Month: June 2023

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 30 ~ ~ Psalm 8:3-4 ~ ~ “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
What is man that You think of him, and a son of man that You are concerned about him?”

Continuing with John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”

(remembering the subject of yesterday’s discussion)

This marks a turning point in the book, because up til now we have not focused on what kind of human attitudes and actions God delights in. We have focused first on God’s pleasure in his own glory. I believe this order is very important. We need to see first and foremost that God is God—that he is so perfect and complete in himself, that he is overflowingly happy in the eternal fellowship of the Trinity, that he does NOT NEED US to complete his fullness and is not deficient without us. Rather, we are deficient without HIM. The all-sufficient glory of God, freely given in fellowship through his sacrificed Son, is the stream of living water that we have thirsted for all our lives.

Unless we begin with God in this way, when the gospel comes to us, we will inevitably put ourselves at the corner of it. We will feel that OUR value rather than GOD’S value is the driving force in the gospel. We will trace the gospel back to God’s need for US (which doesn’t exist) instead of tracing it back to the grace that rescues sinners who need HIM.

But the gospel is the good news that God is the all-satisfying end of all our longings, and that, even though he does not need us, and is in fact estranged from us because of our God-belittling sins, he has, in the great love with which he loved us, made a way for sinners to drink at the river of his delights through Jesus Christ.

We will not be enthralled by this good news unless we feel that he was not obliged to do this. He was not coerced or constrained by our value. He is the center of the gospel. The exaltation of HIS glory is the driving force of the gospel The gospel is a gospel of GRACE!!! Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 29 ~ ~ Romans 8:4~ ~ “so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Continuing with excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”

This entire book assumes something about the reader, in describing the promises and pleasures that we’ve been discussing

It assumes that the reader has responded to the drawing of God in the proper way.

I have repeatedly assumed that the benefits of God’s promises and the purchase of Jesus’ death and resurrection are for the people of God. I have also assumed that the mark of this people is not merely that they are “chosen before the foundation of the world,” but that they have WILLINGLY RESPONDED to God in a certain way.

In this chapter I have focused mainly on God’s pleasure in the good of his people. He rejoices in doing us good with all his heart and all his soul. But it has become clear that, in order to explain this, I have had to raise the question of our proper response to God.

God does not rejoice to do good to everyone in the same way. Though his sun rises on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), there is a saving grace that abounds to those who hope in his love.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble….Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:6-8)

It is fitting therefore that we dwell on this for a while. God’s pleasure in the good of his people is inseparably connected with his pleasure in a CERTAIN KIND OF RESPONSE that defines who his people are.

“He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already. (John 3:18).

Our response to God is utterly crucial. God has pleasure in a certain kind of response.

(one prominent teacher said about walking in the Spirit—that it is like physical walking. We take one step, and immediately take another with the other foot. If we wait too long to put the other foot down, we’ll be off balance. We go from one to the other to keep balanced—-to walk “upright, in the Spirit”.

He said that those two legs are REPENTANCE AND FAITH. We should repent often of sins we don’t know about, and run to him in repentance for ones that we do know. Then we immediately put down the leg of faith that those sins are forgiven, not because of us in any way, but strictly because of the finished work on the cross of our Savior. He pointed out, that these two legs will assure us of humility, and the fruits of the spirit. Walking in the Spirit this way is the mark of a true child of God through Jesus.)

Galatians 5:16

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 28 ~ ~1 John 1:9 ~ ~ “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us fro all unrighteousness.”

From: “The Pleasures of God” by John Piper

Today, on this side of the New Testament, we know that taking refuge in God’s name means taking refuge in Jesus. He came in his Father’s name (John 5:43); he died to glorify and vindicate the Father’s name (John 12:28); he manifested the Father’s name to his disciples,and kept them in the Father’s name (John 17: and 12).

Now Christ himself has been given a name above every name (Philippians 2:9), and God the Father means for his name today to be glorified through the name of his Son (John 14;14), not apart from the Son.

There is no other refuge than Jesus today. “There is no other NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

Everyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord brings glory to God the father (Phil 2:11).

Christ welcomes desperate sinners for the glory of his father (Romans 15:7). The Father bruised the Son so that sinners could take refuge in the awesome name, and that “the nations might glorify God for his mercy.”(Romans 15:9)

If you humble yourself and seek the glory of God, if you hide your name in the name of God (spelled J E S U S ), then your heavenly Father who loves his name above all things will reward you beyond all imaginings and exult over you with loud singing.

Think of it like this: Even though we have sinned and desecrated the glory of God, Jesus has been bruised to repair the injury we have done to God’s glory. The iniquity of us all has been laid on him. This means that when we take refuge in him, we appeal for salvation not on the basis of our track record, which has fallen so far short of God’s glory, but on the basis of Jesus’ vindication of the Father’s glory. In this way, even though we are sinners who have dishonored God’s glory, the glory of God becomes the foundation of our appeal—for we are hiding in the one who lived and died and rose again to glorify the passion of God for his name and the mercy of God to save.

This is what the little word “just” means in 1 John 1;9—(verse of the day at the top) this text says God would be UNJUST, —not merely unmerciful—not to forgive us if we confess our sins. Why is that? Why is forgiveness now a matter of justice and not merely a matter of mercy? The answer is that Jesus has shed his blood (1John 1:7) to make a just recompense for all who confess their sins and take refuge in him.

Thus God would be unjust NOT to forgive them, not because they have honored Him with their sinless lives, —they haven’t—-but because they take refuge in the name of Jesus,(for this reason only, he sees them that way.)

1John 2:12—”Your sins are forgiven FOR THE SAKE OF THE NAME.”

“He will not turn away from doing good to them” ( Jeremiah 32:40) He rejoices in doing this good for them. AND—he exults over us with loud singing.! (Zeph 3:17)

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 27 ~ ~ Zephaniah 3:12 ~ ~ “I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people, And they shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord.”

“The Pleasures of God” by John Piper

And now you say, “Almost I can feel this unspeakable wonder that God exults over me—even me—with loud singing.

But there remains one obstacle. You said that God loves his own glory above all things. You said that he takes pleasure in his own fame and the honor of his name.

I have not honored him as I should. In fact, I have dishonored him all my life in one way or another—sometimes just forgetting about him, sometimes angry at his way of running the world. I don’t see how he could go on taking infinite pleasure in his own glory and still get so excited about me—-even exult over me with loud singing.”

And I say, “If that is your last obstacle then make ready to sing! For the answer is given in Zephaniah 3:12.

“I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people, And they shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord.”

You are right that God delights in the glory of his name above all things. That’s the point of this book. Nor would we want God to find his joy in any lesser beauty than the infinite beauty of God.

But now ask yourself this question: If you wanted to be folded into the very joy that God has in his own glorious name, and be a part of that very pleasure of God, where would you go? Where would you seek refuge from the displeasure of God?

Zephaniah 3:12 answers this too: “THEY SHALL SEEK REFUGE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD.” Here is the connection between God’s delight in his name and his delight in you.

When you take refuge in his name, he exults over you with loud singing.

Seeking refuge in the name of God honors God, and when God is honored he rejoices.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 26 ~ ~ Zephaniah 3:15 ~ ~ “The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.”

More from John Piper’s “The Pleasures of God”

I ask, “Can you feel the wonder of this today—that God is rejoicing over you with loud singing?”

“No,” you say, “I can’t, because I am too guilty. I am unworthy. My sin is too great, and the judgments against me are too many. God could never rejoice over me”

But I say, “Consider Zephaniah 3:15 (above) God foresees hesitancy. He understands. So his prophet says, “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you!” Can you not feel the wonder that the Lord exults over you with loud singing today, even though you have sinned? Can you not feel that the condemnation has been lifted because he bruised his own Son in your place, if you will only believe?” It is because of Jesus, not you. He is worthy!!!

“No” you say, “I can’t, because there are people who never let me believe this. There are people at work who would make my life miserable if God were my treasure. There are people in my family who would ostracize me. I have friends who would do everything to drag me down. The oppression would be too much to bear, I could never do it.”

But I say, “Consider Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord is a warrior who gives victory”, and verse 19, “Behold, at that time I will deal with your oppressors” and verse 15: “He has cast out your enemies.”

Can you feel the wonder that God is doing everything that needs to be done for you to enjoy his own enjoyment of you? Can you see that the enemies and the oppressors are not too strong for God? Nothing can stop him, when he exults over you with loud singing. Can you feel the wonder of it now? Can you believe that he rejoices over YOU?”

“No” you say, “still I can’t, because he is a great and holy God and I feel like he is far away from me. I am very small. I am a nobody. The world is a huge place, there are major movements that he is concerned with and happy about, and I am too small.”

But I say, consider Zephaniah 3:15, “the king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst” and verse 17: “The Lord your God is in your midst.” He is not far from you. Yes, I admit that this staggers the imagination and stretches credibility almost to the breaking point—-that God can be present personally to everyone who comes to him, and believes on him.

But say to yourself, again and again, HE IS GOD, HE IS GOD! What can stop God from being close to me if he wants to be close to me? He is God! The very greatness that makes him seem too far to be near, is the greatness that enables him to do whatever he pleases, including being near to me.

He said: “I dwell in a high and holy place, AND ALSO WITH HIM WHO IS OF A CONTRITE AND HUMBLE SPIRIT” (Isaiah 57:15)

But STILL you say, “No, you just don’t understand. I am the victim and the slave of shame. I have been endlessly belittled by my parents —and others. (see Zephaniah 2:8 and 10)

It is as though my shame has made me deaf to anyone’s happiness with me, especially God’s. I simply cannot feel it.”

But I say, “I am sure I do not feel all that you feel. I have not been through what you have been through. But God is no stranger to shame. Unbelievable shame was heaped on his Son (Hebrews 12:2), terrible slander, repeated belittling, even from his own townsfolk and family (Matthew 13:55-58).

Therefore, “we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15)

Jesus knows. He feels it with you. Best of all, his Father says right in Zephaniah 3:19, “I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I WILL CHANGE THEIR SHAME INTO PRAISE AND RENOUN IN ALL THE EARTH.”

He makes provision for EVERY question you have!!!!!

Accept Him and trust in His love!

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 25~ ~ Zephaniah 3:17~ ~ “……He will rejoice over you with singing.”

From John Piper’s “the Pleasures of God”

Jesus uses another comparison to help us feel the force of what it means to have the Father rejoice over us WITH ALL HIS HEART. In Luke 15 He says two times that “there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Vs 7 and 10)

Then he illustrates what happens in heaven by telling a story about a father who had a wayward son who left home and squandered all his inheritance. The son comes to his senses while feeding pigs in a far country, and decides to go home and seek mercy from his father. He heads home and, as he goes, prepares a speech something to this effect: “Father I’m not worthy to be called your son; so maybe you would let me live in the servants’ quarters and work and eat with them?”

As Jesus tells this story you can feel the energy of love building as he shows how the father rejoices “with all his heart” over the boy’s arrival. While the boy is still a long way off the Father sees him and his heart warms with compassion. (v 20)

He doesn’t hold back and watch to see what the boy looks like; he bursts out the front door and starts running down the road. Now don’t miss the force of this scene. Well-to-do, dignified, aristocratic, aging men don’t run, they walk. They keep their composure. They show that they are on top of their emotions. But not in Jesus’ story about God’s joy over his people.

The father runs. Can you see them running? Or maybe the boy was too stunned to run. Perhaps he couldn’t believe his eyes. Maybe the thought flashed through his mind to turn and escape this utterly unexpected demonstration of affection. But he does not turn. Jesus says the father embraced him and kissed him. Can you see that embrace without feeling the emotion? I can’t.

I can’t, because I am that son in Jesus’ story. So are you, if you have repented and acknowledged Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins. I cannot comprehend that the Father in heaven—the great and glorious Creator of all the universe and sovereign over all things—throws to the wind all dignified self-consciousness, runs to me and kisses me as though—no!!! It is no fiction—rather BECAUSE he is happy with me. He is glad WITH ALL HIS HEART that I am part of the family. This is why I cannot see that embrace without pausing to let my eyes and throat recover.

But Jesus is not finished with the story. We still do not feel all that is meant by the words, “with all my heart.” The father cuts off the boy’s speech before he can get to the part about coming back as a slave. None of that! Instead, the father orders the best robe to replace the rags; he calls for a beautiful family ring; he fits him with new shoes, even though the old ones were used to run away, and, to top it all off, the father gives a great banquet with the best food and a band of minstrels to fill the air with happy music.

This is the message Jesus has for any who will turn home to the Father and seek their joy in the wonders of his love. I say this is almost too good to believe—that when the father calls the minstrels to sing at the banquet, it is he himself that leads the singing!!! (Zephaniah 3:17) and the song has to do with how glad he is that we are there. In fact, it is too good for some people to believe, and they, tragically, cannot believe it.

Do you struggle, as a weak and damaged soul, to believe this and really feel and enjoy the unspeakable news that God exults over us with singing—(if you indeed have received Him.)—

We’ll talk about those struggles tomorrow.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 24 ~ ~ Isaiah 61:10~ ~ “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord,
My soul will be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a groom puts on a turban,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

We’re in John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”

Promise #3

First, God promises not to turn away from doing us good. Then he promises that he will do this good with rejoicing. Now, in his third promise, he says that this rejoicing over the good of his people will be with all his heart and with all his soul.

“I WILL REJOICE IN DOING THEM GOOD, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, WITH ALL MY HEART AND WITH ALL MY SOUL.” Jeremiah 32:41

How do you describe the joy of doing something “with all your heart”? One way is to use comparisons that awaken in everybody the kind of emotions this would involve. For example, Isaiah uses one to help us feel the fullness of God’s joy over us as his people. “You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called “My delight is in her,” and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you….AS A BRIDEGROOM REJOICES OVER THE BRIDE, SO SHALL YOUR GOD REJOICE OVER YOU” Isaiah 62:4-5.

When God does good to his people, it is not so much like a reluctant judge showing kindness to a criminal whom he finds despicable —-although that analogy has truth in it); but it is like a bridegroom showing affection to his bride.

Sometimes we joke and say about a marriage, “the honeymoon is over” but that’s because we are finite.

We can’t sustain a honeymoon level of intensity and affection. We can’t foresee the irritations that come with long-term familiarity. We can’t stay as fit and handsome as we were then. We can’t come up with enough new things to keep the relationship that fresh.

But God says his joy over his people is like a bridegroom over a bride. He is talking about honeymoon intensity and honeymoon pleasures, energy and excitement. He is trying to get into our hearts what he means when he says he rejoices over us WITH ALL HIS HEART.

To add to this that with God the honeymoon never ends. He is infinite in power and wisdom and creativity and love. So he has no trouble sustaining a honeymoon level of intensity; he can foresee all the future quirks of our personality and has decided he will keep what’s good for us and change what isn’t; he will always be as handsome as he ever was, and will see to it that we got more and more beautiful forever; and he is infinitely creative to think of new things to do together so that there is no boredom for the next trillion ages of millenniums.

Isaiah 54:5

For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of armies;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.

Zephaniah 3:17~ ~ The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Hosea 2:19-20

I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In favor and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 23 ~ ~ Philippians 4:19 ~ ~ “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

John Piper continues in “the Pleasures of God”

“God’s Pleasure in Doing Good to All Who Hope in Him”

God delights in the welfare of his servant because it shows his greatness. “GREAT is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant.” God has overcome every obstacle that would keep him from lavishing kindness on us forever. That is what the last chapter was all about. Christ was bruised to bear the condemnation that stood like a dam between the desert valley of our lives and the trillion-ton, cool, clear, deep, freshwater reservoir of God’s goodness.

Romans 8:1

But now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:7

He carried our griefs and bore our sorrows and triumphed over death so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The watergates of the dam are opening wider and wider—up to our ability to bear the blessing of God’s glory. God is not like an insecure bully, who likes to show off his strength by putting weaker people down. God loves to show off his greatness by being an inexhaustible source of strength to build weak people up. His exuberance in delighting in the welfare of his servant is the measure of the intensity of his resources—what the Bible calls, “the riches of his glory.” in Philippians 4:19 (above).

Ps 149:4

God takes pleasure in his people. He beautifies the weak with salvation.

God is an infinitely beautiful person. If you have every loved any beauty you can begin to feel this. For all beauty in the universe is a spin-off of the original beauty in God. One of the ways God expresses his delight in this beauty is by giving it away to his people. He takes pleasure in them by adorning them or beautifying them with his own beauty. He does it partly now in wonderful works of grace called the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (listed in Galatians 5:22)

He will complete the beautification process at the resurrection when the whole creation stands up to celebrate “the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Roans 8:21) and all believers “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:43). No joy, however great, that men and women have known in their happiest moments can compare with the joy of God in beautifying his people.

In the process of beautifying his people God rejoices to take away every pain, sorrow and misery.

“I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. (Isaiah 65:19)

For a season on the earth it was necessary that “through many tribulations we enter the kingdom” (Acts 14:22). There are good reasons for this, and they are reasons for our good. But God will rejoice when the lessons are over, the final exams are passed, and the vacation has begun.

When he sees us perfectly whole, with no tears, pain, blemish disability or defect, he will break forth into song, and our joy in the beauty of the new earth and of our new bodies of perfect holiness will be joy in the beautiful rejoicing of God.

I’ll add a few more verses of rejoicing.

Isaiah 65:18

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness.

Psalm 65:12

The pastures of the wilderness drip, And the hills encircle themselves with rejoicing.

Psalm 45:15

They will be brought with joy and rejoicing; They will enter into the King’s palace.

Psalm 100:2

Serve the Lord with jubilation; Come before Him with rejoicing

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 22 ~ ~ Psalm 5:12 ~ ~ “For You bless the righteous person, Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”

From “The Pleasures of God” by John Piper

“The Pleasure of God in Doing Good to All Who Hope in Him”

God is never irritable or edgy. He is never fatigued, depressed, moody or stressed. His anger never has a short fuse. He is not easily annoyed, and is above any possibility of being touchy, cranky, or temperamental. Instead, he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights.

This is hard for us to comprehend, because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. We go up and down in our enjoyments. We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited another. We are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically.

But God is like the great Niagara—you look at it and think: surely this can’t keep going at this force for year after year. It seems like it would have to rest. Or it seems like some place up stream would run dry. But, no, it just keeps surging, crashing and making honeymooners happy century after century. That’s the way God is about doing us good. He never grows weary of it. It never gets boring to him.

Psalm 35:27 ~ ~ Let those who desire my vindication shout for joy and be glad, and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, WHO DELIGHTS IN THE WELFARE OF HIS SERVANT!”

Psalm 16:11

You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 21 ~ ~ Psalm 147:10-11 ~ ~ His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

Excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”

CHAPTER 7 ~ ~ The Pleasure of God in Doing Good To All Who Hope in Him.

Promise #2 ~ ~ But the promise is greater yet. Not only does God promise not to turn away from doing good to us, he says, “I WILL REJOICE IN DOING THEM GOOD.”(Jer. 32:41)

“The Lord will again TAKE DELIGHT in prospering you.” (Deut 30:9).

He does not bless begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good.

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

God is not waiting for us, he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall PURSUE me all the days of my life.”

I have never forgotten how a great teacher once explained it to me. He said God is like a highway patrolman pursuing you down the interstate with lights flashing and siren blaring to get you to stop—not to give you a ticket, but to give you a message so good it couldn’t wait till you get home.

God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses,

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE” (Exodus 34;6)

The point is the contrast between the sliggishness of his anger and the effusiveness of his love.