pleasure

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Enjoyment without God is merely entertainment.
Warren Wiersbe

No one on this great blue planet is without sin. Without sinful desires and thoughts. Without sinful emotions. So, if we seek contentment, or unconditional wholeness solely from within what do we find? Our sinful selves just like I did when I embarked on my happiness journey a few years ago. And we turn back to the unfulfilling emotion of fleeting happiness.

What guides a person to being truly joy-filled or content in every situation? How do we achieve that “unconditional wholeness” researcher Daniel Cordaro mentioned after visiting that Himalayan tribe? It requires something outside us to guide us through the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations of life. It’s easy to enjoy a new car. But what about when it breaks down? It takes no effort to enjoy the birthday party at the park you so expertly planned but what happens when it rains? Does your happiness bucket completely empty and you turn into Attila the Hun, raging at others? Or you weep and sulk feeling the cosmos hates you?

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  Philippians 4: 11-13

That strength to endure a peasant life that Tolstoy witnessed, a life of labor and toil, a life of disappointments and tragedy, and yes, even a life full of wealth comes only from God. (Ecc 5:19 & 6:2) Through the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell in us when we say, “Yes!” to Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It’s the fountain from which we draw on every single moment of every day to guide us and strengthen us. Because my friends, you cannot find wholeness without Him.

Deep-seated in the American mind, for example, is the disastrous idea that we should pursue happiness. But what is happiness? And what are the realities through which one could achieve it? And how, practically speaking, does one pursue happiness? One might pursue happiness on the carpe diem principle. But that can be understood in many ways. It could endorse a sensuality of the present moment or endorse devoting the present moment to improvement of one’s character, to serving others, or to serving God. Usually in our times, however, it is some form of sensuality. Our choice between these options will have profound implications for our efforts to become a genuinely good person and to live harmoniously with reality, with how things really are.
Dallas Willard

My Bible study ladies are currently studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount by Jen Wilkins. In the first week we read and discovered the messages behind the first 12 verses, also known as the Beatitudes. Jesus’ goal in this sermon was to re-define for the disciples what not only the Kingdom of Heaven looks like but what its citizens look like. The first four beatitudes describe the character of its citizens:

We Are Poor in Spirit: accepting we are weak and sinful in need of a strength outside ourselves
We Are Mourners: we recognize our sinfulness and weep over it daily. Asking God for forgiveness for each time we act, speak or think (even feel) in opposition to God’s will for us.
We Are Meek: in modeling Jesus’ submission to the Father in going to the cross for humanity’s sins and therefore suffering a terrible death, we too seek humility and submission to God.
We Are Hungry and Thirsty: not for earthly glory, praise and wealth but for our hearts and minds to be daily cleansed. We constantly seek His will for our life so that we can glorify Him. We cast off our old selves and thirst for the new bodies and New Eden to come.

These citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven? They will be abundant with fruit and content in all situations. The fruits of love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, self-control and faithfulness can be seen by all around them. They spread that fruit and His Word throughout our families, communities and the world. We achieve the ultimate peace in the face of persecution. Peace with God. Our friction between us is gone. We are made whole because He breathes the Holy Spirit into us, making us one with Him.

"And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one…²²The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." John 17: 11 & 22-23

One with the Creator of all things seen and unseen – Elohim, Jehovah. What more could a tiny, sinful human want for all eternity? All other pales in comparison! No self-help book without God can help you achieve such gloriously contented status. King Solomon discovered that our sinful toil without God is usually for our own gain and our appetite is never satisfied on our own (Ecc 6:7).

"The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good." Psalm 14:1-2

I once saw an interaction with a non-believer and a street preacher. The young, unbelieving woman stated, “How can you say I won’t go to heaven (which as a non-believer why would she care?) when I’m a good person. I’m better than most Christians. I don’t lie, cheat or steal.” Yet, as Jesus reminds us further in the Sermon on the Mount if you even let your heart yearn to do any of those things you are guilty. And I would bet all that I have she has, in fact, actually lied. She has probably stolen something – maybe someone’s dignity by gossiping about them. And cheating? She might have thought that little deed or breaking some municipal law wasn’t that “big of a deal” but it’s still cheating. She is at odds with God, broken and not whole.

It is only through the gift of reconciliation for our sins, no matter their size, of which Jesus Christ paid for, that we can come upright before the God of the Universe. Where we receive mercy and forgiveness so we don’t have to live in shame and hurt, grasping for pleasures to dull our pain. No, instead He brushes us off and clothes us in white garments. He brings us into His family and calls us His sons and daughters. He pours out His love and gives a piece of Him to live in us so we can have that “unconditional wholeness.” He gifts us with “enough” each day so that we may be satisfied.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.⁴And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  James 1:2-4

We are made perfect and complete, meaning made whole, when we face life’s trials and rely on the God who gives us strength and hope. We are honed and shaped into the image of the only being that walked this earth who was sinless and fully content — Jesus.

Friend, if you want to get off the roller coaster of seeking “happiness” and then being brought low by trials, look to our All Mighty God and His Son. He is our provider, our protector, our armor, our joy, our hope. He has never broken a promise and He never will. He promises you a new life at the end of the rainbow – not a pot of gold. And with that promise and hope we can live a contented, meaningful life of “enough” in a world of chaos.

“Love the Lord with all your minds heart and soul.” Matthew 22:37

It seems when we Christians talk about our faith these days it’s so frequently focused on feelings, emotions – “from the heart.” And while Jesus will ultimately be the judge of our heart’s true commitment, He also asks us to use the rest of our bodies to honor God. It’s not enough to feel God we need to know and obey God. Why? Because His Words are designed to guide us through this temporary life as best possible. We want to become skillful not just at making a living but in making a life that is in line with our Holy Father. Many of us have experienced life outside those guardrails – sometimes on a daily occurrence. When we are rash with our decisions or emotions, quick to be angry, quick to take up the latest idea or get rich scheme, quick to enter into relationships without good judgment, we easily find ourselves outside God’s protective ways.

The words “wise” and “wisdom” are used 125 times in the 31 chapters of the book of Proverbs. It sounds as though someone might be trying to get a point across to us! Wisdom literature in the Bible includes Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. But for this series I’ll be focusing only on Proverbs. You’ll notice there’s 31 chapters – perfect for a one month study of God’s messages to us about living life in His guardrails.

But first and foremost, we need a right relationship with our Creator. Meaning we accept God in His three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as one God who created the universe and everything in it. And that Jesus came as fully man and fully human to be the final, complete sacrifice to cleanse us of our sins. In this way we may come before God, our King, as righteous. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent in our lives. There is one way on this path and that one way is open to everyone who believes in Him.

Second, we have an assertion of a moral law operating in the world and there will be divine justice. None of which has to do with IQ, wealth or even education. There is an expectation by God to follow His moral laws. And everyone, believers and non-believers, will be judged upon their death.

If we do not have these two foundations, then the seeking of wisdom has no foundation itself. Without a moral King to guide us then we are guiding ourselves. And we know how well that usually turns out! Our selfish souls seek ease, seek comfort, seek pleasure above all. Without an understanding and acceptance of a final, universal judgment then what does it all matter? If you read back into ancient history, peoples without God sacrificed children to meet their desires. They performed all sorts of sexually immoral acts (especially on women) to please their desires. Murdered without out conscience. It was the formation of God’s people through Abraham and Moses that brought God’s moral law back down to earth. Setting us back on the path toward God’s future Eden on Earth.

And so, through people like King Solomon He spoke. The king had asked God for wisdom and it was granted (1 King 3:5-14). It is believed King Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs during his reign. The beauty of the proverbs selected for this book is that none of them are in conflict. All cultures have their sayings – quick summaries of lessons. But many times, they conflict with each other! (“Look before you leap!” vs “He who hesitates is lost.”) God’s words are never opposed to each other.

Toward the end of his reign, King Solomon turned to the folly he so frequently spoke to avoid and disregarded his own wisdom – proving we need to stay close to God at all times. In fact, God warned him when He gave Solomon this gift: “And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will enlighten your days.” A good reminder to never take a day off from following God.

Proverbs are not promises. They are generalized statements of what is usually true. So, if you find a proverb that you want to disagree with first remind yourself that we humans are sinful people. And second, God seeks to bring us into His ideal world. We are practicing to live in our final home – the New Eden.

If you haven’t signed up to receive your 31 Days of God’s Wisdom, make sure you subscribe today! After entering your email information below, check your inbox for your confirmation link. Thank you for joining me on this journey and be sure to share with your friends, neighbors, co-workers and family! Blessings to you for wisdom, Kris

Tag: pleasure

Enjoying the “Enough” Life Part Two

31 Days of God’s Wisdom