What Makes God Joyful? Reflections on Pleasure

The Pleasure of the Lord

What makes God joyful? This isn’t the query one would possibly anticipate when contemplating the advantage of the Spirit’s fruit. The extra pure query for us could be, “What is going to make me completely satisfied?”

In relation to pleasure, we’re all about it. And this isn’t problematic; God has created us to be pleasure seekers. The issue is after we search pleasure within the flawed 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 linked to God, the epitome of highest pleasure. We’re receivers, identical to a tree planted by streams of water (Ps. 1:3), and we’ll yield God’s good fruit from his good Spirit as we stay planted in him.

Our development in pleasure, then, will come from God—from his very personal Spirit of countless and unconquerable gladness.

What Pleasure Is Not

We learn of God’s pleasure and suppose, I want to have that form of pleasure. However does “countless and unconquerable” sound too good to be true? On this damaged and unhappy world filled with struggling we’re extra accustomed to “fanciful and fleeting” happiness—an emotional response to the ebb and circulation of earthly existence. “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens” would possibly cheer us for a second, however we all know these favourite issues don’t final.

Allow us to begin by describing what pleasure is not, in keeping with 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: “Depend all of it pleasure, my brothers, if 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 positive gold, and my yield than selection silver” (Prov. 8:19).
• Pleasure doesn’t imply all the time placing on a contented face: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35).
• Pleasure will not be shallow and doesn’t shift: “You could have 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 think about pleasure because the emotional impact of abundance and perfect, nice circumstances. Whilst pleasure pertains to God, we typically consider it as a “completely satisfied Christian” disposition. However, since Jesus guarantees pleasure to his folks (who’ve many alternative tendencies!) in a world filled with hardship, then pleasure can not 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 figuring out him: “In your presence there may be 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 countless 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 countless 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 objective. He desires to “make recognized [to us] the riches of his glory” (Rom. 9:23). He desires us to be actually joyful—filled with glad gladness in him!

Our pleasure in God will improve as we spend time with him, figuring out 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 circulation 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 individual will not be a joyful individual. 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 objective: to reveal 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 melancholy 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’ll by no means weep, grieve, or be sorrowful, for even Jesus was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Nevertheless it does imply that above the clouds and darkness the solar stays. Our hope brightly shines. Our mild—the glory of God within the face of Jesus Christ—is our pleasure: “Come up, shine, in your mild has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1).

A method by which 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 religious blessings (Eph. 1:3–14). We depend our earthly presents (James 1:17). We carry our voices in prayer and reward, Scripture and music (Ps. 100:1–2). Once we select to rejoice in God with our minds and mouths, our hearts will comply with: “I’ve set the Lord all the time earlier than me. . . . Subsequently my coronary heart is glad, and my entire being rejoices” (Ps. 16:8–9).

Lastly, we contemplate our future: what’s going to occur after we lastly see Christ nose to nose and our religion in him turns to sight? Our pleasure shall be full. Will probably be countless 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’ll all the time be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17), the supply and finish of all our pleasure.

This text is customized from ESV Devotional Journal, Fruit of the Spirit: Pleasure by Kristen Wetherell.

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