And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Php 1:9-11

How much do you want to please God? Is it even possible for us, as the lowly, sinful creatures that we were before Christ touched us, is it even possible for us to please a pure and holy and righteous Almighty God?

Fortunately for us, God in His infinite mercy doesn't leave us our on a limb. Yes, we pleasing to Him, and can live a live that is very pleasing to Him. He even tells us how to do it. To live a life that's pleasing to God:

A. Bear fruit in every good work. This does not mean that we each have to do everything; it means that everything we do should be good (i.e.- for the glory of the Lord and the furtherance of His kingdom) and should bear fruit.

B. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord. To do this, we must spend time alone with Him. You never get to really know someone without spending time with them. This needs to be a daily priority for a Christian. We need to seek Him, realizing and believing His promise that when we seek Him, he will be found.

C. Develop great patience and endurance. This is one of the things a Christian needs to finish the race, and it is a gift from God. He strengthens us with all power (His power, not our own!) according to His own great might {power, strength}. In other words, He provides us with His own strength to be able to have patience and endure. we cannot do it in our own strength or power. What a relief to finally realize we don't have to do it all by ourselves!

D. Joyfully give thanks to the Father. God is not just some strict disciplinarian, waiting to jolt us with a few lightning bolts when we mess up; He is our loving Father. He qualified us to share the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, and we should give Him thanks and joyful praise. If we have no other reason whatsoever to praise and thank Him, this one fact alone would still be reason to be joyful and thank Him: He rescued us from the dominion of darkness, (i.e.--- saved our souls from hell), and gave us an inheritance in Christ's own kingdom! Thank you, Jesus!