"Far be it from You, Lord! This shall not happen to You," an impassioned Peter told the Lord Jesus, who responded with an answer we should all take note of: In Matthew 16:21-23, we read how Jesus spoke to His disciples about His coming death and resurrection, and how Peter (again) rebuked Him for it. We could go on with the many God-displeasing "acts of faith," but let's consider one last event in the Bible. Only by knowing Him are we enabled to do what pleases Him. He wants us to know His heart and thus know what we should be doing. God says He prefers for us to know Him than for us to merely offer something to Him (see Hosea 6:6). While we could assume that he merely did that to protect Jesus, he actually got rebuked for it. In John 18:10-11, we read how Peter passionately defended the Lord Jesus by slashing off the right ear of Malchus.Samuel commanded Saul to destroy Amalek, but instead of utterly destroying everything in Amalek, Saul spared its king and its flocks because he wanted to "sacrifice to the Lord." While it might sound like an act of faith, it actually caused God to reject Saul as king of Israel. In 1 Samuel 15, we read of how Saul's action displeased God.God's Word tells us several things that He really hates, things that even if we do them "in faith," He would still be utterly displeased. I've seen people do "by faith" many things that weren't really pleasing to the Lord. Does this mean that if we do practically anything as long as it is done in faith, we will please God? Pleasing God requires that we do His will in faith. The Bible tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. ".understand what the will of the Lord is." – Ephesians 5:17
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