The Pleasure of the Lord
What makes God joyful? This isn’t the query one may anticipate when contemplating the advantage of the Spirit’s fruit. The extra pure query for us is perhaps, “What is going to make me completely satisfied?”
With regards to pleasure, we’re all about it. And this isn’t problematic; God has created us to be pleasure seekers. The issue is once we search pleasure within the incorrect locations. We’re wanting on the fruit of the Spirit—fruit that grows and thrives not due to us or from us however as a result of we’re related to God, the epitome of highest pleasure. We’re receivers, similar to a tree planted by streams of water (Ps. 1:3), and we are going to yield God’s good fruit from his good Spirit as we stay planted in him.
Our progress in pleasure, then, will come from God—from his very personal Spirit of infinite and unconquerable gladness.
What Pleasure Is Not
We learn of God’s pleasure and assume, I want to have that form of pleasure. However does “infinite and unconquerable” sound too good to be true? On this damaged and unhappy world filled with struggling we’re extra acquainted with “fanciful and fleeting” happiness—an emotional response to the ebb and move of earthly existence. “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” may cheer us for a second, however we all know these favourite issues don’t final.
This field set consists of 9 journals, every centered on one fruit of the Spirit. With 12 related Bible passages, reflective journaling prompts, and note-taking house, readers can meditate on what God speaks by his Phrase and the Spirit.
Allow us to begin by describing what pleasure is not, in response to God’s Phrase:
- Pleasure will not be present in worldly pleasures: “I saved my coronary heart from no pleasure . . . . and behold, all was self-importance and a striving after wind” (Eccl. 2:10–11).
- Pleasure will not be depending on the absence of struggling: “Rely all of it pleasure, my brothers, once you meet trials of varied varieties” (James 1:2).
- Pleasure can’t be purchased by cash or present in possessions:“My fruit is best than gold, even high quality gold, and my yield than selection silver” (Prov. 8:19).
- Pleasure doesn’t imply all the time placing on a cheerful face: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
- Pleasure will not be shallow and doesn’t shift: “You’ve gotten sorrow now, however I’ll see you once more, and your hearts will rejoice, and nobody will take your pleasure from you” (John 16:22).
It’s simple to consider pleasure because the emotional impact of abundance and excellent, nice circumstances. At the same time as pleasure pertains to God, we generally consider it as a “completely satisfied Christian” disposition. However, since Jesus guarantees pleasure to his folks (who’ve many various inclinations!) in a world filled with hardship, then pleasure can’t probably be any of those. “I’ve spoken to you, that my pleasure could also be in you, and that your pleasure could also be full” (John 15:11).
What Pleasure Is
In accordance with our Savior pleasure is discovered not in our circumstances however in understanding him: “In your presence there’s fullness of pleasure” (Ps. 16:11). Nobody can take our pleasure from us as a result of nobody can take our Lord from us. True Christian pleasure, then, is satisfaction within the presence of God, who is stuffed with infinite and unconquerable gladness in himself.
What occurs when our God of pleasure abides in us by his Spirit? His pleasure involves us after which flows from us. So, again to our query: What makes God joyful? As together with his love, God has all the time existed in infinite and unconquerable gladness inside himself. He’s the “happiest being within the universe,”1 completely glad together with his personal glory — his lovely splendor and holy majesty. God’s pleasure is his good pleasure to declare and enjoyment of his personal loveliness, and, astoundingly, he has concerned us on this function. He desires to “make identified [to us] the riches of his glory” (Rom. 9:23). He desires us to be really joyful—filled with glad gladness in him!
Our pleasure in God will enhance as we spend time with him, understanding him higher and trusting him extra (Ps. 16:11). His pleasure will come to us as his Spirit reminds us of his character, works, and guarantees by Scripture (John 15:11), and his pleasure will move from us to others as we obey his life-giving instructions to recollect him, discuss to him, rejoice all the time, and be grateful (Ps. 100:4; Phil. 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16).
What occurs when our God of pleasure abides in us by his Spirit? His pleasure involves us after which flows from us.
Pleasure can also be rooted in hope. A despairing particular person will not be a joyful particular person. Psalm 42:11 asks, “Why are you forged down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil inside me? Hope in God; for I shall once more reward him, my salvation and my God.” It was “for the enjoyment that was set earlier than him” that Jesus endured the cross (Heb. 12:2). Whereas struggling and dying—a seemingly despairing occasion—the Son of God hoped in God’s joyful function: to divulge to us his glory. This was the enjoyment set earlier than Jesus, the enjoyment that enabled him to stroll by opposition, betrayal, ache, and dying — and into everlasting life.
And it’s the similar pleasure—God’s pleasure—that can allow us to do the identical.
Joyful Fruit
So, when opposition arises, when betrayal comes, when ache assaults, when testing assails, when despair descends, when dying itself approaches, what’s going to stay for us? Our deep and abiding pleasure in God. Nobody can take our pleasure from us as a result of nobody can take God’s Spirit from us; our pleasure stays as a result of he does. This doesn’t imply we are going to by no means weep, grieve, or be sorrowful, for even Jesus was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). But it surely does imply that above the clouds and darkness the solar stays. Our hope brightly shines. Our gentle—the glory of God within the face of Jesus Christ—is our pleasure: “Come up, shine, in your gentle has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1).
A method wherein we are able to observe the presence of our superb Lord and bear his fruit of pleasure is by day by day drawing “water from the wells of salvation” (Isa. 12:3). We bear in mind the gospel—who Jesus is and what he has completed (Ps. 92:1–4). We rehearse our non secular blessings (Eph. 1:3–14). We rely our earthly items (James 1:17). We carry our voices in prayer and reward, Scripture and music (Ps. 100:1–2). After we select to rejoice in God with our minds and mouths, our hearts will observe: “I’ve set the Lord all the time earlier than me. . . . Due to this fact my coronary heart is glad, and my entire being rejoices” (Ps. 16:8–9).
Lastly, we think about our future: what’s going to occur once we lastly see Christ head to head and our religion in him turns to sight? Our pleasure shall be full. It is going to be infinite and unconquerable, as soon as and for all. As our hope is realized, so will our highest satis- faction and everlasting gladness, “and so we are going to all the time be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), the supply and finish of all our pleasure.
Notes:
- John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 36.
This text is tailored from ESV Devotional Journal, Fruit of the Spirit: Joy by Kristen Wetherell.
