You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. — Psalm 16:11
If you’ve ever been to Chick-fil-A, and there’s a good chance you have, you probably noticed that when customers say “thank you,” employees say “my pleasure.” Since “you’re welcome” has always been my go-to response, I had to know more about how it became store Chick-fil-A culture.
Legend says the chain’s founder, Truett Cathy, got the idea while staying at the Ritz Carlton. When he said “thank you” to a hotel employee, the employee replied, “my pleasure.” Cathy thought those two small words made the Ritz Carlton stand apart as a luxury establishment. He wanted to bring that feel to his own restaurants, and the rest is history. It’s an important part of the company culture. It represents going the extra mile.
There’s a spiritual parallel here. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4 reminds us: “But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.“
We all lead a life wanting to please, but often it is, for whatever reason, to please man rather than God…. our employers, our friends, our families and a host of others, often to the exclusion or perhaps in opposition to pleasing God.
Let’s face it. We live in a contemporary culture that is increasingly anti-Christian and often our personal goals, advancements and desires call on us to lean away from our faith in order to please others and even ourselves, but how strong are we to, often at our own expense give up what the world demands in order to please God.
Pleasing the Lord should be the great ambition of every believers heart and the ability to please the Lord is ultimately the result of His work in our lives. Pleasing the Lord involves discovering and doing what pleases the Lord through living in the light of the Word and it means doing His will in all that we do. Pleasing the Lord rather than men ought to be the motive for ministry, for marriage, and everything we do.
When we fail to please the Lord, we ultimately become hostile or at least useless not only to God, but to men. Pleasing God means learning to live for others and not simply to please ourselves. Pleasing God is to touch every sphere, area, and aspect of the believers life and the aim of pleasing God should have no restrictions or compartments in our lives, no matter what the cost.
Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to please God, no matter the cost? If you do, then He will respond with “My pleasure.”
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
FORGIVENESS:
• The choice to not hurt you for hurting me.
• Men have always found it difficult to forgive. Alexander Pope says: “To err is human, to forgive, divine.”
• Forgiveness is not forgetting but choosing to not to bring it up
• Forgiveness is not a moment, it’s a process
• Why is Forgiveness Important?
• Studies indicate that forgiving someone is one way of letting go so that you can heal and move on with your life.
• Forgive again so you can live again
• Let them go so you can grow
• Unforgiveness is like you drinking poisons and thinking its hurting them
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Dr. Edgar Aponte speaking on missions:
• You have been blessed by God for the glory of God among the nations.
• Do not disconnect God’s blessing in your life from God’s purpose for your life. Ask God to show you ways in which you can use your gifts for the advancement of the Gospel.
• Pray for a burning passion and delight for Christ that will fuel a zeal for mission in your heart.
• Pray that individually and corporately that we might display the just and loving character of the Lord.
• Nominal Christianity does not create a zeal for missions.
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Consumer fads and trends come and go—this will never change. What can change is how we interact with them.
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
The steady decline in the Christian faith is due to the tremendous negative campaigning by the enemy. It is gaining greater support lately due to the accumulated rot in the church all over. Stephen Bernard
God is most pleased by faith. Jim Cymbala
It’s Better to Live Cheap Under Budget than Luxuriously in Debt. Joshua Becker
Prophecy casts its shadow on the future. A fourth of the Bible is prophecy. David Jeremiah
Men and women of faith cannot be idle bystanders in America’s culture war. We must pray as if everything depends on God, and we must act as if everything depends on us. Gary Bauer
I believe that if God’s people brought the light of Christ more fully into the world, the world could not stay the same. But to bring his light, we must stay connected to his light. As the moon must remain aligned with the sun to reflect its rays at night, so we must remain aligned with the Son to reflect his love. Jim Denison
Faith is active, not passive. Obvious not obscured. Engaged not apathetic. Ken Weliever
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