Been a while (almost a week) since we talked last!
Let these questions stir up thoughts for tomorrow night's time together and just for anyone who is seeking to deepen their roots in their Hope, Christ Jesus!
We left off last week with these words, "Pursue your Joy, God commands it!"
Psalm 100:1-2 "Make a joyful noise all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!"
So, would it be wrong to serve the Lord without joy?
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!" Is this a command?
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
Would God give you everything you want, even if it were sinful?
Mathew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."
Why would the man do this? He sells everything with JOY, How can he be joyful in losing all that he owns? What does this tell us about the Kingdom of heaven? Why would he tell us this?
Does God call us to self denial? Does this go against pursuing joy in God? read Hebrews 11:24-26.
I hope this helps for tomm. night! Hey you, yes you! Pass this on to a friend.
-James
I do not think the Lord would take pleasure in our services if we did it without joy... And we would not be magnifying Christ...
ReplyDeleteIs it a command?
I don't think we would of been told to rejoice if we weren't expected too.
"Would God give you everything you want, even id it were sinful?"
Ahhh.... NO.... the delight your self IN THE LORD part is kinda key there. If you are delighted in the Lord, will you want all the sinful things you see? I don't think so...
He can be joyful because he knows that what he will get is even better!
I would say that it doesn't go against pursuing joy to deny yourself the pleasure of this would... once again, you have to look at where you find your joy... Moses was looking ahead, not looking at his present troubles,
My mind is a little ADD, so my comments might seem scattered, but they all fit together eventually, and some of (most of) them are very elementary thoughts or questions, please forgive this, because I must make sure my foundation is sercure before I add on.
ReplyDelete1. Isn't it ironic that the lesson that benefits my heart most is the one my heart is resisting to grasp?
2. I hear and read all about Joy and can define it for you in writing. But I am an imitative learner, and I don't know how to master a concept until I see it displayed. So who should I look to, to imitate, learn from, and model my spiritual behaviour after so that I may learn joyfulness. Bascially, who will give me permission to stalk their spiritual life? lol :P
3. I don't understand love. How can people and God love me when I don't deserve it? How can it be that one day I grasp that God loves me, and the next day feel hopeless, terrible, and an unlovable fail? And also, how common is this inability/struggle to accept love? It is a common problem, or is a psychological disorder? :P Can you relate to this situation, anyone?
4. I am spiritually very hungry, I could feast for days on truth. I want to be confident of my ability to adaquately spiritually feed myself, but I doubt my insight/wisdom and feel underprepared and unequipped to do so. But I do see others that I highly esteem and look up to (sometimes I must refrain from practically worshiping these people, another character flaw I must iron out) that know the scriptures and the things of God very well. It seems quite logical to ask these poeple. But there is on snag, I feel very rude and intrusive to ask these people to spend their valuable time on me. After all, they are very busy people, they have their own lives to live. I am in a constant internal struggle whenever I have a question, because I can't help but think that if i ask someone something, it will rob them of their time that I don't deserve. (Another reason I LOVE the blog, not only are we ALLOWED to ask questions, we're ENCOURAGED to! Can I here a hallelujia? lol
Wow...looking over what I've just written, I look like I have and inferiority complex...great. :(
You are not alone!
ReplyDeleteIf someone is not willing to talk with us when we need them, then maybe we should find someone else that we trust and talk with them.
You are a sister in Christ, and you are so valuable, don't let anyone tell you differently.
Feel free to examine my spiritual life... it can always stand to be tested... has the potential to be very eye opening for me :)
So on a note from tonight... I am so excited to say that (only by the grace of God) as we were talking about the Fount of Living Water, and the broken cisterns... I am finding that I am satisfied in the Grace and Glory of God... and even though sometimes life is hard, it is worth it! I can't think of anything else that I am "satisfied in" and for that I am so thankful! and I can't help but rejoicing... which makes life so much better!
Our God is Good!
Laura, I love your optimistic outlook on life! I don't think it's possible to be depressed around you! You are a little Barnabas. ;)
ReplyDeleteahhh, thanks! I appreciate that!
ReplyDeleteSo with the few questions A-Paul and others, let me ask this to myself and all in light of those questions...
ReplyDeleteAm I, are you, seeking first the kingdom of heaven, your precious Lord, to Know Jesus Christ our Comfortor?
Sometimes I get caught up in everything that has so much to do about Him but not Him...
Example of what I am trying to say;
Mighty King David's dying last words to his son Solomon in Chronicles 28, Mind you these words are his last charges to the soon to be new king, Solomon. He could have said anything but it is not only interesting but truly divine what he says-May we learn from this advice as well...
"And you my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind..."
Notice...Not know about him,
BUT
KNOW him, in a precious and most intimate way! Trusting that He will meet our every need for this life and the next!
I also think the heart and then the mind is a very signifigant order of wording as well!!!(what isn't in the bible)
Deep stuff and good stuff!
What do you think?
-James
Very good example, thank you. And David is a good source to cite, because he was a man after God's own heart. Which gives the Psalms more credablity.
ReplyDeleteAll that God has created (nature, science, logic, etc.) lines up with His Word, and glorifies Him, therefore, you can worship God by studying his creation, and by so doing becoming even more enthralled with his majecty and admiring His creative genious, so why do you say:
"I also think the heart and then the mind is very significant order of wording as well!!!(What isn't in the bible)"
p.s. I like the Eternal Love Letter app. :)
ReplyDeleteI just think it is interesting that you are to know God, followed by a service of giving Him your whole heart then lastly followed by a mind that is willing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, God gives Psalm alot of credibility as well! 2 Tim 3:16! Since, well, frankly the Bible from first word to last word is consistently and evenly credible!
I like the app too, just look up a verse!!!
I could be wrong, but I think James is just pointing out that... It is much better for us to actually know God then it is for us to know about Him... Sorta like when you and I talked about it being better to spend time with God, then it is to serve. We just have to look at the order of importance! One is good, but the other is even better... like living or dying...
ReplyDeleteI agree, the love letter is pretty sweet!
haha.. I guess james and I posted at the same time... that wasn't up there when I wrote mine :)
ReplyDeleteMan, I don't have to write anything, because Laura, you say exactly what I am thinking and then I just have to read it!
ReplyDeleteGod wants only what is best for us,and having joy is good for us, so I think He does command us to have joy (I am not sure if that made sense). God never says if you would like to have joy, or if you feel like having joy, it says "in EVERYTHING"!! I think He does command us to have joy!
I don't think God gives us any sinful things, because He has no part of sin in Him. He might allow Satan to do it though. And sometimes the desires of our heart are sinful, and God might allow them to happen, but then we realize that that is not really what we wanted or what is best for us. And as Laura said if we delight our selves in the Lord, we would not want anything that is sinful.
Well, those are some of my scatterd thoughts:)
Oh! ok, thank you Laura, I just understood what James was saying through you. I speak more fluent Laura than James. ;) Yeah, I understand you must KNOW someone more than KNOW about them. check. :) bueno, ok I gets it.
ReplyDeleteWhy is all the bible Inspired? I know the history is, but why is the poetry? like Psalms, Song of Solomon, and Proverbs? Just a question.
btw, good thoughts Rj. :)
oh and one more thing I've gotta share with ya'll. i sent it to Laura already, but I thought it'd be cool if ya'll heard too.
What happened was i was reading the book James lent me called: God As He Longs For You To See Him. As I read my last page for the day, I shut the book and prayed for God to reveal Himself to me and for me to know Him. So I got up and flipped open my bible and found Isaiah 52-55, especially 55:6-7:
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Wow! It was written so clearly! No double-meaning hard to figure-out-ness! *whoot!* In no uncertain terms has He told us that He waiting for us to come back home, He has open arms, just like the Prodigal son’s Father. Things like this show me little by little of what love really is, and how He is love! If you seek God, to the point where you are willing to do something about it, He will show Himself. That totally amazes me! And it reminded me of the ask, seek, knock verse. Also the "The more I seek You" song.
But something that stuck out to me is that knowing god is different than knowing about Him, b/c know ABOUT Him can usually be done quicker, easier and with a lot of *click* and "Aha!" moments, while knowing Him is a slower, more "whoa...seriously? SWEET!" type of study. no, not "study", relationship. Right?
Most wonderful!
ReplyDeleteApril, I love your heart. The same goes for Laura, RJ and all of our Heartbeat students. May we never tire of seeking God, and asking the questions that weigh heavily on our hearts. God is waiting to give us the answers we seek.
ReplyDeleteApril, know that the questions you have are entirely normal. Accepting that you are loved, and deserving of love is hard. We have a sinful nature, and every day we see things in ourselves that seem unlovable. As someone who is far from perfect, I understand that so well.
I take comfort that grace is a gift. I cannot, nor will I ever, come close to earning the grace that God so freely gives.
God's grace is hard to grasp, but so amazing. That's why the song is called "Amazing Grace." There's no other way to describe Christ's love for us and grace other than amazing. At least in my heart.
For me, grace is freeing. It frees me up to be who God created me to be. If I focus on His glory and His love for me, then I don't have to worry about being satisfied in anything else, or satisfying anyone else. I am loved by the king of all kings. I need nothing else.
This is a long way of saying stay the course. Keep chasing after God and meditating on His word. You will find what you seek, when you seek Him with all your heart.