Book Excerpt: When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight for Joy (Part two)

You can find Part one by clicking here.


But we are not without a Savior. Jesus Christ has come. And he is a great Savior. Every need we have, he supplies. And his death on the cross is the price that purchases every gift that leads to deep and lasting joy.

Is there wrath and curse hanging over us?

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” (Gal. 3:13)

Is there condemnation against us in the courtroom of heaven?

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. (Rom. 8:33-34)

Are there innumerable trespasses mounting up against us?

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. (Eph. 1:7)

Is righteousness required that we cannot produce?

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. (Rom. 5:19)

Are we cut off from eternal life?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Are we trapped in the dominion of sin that ruins our lives?

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24).

He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Cor. 5:15)

Will all the follies and failures of our past drag us down with irrevocable, destructive consequences?

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28)

Have we lost all the good things God planned for his children?

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:32)

Is there any hope that sinners like us could spend an all-satisfying eternity with God? Can I ever come home to God?

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Pet. 3:18)

Oh, what a great salvation Jesus Christ accomplished when he died and rose again! All that, and more, Christ purchased by his death. Therefore, Christ crucified is the foundation of all honest and everlasting joy. No self-deception is necessary to enjoy it. Indeed all deception must cease in order to enjoy it to the full.

Quote from JC Ryle

Part two of the book excerpt is coming, I'm just lazy because it takes a lot of formatting and I have been not feeling well. Thanks for your patience. In the meantime, here is a very good quote by JC Ryle, I got from this site.

Young men, God does not show favoritism or respects the honors bestowed by men. He rewards no man’s heritage, or wealth, or rank, or position. He does not see with man’s eyes. The poorest saint that ever died in a ghetto is nobler in His sight than the richest sinner that ever died in a palace. God does not look at riches, titles, education, beauty, or anything of the kind. There is only one thing that God does look at, and that is the immortal soul. He measures all men by one standard, one measure, one test, one criterion, and that is the state of their souls.

Book Excerpt: When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight for Joy (Part one)

If you know me at all, or read my blog, you know that joy is a struggle for me. A friend suggested a book by John Piper, When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight For Joy. It continues to be a real encouragement to me, and when I read this last night, I had a deep desire to share it with you. You can read the book in full in PDF by clicking here.

This is a two part excerpt. Part two will come tomorrow or Monday. But here is part one, taken from page 72:

Jesus Christ came into the world as the divine Son of God in order to die for our sins and rescue us from the wrath of God, the burden of guilt, the condemnation of justice, the bondage of sin, the torment of hell, and the loss of all that is good—especially the loss of God. Our problem is not merely our own corruption but, more seriously, God’s condemnation. To be sure, we are corrupt, or as the old theologians said, depraved. Paul’s way of saying it is that “all . . . are under sin. . . . ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” (Rom. 3:9-10).

This corruption is a massive obstacle to everlasting joy. We desire the wrong things, and we desire right things in the wrong way. And both are deadly—like eating pleasant poison. But our corruption is not our main obstacle to joy. God’s wrath is greater. God is infinitely valuable, and we have offended him infinitely by valuing other things more. We have exchanged the glory of . . . God” (Rom. 1:23). Or as Paul says in Romans 3:23, we all “fall short of the glory of God.”

Therefore, God’s holiness and justice will move him to settle accounts with us in his wrath. “Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Gal. 3:10). The consequence of this curse and wrath is eternal misery apart from the glory of God. “Those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus . . . will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thess. 1:8-9). The iceberg just ahead is no happiness forever, only misery.

We are on a doomed Titanic because of our sin—all of us without exception. “Every mouth [is] stopped, and the whole world [is] held accountable to God” (Rom. 3:19). The sinful ship of our lives is headed for everlasting ruin because of God’s righteousness and wrath. Without a Savior, that’s the reality we must keep out of our minds in order to be happy on the Titanic of this world.

The Gospel

“The gospel is saying that, what man cannot do in order to be accepted with God, this God Himself has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. To be acceptable to God we must present to God a life of perfect and unceasing obedience to his will. The gospel declares that Jesus has done this for us. For God to be righteous he must deal with our sin. This also he has done for us in Jesus. The holy law of God was lived out perfectly for us by Christ, and its penalty was paid perfectly for us by Christ. The living and dying of Christ for us, and this alone is the basis of our acceptance with God”
- Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom, p86


Taken from: Of First Importance

I heartily recommend this site for any serious Christ-follower.

There is a Way That Seems Right...

Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25 both say the same thing: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

One thing I've learned is that if God repeats something, I need to pay attention! This proverb floats around in my head a lot. Lately, its been floating around double a lot.

There are a few things in my life that are challenging my "gospel centered" sensibilities. Meaning, I want to scream, throw things, call people names, yell something mature, like "nanny nanny boo-boo," and kick them in the shins. Yes, I AM feeling like a spoiled 8 year old in my life right now. Because people are saying things to me that are unkind, and are representing me in ways that are untrue, in public. You know, so other people can read and see and think poorly of me. And it makes me ANGRY.

So I go on these tangents, in my mind, about how right I am and how wrong they are and how if only they would apologize, then we would all be fine. But then this proverb dings me in between the eyeballs. No matter how right I think I am, I might not be.

And I don't want to be right in my own eyes. If I am wrong in His eyes, I want to know it, so I can change. And so I pray...Lord, help me know where I am wrong, because I don't want to be right, in my own eyes. I want to be right in HIS eyes. Because His are the only eyes that matter.

But the LORD was pleased to crush Him

Isaiah 53: 10 - But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief;

I've struggled with this verse since I first read it. I have never quite been able to understand how it would be pleasing to God to crush Christ and make Him a guilt offering for our sin. I mean, it would make more sense to me if the verse said, "But the LORD was exceedingly sad to crush Him, putting Him to grief." That makes sense to me. But that's not what the verse says. And I've had a hard time getting that to jive with my ideas of what should and should not be.

Until the week after Christmas.

I took the girls to a local park that has a display of LOTS of Christmas lights and a fun carousel that my toddler has discovered and loves to ride. All of these things are quite a distance from the car, and my routine is to park, put the baby in the stroller, and let the toddler walk with me. This works really well, as I can push the stroller with one hand and hold the toddler's hand with my other one, if necessary. All was well and good, until we got out of the car and were halfway to the carousel and I realized it was colder than I had anticipated before leaving the house, and I had under-dressed the baby.

We got to the carousel and rode it (a few times, if you must know). When I went to put the baby back in the stroller, I knew I could not leave her so under-dressed and cold. So I covered her with my jacket. It was very cold, and within a short time, I was miserably cold.

BUT, I was pleased that it was me that was cold, and not her. The colder I felt, the more pleased I was that she was warm. I found my heart not only willing to suffer for her comfort, but eager.

It struck me in that moment, what this verse means. Since Christ is God, it is true to say that God was self-sacrificial, taking our sufferings on Himself, and it pleased Him to do so, because He knows we could never bear the weight of His punishment that is due to us, outside of Christ. I can imagine that the worse the suffering got, the more pleased He became, because of His great love for us, and His intense desire to spare us from His righteous wrath against our sin! I pray you can feel the weight and significance of this, even if you do not have a relationship with Christ.

(And if you do not have a relationship with Christ, I pray that you would stop what you are doing, and ponder this truth, and seek Him while He may still be found! He suffered and died in your place, and He waits for you to turn to Him. I pray you would not rest until you believe.)

I want to encourage you to ponder this verse and what it means in your life, that God took your punishment on Himself, and it pleased Him to do so. I pray it causes you to worship, praising His holy name!

And trying my hand at an answer, part 3 (final)

This is my final post in this series. To recap, I was asked a question by a friend:

Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.

I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.

We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.

That still doesn't seem fair.

I responded in two posts, here and here, and this one is a wrap up to the whole thing. I want to stress that this is simply my take on these things, for what it's worth. I don't claim to be an expert in anything, I'm simply a woman who seeks the Lord and likes to write things about Jesus. That's all. That's just to say that I am not claiming to be an authority, this is just my best opinion with where I am right now with my walk with Christ. Onto the subject matter at hand...

One thing I'd like to mention is that God chose the nation of Israel to be His people, and before Christ came, the physical manifestation of God was limited to their nation. Everyone else was considered a Gentile, and very few Gentiles are recorded as becoming part of the Jewish nation, although there are a few, such as Rahab and Ruth (both of whom are in the lineage of Christ, by the way). What that means is that unless you were a Jew, you were likely to be without hope in the world. So just the fact that we live in a time when God has opened up His plan of salvation to allow for outsiders (Gentiles) to be saved is something to be thankful for.

Most miraculous of all: Christ Himself!! The God that created the universe became a man! He laid down His glory and put on flesh, in humily, and became the lowest of men. He was poor. He was born in a dirty stable with the stench of animal excrement around. He suffered and bled and died for sinful men. He is the miracle of all miracles. Ponder it.

One other important thing to remember is that Christ did not stay dead. My faith hinges on the resurrection account being true (I Corinthians 15:14), and I believe wholeheartedly that it is.

(I feel a whole new series coming on! :) I have been learning about what happens when a person gets "saved" and this is going to touch on it, now.)

What that means for the present day person walking around is colossal, and is actually relevant to the question of whether miracles happen today, or not.

See, prior to Christ, the Jews had a ceremonial law they had to follow, which included the famous Ten Commandments and some 600-odd other laws. These were God's requirements for righteousness. But the problem was that they could never keep them all. No one could, and that was God's point in giving the law (Romans 3:20). But God graciously provided a way for them to be seen as righteous, which was the sacrificial system - but not the system itself or the sacrifice, the faith that was required to carry it out was what allowed God to count them as righteous (Romans 3:28).

The burden of the Law was exceedingly heavy for the Jews, because it was impossible to attain righteousness that way. But then when Jesus came, He perfectly fulfilled every last requirement of the Law, and with His death, He provided the final sacrifice (ever wonder why the sacrificial system is no longer in place?!?).

One of the wonderful things that happened as a result is that now, when a person places their faith in Christ and accepts His perfect, glorious gift of life, God creates a new, spiritual person in place of the old, natural person. The creation of the Christian is literally a creative act of God, occurring today. That's a theological term called regeneration, and it covers a scope of things I am just now learning about and will probably write about sometime soon.

To me, that is the next most miraculous thing of all...God takes a broken, rebellious vessel such as myself and transforms me, literally creating a new spiritual person (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). To the skeptic, it may look like I "got my life together" but I know the truth! He created a new being in me! Not only that, but I live daily with the Holy Spirit inside, guiding and instructing me, and living out the life of Christ through me! (Galatians 2:20)

I want to wrap up with one last thing. Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13). If you are reading, and you are a skeptic, I want to encourage you to lay your skepticism down for a bit, and to pick up some humility. I know for a fact that God answers humble prayers of people who want to know if Jesus is real. My husband is living proof of that. But He will not pay heed to the prayers of proud, haughty people (James 4:6). If you are looking for reasons to disbelieve, you will find them. As I touched on in my last post, even some of those that witnessed the miracles of Christ firsthand disbelieved. But for those that understood their need for a Savior, He was seen for who He was and welcomed (Luke 7:37-38).

I encourage you, take a look at your own life. Ask yourself if you are really as "good" as you think you are. Does your "good" outweigh your "bad?" Can it? If you've ever been around a toddler, you will know that your "bad" is stacked against you MAJORLY from the get-go, before you even know what's what. See your need for a Savior. Then approach the Bible, and Jesus, from that angle. The Gospel of John is a good place to start. Ask God if Jesus is who He says He is. And allow Jesus to ask you the question, "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15-17)

Raising the Dead

John 11 tells the story of a dead man that was raised to life.

John 11 tells my story.

I was dead in my sin, though my body looked alive. I had a pulse, my heart was beating, my brain worked. But spiritually, I was dead and rotting. The Bible describes it as walking around with a throat like an open grave.

I would have told you that my life was great. I was having fun, living life, doing the best I could. I enjoyed my lifestyle, at least on the surface. It was a double-edged sword, because while on the outside things were fun and light, on the inside, I was in turmoil. Occasionally, there would be moments where I would see things as they were, I would stop and listen to my conscience, but then I would go back to my soul-numbing life, dead and lifeless.

Then, one day, in the depth of my despair, I heard His voice. Not an audible voice, but looking back, I can see it so clearly. He called me, just as He called Lazarus in John 11:43. I obeyed, bowed my heart and knee to Him, and turned from my life of prideful self-rule. When, in humility, I admitted that I was not good enough and I had no hope outside of Him, in kindness He saved me. He called me out of the grave and gave me new life. He rose me from the dead.

John 11 can tell your story.

If you have not already, admit you are dead in your sin. Turn from your sin. Trust in Christ alone for your resurrection. Your participation in salvation is just as Lazarus'. Jesus calls. You respond in obedience and place your faith in Him (trust Him as you would a parachute if you were jumping from an airplane), and He raises you from the dead to new life in Him.