{"id":139,"date":"2016-12-21T06:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T06:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=139"},"modified":"2016-12-17T22:33:58","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T22:33:58","slug":"3-surefire-ways-please-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/3-surefire-ways-please-god.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Surefire Ways to Please God"},"content":{"rendered":"
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8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And what does the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0require of you?<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nTo act justly\u00a0and to love mercy<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em>and to walk humbly\u00a0with your God.<\/em> Micah 6:8<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Too many times God’s will appears unnecessarily vague and out of reach, as if God is intentionally trying to keep us in the dark about his desires for us. Nothing could be further from the truth. In Micah 6:8, easily the most famous verse in all the prophecies of Micah, God spells out in clear detail what He requires of Israel? And since the nature of God doesn’t change, these three truths are still more than applicable today. If you’re looking for some surefire ways to please God, start with these three things:<\/p>\n

1. Act justly.<\/strong> Be a person that lives righteously. Be a person of integrity. Don’t lie, steal or take advantage of someone else. No matter who you are, you have power or leverage over the life of someone else. Don’t take advantage of that power. If you take advantage of someone else, you have the God of the Universe as a foe.<\/p>\n

2. Love mercy.<\/strong> Forgive often. Forgive quickly. Love sacrificially. Love in a way that models how much Jesus loved you. Be the Good Samaritan that helps the person in need. Be the shepherd that leaves the 99 to go find the one. Be the father willing to run out and embrace his wayward son, mess and all. Love and practice mercy on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

3. Walk humbly.<\/strong> God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought. Never allow yourself to get to the point where you feel like God owes you something. Squash any hint of entitlement in your life. Live a life of humility, and watch God’s mighty hand of blessing remain on you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you? To act justly\u00a0and to love mercy \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and to walk humbly\u00a0with your God. Micah 6:8 Too many times God’s will appears unnecessarily vague and out of reach, as if God is intentionally trying to keep us in the dark about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27,79,81,63,80],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-god","tag-humility","tag-justice","tag-mercy","tag-micah"],"yoast_head":"\n3 Surefire Ways to Please God - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you're looking for some surefire ways to please God, start with these three things.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Surefire Ways to Please God - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you're looking for some surefire ways to please God, start with these three things.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/3-surefire-ways-please-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-21T06:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-17T22:33:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/walk-humbly-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Surefire Ways to Please God - 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