During a Sunday morning service in St. Joseph, Missouri, a few years
back, I asked the congregation how many of them really want to please
God more than anything else. Every hand went up. 
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Then I asked them,
~How many of you think God is really pleased with you?~ Out of at least
400 people, one 11-year-old boy and one 10-year-old girl raised their
hands. That was all.
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Very few believers actually Believe that they are pleasing to God . Most
feel some degree of Forgiveness and maybe acceptance, but to think that
the Lord is actually pleased with us is another matter. A person can
choose to Love you because of his or her own Goodness , but to be
pleased with you, they actually have to like your performance. Right?
<p>
With God , no one could ever be pleasing to Him based on performance.
His standard is Perfection , and no Goodness on our part can ever
compensate for our Sins . We may Please man with our actions, but ~all
have Sinned, and come short of the Glory of God ~ (Rom. 3:23). It takes
the precious Blood of Jesus to do that.
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The way we Receive the Forgiveness that’s available through Jesus’
Blood is by Faith (Rom. 10:9-17). When we put our Faith in Jesus as our
Savior , we are pleasing God . Hebrews 11:6 says, ~But without Faith it
is impossible to Please him.~
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 Faith comes from the Heart (Rom. 10:10), and God looks on the Heart -
not the actions (1 Sam. 16:7). Of course, God sees our actions and will
deal with us about them, but only because they are inseparably linked
to our Hearts (Prov. 23:7). It’s our Heart5s that really concern God ,
and Faith in Him ( Trust , reliance) is what He is searching the Heart 
for.
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A person whose actions are not right but who Trusts the Lord is more
pleasing to God than an individual who is doing the right things but
has no Faith in God . It’s not a case of those who act the best will get
accepted, and those who act the worst get rejected. That would put some
of the followers of other Religions ahead of many Christians , but that
is not what the Bible teaches.
<p>
This is exactly the point Paul is making in Romans 11:6: ~And if by
Grace , then is it no more of Works : otherwise Grace is no more Grace .
But if it be of Works, then is it no more Grace : otherwise Work is no
more Work.~ 
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That’s old English for saying, ~It’s one way or the other
but not a combination of the two.~ We’re either Saved by God’s Grace 
through what Jesus did for us, or we’re Saved by what we do without
Jesus, but not a combination of the two. The choice should be the
obvious.
<p>
Elijah is an example of a Great man who lived a Holy life and didn’t
earn God’s pleasure with his actions. He made some serious mistakes. He
ran in the face of Persecution and became so depressed over it that he
asked the Lord to kill him (1 Kin. 19). 
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The Lord gave him three direct
commands in an audible voice (1 Kin. 19:15-16), and Elijah never did
two of them (refer to my teaching entitled ~Elijah’s Downfall?~). Most
people would think God couldn’t have been pleased with Elijah, yet
Elijah was translated.
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Even though our Heart conditions influence our actions, we all fail in
our performance to some degree. Elijah did. If God used performance as
the basis of whether or not He was pleased with us, no one would ever
pass the test. ~If thou, Lord , shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord , who
shall stand?~ (Ps. 130:3).
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Satan used to accuse me and say, ~What makes you think God will use
you?~ The truth is that none of us are perfect, we don’t deserve the
Blessings of God. Now I put my Faith in Jesus. It’s hard for some
people to accept this. It has been ingrained in us that if we aren’t
Holy , God won’t Bless us. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your
Goodness - He sees Jesus.
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If you’re walking in Faith , you use Faith as the rate of exchange
between you and God. God is pleased with you even though your actions
don’t measure up. Your life may be a wreck, but God is still pleased
with you. Our religion says that is Hypocrisy . On the contrary, the
worst Sin is self-righteousness - the attitude that God owes it to you
because you’ve been Good.
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The difficult thing is that there are no role models for Grace . Your
employer hires you based on performance. The parent-child relationship
is based on performance, even though it shouldn’t be. When it comes to
God, your performance can’t earn you anything. If you Sin, you need a
savior. It is your Faith in Jesus that will grant you access to God.
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Most people accept this level of Grace when it pertains to Salvation .
However, some of you may think that after you’re BornAgain , God
expects you to pray and study; and if you don’t do these things, God
won’t Bless you. After you are BornAgain , it doesn’t change!
Colossians 2:6 says, ~As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord , so walk ye in him.~ 
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When we are BornAgain , we come to Jesus just
as we are. In fact, if a person has a lot of Sin, it’s even more reason
to come to Jesus. When it comes to being Healed , it’s a different story
with most Christians. They think if you haven’t read your Bible today
or you had a fight on the way to Church , it will keep you from being
Healed . That’s a double standard. 
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That’s saying that the way you
approach God after you’re BornAgain is different. Your actions may not
please God today, but you can be Healed or delivered in spite of it.
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Some of you may think I’m advocating Sin . I’m not - your actions are
important to you. Your holiness is important because it changes your
Heart toward God and not God’s Heart toward you. Unholiness will hurt
you. Even though God will Love you just as much, you won’t Love God as
much. It will harden your Heart toward God . 
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It’s like eating. You must
eat to stay alive, but eating is not Life . If you miss one meal, will
you die? If you constantly live in Sin and never feed yourself
Spiritually , it will kill you. I am not saying you should ignore your
actions. You will never do everything perfectly, but don’t let it keep
you from receiving the Blessings of God .
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Luke 22 shows us an example of someone who had Faith and pleased God.
In verses 31 and 32 Jesus is talking to Peter before the crucifixion.<br>
~And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that
thy Faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren.~ 
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Peter did blow it tremendously. He denied the Lord three times. He cursed and blasphemed God, and yet Jesus prayed that his Faith wouldn’t fail. Jesus’ Prayers were always answered. Peter’s actions failed, but not his Faith . If Peter hadn’t repented it would
have killed him. He was restored to God and went on to become a pillar
of the Church .
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Some of you may be thinking, This is Great ~ I can live like the Devil and still get what I want from God.~ If you think that, I’d say you aren’t BornAgain , because a Christian wants to please God . This Word is for Christians who have a desire to serve God but who still Sin .
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When that happens, you go on and catch up and stand there with
confidence in your Savior. Your Faith in Jesus pleases God . None of us get Saved and head straight on the path to God . We bounce around, but we’re still heading in the general direction.
<p>
~To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace , wherein he hath made us
accepted in the Beloved ~ (Eph. 1:6). You do Please God through your Faith in Jesus as your Savior , and you must perceive that you Please Him.
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-- Andrew Wommack<br>
Capitalization of keywords by Randy Lucas