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  If God is Pleased, All is Well! This is the title of Aletha Hinthorn’s one-year daily devotional book. In the for-ward of the book, Aletha writes, “If I know that God is pleased, I am happy; acknowl-edging that God is the author of all joy is a great achievement in the Christian life. His whisper, ‘I’m pleased with you,’ is the sweet-est joy.” I recently heard someone say, “We have an audience of one.” That is another way of saying that our number one task and privi-lege as a believer is to please our heavenly Father in all that we do and say, with our attitudes and our actions, and our reactions. As a child in a Sunday School, one of the first Bible verses I remember memorizing was Psalm 19:14. “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be accept-able in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.” Young’s Literal Translation says it like this, “Let the sayings of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, Be for a pleasing thing before Thee, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer!” In the commentary, Barnes Notes on the Bible, the author says, “The great purpose of the truly pious is, not to please themselves, or to please their fellow-men, but to please God.” Campus Life’s author, Amber Penney wrote, “No matter what I did, I never felt like it was enough. I tried my hardest to live out what I believed. I had a quiet time every morning. I prayed often. I memorized scripture. I led a small Bible study group. I never missed Sun-day School or church. But it never seemed like I was doing enough, and I kicked myself for it. What would it take to please God? What else did I need to do? One day I asked my pastor these questions, and he had some encouraging words. ‘If you’re a Christian, God is pleased with you.’ He said, it sounds like you’re looking at your relationship with God as a to-do list. That’s what is stealing your joy. He pulled out his Bible and turned to Galatians. He told me how the people in the Galatian church felt a lot like me. Some people convinced the Galatians they had to keep a list of rules, too. So Paul wrote them a letter to remind them that God ac-cepted them by grace, not because of any-thing they did. Now, don’t quit having your quiet time or leading your Bible study. Those things are evidence of a changed heart, but you mustn’t think that God’s approval rests on how well and how often you do them.” I think that the real purpose of man is to love God and to please Him and serve Him. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren clearly explains God’s five pur-poses for each of us: 1) We were planned for God’s pleasure, so your first purpose is to offer real worship. 2) We were formed for God’s family, so your second purpose is to enjoy real fellowship. 3) We were created to become like Christ, so your third purpose is to learn real discipleship. 4) We were shaped for serving God, so your fourth purpose is to practice real ministry. 5) We were made for a mission, so your fifth purpose is to live out real evangelism. Let’s please God, love God and serve God in all we do, say and even with the attitudes of our heart in 2012 and beyond. J Fred Huff
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