Living and Dwelling in the Joy of Our God
What is joy?
Definition of Christian Joy
I Like John Piper’s definition of Christian joy.
Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.
John Piper (2015, July 25). How do you define joy? Desiring God. Retrieved January 9, 2022, from https://www.desiringgod.org/articles
Contemplating Joy
While in pain and in busyness, I find myself wandering from God. I believe it’s God’s Holy Spirit dwelling within me who prompts me to yearn once again for God and his word. I want to experience God’s presence and rest in his goodness. I desire to be restored to the joy of God’s salvation. (Psalm 51:12) I long to be filled with the joy and peace that comes from trusting and believing in our God of hope. (Romans 15:13)
Bible Verses on Joy
Below are just a few of the many, many verses that I found in the Bible which speak on the topic of joy. I’ve bolded words in these verses of particular interest to me.
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
John 15:11
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (I needed to bold the whole verse on this one.)
Hebrew 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
1 Peter 1:8-9
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Glorifying God and Enjoying Him Forever
According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the chief end of man, of all of us, is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. While not a Bible verse, there are verses in scripture to support this.
Christian Hedonist
A hedonist is a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important thing in life. I have often quoted the self-proclaimed Christian Hedonist, John Piper. He claims, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” I believe C.S. Lewis would have agreed.
Praising God is Enjoying God
In his book Reflection on the Psalms, C.S. Lewis wrote about how when we enjoy something, our joy is even greater, or our joy is completed when we tell others about what we have found or experienced. We are glorifying that thing we found so delightful and in so doing, receiving even more joy from it. So it is when we praise and glorify God. C.S. Lewis says all of this so much better that I am able. Let me give you his quote:
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.
C.S.Lewis. Reflections on the Psalms. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1958. pp. 93–97
When I Drift Away
But sometimes I get caught up in the busyness of life. Sometimes I turn inward with my pain. I fail to look to God who is always good, who loves me perfectly, and calls me back to him.
My desire is to always keep God first and first only in my life, to love him with all my heart and soul and strength, and mind, to read and meditate on his word and know him more, love him more, serve him more. Through this, I desire to be transformed into the image of his son, Jesus. I want God to use my chronic physical and emotional pain for his glory. I want a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with him. I want to humbly come before God in prayer, lay my life before him, and surrender, “I’m yours.” And so often I fail miserably and need to ask forgiveness and be restored.
The closer I come to living the ideal I strive for, the more joy I experience in my relationship with my heavenly Father, and in life despite my pain. I experience joy and I “feel good”. I delight in God.
Today, after sadly missing several days spending devoted time with God, I found myself longing to pray. I thought about why I pray, and my reasons all seemed so selfish. Then I thought that perhaps it was okay. Perhaps I was being a Christian hedonist.
Why I Pray
I made the list below about why I pray. The reasons are roughly in the order of my approach to prayer. (I follow a prayer pattern that I gleaned from the book, Prayer by Timothy Keller.)
- I find it an amazing and humbling experience to be welcomed into the presence of the God who not only loves me, but also created the universe and all that is in it.
- I love the time I spend with my Father God and simply dwell in his presence.
- I love thinking about who the Bible says God is and praising God that he is all that the Bible says.
- I experience God’s love when I am loving and praising God.
- Praying to God takes care of a need deep within my soul that nothing else comes close to satisfying.
- Jesus told us to bring our needs before our Father and ask in his name, and I have many needs.
- I have so many friends and family members in need of God’s intervention in their lives. I need to pray for them, too.
- I need to make myself right with God once again, seek forgiveness, and seek his guidance to change my ways.
- I experience joy when I express my gratitude to God for all that he is and all that he has done for me.
- I feel settled, at peace, and safe once I have prayed to my Father, for he is my Rock, and my Shelter, my Dwelling Place and I find my rest in him.
- I delight in God when I pray.
Delighting in God
I ended my list with delighting in God. I remember one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I think this means that I am commanded to delight in God, and when I do so, my heart becomes more like his, and I more and more desire God, and want to please him. So, I delight in God, and he gives me the desire of my heart which is more and more of him.
God Provides All I Need
Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
I trust and believe that God will provide for my needs, but I’m always very excited when I am clearly aware of God at work, I think, “Wow! Look at what God has done!” I become excited and full of joy. Then, like C.S. Lewis, to complete my joy I praise God for what he has done.
I love the photo below of a sparrow. (It’s another photo by Geoff Robinson.) I think of the sparrow as an ordinary bird, but look at it! It’s beautiful! It’s not just a gray and brown bird. Look at the markings and shades of brown and gray. Look how it’s all puffed up to stay warm on this winter day, a behavior designed for the sparrow by God to keep it safe in the cold.
I think of the verses in Matthew about how our heavenly Father feeds the birds.
Matthew 6: 25-26
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
I look at the photo again. This amazingly beautiful creature was designed by our Creator God and King. The sparrow is clearly of great worth and Jesus says that our heavenly Father values me more. I could flippantly say of course I’m worth more than a bird. But no. Look at this sparrow. It’s beautiful. I’m worth more than this beautiful creature. And God takes care of the sparrow. God will take care of me. This brings me great joy!
Almost to the End
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting worn out. Before I quit, I must share some of the verses I found about God delighting in us.
God Delights in Us!
I delight knowing that God delights in me. I went to the website OpenBible.info and found a listing of verses under “God Delights in You.” I chose just a few.
( OpenBible.info. (2022, January 5). God delights in you. OpenBible.Info. Retrieved January 7, 2022, from https://www.openbible.info/topics/god_delights_in_you )
Psalm 18:19
He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 147:11
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Living and Dwelling in the Joy of Our God
I am reminded how very much God loves me. He doesn’t just love me because he must. God’s love and grace and mercy are all undeserved gifts. I can rest in his love, but I exalt in his singing over me. I am a precious child of God, more valuable than the sparrows. I take joy in God’s care and provision; I delight with him and in him as he delights over me. I will live and dwell forever in the joy of our God.
A Prayer
Dear Father God,
We come before you and thank you for the great honor and privilege of prayer and for your presence here with us today. We thank you also for your wonderfully perfect steadfast love for each of us and for your great faithfulness. We thank you for being our rock, our shelter, and our dwelling place. We rest in your love and exalt with great joy that you sing over us. We are so very, very grateful for what your Son, Jesus, did for us, suffering and dying on the cross, paying the price for our sins, so that we who believe in you would find forgiveness and live forever with you. So it is not because of us, but because of Jesus, that we receive your grace and mercy. We refilled with joy and delight with you and in you as you delight over us knowing we will dwell forever in the joy of you, our God.
It’s in the precious name of Jesus that we pray.
Your grateful daughter,
SJR