YOU CAN MAKE GOD REJOICE

CAN we actually affect the way God feels?   Does God have the capacity to rejoice?  One dictionary definition of the word  "God" is the supreme or ultimate reality."  What if that awesome reality were simply a force?  Could we expect an impersonal force to rejoice? Hardly. Consider, though, what the Bible says about God. 

"God is a Spirit,"  says Jesus Christ.  (John 4:24)  A spirit is a form of life that differs from humans.  Though visible  to human eyes, a spirit has a body-"a spiritual one." (1 Corinthians  15:44; John 1:18)  Employing figures of speech, the Bible even speaks , the Bible speaks of God as having eyes, ears, hands, and so forth.  God also has a name-Jehovah. (Psalm 83:18 ) The God of the Bible, then, is a spirit person.  (Hebrews 9:24) "He is the living God and the King to time indefinite." - Jeremiah 10:10. 

As a real living person, Jehovah is capable of thought and action.  He manifest qualities and feelings, likes and dislikes.  The Bible, in fact, abounds in expressions that reveal what things please or displease him. Whereas man-made gods and Idols merely mirror the traits or qualities of their human inventors, the almighty God, Jehovah is the very Originator of the emotions that he planted in humans. -Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 44:7-11. 

Jehovah is without a doubt "the happy God."  (1 Timothy 1:11)  He not only rejoices in his creative works but also takes pleasure in accomplishing his purpose. Through the prophet Isaiah, Jehovah declares:"Everything that is my delight I shall do . . .I have even spoken it; I shall also bring it in.  I have formed it, I shall also do it." (Isaiah 46:9-11) The psalmist sang: "Jehovah will rejoice in his works." (Psalm 104:31)  But there is yet another source of joy to God.  He says: "Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice." (Proverbs 27:11) Think of what that means-we can make God rejoice!  

Next time: How We Can Make God's Heart Rejoice

From the Watchtower magazine, 2004