needs and even wants sometimes. He will be glad just to see them happy.
But on the other hand, He also enjoys seeing his children grow and mature into fine young men, who will have the character of the good father, because he has groomed them to be like him; sometimes even disciplining them when they walk out of alignment. And finally, he would love to see them being useful to serve God and nation when they grow up.
This is also the desire of the Father in Heaven. He receives great pleasure in providing for His earthly children and also makes Him so glad to see them becoming more and more like Him each day, growing in spiritual maturity and Christ-likeness, the mold of Christ in their lives and to be victorious on earth.
The first level of giving that God has found great delight in His children; is in the area of their needs; to meet them at their needs. It is a broken world and God has to heal their brokenness when they come to know Him or receives salvation. It is this area of their needs that God had drawn them to Him.
It is a package deal in salvation where God give gifts to His children in the healing of their bodies, provisions (supply all their needs), prosperity and even ministry and anointing.
He is delighted in His permissive will and love for His children at this point of salvation. His pleasure in giving at this time is like a mother who takes pleasure in cooking for her son and when she sees him enjoying the food she will also feel fulfilled.
But Jesus had not died for those provisions only, although through those gifts they have attracted many to come to know Jesus; because when the human body dies, all these gifts of body healing, provisions, prosperity etc. will be buried with that person and lost forever, if they do not use these gifts to glorify God.
It is disheartening to see churches being set up based on these provisions only. I have often debated with people whose concept of God is in the area of His provisions only, the worldly way of wanting to know God; it may be good to begin with!!!
These had been the focus of the past churches in their evangelistic effort to bring people to know Christ. They had been harping on this topic of provision denying the fact that we have also an eternal purpose and that is to mature to be like Christ and have our souls healed and purified before God takes us to heaven for His eternal purpose, the perfect will of God. God loves to see you more and more like Him.
The healing of the soul area is also in God’s plan for eternal purposes. God wants you to accomplish this mission to purify your soul for your eternal wellbeing. (Rom. 8.28) But for your good may not be for your comfort. (Rev. 3.19)
next..................The Outer Court Christians!!!
I will be ministering in Kuching on the 20th(Sat. Nite) and 21st (Sunday Morn.) of June 2009 at the Emmanuel Baptist Church, Kuching on Father's Day. I would like to invite those who live around Kuching to come and meet me and fellowship. See You!!! For more information, call Ps David Cheng 016-8881043. Be Blessed!!!
Had a great time in Emmauel Baptist Church, Kuching on the 20th and 21st of June, 2009, Father's Day.
Please watch the video for the service on Father's Day,21st. June 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi8YCbHSjSE&feature=player_embedde
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