{"id":713,"date":"2013-01-05T14:46:38","date_gmt":"2013-01-05T14:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=713"},"modified":"2013-01-05T14:46:38","modified_gmt":"2013-01-05T14:46:38","slug":"building-a-doll-house-christmas-morning-chapter-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/?p=713","title":{"rendered":"Building a Doll House: Christmas Morning \u2013 Chapter 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: If you missed Chapters 1-12 of Building a Doll House, you can find it in the column under “blog archive” to the right.<\/p>\n

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Christmas morning arrived. It was time for Joy to see her dollhouse for the first time. However, it was a pretty large gift and would not fit under the tree. So I created a scavenger hunt for her to search for her gift. The hunt ended in the guest room where Joy found her doll house.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>All the anticipation leading to this moment was worth it. Wondering whether she would like her doll house disappeared the moment she saw it. When Joy saw the doll house, her face told us how she felt. The excitement, the thrill, the joy. It was all there. Expressed by wondering eyes, a smile that melts the heart, and uncertainty of where to begin the exploration. It was priceless!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wonder if this isn\u2019t how God feels when we accept Him as our Father and His Word as our guide to live by. When we get the picture that it isn\u2019t all about \u201cme.\u201d When we willingly and cheerfully give of ourselves to others. Then He looks at us with joy in His heart. With excitement that cannot be contained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He is the designer and when His creation accepts the challenge to be as He originally designed, God is most satisfied and thrilled by our actions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Apostle Paul encouraged the Christians in Thessalonica to live lives that pleased God. Take a look at these words. \u201cFinally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.\u201d<\/em> (1 Thessalonians 4:1 \u2013 NIV)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This group of people were pleasing God by their actions and their attitudes. But that didn\u2019t mean they had reached their goal. They needed to keep on doing what they were doing, but do it more and more. So what lifestyle is pleasing to God? Let\u2019s continue with this passage to find out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul begins with being sanctified. Sanctified means to be holy or blameless. To be set apart for holiness. There are other passages that call us to be holy. Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:9; and 1 Peter 1:15 to name a few. It means we must live to please God instead of our sinful nature.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Which Paul mentions next. \u201cYou should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God.\u201d<\/em> (1 Thessalonians 4:3a-6 \u2013 NIV) In order to please God, we must rid ourselves of anything that is displeasing to Him. Our hearts and minds must be pure of sexual immorality, lust, and uncontrollable urges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul then moves to our treatment of others. He instructs them to be careful not to wrong another brother or take advantage of him. (1 Thessalonians 4:6) As we come to a better understanding of how God wants us to live, we acknowledge the second greatest commandment. \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\u201d <\/em>(Mark 12:31 \u2013 NIV) Paul was simply restating Jesus\u2019 words.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the next section, Paul encourages these brothers to treat others well, but also to grow their brotherly love. They obviously were doing so, but Paul told them they could improve. \u201cYou do love all the brothers throughout Macdeonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.\u201d<\/em> (1 Thessalonians 4:10 \u2013 NIV) Regardless of how much we love, we can love more. It is part of what pleases God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This group of Christians were then asked to \u201cmake it their ambition\u201d to do a few more things. To lead a quiet life. To mind their own business. To work with their hands. To live lives that will win respect of outsiders. To be independent of others. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For me, this seems like an odd list of objectives for living a holy life. The only directive that seems to be related to God in any way is the section about winning the respect of others. That our holy lives would reflect God and that would bring others to Christ. But clearly, these elements are to be pursued. Pursued ambitiously!<\/p>\n

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I suspect by using these guidelines to live by, we would have less opportunity to allow sin to creep into our lives. A quiet life would imply that carousing isn\u2019t taking place. Minding our own business would imply that our lives are free of gossip. Working with our hands would imply that we desire to accomplish good, not evil. Being independent in our well-being would imply that laziness is absent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In all of these areas then, others for certain would see God working in us and through us. Our holy lives would indeed win the respect of non-believers.<\/p>\n

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And holy lives are pleasing to God. I said it earlier, but it is worth repeating. God is the designer and when His creation accepts the challenge to be as He originally designed, God is most satisfied and thrilled by our actions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, what steps are you taking today to live a holy life? What ambitions have you set for yourself? What more do you need to do?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As Paul said, \u201cdo so more and more.\u201d There is always room for improvement. Each of us can move a little closer to God. And in doing so, we are living a life that is pleasing to Him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many playful hours have been spent in the rooms of the doll house. And I suspect there will be many more to come. This play area has brought great pleasure to our granddaughter, but to be honest, it brings great pleasure to my husband and me as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each moment Joy spends rearranging furniture or playing with \u201cthe family\u201d brings joy to my heart. Her imagination, her enthusiasm, and her enjoyment make the building of this doll house all that more meaningful. And I smile!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Donna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: If you missed Chapters 1-12 of Building a Doll House, you can find it in the column under “blog archive” to the right.   Christmas morning arrived. It was time for Joy to see her dollhouse for the first time. However, it was a pretty large gift and would not fit under the tree. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pleasing-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=713"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":718,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions\/718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fullmeasureofjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}