More Joy, prayer, and God's word

I just wanted to put up a post to say how amazing these three things are! Firstly, from spending time in Isaiah 12, I was struck by verses 2-3:

Surely God is my salvation; 

       I will trust and not be afraid. 

       The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; 

       he has become my salvation."

 ³ With joy you will draw water 

       from the wells of salvation.

Verse three is echoed by Jesus in John 4, with the Samarian woman at the well. But note how God tells Isaiah that he will draw water from the wells of salvation "with joy". Just knowing that through christ, we have been reconciled with the living god, who turns from his anger to love and comfort us, is just an amazing free gift. And it should fill us with joy! (you can probably tell i'm stuck into "Desiring God" at the moment!). I've been asking God to fill me with the joy of knowing him, and that He would be my treasure above all, and it's working! It's just a heart bursting thing to know that. If you haven't prayed that yet, I seriously recommend that you do! 

I guess that was an aside (although an uplifting one). I really wanted to say what a benefit spending a long time reading the bible, mulling over and chewing on God's word, and then praying (again, for not a short while) is. Although we may find it hard to do in our busy lives, the benefits of growing closer to him, leaning on him in childlike trust and delighting in a living relationship with a loving father are just priceless. I've been finding that over the last two weeks. This also ties closely to what I've been saying about idols really. When we realize what a privilege it is to know God personally, and have him speak to us in his word, and being able to cast our anxieties, and pour our hearts out in praise, repentance and need to him, all the worldly things we desire just seem to pale into insignificance, given all the spiritual blessings we have in the heavenly realms, and the future hope of glory set before us. This should (must) also spur us on to tell our friends and colleagues about this wonderful free gift of grace, this salvation they can have! How much better, and more permanent it is then the counterfeit gods this world offers!

So go for it!

Desiring God

I've recently started to read "Desiring God", by John Piper. In it, Piper's punchline is:

"The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever"

I've been struck by so many things so far, and it's been really eye opening, and refreshing to read this book. In particular, this popped out from the page this morning whilst I was reading it on the train:

"Not to enjoy God is to dishonor him. To say to Him that something else satisfies you more is the opposite of worship. It is sacrilege" (p.22)

Then piper points to psalm 34:8:

"Taste and see that the lord is good!"

and also psalm 119:103:

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth"

I'm starting to agree with piper's (indeed scripture's) sentiment here, in that nothing else can delight us more, and quench our thirst for happiness more than God. Because God is utterly sovereign, none of his purposes can be thwarted. This means that we have a happy God, because he can do anything (imagine being able to do anything and not being happy!). If we have a happy, sovereign God, then who else to delight in than Him who is supremely joyful?

I'm finding this true, not only from the bible, but also through experience. I'm starting to realize again that ultimately the world doesn't satisfy you. It just offers fleeting pleasures. They just fade away, leaving you wondering why they didn't complete you. The truth seems to be that whatever the world offers, it cannot satisfy us enough. It just all misses the mark. John D. Rockafeller once said: “How much money is enough? Just a little more than you have.”. This is one of the truest things outside the bible.

I'm slowly being driven to the fact that God is the only being that can satisfy us totally. That being said however, learning to delight in him more than anything else is proving to be supremely difficult. I'm finding that a lot of my roots, desires and passions are driven deep into earthly things rather than into God. The task, therefore is to 'uproot' myself, and be 're-rooted' in Christ. My hope and prayer is that by grace I will be able to do this, and that it would bring satisfaction in Him, rather than in the world.