Delighting In Jesus

I want to simply share a challenge I read recently that resonated with me. Are we enjoying God? It is such a great question and goes beyond - do we BELIEVE, but do we ENJOY God? The Shorter Catechism famously describes the chief purpose of our lives being to glorify God and enjoy him forever. John Piper famously changed that to glorify God BY enjoying him forever so important did he think it was.

Delight in God, in my experience, can ebb and flow. Or we can think delight is an optional extra of some kind in our spiritual journey. Yet it is far more central than we might think. The Gospel is such Good News. We are loved. In Christ, we are forgiven. We have eternal life. We have the LORD as our Shepherd.

Michael Reeves in his wee book ‘Authentic Ministry’ says our delight in God is essential for 3 reasons:

1) It distinguishes us from demons.
As James says ‘you believe there is one God? Good. So do the devils, and they tremble’
They believe the truth, they know the truth, and they have even some good theology but they don’t love the LORD. They don’t enjoy him. They hate him. They fear him.

2) It is the heartbeat of our new natures
When we become Christians God gives us new hearts, and new affections. One of the primary things we are given is - delight in the LORD. Psalm 37 encourages us this way - take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart (37:4).

3) It is a core part of what it means to enter the true life of God
By that, he means the 3 persons of the Trinity delight in each other - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we are brought in to share our life.

 Reeves says:
Delighting in God is therefore the root and happy secret behind growing in Christ, serving the church, and blessing the world. It is not something extra that we add on to a list of righteous actions but the very ground and source of righteous living. So, friends, keep making sure of this: that all your ministry and all your life is an act of worship—full of prayer, full of praise, which are fuel for your enjoyment of God.
The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is the only light that can overcome darkness. Hold your gaze on nothing less. Settle for nothing less. Herald nothing less.

At Rosskeen Free Church, We have been trying to keep John 15 as a focus for ourselves as a Church this year. Jesus calls us to abide in him and in his love. If we abide in his love how can we not delight in him in return?
How do we find this delight?

- Pray. Ask for it.
- Repent of sin that may be getting in the way.
- Make sure we are in fellowship
- Seek to be in the Word.

As Reeves says - we need to see Jesus. We need to pray the LORD would open our eyes to him.
Delighting in the LORD will be the ground from which much good spiritual fruit will grow.
Friends I hope, pray and trust that this finds you delighting in Jesus.

(Rev Calum Macmillan Rosskeen Free Church)