delight

Rejoice Without Ceasing – VOTD.06.12.18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I’ve looked at many writings on the subject of prayer and considered what I’ve learned in many books on prayer and those teachings seem to mainly fall into two categories: guilt-producing reasons we should pray (the stick) and stories and testimonies of the incredible answers to prayer that people got when they disciplined themselves to pray on a regular basis (the carrot).

I’m afraid that many teachers on prayer have turned prayer into anything but a delight. But these same teachers have turned our communion with Jesus into a duty and the Christian life into drudgery. They don’t seem to have much God-filled joy to share.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m certain that one of the things that drives me to pray is the consistent answers I’ve gotten. And as for discipline, I can choose to make room in my life to pray, but I can’t choose to ‘pray without ceasing’. That has to be something that God does in me when my heart is continually going back to Him.

The problem with the stick and carrot approaches is that they make our relationship with Jesus sterile… they ‘incline our hearts’ to self-discipline and that has some pretty dampening effects on love and communion with Him. Instead, the psalmist asks God to ‘incline my heart to your ways’ (Ps 119:36). I believe that is why Paul ties ‘rejoicing without ceasing’ and ‘praying without ceasing’ together in today’s verses.

This same tie is made in Psalm 1’s description of the person who is blessed of God: ‘His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His Word he meditates day and night’. (more…)

Continue ReadingRejoice Without Ceasing – VOTD.06.12.18

Free to Delight in Him – VOTD.06.05.18

How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your delight. Psalms 36:7-8

When we’re full of ourselves, full of other things, other programs and events and people, it’s hard to ‘be still and know that I am God’ (Ps 46:10). And sometimes our lives are like that—where the best we do is carve out time to spend in meditating on what God is saying and communing with Him. Sometimes it’s hard to turn our eyes, our focus, our attention, from the things of this life and spend time gazing on Jesus. 

But this isn’t abundant life…this is what Jesus set us free from when He came. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me TO PROCLAIM FREEDOM for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, TO SET THE OPPRESSED FREE, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:16-19)

The “thing from which you derive the most pleasure is the very thing you worship. For some people it is Prozac, or the NFL… It could be a wicked or a mundane thing. But ask yourself: where do you find the most irresistible pleasure? That is what you worship.

“We must worship and serve God for one reason alone: because we can’t help ourselves. We are entranced. God is that delightful to us.

“Worship is basically adoration, and we adore only what delights us. There is no such thing as sad adoration or unhappy praise. We have a name for those who try to praise when they have no pleasure in the object. We call them hypocrites.”–John Piper (more…)

Continue ReadingFree to Delight in Him – VOTD.06.05.18