There is a right and a wrong application of self-love. The wrong way involves loving yourself to the exclusion of others. Such love is self-seeking. But the Bible says that love is not self-seeking (1 Cor. 13:5). So how do these two thoughts reconcile? The Bible in this context is best understood to seek pleasure or happiness for yourself, which has no relation to others. It is private. And no person benefits from this expression of self-love. Neither do they see the glory of God in such a state. In contrast, the right way to love yourself is always in the context of community. Christianity is a communal faith, not a private one. The second of the two greatest commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:39). Such a command preempts loving oneself improperly. Seeking happiness because you love yourself is a desire of the will put there by the Creator. The person who truly desires the good of his fellows and their happiness is the one who understands and finds joy in the experience. This expression of self-love reveals God’s glory to others.

So seek all the happiness you can for yourself. But know that such happiness can only flow from one source–God. If you look for happiness in ways that do not reflect God’s glory to others and ultimately back to Him, then what you seek will, in the end, prove to bring you only misery.

I leave you with a quote from Jonathan Edwards: “The saints and angels in heaven love their own happiness. Otherwise their happiness, which God has given them would be no happiness to them; for that which anyone does not love he can enjoy no happiness in” (from The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 8, Charity and Its Fruits, p. 254).

Fifteen years ago, I began reading the works of John Piper. Since, I have journeyed down some great theological avenues. The truth I discovered and the love for Christ I developed has been nothing short of amazing. And still I find myself growing in the grace and the knowledge of the true God. My joy and affection and happiness in the Lord is ever-increasing, gaining greater heights every day. Jonathan Edward’s writings have shaped John Piper’s thoughts in much the same way. So the discovery of many of these truths come from Edwards. But ultimately, all of these come from the Bible. All truth is God’s truth. One such discovery is the place for happiness in the life of the believer.

Edwards developed seventy resolutions for his life that still prove timeless. One such resolution goes as follows:

“Resolved, To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that could be thought of.”**

Unfortunately, such a thought seems foreign to modern minds, particularly of believers. True, God demands holiness. But He also seeks our highest happiness. The problem is not pursuing happiness too much; one cannot be to excessive in this pursuit. Pursuing happiness in a misguided way, desiring and searching for it in any other place than God himself is the problem. The Bible commands us to “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Ps. 37:4) and “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). Many gloss over these verses because of familiarity. But scrutiny reveals an oft-neglected truth: Our delight or happiness or joy  is in the Lord. He commands us the duty to delight in Him, to rejoice in Him–to be happy in Him. The more we truly delight in and treasure and love Him, the more set-apart (holy) we are for His great glory. C.S. Lewis said, “It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can.”~~

So our happiness is in no way antithetical to our holiness; they complement each other. Even moreso, they cannot be separated. They must exist together.

**Resolution #22 in Edward’s Memoirs (in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1, p. xxi)

~~ A Severe Mercy (Vanauken, 1977, p.189)

Every New Year I think of the certain hope of those who belong to God. It is a promised new start for those who are in the Spirit and have the Spirit in them; they are in a penetrating relationship with the Lord that consumes their soul and everything they engage in.

The unfortunate reality is that the majority do not belong to him and do not walk in the Spirit. Theirs is an existence of endless and unnecessary torment. There will never be a new start for them.

But there can be.

This year is going to involve many changes for my family and me — many unknown changes. Many of those closest to us will also soon experience life-changes, good and bad. But the hope of future and eternal grace that is our inheritance overshadows these changes. When these old bodies are renewed with our new ones in the resurrection, it will be the best new start of all.

Does his Spirit dwell in you? If you can’t honestly say “yes,” follow this link and listen to this short (6-minute) gospel message from John Piper: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1831433419283575110#

Then I asked them what this meant.

As we talked, I told them that as they are made in the very image of God and they reflect His image, His glory, as in a mirror. The attitude they have, including the expression of their faces, is part of reflecting that glory.  “So do it all for His glory and with all your might,” I said.

This was a simple dialogue I had with my children, but it was one little moment of instruction and godly training that will stick with them. And it only took a minute or two.

Take time like this with your children and build into them a godly heritage. Pray for timely opportunities to have such insights with your kids. They need it. When they are older they will look back and be glad for little moments like these.

To God be the glory!

What’s the difference?

Committment is weak by comparison; it doesn’t carry with it the strength and absolute total abandonment to God as does surrender. Committment suggests that you are in charge of at least part of your life and that even if you do “commit” yourself to the Lord, the extent to which you do so is determined by you.

Surrender does no such thing.

The Bible refers to the Christian as a slave to God (see the introduction to all of Paul’s letters to the churches in the New Testament and this is clear) and one who is bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20). You, as a believer are owned by God, His property to be used for His glory. Knowing this is the essence of being surrendered to God.

So examine your own life and ask yourself the question: Am I committed to God or surrendered to Him?

Be surrendered.

So be open with others. Get involved. Pray for others, believers and unbelievers alike.

Such activity is at the heart of the Christian faith.

It is true that God wants us to be holy. We are to reflect His character, imitate Him and other people who are like Him (Lev. 11:44-45; 19:2; Eph. 5:1; 1 Cor. 4:16; Heb. 6:12). To be holy means to be set apart for God’s specific purpose. This has both general applications to all believers and specific ones. God calls us all to be holy in the sense of reflecting His glory and serving Him, but He also calls each beliver to a specific task, a specific work (Eph. 2:10). Nevertheless, this holiness doesn’t preclude our happiness.  God wants both for us.

Being set apart for God’s purposes and glory will bring us the most happiness. The two thoughts are ideals are not antithetical. True holiness leads to true happiness. So it isn’t that God wants one without the other. Both are crucial and no choice need exist between the two. In fact those who are actually set apart and surrendered to God are the ones who will be the happiest, because they are doing precisely what God intends for them! It is vital to know this because when people innocently make this comment — “God’s wants us to be holy and not happy” — they unsuspectedly set up in the minds of the hearers a mindset of drudgery that makes holiness an undesirable thing. What a far reach from the teaching of the Bible!

So the next time you hear this — and you will — remember that those Christians who are the happiest are those who are the holiest.

So look for some posts here soon…

By the way, if you like to read, I have two suggestions for you: The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller and Experiencing the Presence of God, a new book published this year of A.W. Tozer’s thoughts on Hebrews (compiled by James Snyder with a foreword by Randy Alcorn). This second work has never been published before. So even if you have read everything Tozer has written, you still may have missed this.

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:13-14, ESV)

Can you imagine the thrill of the worship of God in Heaven? 

People from every nation, tribe, and language “will gather to sing praise to God for his greatness, wisdom, power, grace, and mighty work of redemption” (Randy Alcorn). All God’s people will be there. Yet there will be no church service; there will be no temple. And still, we will always be engaged in worship.

Of all peoples of the world, we have more than any of them reason to celebrate. No other religion has the promises that are ours. No other people has the sure hope of a life that will never end, with the only true God in whom we will never grow tired. Our enjoyment of him is boundless and inexhaustible!

Worship will not only be falling at the feet of Christ; no, it is much broader. Worship in Heaven encompasses everything we do, whether walking, eating, traveling — everything. “Every legitimate activity of new creaturely life will be included within the life of worship of God’s people” (Cornelius Venema). No matter what we do, it will be an act of worship, a reflection of God’s majesty in every activity we undertake.

Think about this: If our spiritual service of worship is done in our current, sinful bodies, how much more glorious and unhindered will it be in perfect, resurrected bodies in a perfect environment? Think about the most engaging, tantalizing, inspiring worship you have experienced.

Worship in Heaven will far exceed that experience — and will get better and better and better.

And all God’s people said: Amen!

• It’s only because we’ll be fully righteous in Christ, completely sinless, that we’ll be able to see God and live. — Randy Alcorn (7.28.10)
• If the goodness, beauty, and wonder of creatures are so delightful to the human mind, the fountainhead of God’s own goodness (compared with the trickles of goodness found in creatures) will draw excited human minds entirely to itself. — Thomas Aquinas (8.3.10)
• I had rather be in hell with Christ, than be in heaven without him. — Martin Luther (8.5.10)
• God’s glory will fill and permeate the entire new Heaven….wherever we go in Heaven, we will be in the immediate presence of the full glory of God….Throughout all eternity, we will never be separated from direct, unhindered fellowship with God. — Steven J. Lawson (8.3.10)
• I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil — this is God’s gift to man. — Solomon (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13, ESV)
• …Perhaps God will be known to us and visible to us in the sense that he will be spiritually perceived by each of us in each one of us, perceived in one another, perceived by each in himself… — Augustine (7.28.10)
• By incarnation the Son became more than he was before, and a human element became integral to the ongoing life of the Triune God. . . . Christ’s glorified humanity, which is the template and link for the glorification that is ours, must go on forever. — J.I. Packer (7.28.10)
• And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. — St. Paul (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)
• I shall rise from the dead. . . . I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine as that sun shines. I shall be united to the Ancient of Days, to God Himself, who had no morning, never began. . . .No man ever saw God and lived. I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen him, I shall never die. — John Donne (7.27.10)
• Not only will we see his face and live, but we will likely wonder if we ever lived before we saw his face! To see God will be our greatest joy, the joy by which all others will be measured. — Randy Alcorn (7.27.10)

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