Video Transcript: Pursuing a Healthy Perspective - How Worship Changes Us (Part 2)

The choices we make, in response to conflict reveal who we desire to please.  Sometimes we make choices to please ourselves.  Sometimes we make choices to please others.  But the Lord would have us make our choices with a desire to please Him.

Jesus Christ lived his life to please His Heavenly Father, not himself, or others.  In John 8:29, Jesus said, “The one who sent me is with me.  He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.”  And in Romans 1:5-3 we read, “For even Christ did not please himself.”  And in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus expressed his desire to please the Father even when he knew he was facing the burden of carrying the sin of the world and going to the cross.  He said, “Father, if you're willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done.”

The Father desires that we reflect this same attitude of desiring to please Him first.  In Galatians 1:10, the apostle Paul wrote, “For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

We cannot please God in a conflict wildfire and pursue selfish goals and desires at the same time.  Romans 8:8 says, “Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”  So we cannot pursue our desired outcome and pursue God and please God, at the same time.  But as we spend time in God's presence, Jesus Christ can transform our desires from the inside out and give us his humble heart, his mindset, his attitude that seeks to please the Father and to obey the Father, in the midst of conflict.

Psalm 37:4 reads, “Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  That doesn't mean he will give you what you want.  It means he's going to give you new desires, those desires that reflect the desires that Jesus Christ had when He walked this earth; the desires of a man or woman that pleases God.  The Lord promises to bless those that seek to please Him first.  In Matthew 6:33, we read, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things, all the things that pertain to this life will be added to us as we seek Him first.”  And in Proverbs 16:7, “When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”  What a blessing.

Let's review the highlights from this lecture:

• When we seek God's presence, he changes our perspective on conflict.

• A Desire to please God is the second attribute of a person God can use us as ambassador in the midst of conflict.

• When we seek God's presence, He gives us a desire to please Him.

• Jesus Christ lived his life to please the Father, not himself.

• We cannot please God and pursue selfish goals and desires at the same time.

• And God promises to bless those who seek to please Him.

In the next lecture, we'll cover the third attribute of a person God can use in the midst of conflict.  

Thanks for watching.  God bless you.  We'll see you next time.