Quote for the Day

"When Christ's words dwell in us richly,

he abides in us powerfully."

                                              

                                         ~ John Piper, When I Don't Desire God

Seeing the Worth of Scripture

"Open my eyes that I might see wondrous things from thy law."  (Psalm 119:18)

Lord, please waken in me an unyielding desire for God's Word and grant fresh sight of how the worth of God's Word surpasses all things on this earth.


The Word of God awakens and strengthens faith.
"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."  (Romans 10:17)

Through hearing the Word, God supplies the Holy Spirit.
"And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."  (1 Thessalonians 1:6)

The Word of God creates and sustains life.
"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." (John 20:31)
"But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  (Matthew 4:4)

The Word of God gives hope.
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."  (Romans 15:4)

The Word of God leads us to freedom.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  (John 8:32)

The Word of God is the key to answered prayer.
"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."  (John 15:7)

The Word of God is the source of wisdom.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."  (Colossians 3:16)

The Word of God gives us crucial warnings.
"More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward."  (Psalm 19:10-11)

The Word of God enables us to defeat the devil.
"I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."  (1 John 2:14)

The Word of God is, therefore, the source of great and lasting joy.
"The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."  (Psalm 119:72)
"Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold."  (Psalm 119:127)
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"  (Psalm 119:103)
"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food."  (Job 23:12)
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts."  (Jeremiah 15:16)
"O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day."  (Psalm 119:97)
— John Piper, When I Don't Desire GOD, How to Fight for Joy, (for complete commentary read pages 95-113)

When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy

Christian joy is the satisfaction in God that sustains the believer through any trial. Jesus endured the cross by pursuing this joy, and we too may find, by God’s grace, that delighting in him is our only, but entirely sufficient, hope in sorrow. The pursuit of this pleasure in God is not a frivolous chasing after fleeting pleasures, but a rock-solid, mature, and truly happy, Christ-exalting endeavor. What if we believe this but our emotions do not motivate us to seek God? Such is the continual struggle of sanctification. We must fight for joy, because delight in God is the hallmark of Christianity. But it is also a gift only given by God’s grace. What, then, does it mean to fight for what can only be freely given? In these messages, John Piper answers this overarching question and others on both a deeply spiritual level and the most practical, so that when you don’t desire God you will know how to fight for joy. John Piper 

It Will Be A Gift

     "We are like farmers. They plow the field and plant the seed and cut away weeds and scare away crows, but they do not make the crop grow. God does. He sends rain and sunshine and brings to maturity the hidden life of the seed. We have our part. But it is not coercive or controlling. And there will be times when the crops fail. Even then God has his ways of feeding the farmer and bringing him through a lean season."

...

     "In obedience to God's Word we should fight to walk in the paths where he has promised his blessings. But when and how they come is God's to decide, not ourselves. If they delay, we trust the wisdom of our Father's timing, and we wait. In this way joy remains a gift, while we work patiently in the field of obedience and fight against the weeds and the crows and the rodents. Here is where joy will come. Here is where Christ will reveal himself (John 14:21). But that revelation and that joy will come when and  how Christ chooses. It will be a gift."

— John Piper, When I Don't Desire GOD, How to Fight for Joy, (page 42, 43)