Forbid, Permit, Delight...
Have you ever been asked a question your answer was...
Immediately "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!"
But other times it was "I GUESS...",
And other times it was an enthusiastic "YESSS!!!".
We have a range of answers depending on the situation.
It's the same thing for God.
God's doesn't only have the answer of yes or no.
God is a person with feelings,
With His own range of emotions.
Similar to us,
There are things that God will FORBID,
But there are things that God may relent or PERMIT,
And there are things that DELIGHT Him.
Let's look at examples of all three.
First, there are things that God FORBIDs and does NOT compromise on.
God does NOT compromise on sin.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Even though God did NOT compromise on the consequence of sin, He sacrificed EVERYTHING to restore us FROM sin so He can have RELATIONSHIP with us again. What an amazing Father God we have!
Another example for what God FORBIDS is idolatry.
"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."
"Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry."
God FORBIDS things because they are deadly. It's like a parent forbidding their child to drink arsenic. Why? Because it will kill them! God will not compromise on things that will lead to death. It's not for His benefit but for ours. How loving is our Father in Heaven.
THEN...
There are times when God relents and PERMITS things to change.
For example, when God was planning on destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham literally negotiated with God multiple times.
"what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty?"
"'If I find forty-five there,' he said, 'I will not destroy it.'"
Abraham talks God down on the number of righteous men again and again and again and goes from from fifty to...
"What if only ten can be found there?"
"He answered, 'For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.'"
It's so cool that God would even take the time to bother with us silly humans, right?
THEN...
There are things that DELIGHT God.
"Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice"
"The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love."
"who desires all people to be SAVED and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
God just wants our HEART,
Our LOVE is all He's EVER wanted,
Love shows up as obedience,
And consequently that OBEDIENCE,
Is what SAVES us.
That's why God DELIGHTS in it so much,
Because it's GOOD for us,
God DELIGHTS in what gives us LIFE and not death.
God doesn't need our money,
He doesn't need us to build Him an empire,
He doesn't need our hustle.
God just wants our HEART,
To be in RELATIONSHIP with us,
As His precious child,
That's what DELIGHTS Him.
So as we go about our day,
Can we make a point to DELIGHT God?
One of the most powerful questions to ask is "God, does this DELIGHT You?"
I like this question SOOO much more than "Can I do this?" because it gets past the "permit/relent" category and goes straight to DELIGHT.
Why?
Because God deserves NO LESS than to be DELIGHTED.
I don't want to give anything LESS that DELIGHT to God.
So keep asking the question this week, "God, does this DELIGHT You?"
When you're about to respond to a client or family member,
When you're about to make food choices,
When you're about to squeeze another thing into your schedule,
Ask "God, does this DELIGHT You?"
Then ONLY do what DELIGHTS him.
That's it.
See how that changes your week! ^_^
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for this day,
Thank You for Your love,
Thank You for Your sacrifice,
Thank You for everything You've given me.
How can I DELIGHT You today?
Help me to continually ask this week 'Does this DELIGHT You?',
Grant me a hunger and thirst to DELIGHT You,
Teach me how to DELIGHT You,
Transform my heart to love You the way You DESERVE.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Cheers to DELIGHTING God!
