Category: Enjoying God

John 15:9
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

John 20:21
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

“One way to summarize missional theosis is to say that participation in the divine mission effects transformation into the likeness of God, who is by nature love and thus missional… Those who believe and are baptized in the Spirit enter the divine family and begin the process of becoming like the Son, which means also becoming like the Father who sent him, by the enabling work of the Spirit… God’s mission is to engender a family of children who share in the divine ‘DNA’ (identity and behavior) and thereby participate in the ‘family business’ as a unified, holy community sharing in the unity, holiness, and mission of the divine family.” [Michael Gorman, Abide and Go: Missional Theosis in the Gospel of John, 180, 183]

To be a participant in the divine joy of the divine life is to also be a participant in the divine mission. It was the joy of the Son to be sent by the Father. In the same way, it is our joy to be sent by Jesus. Divine joy is inextricably tied up with participation in the mission of God. Our joy is made full when we experience the being sent, just as Jesus was sent by the Father. What divine joy it is when we participate in God’s mission!

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, your joyful heart is a missional heart. We thank you for the opportunities to be sent on your mission, for in the sending we know your divine joy even more. In Jesus’ name, amen.

— ES

Colossians 2:9-10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.

Ephesians 2: 17-19
And I pray that you… know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Just think about that… we are meant to be filled to “the fullness of God”. What is the standard of our “fullness”? Is it just to the measure of feeling “emotionally happy”? That’s not full enough. The fullness we are to receive goes way beyond human emotion. We are meant to be full to the measure of God himself. We know we are full when we match God’s fullness. Or to put it another way, our joy is to match the standard of God’s joy. Let’s not settle for a joy that is anything less than the joy of God himself. We were designed for the fullness, God’s fullness. We can live this way each day through the Holy Spirit who has made us one with God “in Christ”.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, this world is searching for fullness, but I know it is only found in you. I thank you for bringing me into your divine fullness through the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Wellspring” by Leeland (click here).

— ES

Let’s read out loud together

Psalm 16
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, you are my Lord, and apart from you I have no good thing. You are the Creator, I am the creature, and I have a “delightful inheritance.” I am filled with joy in your presence, and your pleasures will never run out. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Touch of Heaven” by Hillsong (click here).

— ES

John 14:20
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

“…the doctrine of theosis is the notion that somehow human beings become partakers of the divine nature by means of union with Christ via the power of the Holy Spirit… theosis does not mean losing one’s individuality in the divine. Nor does it mean becoming divine as God is divine. Instead, it is about participation in the divine life and about union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. I presume that this participation is an ongoing thing that will continue into the eschaton.” [Oliver Crisp, Analyzing Doctrine Towards a System of Systematic Theology, 209, 213]

Through the Holy Spirit we are now “partakers of the divine nature” and a “participant in the divine life.” The implications are staggering. That means we live in the same divine joy that has existed within the Godhead since eternity. The divine joy that belongs to the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit is now ours in Christ! This is true joy, the kind that lasts. We can build our life upon this joy.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, I thank you that I am a participant in your divine joy. The joy of this world is fleeting and flimsy. But you have given me true, strong, lasting joy that is only found in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “The Same Jesus” by Matt Redman (click here).

— ES

Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

“This is the solution. Did God create you for His glory or for your joy? Answer: He created you so that you might spend eternity glorifying Him by enjoying Him forever. In other words, you do not have to choose between glorifying God and enjoying God. Indeed you dare not choose. If you forsake one, you lose the other… If we do not rejoice in God, we do not glorify God as we ought. Here is the rock-solid foundation of Christian Hedonism: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. This is the best news in the world. God’s passion to be glorified and my passion to be satisfied are not at odds.”
[John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, 13-14]

If we were designed by God for joy, then it should come to no surprise that our most supreme joy would be found in God himself. The Psalmist discovered the correlation between “taking delight in God” and “the desires of [our] heart” a long time ago. Do we find ourselves low on joy? Let’s lose ourselves in God once again. Let our worldview be consumed with the glories of God instead of the worries of life.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, I fix my gaze on you. As I glorify your holy name, let my heart swell with your divine joy. Let oppressions cease as I turn to you in praise. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let the Spirit fill you as you worship to the song “No One But You” by Hillsong (click here).

— ES