Well, one way to know if you and I are living a life that pleases God
is to know if we are living according to God's will. So, then, we we
would need to know what God's will is for our life.
Though you may not want to hear it, God's first will for your
life is to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance.” Salvation requires repentance. Unless we repent of
our sins, confess them to God and turn away from doing them, then we
are not saved. John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be
saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that does not
believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name
of the only begotten Son of God.”
We repeat the message of salvation because our time is not God's
time. He is longsuffering, His patience endures; until such time as
He indicates His Son's return to bring His bride, His church, home.
That is how long we will keep preaching the gospel. That is the
length of time we have until The Holy Spirit leaves with them. We
truly do not know that date; so we will keep preaching Jesus and Him
crucified and resurrected to you until then. This message of a love
so deep that it required the sacrifice of God's Lamb on the cross is
imperative for you to hear: it is a message of life and death: yours.
Acts 2:21 “And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on
the Name of The Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of The Lord
shall be saved.” Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to them that are
of a broken heart; and saves such as are of a contrite spirit.”
Joel 2:13 “And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to
The Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness (longsuffering), and repenteth Him of the evil
(is ready to relent and not punish).”
Psalm 50:7-23 is a message from God; it is He who is speaking,
not the writer. Verse 14 and 15 says “Offer unto God thanksgiving;
and pay your vows (your promises) unto The Most High: And call upon
Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify
Me.” But see those next verses? He is speaking to those who do not
believe.
Psalm 50:16-23 But unto the wicked God says, “What have you to
do to declare My statutes, or that you should take My covenant in
your mouth? Seeing that you hate instruction, and cast My Words
behind you. When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have
been partakers with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your
tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you
slander your own mother's son. These things have you done, and I kept
silence; you thought that I was just like you: but I will reprove
you, and set them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you
that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none of you
to deliver. Whoever offers praise glorifies Me: and to him that
orders his conversation rightly will I show the salvation of God.”
This is just a sampling of unrighteous wicked behavior which God
abhors. But He waits for them to turn to Him and receive the
salvation which He offers.
Other examples of unrighteous living are in Romans 13:13
“....rioting and drunkenness, chambering and wantonness (sexual
promiscuity and immorality), strife and envying.” 1 Corinthians
6:9,10 “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators (prostitutes and
those who associate themselves with such), nor idolaters (idol
worship), nor adulterers (affair, fling, seduction, infidelity,
hanky-panky,cheating, playing around; voluntary (not forced) sexual
relations with a person you are not married to), nor effeminate
(womanish, pretentious, unmanly, sissyish; a man having traits
considered feminine), nor abusers of themselves with mankind
(homosexuality),
Nor thieves (bandit, burglar, cheat, criminal, crook, embezzler,
hijacker, kleptomaniac, larceny, mugger, pickpocket, shoplifter,
pirate, swindler [to name a few]), nor covetous (greedy,
close-fisted, envious/jealous/green-eyed, grudging, hogging,
mercenary selfish), nor drunkards (inebriated, alcoholic, boozer,
lush, wino), nor revilers (fault-finder, backseat driver, complainer,
disparager, doubter, fretter, muckraker, mud-slinger, nagger,
nitpicker, slanderer), nor extortioners (freeloader, leech, parasite,
sponge, vampire; one who secures money or favors through acts of
intimidation and/or violence; blackmail), shall inherit the kingdom
of God.”
If that is not enough clarification for you, there are other
references in The Holy Bible which will make it plain and
understandable, some of which I will list here: Galatians 5:19,20,21
and Galatians 6:3,5,7,8; Ephesians 4:25-31; Ephesians 5:3-7,11,12,18;
Philippians 3:18,19; Colossians 2:18 (angel worship); Colossians
3:5,6,8,9. There are many others which also clarify and confirm
unrighteous living: lifestyles that do not please God.
But we are also given instructions on how to live lives that do
please God. And pleasing God is vital to not only our lives, but our
souls. For our lives are temporary; our souls are eternal. We can
choose to obey God's wills for our lives or we can choose to
disregard God and receive the punishment, the consequences, for our
actions. I, however, have chosen to obey God, sacrificing 'fun stuff'
for eternal joy stuff, which I can have now and for ever. Your
choice now will determine your destination later. As it is written in Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve The Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve The Lord."
