In the Kingdom of God, our King doesn’t live in some faraway hard-to-get-to place. He dwells within all who believe in Him by His Spirit. Knowing the joy of His pleasure, therefore, is available at all times. Today’s excerpt from The Kingdom Turn is found on pages 135 and 136:
“The Scriptures encourage us to partake of God’s pleasure by seeking Him and gaining entrance to the fellowship He enjoys within Himself. We are encouraged to contemplate the beauty of the Lord, thus to know the highest aesthetic pleasure anyone can ever know. The Scriptures promise that we can know true oneness with the Lord, and share in the perfect and pure intimacy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – an intimacy that is literally out of this world! We are even told we may participate in God and partake of the divine essence, and so become enveloped in His eternal presence, redeeming grace, and transforming power.
“When entering into the pleasure that God knows in Himself is our highest pleasurable aspiration, all the other pleasures of life – those many and varied gifts and tokens of His love – realize their fullest purpose and peak delight, because enjoying pleasure in and as the pleasure of the Lord gives to every earthly pleasure a perfection and purity that it otherwise must always lack.
“Make no mistake: God does not need us to share in His pleasure in order for His pleasure to be complete within Himself alone. But it pleases God, in and of Himself, to invite us into His pleasure, there to discover the true meaning and lasting joy of all pleasures.
“The pleasure of His company is the key to knowing all true and satisfying pleasure.”
For reflection or discussion
1. How well do you understand what it means to experience the pleasure of God?
2. What kind of transforming effects should we expect from being in God’s pleasure?
Knowing God’s pleasure—indeed, living in His pleasure—should be a Christian’s highest aspiration. It doesn’t just happen, so we’ll have to make some effort to get there. Knowing the pleasure of God starts with making the Kingdom turn, and then growing in the Lord Jesus every day thereafter. Share today’s podcast with a friend, then get together to discuss what you’re learning. A copy of The Kingdom Turn is waiting for you at The Ailbe Bookstore.
T. M. Moore
