| “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:9 |
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| A Holy AMBITION is to have attitudes and actions that are acceptable to the Lord! What is your ambition? The word “ambition” means a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring, demanding of oneself determination and hard work to achieve success. It is very possible that seeing the word “ambition” you might think of it as a negative. Being AMBITIOUS can truly be used to describe a person who will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to get ahead, caring not who or what is harmed. Ambition handled incorrectly, can be very dangerous. Here in 2 Corinthians 5:9, we have a positive ambition. The Greek word translated here as AIM speaks of a love for bringing honor. It could be translated as aspire, conveying what one is reaching for. It could be translated as zealous to convey the passion one has for achieving the desired goal. Paul says our AIM, or AMBITION, that which we ASPIRE after, that which we are ZEALOUS for, PASSIONATE about is being WELL PLEASING to Jesus. Well pleasing has the idea of BEING ACCEPTABLE! Our ambition is to have attitudes and actions that are acceptable to the Lord! How do you apply a verse like 2 Corinthians 5:9 to your everyday living? I see 2 Corinthians 5:9 as one of my filters for making decisions. By desiring every attitude and all actions to be WELL PLEASING, acceptable to the Lord I am going to ask, “Is it pleasing to the Lord?” I have found two prayers that are very helpful in helping me strive to live a well-pleasing, acceptable life to the Lord. One is from Colossians 1:10 where I pray Paul’s prayer as he prayed that a person “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.” The other is from Psalm 19:14 in which David prayed, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” I encourage you to pray these two prayers as part of your daily prayer time. Verse to DATE the Word on May 9 (5/9) is 2 Corinthians 5:9. It says, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.” Do you have a holy AMBITION to have attitudes and actions that are acceptable to the Lord? Continue Strong pursuing PLEASING Jesus, And remember to DATE the Word |