Paul's Best Life Now

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.

-Colossians 1:24-26

There Is a Joy that Brings True Happiness

"But Lord, keep me far from one error. May it be far from the heart of Your servant who here confesses unto You, that I should feel momentary earthly joy and suppose that I had reached true happiness. There is a joy that brings true happiness, but it is not given to the ungodly. It is only for those who love You for Your sake."

-St. Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine

Easy Mac vs. Diligence

I ate Easy Mac today. I really didn't want to make anything too complicated. How bad could it be?

I was shocked at how terrible it was compared to regular mac 'n' cheese. All to save 5-10 minutes. Disgusting.

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied." 

-Proverbs 13:4

What a profound Biblical truth. When I crave the Word of God but my laziness wins out, I get nothing. But my soul is saturated with all it needs and more when I spend diligent time in Scripture.

What do I desire more? The pool of Easy Mac I am wallowing in or an infinite God who provides for all of my needs all of the time and is entirely satisfying without fail from before time began to eternity? I hope that it is the latter.

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

-C.S. Lewis

Lord, I pray that I will desire that which satisfies me the most.

Pursuing Joy

Taken from Profiting from the Scriptures by AW Pink

"The ungodly are ever seeking after joy, but they do not find it: they busy and weary themselves in the pursuit of it, yet all in vain. Their hearts being turned from the Lord, they look downward for joy, where it is not; rejecting the substance, they diligently run after the shadow, only to be mocked by it. It is the sovereign decree of heaven that nothing can make sinners truly happy but God in Christ; but this they will not believe, and therefore they go from creature to creature, from one broken cistern to another, inquiring where the best joy is to be found. Each worldly thing which attracts them says, It is found in me; but soon it disappoints. Nevertheless, they go on seeking it afresh today in the very thing which deceived them yesterday. If after many trials they discover the emptiness of one creature comfort, then they turn to another, only to verify our Lord’s word,

'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again' (John 4:13).

Going now to the other extreme: there are some Christians who suppose it to be sinful to rejoice. No doubt many of our readers will be surprised to hear this but let them be thankful they have been brought up in sunnier surroundings, and bear with us while we labor with those less favored. Some have been taught—largely by implication and example, rather than by plain inculcation—that it is their duty to be gloomy. They imagine that feelings of joy are produced by the Devil appearing as an angel of light. They conclude that it is well-nigh a species of wickedness to be happy in such a world of sin as we are in. They think it presumptuous to rejoice in the knowledge of sins forgiven, and if they see young Christians so doing they tell them it will not be long before they are floundering in the Slough of Despond.

'Rejoice evermore' (1 Thessalonians 5:16). It surely cannot be unsafe to do what God has commanded us. The Lord has placed no embargo on rejoicing. No, it is Satan who strives to make us hang up our harps. There is no precept in Scripture bidding us 'Grieve in the Lord always: and again I say, Grieve'; but there is an exhortation which bids us,

'Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright' (Psalm 33:1).

Reader, if you are a real Christian (and it is high time you tested yourself by Scripture and made sure of this point), then Christ is yours, all that is in Him is yours."

Delight Yourself in the Lord

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." 

-Psalm 37:4

If I delight myself in the Lord, I will be delighting in what I desire.

If I desire the Lord, I will be desiring what I delight in.

The Lord is my heart's desire. And He will give me more of Himself.

Satisfying...

Resolution 1: What does it mean?

It was suggested to me that I include a 21st century interpretation of the Resolutions of Jonathan Edward that I post on a weekly basis. If I miss the mark on any one of the resolutions please correct me or include your own input. And hopefully some beneficial discussion will ensue.

First, Edwards resolves to "do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory." I think this piece is the fundamental basis for the rest of the resolution. And then he resolves to seek "my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence." This is all founded on God's glory. The greatest good that we can seek and the greatest profit and pleasure that we can desire will come when we strive to glorify God in all that we do and when we understand that the only good, the only profit, and the only pleasure there is comes through Christ.

Secondly, Edwards resolves to "do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general." Again, this is placed squarely on the glory of God. Our duty is to glorify God. This will benefit every area of our lives, including our interactions with others.

Finally, there is a resolution to keep the resolutions.

I see this first resolution firmly founded in the Great Commandment. And the second resolution founded in the second greatest commandment. Both are found in Matthew 22:34-40.

Resolution 1

In 1722 Jonathan Edwards made some resolutions. Seventy in fact. They are big. I am planning to meditate on one each week and post it. And "being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake. Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week." Those were Edwards' words, not mine. But I am going to adopt them. So here is resolution #1:

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.