Tearing Down Altars

Tearing Down Altars: Living to Please God

Posted by Lisa Rene Delgado on
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Learning How to Walk, Not Perform

A Day’s Journey through 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12

Soli Deo Gloria

“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God.”
 — 1 Thessalonians 4:1

Introduction: From Tearing Down to Walking Forward

The altars have been torn down.
 The heart has been examined.
 Repentance has cleared the way.

Now Paul does not say, “Try harder.”
 He says, “Learn how to walk.”

Christian maturity is not measured by how much we know, how visible our faith appears, or how impressive our service looks. It is measured by how we live—daily, quietly, faithfully—before God.

Morning Devotional

Living to Please God, Not Ourselves

Scripture Anchors:

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:1–2-Finally, then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the LORD Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God: 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the LORD Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: That you should abstain from sexual immorality…(continue reading).
  • Colossians 1:10-…that you make walk worthy of the LORD, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthen with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy. 12 Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Paul reminds the believers that they already received instruction. This is not a new gospel—it is a continuing walk. Growth in Christ is not about entitlement to blessing, but about increasing alignment with God’s will.

To please God is not to earn His Love; it is to respond to it.

Grace does not remove obedience—it empowers it.

 Sacred Pause

  • Am I walking with God, or performing for people?
  • Where has obedience felt like pressure instead of a relationship?

Noon Reflection

Sanctification: God’s Will Made Plain

Scripture Anchors:

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8-For this is the will of God, your sanctification: That you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess how own vessal in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God: 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the LORD is the avenger of all such, as we also forwarned you and testified. 7 For God does not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.

Paul speaks plainly:

“For this is the will of God—your sanctification.”

Sanctification is not punishment.
 It is protection.

God calls His people to live differently—not to restrict joy, but to preserve holiness. Paul warns that disregarding God’s design is not merely rejecting rules, but rejecting God Himself, who gives us His Holy Spirit.

Walking in holiness is not about shame—it is about honor.

Prayer of Repentance & Alignment

Holy God,
 Thank You for making Your will clear. Forgive me where I have resisted sanctification or treated grace casually. I repent of every compromise that blurred my walk with You. Teach me how to honor You with my whole life—spirit, soul, and body.
 In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Evening Devotional

A Quiet, Faithful Life That Testifies

Scripture Anchors:

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:9–12-But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another: 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
  • Micah 6:8-He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Paul ends this teaching not with grandeur, but with quiet faithfulness: love one another, live peacefully, mind your own affairs, work honestly.

This kind of life may never be applauded—but it is deeply pleasing to God.

Walking with God is not loud.
 It is consistent.
 It is humble.
 It is faithful.

And it becomes a testimony to those watching from the outside.

 Sacred Pause

As the day closes:

  • What does a God-pleasing walk look like in my everyday life?
  • Where is God inviting me into quieter obedience?

Evening Prayer of Surrender & Rest

Father God,
 I lay down performance, striving, and comparison. Teach me how to walk with You—step by step, day by day. Shape my life to please You, not through perfection, but through faithfulness and obedience. As I rest tonight, strengthen me to walk in holiness tomorrow.
 In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Closing Doxology

Praise and glory to God Almighty,
 The True and Living God.
 He teaches us how to walk.
 He gives us His Spirit to obey.
 Soli Deo Gloria.