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The Radically Normal Christian:
Part VI: Enjoying God
October 23, 2011
PREP:
~* 148 (Eccl), 135 (Fasting), 061 (Alone...)
~* Skim “Sacred Pathways”
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE READING: PS. 95:1-7a (Peter T.)
EXPERIENCING GOD
Q What is the most MEMORABLE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE you have ever had?
It may not even have been a “Christian” experience.
Were you TOUCHED and HEALED by God’s love in a time of worship?
Were you reading the BIBLE and struck by a LIFE-CHANGING truth?
Were you out in NATURE and overwhelmed by SOMETHING?
Was it SERVING others?
~* For me it was when I was 17 and on a missions trip in CANADA.
This may have happened in NATURE, but that was just the MEDIUM – it was joy in God.
It is this sort of SPIRITUAL JOY that we are going to focus on this morning.
RECAP
LAST WEEK I started by talking about happiness and joy, and I contrasted the normal American way of approaching happiness and the radical Christian way:
~* It is normal to PURSUE INSTANT GRATIFICATION at the expense of LONG-TERM happiness and ETERNAL JOY.
~* It is radical to abandon earthly pleasures for the sake of eternal joy.
But as we look at the ENTIRE SCOPE of what the Bible says about joy and happiness, and about finding joy in both earthly and spiritual things, NEITHER of these views are BIBLICAL.
Instead, I want us to be radically normal: to see all HAPPINESS as a REFLECTION of GOD, and thus to ENJOY the HAPPINESS of this earth even as SEEKING GOD as our highest joy.
Last week, I focused on EARTHLY JOY: How to seek long-term happiness over instant gratification and how to see earthly joy as a reflection of God and a foretaste of joy in heaven.
~* THIS WEEK it’s SPIRITUAL JOY, seeking God as our highest joy.
But for most of us, that is a tall order.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
Q A lot of us EXERCISE – do you enjoy it?
Do you enjoy getting suited up?
Having your muscles ache and fighting to continue?
I don’t, but I love the RESULTS.
I love feeling better, and more alert.
Ultimately I exercise because I want to, though not necessarily when I step on the treadmill.
But we tend to trade our LESSER DESIRES for our GREATER DESIRES – when I get to the gym, my LESSER desire is to go to HOT TUB and call that a work out, my GREATER desire is to be HEALTHY.
~* It basically goes back to the INSTANT GRATIFICATION thing.
If you are a CHRISTIAN, you know that you “SHOULD” do the things that bring ETERNAL JOY: PRAY, read your BIBLE, go to CHURCH, fast, and things like that.
But you have all sorts of excuses why you don’t do that:
~* I don’t have the TIME.
~* It is hard to FOCUS.
~* I don’t KNOW how.
But if you really WANTED to, none of those things would be a problem.
Just think of the last time you were in a CRISIS and you desperately need God’s intervention – suddenly time, focus, and know-how weren’t an issue!
~* So what I need to do is not so much show you HOW to do those things as much as show you that you WANT to do them.
I need to show you that it is WORTH it to give up SOME EARTHLY JOYS for the sake of greater spiritual joy.
It’s “INSTANT gratification” vs. “DELAYED gratification.”
~* SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE is the ultimate DELAYED gratification.
JOY TEACHES JOY
~* I was very INTENTIONAL in talking about EARTHLY JOY FIRST and spiritual joy second.
I needed to start with what we UNDERSTAND and move to what we DON’T UNDERSTAND.
All of us can understand being happy.
We know that we like it and we want to be happy.
Most of us don’t really “FEEL” that GOD is our highest joy, but if we ACCEPT that EARTHLY JOYS is a REFLECTION of God, then we can trust that pursuing spiritual joy will make us truly happy.
So here is how you can want to seek God as your highest joy and adopt the spiritual disciplines that will get you there: Think about the JOYS you KNOW, and TRUST that seeking the source will bring even more joy.
~* Think about your happiest, most satisfied times.
Basically, I am saying TRUST ME, or more so, TRUST GOD – if God is the source of joy, a GOOD FATHER who delights in caring for us, maybe we can trust that the less fun stuff leads to long-term joy.
SPIRITUAL BUZZ
At the same time, I don’t want to give the IMPRESSION that you WON’T ENJOY it along the way.
You begin to DEVELOP an APPETITE for spiritual disciplines, but it doesn’t start that way, which is also a lot like exercising.
I have now gotten to the point that I kind of enjoy running.
Weird, I know.
But I am actually bummed that writing this book and working two jobs is costing me the luxury of jogging.
~* I have decided that when I finish my book, I will REWARD myself with a HALF-MARATHON.
In the same way, as you SEEK GOD and PRACTICE spiritual discipline, you will find yourself ENJOYING it MORE and MORE.
And in fact many people go to an UNBALANCED EXTREME.
~* Like an extreme WEIGHT LIFTER...
I know many CHRISTIANS who seek one SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE after another like a DRUG.
UNSATISFIED
And not only does seeking God bring REAL JOY, it allows us to ENJOY EARTHLY joys more.
The story of ECCLESIASTES is that of a man who has every earthly joy.
Every earthly joy we could hope for, and more or less done morally: WEALTH, POSSESSIONS, ACHIEVEMENTS, LEARNING, RELATIONSHIPS, great FOOD and drinks.
Yet at the end:
Ecclesiastes 2:11 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
These things CANNOT SATISFY us alone, they weren’t meant to.
In fact nothing on earth can satisfy us, because we were made for eternity.
But God intended us to ENJOY our TIME here as BEST we can and that happens when we both enjoy earthly things and seek spiritual things.
~* It kind of like EXERCISING and EATING HEALTHY most of the time allows us to properly ENJOY REST and TREATS.
THE DISCIPLINES
We have to PRACTICE and TRAIN ourselves to WANT God.
We need to develop other appetites.
We do that through what have been historically called “the SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES.”
There are many different ones, but I want to focus on six that I think are the most valuable place to begin: Solitude, prayer, worship, fasting, Bible reading, and church participation.
Think of me as your PERSONAL TRAINER – here are some spiritual exercise I want you to practice.
They will make you healthier, help you enjoy God more, and to lose weight (not really).
1. Solitude & Silence
As Americans we live with such a constant BARRAGE of NOISE there is no place in our mind for God.
It takes INTENTIONAL EFFORT to slow down, be alone, turn off the phone, quiet the chatter in our head, and just be.
Psalm 46:10 10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
As you read the entire passage, it is not just about being quiet, but about not striving, resting and waiting in God him.
~* PRACTICING SILENCE and solitude teaches you to SLOW DOWN and enjoy God.
Here is how to practice this: Find 10 MINUTES A DAY to be alone and quiet with God.
Still your mind.
Don’t bring a prayer list.
Simple prayers like “God, I love you” or “Help me” are best.
2. Prayer
I’ve preached on prayer many times and I want to keep this short, so I will summarize it: Prayer has two basic components: 1) CONVERSATION with God, and 2) ASKING for him to act.
~* Practicing PRAYER builds RELATIONSHIP and DEPENDENCE on God.
Here is how to practice this: Spend 10 MINUTES a day prayer.
Have a prayer list and split your time TALKING to God about your thoughts and concerns and PRAYING for NEEDS.
3. Worship
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