Delight Yourself in God
Bible passage: Psalm 37:4
“4. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. ”
Dear brothers and sisters, Today is Thanksgiving Sunday, a day to worship with gratitude for the abundant harvest Father God has blessed us with throughout the year.
Let’s first offer thanks and glory to Father God who has bestowed incredible blessings in spirit and soul, and watched over us with His blazing eyes. The church altar is full of various grains, fruits, and vegetables provided by God. Our heartfelt thanks goes to the Women’s Mission and to everyone who made this possible. We also express our gratitude to all those who worked faithfully to bear abundant fruit for God's kingdom. (Evangelist) Reflecting on the past year, our church experienced many memorable moments.
In 2024, we started a new chapter with my appointment as Senior Pastor. Highlights included the Easter sermon and performance honoring Pastor Kichul Ju’s martyrdom; the Manmin Summer Retreat full of power; overseas missions; visits to the Gethsemane prayer house; and vowed Daniel prayer meetings and divine healing meetings. Other memorable moments included the launch of Manmin Radio and the Only the Bible YouTube channel available in 12 languages; and our 42nd Church Anniversary Service and celebration.
Such meaningful events unfolded one after another. You’ve prayed and served with all your heart for the church and me and to reveal God’s glory. For your personal goals as well, to sanctified and prepare as the Lord’s bride, you’ve dedicated yourselves to praying and serving. Through this, God has allowed us to bear abundant fruits. Most of all, He’s poured out His amazing power, bringing about countless testimonies. As we witness the blessings and power increase, may our gratitude and admiration never fade! On this Thanksgiving Sunday, let us remember the grace and blessings God has poured out on our church and in each of our lives, offering Him deeper gratitude and glory. Brothers and sisters, our God is a loving Father who desires to bless His beloved children. Psalm 50:23 says, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”
God is always looking for ways to give even greater blessings and answers to those who find reasons for thanksgiving and bring Him glory. Even now, He is doing so. What is your current deepest desire that you wish to have answered? Above all, you likely long for your soul to prosper and wish to enter New Jerusalem. You might also desire the power to bear much fruit in your duties. Some might seek blessings or answers for their home, business or personal matters. With our Almighty God, nothing is impossible. May today’s message help you find the path to resolving your problems and fulfilling your desires, overflow with gratitude and hope, and become God’s beloved children who love Him.
Dear brothers and sisters, When literally interpreted, today’s scripture says, "When we are filled with joy because of God, He fulfills the desires of our hearts." Why does God grant the desires of our hearts when we are joyful? It is because being filled with joy in God is His will for us. Of course, people can feel joy in a physical sense when something beneficial happens despite not having God-given joy. We certainly feel joy and happiness when good things happen—such as children acing their studies, winning recognition and getting a promotion at work, getting a salary increase, moving to a nicer home, or buying a desired item.
But the delight from today’s passage doesn’t refer to joy based on physical circumstances and personal emotions. It refers to true and spiritual joy given by God through the fullness of the Holy Spirit. As the Bible says, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit," our Father is the one who gives us true, spiritual joy. Romans 15:13 John 15:10-11 says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
Our Jesus fully obeyed the will of Father God and was always filled with God-given joy. He encourages us, His believers, to keep God’s commandments so we can also have the joy filled in ourselves. Then, how can we be filled with God-given spiritual joy and, through that joy, fulfill the desires of our hearts? We can do this by pleasing God. Proverbs 8:17 says, “I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me.” When we offer Him love, He returns our love. The same goes for joy. He grants us joy when we bring Him joy. When we please God first, He returns that joy to us, filling us with spiritual joy from above. Being a source of joy for one another in love is God's purpose in nurturing true children. So how can we please our God? The Bible outlines many ways to do this. God delights in those who fear Him and in the righteous. And He rejoices in righteousness and justice.
He is delighted when we become the light of the world through good deeds and glorify Him. He takes pleasure in accepting offerings given from the heart and in righteous sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. God is pleased with us fervently sharing the Gospel and exalting Him through praise. Above all, God values faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Our praise, prayer, worship, offerings, and good deeds should all stem from true faith in God. Only then can we truly bring Him joy. If we offer praise, serve, worship, and pray for personal satisfaction, answers, blessings, or healing, we cannot bring joy to God.
Also, if someone gives and shows dedication and faithfulness but feels disappointed when he isn’t praised or if his commitment wavers, things haven’t been done in faith. So, he cannot bring God joy. Only when he gives and sows out of love for God, he’s doing things in faith. If only we have faith that pleases God, nothing is impossible in the world. Mark 9:23 tells us, “’If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes,” and Matthew 17:20 notes, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” The Bible shows many cases where people witnessed amazing works, like rain after a three-and-a-half-year drought, deliverance from prison by angels, protection in the lion’s den, parting the Red Sea, stopping the sun and the moon, and overcoming wild beasts. Sicknesses and infirmities were healed and the dead were raised only by faith. Pleasing God through faith revealed His amazing works.
Yet, some believers still don’t see the evidence of God being pleased despite their diligent prayer and confessions of faith. Why? Why do people still go to the hospital or suffer through various trials and tribulations despite believing in Jesus Christ? The answer lies in the need to have "spiritual faith." Faith that is merely intellectual or expressed with the lips is not truth faith that pleases God. So, it cannot bring true joy from the heart. Despite your confession, "I believe God will answer," worry, anxiety, and complaints arise as you look at the reality. Joy turns to sorrow and discouragement due to people and circumstances.
Then, how can we transform fleshly faith into spiritual faith? Hebrews 10:22 says, "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." God’s children who’ve received salvation and the Holy Spirit can discover their sins and evil as they hear the word. Discovering your anger, hatred, lust, adultery, judgment, condemnation, and deceitfulness, you realize how evil your life has been. As you pray earnestly and transform by truth, your heart becomes clean like it was cleansed with pure water and you can achieve a sincere heart without evil. As this sincere heart develops, God grants perfect faith, which is "spiritual faith." With this spiritual faith given by God, you overflow with joy from God and win His love. He not only answers immediately whatever you ask of Him.
But, He has already prepared what you need. Those with such spiritual faith joyfully obey God’s will even when it seems totally impossible to obey. Even when God commanded Abraham to offer his promised son, Isaac, as a burnt offering, Abraham was still filled with joy and obeyed without concerns because he had spiritual faith in God who raises the dead. With spiritual faith in the almighty God, Moses boldly faced Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who sought to kill him. Trusting in the living God, Daniel’s three friends never bowed to an idol even though that meant being thrown into a blazing furnace. We’ve also witnessed how the shepherd conducted overseas united crusades only with God-pleasing faith. Amidst threats of terrorism, the local state government of Pakistan closed the venue of the crusade.
With an anti-conversion law issued right before the crusade, the Indian local pastors were afraid and requested the shepherd to leave out the words like "Only Jesus is the Savior” and “Only God is the true Deity” from his messages. There were also times when he had to visit a country that doesn’t approve Christianity at all and severely persecutes Christians. But, the shepherd remained fearless and marched only in faith. Even amidst financial difficulties and sleepless nights, he obeyed with faith in the almighty God and willingness to lay down even his life. God was pleased and guaranteed him with amazing power, enabling him to lead numerous souls to the Lord and greatly fulfill God’s will. The same went for his ministry in Israel. Like Abraham who left his home country without a specific destination, our shepherd obeyed and traveled across Israel to spread the gospel.
Even at small churches or places with a small attendance, he preached with joy and love since he took delight in testifying to the Savior in the land where our Lord carried out His ministry. In the heart of Israel, Jerusalem, he proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior and glorified God with great power while the crusade was broadcast live to over 200 countries. By pleasing God only through faith, the pastor emeritus was always filled with spiritual joy, and as the sign of God being pleased with him, great and amazing works were revealed. May we all possess such spiritual faith, always please God, and get filled with spiritual joy from Him!
By doing so, we have to emerge as warriors of faith who can completely fulfill the missions of world evangelization and the construction of the Grand Sanctuary. Beloved brothers and sisters, Joshua 11:15 says, "Just as the Lord had commanded His servant Moses, Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses." Through his spiritual father and teacher, Moses, Joshua learned how to please God and demonstrate the faith that reveals God’s amazing works. Joshua witnessed Moses’ forgiveness and love for the disobedient and complaining Israelites and his tearful prayer for God’s kingdom, and his prayer of faith that moved God’s heart. He saw Moses’ courage of engaging in war though his people were not trained soldiers He also saw his righteousness by which he strictly dealt with sins. Having received God’s word by only fasting and praying on Mount Sinai, Moses taught the commandments and laws to the people.
And, Joshua labored in love with Moses. Through all of this, Joshua understood God’s heart and learned the spiritual ways to move God. Having learned from Moses' faith, Joshua ultimately led the second generation of the Exodus into the Land of Canaan. Dear brothers and sisters, I learned the same. By observing and being part of the shepherd’s ministry, I learned how to understand God's heart and bring down His answers and power. So, I can boldly proclaim this gospel and God's power in my ministry. Through the shepherd and now through me, you learned and are learning how to please God, move His heart, and bring down His power through faith.
No matter the challenges, may you be filled with spiritual joy through the faith of pleasing God indeed, boldly follow God's will, and experience His works. Even if mountains of problems appear and difficulties arise, I hope you will walk forwards only in faith. Faith grows as you demonstrate faith and experience God's works. You gain spiritual strength to face even greater challenges with boldness, which means you’ve become His big worker. You are a spiritual warrior who can overcome the enemy devil and be used for great purposes in God's kingdom. With spiritual faith, fulfilling your heart's desires becomes easy. Once you understand God’s heart and figure out how to please Him, it becomes so simple. As we diligently cast off sins, live in truth, pray in faith, and stay faithful, God will be pleased and open the way to resolving any difficulties or problems. When wisdom is needed, God offers us an awakening, gives us helpers, and provides strength and ability. God also guides you to show acts of faith that please Him more.
When we trust and obey the Holy Spirit's guidance, God will handle the rest. As the Holy Spirit informs us of how to please God, whether we not we act upon it determines the outcome. Once we realize how you we can please God through faith and act accordingly, our heart will be filled with God-given joy and our heart’s desires will be swiftly fulfilled. Through today’s message, may you become God-pleasing children and always receive answers to your heart’s desires. With the end of the year approaching, I pray that you will live a life full of God-given joy, being empowered by the Holy Spirit through fervent prayer.
