Outside Your Little Box ♡♡♡

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" - Psalm 16:11

Pause, think for a second. What are the things in life that give you great Joy? Where do you run, to find the most pleasure? What is your greatest delight?  Scripture says that in God's presence there is fullness of Joy, what's more, at his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Like this thing is in great abundance Ya'll. This thing is up for grabs - Surprise?

You see, as a growing Christian, I always thought "church people" were the most boring. All they do is sit on the pews, Judge each other on what they wear and the things they do, then sing to God once a week and speak "christianese" - i.e Sunday tonic. As I grew older in my faith, I realized there was so much more to learn of this great Father. So much to see and experience. So much more to knowing him intimately. What's more, there are dimensions of Joy, that he let's us partake of, as we press into him. Not joy from the things you own or the relationships you have, or the pleasures of sin and the flesh, but wholesome Joy that cannot be quantified. Yes, in this life we may face, many hardships and troubles but there is still Joy & Pleasures up for grabs...

I once heard this guy share so vulnerably one time, that he was caught up in the web of pornography and the Lord said to him plainly "Son, you are yet to understand deeply the pleasures you have in Christ", otherwise you won't be giving in to the trappings of the flesh. What we consider to be "pleasurable" is nothing compared to that which we find in God. And that hit home for me too. I could transfer those wise words of counsel to the areas in my life, where I seek for joy and pleasure outside of God. So putting it plainly, our "missing" Joy and obsessive pursuit of pleasure outside of God, is due to a lack of understanding. A lack of understanding, of what is available and what is possible. Simply put, we are shortsighted in our temporary thirst for cheap gratification. Cheap gratification, that leaves us even more and more thirsty.

"The search for pleasure is circular, repetitive, atemporal. The variety seeking of the spectator, the thrill hunter, the sexually promiscuous, always ends in the same place. It has an end. It comes to the end and has to start over. It is not a journey and return, but a closed cycle, a locked room, a cell" - Ursula K.Le Guin. - well dang

Beloved, you and I need to be opened to the possibilities of deriving great Joy and pleasure from God. Adventurous in our pursuit of Him. Delighting in his word and presence. Baring all of our weakness and frailties before the ONE, who can fill our lives in all of the deep places, no man is able to reach. God has Joy in His presence and at his right hand? My oh my......there are pleasures forevermore. Let us encourage each other, to think outside our "little boxes" of self gratification and leap into God's wild  field, where there is no joy lacking and where there are pleasures forevermore. Ya, lots and lots of it in abundance.

One consistent prayer point of mine is this - "Dear God, I don't always feel like doing the things that I need to do, to get me to where you need me to be. But help me desire time with you. Help change my affections and desires. Help me set them on you and your ways"

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

Love

Shay