Enjoying God: Part 2 (7)
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3.20, 21
Incredible as it seems
In this brief study we have been considering the incredible privilege you and I can enjoy, being in the Presence of God. For most of us, I suspect, that prospect is so far beyond what we can imagine that we tend to settle for less enjoyment of God than He intends.
We are utterly finite and fallen creatures who can think straight only with great difficulty and can think like God does—with the mind of Christ—very little, if at all. Thus, our understanding of what it means to “enjoy” something or someone is mostly defined by our experience. When we enjoy something, we’re having a good time, a safe time, even a comfortable and pleasant time. But only on rare occasions would we say that what we’re enjoying leads us to shout with joy or to fall on our knees weeping with joy. And whatever joy we presently know seems too quickly to dissipate.
Yet this, if only in type, is the joy God intends for us to know, not just fleetingly and occasionally but continually and increasingly. Our enjoyment of God lifts and stretches us like nothing else we can know. We enjoy Him because He has saved us by grace through faith, speaks to and empowers us by His grace, calls us to His Kingdom and glory, enlists us into His service, spreads open His promises to us, speaks to us daily by His Word and Spirit, guards and defends us against all evil, gives us a message of joy to our world, receives our praises and blessings, and daily boosts us higher into His Presence and, yes, His joy.
We must not think of enjoying God in the way we enjoy, say, a hot shower, a good meal, lively conversation, or some wholesome diversion. That is to think of God in man’s way—our way—rather than in His. We must think of enjoying God not like these temporal enjoyments but as the eternal and spiritual enjoyment to which He invites us by His grace.
The beyondness of joy
We need always to bear in mind that enjoying God is a privilege that comes to us from beyond this created world. It is not grounded in experiences or circumstances, and it is not designed to be merely temporary.
Job reminds us that God comes to visit with us every morning (Job 7.17, 18). He brings with Him a measure and foretaste of His joy in the words of Scripture and the indwelling Spirit. We taste the joy which awaits us in the Lord’s Presence as we read and meditate on His Word. And we seek to grow in that joy by working to know the Presence of the Lord with us always, as He has promised.
God sent His Son in the grandest miracle imaginable (Lewis) to incarnate the beyondness of God in a body like our own, so that by His death in that body—our body—He might, by His resurrection, lift us in His new body to new bodies of our own. And these bodies are being remade and ultimately will gloriously be remade for enjoying God. The more we enjoy God in His Word, the more we will see Jesus and be able to enjoy Him as Immanuel and King.
The Spirit of God within us sets as a high priority in our lives that we might enjoy His Presence and, as a result, bring forth the fruit of love and joy as part of God’s banner to the world. Do we enjoy spending time with the Spirit as He searches our heart and mind (Ps. 139.23, 24), teaches us the things of Jesus (Jn. 14.26), equips us with gifts-from-beyond for serving others (1 Cor. 12.7-11), and empowers us to bear witness to Jesus (Acts 1.8)? Rather than shrink from, avoid, or otherwise find such matters tedious or optional, we can find in them rich means of enjoying the Lord Who has sent His Spirit to make His home in us. And we will know that the enjoyment we have of God now, by all these means, is greater than any mere happiness we may experience and vaster still than what we have ever dared to ask or think?
More to enjoy
Because there is always more of God to enjoy. Exceeding abundantly more! He is infinite, eternal, holy, righteous, good, and beautiful beyond description. And we know Him. We commune with Him. He loves and cares for us and thus encourages us to enjoy Him enjoying us all day long.
People are made to enjoy life. But the life they will most enjoy does not consist of the things and experiences we may assemble or acquire in the here and now. The life that leads to true and lasting and ever-expanding joy and enjoyment is the life that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the life (Jn. 14.6) which brings about our greatest enjoyment. For in everything we do, at all times, in every situation or circumstance, knowing Him we may enjoy the life He has given us, whatever that may entail.
The God of heaven and earth, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the Father of all glory invites us to enjoy knowing Him. And we can, but not by seeking Him in things and experiences, but seeking Him through such things, according to His Word, by the power of His Spirit, and in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to know beyond all our temporality and materiality the God Who never changes and never ceases to love us with everlasting love.
This God is coming to visit you today. Enjoy the visit.
Search the Scriptures
1. How would you explain to a new believer what it means to enjoy God? What Scriptures would you use?2. Meditate on the text that begins this meditation, Ephesians 3.20, 21. Apply this text to enjoying God.
3. Is your enjoyment of God increasing? Why or why not? If yes, in what specific ways? How should your joy affect your work for the Lord in your Personal Mission Field?
Next steps—Preparation: What will you do each day to enjoy the Lord more than you did the day before?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
How should joy affect our lives as Christians? Our booklet, Joy to Your World!, can show you how both to know more of the Lord’s joy and to invite others into it as well. Order your copy by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
