APPROVED BY GOD

APPROVED BY GOD

I Thess. 2:4  For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News.  Our purpose is to please God, not people.  He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts.  NLT

       Paul understood who he was in the church and why.  He was a messenger sent by God to the Church and he was approved by God for the task.  God does not send people out to do a task that are not approved by Him for the task.  In order to be approved by God, one must have a holy heart and be totally committed to Him.  Paul clearly met God’s requirements.  Living in fellowship with God and being right with God, consumed Paul’s life.  He had no other desire in life than to give his all to the Lord and the Kingdom of God.

       Paul was trustworthy.  God entrusted Paul with the Good News.  God knew Paul would not mess it up.  He knew he would be faithful and not preach another Gospel.  He knew Paul would tell it like it is and not worry about how others might receive it.  His duty was to proclaim the Gospel and he did it with determined passion.  He was not a people pleaser.  He was not concerned about anything but living rightly before God.

      We must be good imitators of Paul.  We have but one agenda as children of God, and that is to serve the Lord with determined passion.  We are not in the people-pleasing business.  In fact, if people are pleased with us all the time, we are not being faithful messengers of the Gospel.  The truth always is opposed by those who don’t want to live by it.  We share the Gospel message regardless of whether someone wants to hear it or not.  How it is received is between the listener and God. 

      We must never forget, God knows our hearts.  He knows not only what we do, but why we do it.  We need to be careful that we don’t serve the Lord with wrong motives.  Those who please the Lord have pure hearts in all they do.  They serve Him out of love, not duty.

       If we are true to the Gospel, we will ruffle some feathers.  There will be those who will not be pleased with what we say and do, but that is a good thing, not a bad thing. 

      The Gospel is divisive because there are always those who do not want to live by it.  They want the fluff, but not the meat and bones of the Gospel.  They want you to tickle their ears.  And when you don’t, sometimes things don’t go so well.

       But always remember, we don’t answer to anyone but God on Judgment Day.  It is only the Lord we should be concerned about pleasing.  Obey God, not man; proclaim the Word always and let the chips fall where they may.