When I Don't Desire God, Part 4 - John Piper 

The fight for joy I meant to say the only fight worth fighting. Fighting for our sins to be forgiven. Spiritual fights are worth making war on sin. Saved by grave. Micah ch 7 v7,8,9 gutsy guilt ! As for me I will look to the lord ... when I fall I shall raise etc . Bearing indignation. Thank you . I have an advocate x

I too don't like waking up with the wrong attitude toward God. I remember when I was a younger Christian, He would be the first thing to break through my sleepy eyes, and I was getting happier and happier as I became more aware that this is not a dream. I am a child of God, I am redeemed, and my heart would soar as on the wings of eagles, I was God conscience and aware of him all day. Spending as much time as I could reading and memorizing the bible because I was in love with the Word. It wasn't until I matured that the Word is Christ and that is why true believers love it so much. Then all was going well and I put the word down, after all I told myself, I have it written on my heart. It was a hard learned lesson, When the Israelites were told to go gather the manna that fell in the wilderness the night before they were only to take enough for one day, cause if you tried to more it would spoil and be worthless the next day. That of coarse is the lesson right there, don't stop gathering the word and being nurtured by it because what you ate in the past will spoil. We need His word daily or you will wonder and the things of the world will fill in the void. Well I made the prodigal son look like he was only gone for the weekend, I did things I never thought I would ever do. Lust of the eyes, pride of life, drunkenness, drugs, right up to Heroin abuse. I would pray to him in the midst of my sin. Sniff heroin and read and pray all day and night, I I through out the tv, I don't suggest everybody do this. Lol, Long story short he has brought me through to enable to see Him as I never thought possible and he is not finished with me yet. One thing through His grace that kept me is I asked Him to help my unbelief that had crept in, I asked Him to restore the passion that was once there, which he restored 10 times over. He said you have not because ask not. James says when you do ask you ask amiss so as to consume it on your own lust. I found out that when you ask Him about spiritual things that are in line with His will. It's answered Oh How he love us, oh how great and endless his grace is for us. He said in Ephesians 2 that while we were still dead in our sins Christ died for us and while we were yet sinners made us alive with Christ, (by grace are you saved) and raised us up together and made us sit together with Him in heavenly places. As if that weren't enough, so that in the ages to come he can show us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus our Lord. enough said, I would keep writing the rest of the chapter but I hope the spirit through this will encourage others to ask for passion, and a deeper love and walk with Him. If you want to fall deeper into the gracious love of the Lord and don't even know if you really mean it, watch what he will do. Your desires will change and be His desires, the word that may have been a little dull will come alive and your joy that is the strength of the Lord will be overflowing and people will see the light of the joy shining through this earthen vessel with al its cracks and imperfections, because He who commanded light to shine out of the darkness will shine in you hearts to the gift of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen. Be of good courage and stay in His word!

whati'veheardb4 I understand how you feel. However, we do NOT LIVE BY FEELINGS. secondly, if Christ's Blood & words to clear your conscience is not enough, then you are relying on your own wisdom fir forgiveness. That is dangerous grounds. Our own prude will keep us away from humbly accepting Christ's work in the Chris's. This argument is what Muslims use in refusing Christ's atoning Blood for their sins. They want to do it on their own.

Robert Bowes wow....love this

Thank you, Robert Bowes

Have things gotten clearer to you? Have you discovered joy in God? I am struggling too

@@jerryrockets6257 Take heart, fellow struggler. I wouldn't say perfect joy, to be completely honest. But i can accept a bit easier now that justification is really Christ saving me through faith. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like a new-born baby doesn't need to thank its mother or else she would stop feeding it. We know their bond would grow over time, the child would appreciate the mother more and more, etc. But at the moment, that baby just receives her care. I always go back to Jesus' words in Matthew. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and i will give you rest. Take my yoke and learn from me..." Notice how Jesus is just calling people over. No other requirements. Just draw near. THEN learn from him. Not be transformed instantly, not be perfect right now. Learn. And learning takes time. A lifetime! I believe the joy, love and "warm feelings" grow in that long season of learning, just like what happens with other people in our lives. Jesus is just asking us to come to him, take that first step, like saying hello to that possible future close friend, reconciling with an enemy... first steps. Notice also how the apostles, when they first followed him, didn't express the love and loyalty that they did after the 3yrs. Coz they were still getting to know Jesus. They followed, observed, asked questions, etc. They built the relationship bit by bit (like normal human relationships) until it became loving and joyful. Jesus' sacrifice was that sufficient it doesn't need our "joy" just to be effective. It needs no input from us. And ain't that the difficult part most of the time? We always feel like there must be something that we need to do to secure our spot. Take his invitation, THEN start the lifelong journey of getting to know this person who invited you. Hope this helps and give you hope that it can get better. Mind you, i still struggle sometimes. And this progress took lots of time and patience. But i'll take it. I'm still in the middle of learning and building my relationship with God. 😊

@@jerryrockets6257 Not sure why my old reply doesn't appear.... But i just wanted to say that the Lord has been gracious to help me slowly get out of that mental torture loop. And to help me experience joy little by little. Mind you i still struggle sometimes. But i always remember that Jesus invited us to come to him for rest FIRST. Then to learn from him. No other requirements. Just go to him first. I believe that the other good things (sanctification, joy, enjoyment, love for God, etc.) develop and grow as time passes. I say this coz, well, most relationships grow like that. What matters is to start the journey with God. Also, i noticed how the disciples' loyalty to and, dare i say, enjoyment of Jesus grew as they got to know him. I may be wrong here, feel free to observe the gospels. But just like us, they also built a relationship with Jesus and it took time. Take heart, friend. God our good father sees your struggle. It may be hard to believe right now, but he wants to work with you and love you even while you're still neck-deep in your struggle. Praying for your peace.

Raising boys for god

Seraph825 No, he or she is probably on his way to salvation

Seraph825 No. not possible. That would not be consistent with how God describes Himself in the Bible.

No, God is the one who gives us the heart for repentance. So if someone is repentant God will save them! (Sorry I'm not sure how to change the picture! That's my son not me...)