Category: Pleasing God

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-19-23

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

This is a verse that we often hear quoted. And we may even quote it ourselves from time to time.

But do we ever earnestly ponder on what it really means?

Do we understand the seriousness of this verse?

Let’s break it down so we get a better understanding of it.

In the very first line, we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God.

That’s a big deal!

Impossible: incapable of happening or occurring.

That might seem scary for some, since we might wrestle or struggle with doubt or unbelief from time to time.

But occasional or momentary unbelief will not condemn us if we work through it. We need to sort it out within ourselves and sincerely seek God, asking Him to help us in our unbelief.

Look at this example from the gospel of Mark.

Mark 9:24 (NKJV) 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

The father of a demon-possessed child had come to Jesus to seek help for his son. And as Jesus told him that he only needed to believe, the father confessed both, his belief and the fact that he struggled with unbelief.

Jesus saw his struggle and recognized his faith for what it was, and then healed his child of the demon who had tormented him from childhood.

This man had faith that Jesus could help. He sought Him out and requested His help.

That seeking showed his faith, despite his struggles to believe without wavering.

Even if we wrestle from time to time with believing, we are not cast away by God.

It is, however, impossible for one to please Him if they claim to believe, but they belligerently build a life based on a lack of faith and persistent unbelief.

For that person, it is impossible for them to please God. And that man should never think they will receive anything from God.

James 1:7-8 (NKJV) 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-20-22

Hosea 6:6 (NKJV) 6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

One of the most important things we can learn as believers is to understand what God truly desires from us.

Many people go to great lengths to try to please God. But they get caught up in repetitive things; traditions, habits, routines, rituals, etc.

And many times, we view the things we do as a great sacrifice to God.

But our habits and routines don’t please God. In fact, they do quite the opposite.

What pleases God is our sincere, heartfelt love for and dedication to Him. This leads to us obeying Him, not out of blind tradition, but out of a sincerity of heart that goes way beyond a ritualistic or habit-driven action ever could.

In the verse above, it’s important to note that the word, mercy, is better translated as faithfulness or loyalty.

So, let us not be rote, habitual or mechanical in our walk with God.

Instead, let’s be sincere, faithful and loyal, that we may hear His voice readily and not quick to shut Him out because what we see or hear doesn’t match our routines.

Remember what the prophet, Samuel, said to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22; to obey is better than sacrifice.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-11-21

Psalm 19:14 (NKJV) 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

This Psalm hits home with me. It’s like my heart’s cry in my daily walk with God; let the things I say and the intentions and actions of my heart be pleasing to You, my God and Redeemer.

When we walk with God, as we grow and mature, we will begin to place more value on things that used to mean little or nothing to us. And we will begin to place less value on things that used to mean a great deal to us.

There are many things I used to value greatly that mean little to me now.

Why?

Because God has rearranged my priorities. He changed the desires of my heart.

He has a way of doing that as we allow Him to touch us in our innermost places.

The principle established in this Psalm, of wanting to please God with all that we say and think, is what happens when God really gets hold of us.

David had a heart that was “after God”; wanted to please God in every possible way.

And when our heart reaches that point, we will also long for the very same thing that David expressed here.

The funny part is that we don’t intentionally set out to feel this in our hearts. We set out to walk with God and learn of Him, getting to know Him more, day by day.

But as we do that, and we submit to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to prick our hearts, molding and shaping us, the end result will be just that; a heart that longs to please Him in everything we do.

We challenge you today to do that; pursue God with your whole heart. Pursue Him relentlessly, pushing aside the things that would try to hinder you and prevent you from pressing in to Him.

You will never regret it.

And if you’d like to learn more about pursuing Him relentlessly, feel free to check out this blog post we wrote a while back: Pursuing God Relentlessly.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-6-19

Philippians 2:13 (NKJV) 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

For His good pleasure.

Those four words sum up the reason we exist; for His good pleasure.

We were created by God for His pleasure!

We all have different skills, talents and abilities. We were uniquely created.

We have different personalities, character traits and physical attributes. But we are all here for the same purpose; for His good pleasure.

One of the most frequent questions we get from people is this; “how do I know what God wants me to do with my life?”.

There are a few different ways to look at this. But ultimately, we all need to understand that if we are pleasing God with our lives, we are on the right track.

Now, some might look at this and ask why we should feel obligated to please God. Isn’t that kind of selfish on God’s part?

No! Not at all. God created us. Every last one of us, including those who ignore Him or even deny His existence. So, wanting us to live our lives to give Him pleasure is the very least He could ask.

And as we begin to live lives that please God, bringing Him pleasure, we will be that much closer to what God wants us to do with our lives.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page. 

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-1-16

2 Corinthians 5:15 (NKJV)15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Do we sometimes feel conviction when we try to do things that we used to do? There may not even be anything wrong with what we want to do, but it just doesn’t feel the same. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even interest us anymore.

One day I was thinking of going and doing something that I used to enjoy doing. As I headed toward it, I thought “why don’t I feel like I used to”, when I was attempting to do the same thing I had always done? What occurred to me is that I had changed.

Before, I would get excited and be really happy about going and doing this particular thing. But it wasn’t that way this time.

It’s not that we can’t have fun and enjoy life. God wants us to have a wonderful life in Him and through Him! It’s just that as we start to live for Christ, the old things and the old ways that used to bring us joy don’t necessarily have that same effect on us any longer.

Those feelings we once had toward doing certain things have changed. And now, instead, we’ve found other things that bring us joy.

Christ died for us and as we receive Him and His gift of Salvation for us, we also will die to ourselves and become One with Him, causing us to enjoy the things that bring joy to Him.

We don’t live so much to please ourselves any longer, but we live to please Him!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible verse of The Day – 1-27-16

Ezekiel 36:26 (NKJV) 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

We desperately need a change of heart in this world today.

God is the only one that can do this. We cannot work for this. We cannot pay money for this. We cannot fake this or pretend we have this. It comes only from God.

How do we get this kind of heart? How do we get rid of our heart of stone and have it replaced with a heart of flesh? How do we get a heart that’s rich and flowing in the things of God?

How do we get a heart that is loving, kind, full of wisdom and understanding, compassionate, forgiving, caring, and that trusts Him to lead us in everyday life?

We enter into to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son. We talk to Him. We spend time with Him. We put Him first. And we inquire of Him and His thoughts and plans toward us each day.

He becomes our best friend. We trust Him with our life, our decisions and our concerns. He becomes our guidance each day. Not just on Sunday or Wednesday or when there is a crisis. But every minute of every day.

We give over to Him our greatest valuables and possessions. They become meaningless to us.

Our love for Him becomes so strong and real that we can’t stand to be away from Him or His presence at any given time. We yearn to please Him.

Ezekiel 36:27 (NKJV) 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

He does this for us as we give Him our heart of stone. He breaks it down and gives us a new heart, flowing with a river of living waters. Everywhere we step foot with Christ living in us, we bring life, happiness, peace and JOY!!

John 7:38 (NKJV) 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 2-23-15

Psalm 51:2 (NKJV) 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

Each day, we start off with a new, clean slate. If we slip and fall, how do we get back up? We ask God to forgive us, to cleanse us and help us to not do it again.

Sometimes we don’t want to acknowledge that we’ve done something wrong, so we’ll try to sugar-coat it or blame someone else for it. Or, we will realize what we did and start getting down and beating ourselves up over it, when what we really need to do is acknowledge that we did wrong and sincerely want to fix it.

God is faithful to instruct us and keep us on the right path.

Proverbs 10:17 (NKJV) 17 He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.

Have a good day, and remember God loves us. He is not mean. He wants to be with us no matter how many times we mess up or fail. He will stick by us and help us learn and grow.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-7-14

Titus 2:11-12 (NKJV) 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age…

Have you ever wondered how to please God, or how God would like us to represent Him in this world?

The two verses above put it all together in a neat, tidy little package.

This small tidbit of wisdom from God’s word can be a real challenge for all of us at different times, no matter how righteous we might think we are. But we can do it by sticking close to God and paying attention to what the Holy Spirit tells us to do or not to do.

The easiest way to do this is to move slowly and cautiously in everything, being careful to obey God’s leading.

If we do this, it will be much harder for the enemy to fool us or lure us into his traps.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-26-14

(Psalm 37:4 NKJV)  Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

The word Delight is used as a verb in this verse and a verb implies action. According to the Webster dictionary delight means to make (someone) very happy : to give (someone) great pleasure or satisfaction.

Make and give are both action words, meaning we will have to do something.

When we delight ourselves in the Lord, we give to Him straight from our heart. We make Him very happy as we show Him how much we love Him.

How do we show love to a God so Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Almighty and Magnificent? We follow His word.

(Psalm 119:105 NKJV)  Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Don’t focus on trying to be perfect. We need to focus on one day at a time.

We need to love God with all our hearts and let Him help us get through each day. He will give us the desires of our hearts as we delight ourselves in Him.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-31-13

(John 8:29 NKJV)  “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”

Jesus is our example; He did the very things that pleased His Father.

If we take what He tells us to do and we listen to the words He spoke, and we watch the way He was in all situations, and we put those things into action in our own lives, we too will please our Father.

God loves us… there is no doubt about that. He gave His Son for us. He wants a good life for us. He wants us to know how much He loves us. He wants us to know that He is there for us and loves to help us in all of our situations.

If we are struggling today with knowing how to please God, we just need to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

You know that saying, “what would Jesus do”? It’s something we may want to ask ourselves when making decisions or addressing certain situations, whether at work, at home, in school… even in the church.

It’s like taking a test with the answer sheet right beside us. Jesus is the answer to pleasing our Father. Look unto Him!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-19-13

(1 Corinthians 10:23 NKJV)  All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

As followers of Christ, we lived under grace. This means that our sins are forgiven as soon as we ask God to do so and then we repent.

To repent means to turn away from and not go back to something. Our sins should not become a habitual, often-repeated routine that we fall into.

Because of God’s grace and mercy, we have been given the freedom to choose what we do and what we don’t do. He has given us a free will.

We need to remember that as believers we have an awesome responsible to try to please God in all we do. It is His desire that we live righteous, holy lives, shining His light into the darkness around us.

None of us will ever be perfect at this, but each of us has been given the Spirit of God living within us to help us discern things and keep our feet on the path He has set before us.

God has entrusted His work to us, His people. Let’s be sure we’re doing it to the best of our ability, guided by The Holy Spirit.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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