Prov 16:7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

There was a time when I looked at this scripture as Solomon telling us that when we work to please the Lord, the Lord would then in turn make our enemies be at peace with us. However, now when I see the Hebrew definition of ways (Definition: road, distance, journey, way or path, a journey, course of life) I noticed something completely different. It is certainly not man’s efforts that the Lord is looking at. Because according to Isaiah 64:6, all He would see are filthy rags or used sanitary napkins (the actual reference of back then). At our very best, that is all we could possibly produce, so there is no way that “our ways” will ever please God.

But check this out: our way, our road, our journey, our course of life, where we’re headed can please God. You see we use to be on the direct train (fast tracking) to Hell/Death. Our sinful lives had us moving toward eternal damnation. BUT GOD, it was when we made a specific decision in our lives, our destiny changed forever. Our way was no longer downward, our road was now leading in the right direction, our journey would have an everlasting destination, our course of life leads us back to a loving and compassionate Father. You see our efforts are worth nothing, Christ did everything we would ever need, when He went to the Cross on our behalf. When we made the decision to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the Cross for our sins, our ways now forever please God. Not because of what we’ve done but because of what Jesus did. Praise God!!!

Now that our ways please God, He will make our Enemy become our Ally. This Proverb came to mind today as I had a meeting with a prominent leader in our organization. Now I would not personally consider him and enemy, but in this case, he was being sent in to oppose a decision I’d recently made and change my mind and declare it wrong. So he was technically an enemy to the major decision I made and I was not really looking forward to the meeting. However, by the time the meeting was over (without going into all of the details) he not only gave me his full support in the decision, he is now willing to do whatever he can to assist me in making the decision come to past. He has agreed to be my Ally!! The beauty of it all, I did not have to do anything, it was all finished long ago.

So the next time you have opposition, don’t sweat it, Jesus dealt with that on Calvary. If you come across those people that want to see you fail, Psalm 110 reminds us to just sit back and Jesus will “make your enemies your footstool.” Then will be able to use them to see over all the blessings He has provided us.

Believe in Jesus and watch your enemies become your allies!!!

Matt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, IN WHOM I am well pleased.” (NKJV)

Heb 11:6 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 (NKJV)

Matthew demonstrates the greatest example of a Father’s unconditional love for a son. It is awesome to see, especially for some Father’s like myself, who would like to raise their kids in a Godly manner. Being a son that grew up trying to please my dad, I want to ensure that my kids know how pleased I am to be their Father. With that being said, let’s dig into what God said to Jesus and what He is saying to us now.

We’re In Jesus:

Following Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, all of the onlookers heard a loud audible voice from heaven. It was a proud papa, letting all know just how much he loved and was proud of his son. Imagine, how good that must feel to hear your father tell the world or his joy to be your dad. That is what Jesus would have felt if He was like you and me. So what does this have to do with us???? God said that Jesus was His beloved son and that He was well pleased with Him and everything about Jesus, including all that is IN HIM. Guess who is IN HIM??? Us, You and I if we’ve believed on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of Sin. Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (NKJV). Once we put our FAITH in Jesus Christ, we put ourselves in position to please God; without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is. Our faith in Jesus allows us to be IN HIM, where we are beloved Sons & Daughters who God is well pleased with. Are you IN HIM? If not you need to be.

God Is Pleased With Us:

We are IN Christ and well pleasing to God, because we “have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” You see we are pleasing to God, not because of what we have done or what we do, but what Christ did. We can try as hard as we can to do everything right and perfect; it will never happen because even on our very best and perfect day “Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags (NKJV).” For you bible scholars, filthy rags actually refers to used sanitary napkins (yes that is what I said). Our best offering, without Jesus it is just filthy rags, nothing you would ever think about giving to God. So since our best is a mess, our worst is just that multiplied. We have to remember that Jesus went to the cross and all of our sin was placed on Him. God has to deal with Sin and for our sake God’s wrath was satisfied on the Cross.  So let me ask you this; “Why would God punish Jesus for our sin at the cross, if He was going to then turn around and punish us or hold the Sin (Christ died for) against us?? It is a question worth asking, I believe the bible gives us a clear answer, but If you don’t see that, I recommend asking the Lord for yourself and see what He says.

Say it with me “I am Righteous and Well Pleasing to God, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.” 2 Cor 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God IN HIM.

Remember we are well pleasing to God by the blood Jesus shed at the cross and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Matt 9:27-31 (Two Blind Men Healed)

When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”  28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”  29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”31 But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.

I’m sure that some of you may be “Old School” like me.  I recall while growing up, hearing the extreme encouragement “Piss or Get off the Pot!!!”  This statement was used to help someone get passed a crossroad in their life.  You know what I’m talking about, in Sports a coach might say it when he needed you to push pass the pain of trying something you’ve never done before.  Maybe, it was when you had to push pass a fear, like when I had to jump of the high dive for the first time as a kid.  After climbing to the edge of the 20 foot high platform, I had to either jump or give up and make the humiliating trip back down the ladder.  If you’re not going to piss, the get off of the pot (toilet) because someone else will.

These two Blind Men understood this sentiment, because they were at a crossroad in their lives.  You see these men could not see, but they could hear.  They heard about this great teacher, healer, prophet and miracle worker.  They heard about his teachings and the miracles he’d done.  They heard the commotion in the streets as the multitudes followed this mystery man.  So when Jesus was near they had a choice to make.  They cried out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”   They were saying Lord Jesus pour on us this Grace that you’ve been telling everyone about.  That is when Jesus asked the question of all questions.  “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  You see the problem for most people is not the inability to know what Jesus can do, most people know that Jesus is able to change our situation, our struggle is believing it!!  Jesus asked the simple but powerful question, do you believe in my ability, do you believe I am who I said I was?

There was only one thing left now for the two blind men.  They had to Believe or Get Off the Pot!!!  They could believe everything they heard or they could give up and choose to remain in their darkness.  The text tells us that the men believed Jesus then they received their sight.  (What are you talking about it does not say they believed)  Look again, Jesus said “According to your faith let it be to you.”  They were healed according to their faith, the Greek word for faith here means “conviction of the truth of anything; belief.”  Jesus told them that they were healed based on their ability to believe.  Don’t be fooled though, their faith was not in them being healed but their belief was in who Jesus was.

God is able to do, just what He said He would do; He will fulfil every promise to you.  We just need to believe He is who He said He was.  Who is He?  The lamb that took away the sins of the world; the “Truth and the Life;” the creator of Heaven and Earth; our Savior; our Friend; our Big Brother; our rock; our confidant; our help, our shield; our everything; the ultimate sacrifice for every one of our sins.

When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we received His salvation.  My encouragement to you today is to Believe or Get Off the Pot!!

Ps 63:3 Because Your loving kindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.  4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.  5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. 

Today at church I heard a song that I absolutely love, it was only about the 3^rd time that I’ve heard the song (which doesn’t mean that it is new, just new to me), but it had the same impact that it always seem to have….Surrender!!!  But today was something special; the words of the song are simple “I surrender all to you; everything I give to you; withholding nothing- withholding nothing.”  As I raised one of my hands and enjoyed the worship, I heard Jesus say so lovingly “You’re still holding back… when you lift up both hands in worship, you let go of everything you’re holding on to and reach for Me.”   When I lifted my other hand, the tears began to flow, not out of sadness or shame, but out of a wonderful since of peace and joy.  You cannot help but feel the love of the Jesus, when He assures you that He wants to take care of ALL, every single aspect of your life. 

Look at Psalm 63, when we lift up our hands we acknowledge the Lord’s love for us and demonstrate our faith is in His loving kindness towards us.  Our surrender causes us to want to praise and bless the Lord, then we are able to see the Lord satisfy all of our need and fill us with joy.  Give everything to the Jesus, the good and the bad, highs and lows; if it is a part of your life let Him have it and He will satisfy your every need and lovingly give you His abundant joy.