How do we live a LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD Colossians 1:9-14
First of all - How You Spend Your Time? What do you do with your day!
• 3 years in business meetings,
• 13 years watching TV
• $89,281 on food,
• Consumes 109,354 pounds of food,
• Makes 1811 trips to McDonalds,
• Spends $6881 in vending machines,
• Eats 35,138 cookies and 1483 pounds of candy
• Catches 304 colds,
• Involved in 6 motor vehicle accidents,
• Is hospitalized, (8 times men) and (12 times women)
• Spends 24 years sleeping.
• Only spend 6 Months pursuing a relationship with God!
E- Mail that said Everything I need to know about life, I can learn from Noah's Ark
One : Don't miss the boat.
Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three : Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four : Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Five : When you're stressed, float a while.
Six : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting
Before we look at How we live a LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD
• Think for a moment about how you would answer that question
But here are what I feel are the most common answers
1. Contains Certain experiences (manner of conversion, baptism sprinkling vs. immersion, how often we take commmunion)
2. The absence of certain habits (don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t dance, don’t watch "R" rated movies, what are your views on gambling)
3. Theological issues ( the end times, spiritual gifts, what translation of the Bible you like best.)
But These are all externals., What we do on the outside
• If we look closely at this list what we are really saying is:
• The one who lives a life that pleases God is the one who is most like me!
We want to live a life that please God.
• So, we seek to define pleasing God by our experiences and beliefs.
But In today’s text Paul gives us some ideas on what a life that pleases God looks like.
Colossians 1:9-14
What We see in this text is that there are four characteristics of a life that pleases God.
1. We are To Produce fruit
2. We’re to Keep growing in our knowledge
3. We’re to be strengthened
4. We’re to Live a Life filled with Joy
A. So lets start by talking about Produceing Good FRUIT
If you purchased a fruit tree, planted it, and took care of it you would expect to get fruit from that tree in a couple of years.
If after a few years the tree didn’t produce fruit, you would begin to think that there was something wrong with the tree. You might even go back where you bought the tree and complain.
Jesus says the same is true of people who profess faith.
Mt 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Mt 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Mt 7:17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
Mt 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
What Jesus is telling us is that if there isn’t a change in our lives,
• Then there isn’t a change in our hearts.
But at the same time We need to remember that fruitfulness takes time.
• You don’t get any good fruit the first year that you plant a fruit tree.
• It takes time for the tree to mature.
The same is true about followers of Christ.
• We may not see the change immediately.
• But, over time we should see a difference in the way people live.
Here Paul is telling us that When we follow the desires of our sinful nature,
• Our lives are going to produce evil results.
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives,
He will produce the fruit of: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
A person who is living to please God
• Will start to change their values
• And when that happens we’ll see a change in their behavior.
Jesus said:
Jn 15:4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.
Jn 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
• When we seek to draw closer to Him the fruit comes naturally.
• It’s not about trying harder but growing closer.
A life that pleases God is a life that glorifies Him in our daily life:
• It’s not how we act when we are in church.
• It’s how we act in the everyday world.
• It’s how we treat our co-workers;
• It’s about the ethics we use and won’t use to make a profit;
• It’s in the way we handle our mistakes;
• and the way we treat our families.
B. Next we see that A Life That Pleases God KEEPS ON GROWING
It "keeps growing in knowledge."
• It is continually seeking to know God better.
Growing in the knowledge of God is not the same as trying to get something from God.
• Some people only want to know How to get God to answer their prayers.
• They want to know how to get God to meet their needs and get rid of their problems.
If your children only came to you when they wanted something, OR
• If they spent their life studying how to get you to give them what they wanted,
• Would you feel loved?
• Of course not, you would feel used.
• So if the only reason that we want to know God better is to get more from Him,
• We are not loving God . . .We are using God. Just as our children would be using us
We can spend all our time learning about God and still not have a relationship WITH God.
• We should want to know more about God so that we can draw closer to Him.
The person that wants to get closer,
Reads the Bible not for the facts but to understand the heart of God.
• They want direction not just information.
• Their prayers are not totally consumed with requests.
• They take time to work on their relationship with God.
• They are eager to learn about God.
• They want to learn anything that can help them know God better.
C. We also see that a Life That Pleases God ENDURES FOREVER
• Paul tells us the purpose of this power:
• Is given so that we might have great endurance and patience."
The Word for endurance here means to "remain under".
• "It means to hang in there."
• It is the strength that helps us endure the troubles that come in life.
The word patience refers to our dealing with difficult people.
• God gives us the strength to be patient with people
• People who annoy us, disturb us, and make us want to scream.
• God enables us to endure by giving us strength thru the Holy Spirit.
We Have To Remember That
1. God is in control.
2. He only does what is good.
3. He never makes a mistake.
4. This world is not our home. (So we shouldn’t let the world get us down)
We need to learn that in hard times we don’t complain . . . we trust.
• We don’t walk away; we listen and try to learn.
• We don’t despair, we hang on tighter.
Being strong in times of trouble is hard.
• But it may not be as hard as the idea of patience with difficult people.
• People react to difficult people negatively.
• But through Christ we can learn a different perspective.
God teaches me patience with others by reminding me,
• That sometimes I am a difficult person
• That everyone needs the benefit of the doubt (they may just be having a bad day)
• That most difficult people are people who are hurting.
• And judging a person’s heart and motives is God’s job, not mine.
D. Finally today we see that A Life That Pleases God - is Filled with Joy
Have you ever noticed how much we complain?
• We complain about the weather, our income, the government,
• About how our food is cooked, about traffic, about crowds in stores.
• We thank God for what He’s given us, but at the same time
• We feel He should give us more. That He short changed us
People tend to think if God really loved us we would have:
• Fewer problems, more money, more stuff, more influence,
• Less illness, more good times, less difficult times.
We tell God we’re grateful, but the problem is We don’t live like we are.
• Gratitude begins when we realize that we don’t deserve the inheritance He has given us.
• We should be grateful that God loved us enough to save us.
• Instead of wanting more we should be thankful for what we have
• When was the last time you thanked God for the breath you were able to take, or the blue sky, or the way the trees change color so we don’t get boared?
• When was the last time you thanked Him for your home?
• When did you thank Him for your family?
Conclusion : We need to remember two things:
First, Paul is pointing to the goal.
• Goals are set so we have a direction to work towards
• It’s Not where we are today but where we are working to be.
• It’s a work in progress
Second, we need to remember that we can’t bear fruit without Christ.
• The key isn’t to work harder . . . but to draw closer.
• Before we can live a life that is pleasing to God,
• We have to accept the salvation that He has to offer.
• That’s the first step.
We as Christians need to stop and evaluate our lives.
• We need to get out of our comfort zones
• So that we seek a deeper relationship.
• We need to stop and ask ourselves:
• Do others see Jesus in the way I live?
So today look at your life and tell me what you see?
• Are you doing anything to grow in our knowledge of God?
• Are you reading our Bible?
• Are you spending time alone with God?
• Are you living gratefully?
• Do you appreciate what you’ve been given?
• Have you thanked God today for the blessings that surround us?
Do you appreciate your salvation?
• And are you working to get better acquainted with Him
• So you can love Him completely?
What I am trying to say is
• Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would point at us, and say,
• "Now, that’s - what it’s like - to live a life that is pleasing to God
