Pleasure vs. God

I look forward to eternal life in the age to come when we will no longer have to choose between loving pleasure and loving God. In that glorious time, God Himself will always be our greatest love and joy. Speaking about God, David said, “at your right hand are eternal pleasures” (Psalm 16:11, CSV).

But in this age, in the world we live, we do often have to choose between being “lovers of pleasure” and being “lovers of God.” Let’s think together about what this means and about why we should choose God over pleasure.

Why do we have to choose?

God is not against us enjoying the good things He has created for us in this world (1 Timothy 4:4-5). Even in this dark world, He blesses us with many forms of pleasure: good meals, family, spouses, beauty in nature, friends, and much, much more can be enjoyed as we thank God for these blessings. So, it is not all pleasures, or pleasure in and of itself, which we must often reject in favor of God.

Due to our fallen nature and the influence of our own sins, the evil world we live in, and the devil, we have to battle evil desires (Colossians 3:5; James 1:14; 2 Peter 1:4). These desires are associated with our “flesh.”  Even mature Christians who have been walking with the Lord for many years have to be on guard against such desires. These desires tempt us to seek pleasure in ways that are not pleasing to God and are harmful to ourselves and others.

There are many types of sinful pleasures. We can be tempted to eat too much or the wrong kinds of food. We sometimes feel pulled to seek sexual pleasure from sources such as pornography or someone other than our spouse. We might want to enjoy some extra sleep or leisure time instead of doing some task God wants us to do (some rest and leisure is good for us, but like food, too much of it is harmful). Some people are tempted to try to feel better through drug or alcohol abuse. The list goes on and on.

In addition to being tempted by obviously bad things (like pornography or getting drunk), even good things can turn bad if we love them more than we love God. God wants to be #1 in our lives. Hopefully we will rarely be forced to choose between things like our close family members and faithfulness to God, but when we are forced to choose, God calls us to choose Him (Matthew 10:37-38). In fact, He calls us to choose faithfulness to Him even if it means losing our very lives. More often, God asks us to give up things like worldly safety and security in order to serve to Him and the gospel.

In this life, we do often have to choose between various pleasures and God. Some of these choices are small daily choices, and some of these are major life choices.

Why we should always choose God?

There are many reasons we should always choose God over the pleasures of this world.

1.  The pleasures of this world are fleeting (Hebrews 11:25). The pleasures that flow from knowing and obeying God are eternal!

2.  Even in this life, following God will lead to increased fruit of the Holy Spirit like peace, joy, and love in hearts. On the other hand, partaking of worldly pleasures leads to things like fear, anxiety, depression, doubts, confusion, and anger in our hearts. Worldly pleasures are deceitful (Ephesians 4:22).

3.  God does not forbid certain ways of seeking pleasure because He is keeping something good from us. Just the opposite! Sin harms us and it also harms people around us.

4.  Choosing God over worldly pleasures will make us available for God to use for many good purposes which will bear much good fruit (2 Timothy 2:21).

The key is loving God

The passage we started with, 2 Timothy 3:2-5, doesn’t merely contrast God vs. worldly pleasures. It contrasts love for God vs. love for worldly pleasures. The key to growing in holiness is growing in love for God. The more we focus on how good, trustworthy, wonderful, wise, and loving our Heavenly Father and our Savior is, the more we will love Him, and the easier it will be to say “no” to lesser pleasures. The more time we spend time listening to God through the Bible, communing with God in prayer, praising God with our lips, and serving God, the more we will love Him. Following the first and greatest commandment is the key and foundation which empowers us to follow all the other commandments:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and most important command.”

(Matthew 22:37-38 CSB17)

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

Two Places where God Lives

“I live in a high and holy place,
and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit,”

Isaiah 57:15

In a way God lives everywhere. But in another way, He lives especially in certain places. Speaking through His prophet Isaiah, God speaks of two radically different types of places where His presence is found. One place is high, and the other is low.  I pray that as you think about this with me God will use this truth to bring you hope and encouragement.

A High Place

The fact that God lives in a high place, in fact in the very highest place, tells us that He is powerful and that He rules over all. There is no one with more power than God, or even with close to the same amount of power. There is no one with more or equal authority. God is high above all. As the second member of the Trinity, all that is true of God is true of Jesus. Jesus is seated “at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Ephesians 1:20-21 NIV).

A Holy Place

God lives in a holy place. He is completely separate from all that is evil or impure. “God is light. In Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). This means God never does anything wrong. He never feels a desire to do anything wrong. He is 100% good.

Stop and Think and Praise

Before we continue, stop and think about this truth: the most powerful being who exists is entirely good. This is great news! To realize how wonderful this truth is, imagine just for a second or two (not too much longer!) how terrible it would be if the most powerful being who exists was not entirely good. Imagine how terrible it would be if every now and then He did something wrong, cruel, or evil just because He wanted to. Who would be able to stop Him? What hope would anyone who was a victim of His wrong acts have? None at all! But praise God, He is both the most powerful being and the most holy being who exists. God has never done anything wrong and He never will and God can never be overpowered.

Don’t we all long to know and feel this is true?  When our daughter, Joy, was a child she liked to watch videos about a group of young dinosaurs who had adventures. Little Foot and his vegetation-eating dinosaur friends were never harmed, but they had plenty of close encounters as they were sometimes chased by the terrible meat-eating dinosaurs. This prompted Joy to make up her own stories about dinosaurs who lived in Joyland. In Joyland there was a new type of dinosaur, which she called a Brontyasaurus. It was a long-neck, peaceful, friendly dinosaur in some ways similar to Little Foot. But the Brontyasaurus was far bigger, stronger, and way more powerful than every other dinosaur. No tyrannosaurus could threaten him! With a swat of his mighty tail all meat-eating dinosaurs were vanquished! Not only that, but Brontyasaurus could fly far higher and faster than all other dinosaurs. Joyland was a safe and happy place! Isn’t that what every child’s heart (and, indeed, every human heart!) longs for? A world where the most powerful being is safe and good and on our side! Praise God, we live in such a world, though temporarily we experience evil and suffer. Which brings us to the other place God lives . . .

With the Oppressed and Lowly of Spirit

We believe God is powerful and good, and yet it doesn't feel like we're living in Joyland now. In one sense, we are not. We live in a world where there is much suffering, evil, and sorrow. It’s not God’s fault. It’s ours.

God allows us to choose. We (humankind, both collectively and as individuals) have chosen to go our own way. We chose to go down a road that God warned us not to go down. We went anyway. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. And like them, each of us has often chosen to do things that we know God did not want us to do. God made a good world for us. We have filled it with suffering, sickness, oppression, evil, and death.

Amazingly, our high and holy God has come to be with us right in the middle of the mess we’ve made. The most high, holy God is also Immanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Without ever compromising His holiness, He walks among sinners and calls us back to Himself. When we humbly recognize and confess our sins, He is ready to forgive us. He cleanses us from all our sins and begins to transform us.

When we are oppressed, God is with us. This is true when we are suffering for the gospel and for His Name sake. He is with us when evil forces which are stronger than us, but far less powerful than Him, threaten us. When we trust Him, these evil forces can do us no eternal harm (Luke 10:19). Anything we suffer God uses for our good (Romans 8:28). Even when our suffering is brought on by own sin (which it often is), whenever we humble ourselves and confess our sins He is quick to forgive. He gives us mercy and grace.

Because God is powerful, and because He is good, and because of His great grace and mercy, we are given strength and encouragement to stand firm and live for Christ in the midst of this dark world. And in Christ we have hope for a far better world to come, the true Joyland, the New Heavens and New Earth, where there will be no more sin or suffering, and where we will forever sing the praises of our high and holy God who came down into our lowly, broken world and saved us.

Hallelujah!

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .

A Model for Intercessory Prayer, Epaphras in Colossians 4:12

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings.

He is always wrestling in prayer for you,

 that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.

Colossians 4:12, NIV

We’ve all heard of “intercessory prayer”. We’ve also heard about people who are “prayer warriors.” Neither the term “intercessory prayer” nor the term “prayer warrior” is found in Scripture. Nevertheless, these concepts are entirely biblical. There are numerous passages and verses which illustrate intercessory prayer and which encourage us to be prayer warriors. In this post, we will focus mostly on one such verse, Colossians 4:12.

“for you”

Paul tells the Colossians that Epaphras was praying “for you.” This reminds us that intercessory prayer consists of prayers for other people. Of course, we should pray for ourselves. There are many examples of praying for our own forgiveness, needs, and strength throughout the Bible. Intercessory prayer puts into practice the second greatest commandment. It is a way of loving others as we love ourselves. When we are in trouble, we cry out to God in prayer and ask Him to help us. We should do the same for others.

“that you may stand firm”

It is impossible for me to read the words “stand firm” without thinking about Paul’s famous passage on spiritual warfare in Ephesians. In that passage, the same Greek word which is here translated “stand firm” occurs three times (Ephesians 6:11; Ephesians 6:13; Ephesians 6:14). This reminds us that intercessory prayer is part of spiritual warfare. We are praying for God to help, strengthen, protect, and give courage to our brothers and sisters who are under attack from our spiritual enemies.

“in all the will of God”

This reminds us that intercessory prayer is an application of one of the great requests found in the Lord’s Prayer, “your will be done” (Matthew 6:10). We are praying for God’s will in the life of another, and we are praying that they themselves will stand in God’s will and not be led into temptation (Matthew 6:13).

“mature and fully assured”

When we intercede for others, we shouldn’t merely pray concerning their circumstances. Of course, we will often pray for any specific problems (health, financial, relational, etc.) they are facing. But our prayers should go deeper. We also pray for their maturity in Christ. We pray that their faith in God will be strong and that they will grow in knowing and trusting Him.

“wrestling”

One of the things which distinguishes intercessory prayer from other forms of prayer is its intensity. Intercessory prayer feels like a struggle because it is a struggle. The Greek word for “wrestling” in Colossians 4:12 is agōnizomai. A closely related Greek word, agōnia, is translated “anguish” and describes Christ’s own intense struggle in prayer:

And being in anguish [agōnia], he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:44 NIV)

“always”

When Paul says that Epaphras “is always wrestling in prayer for you,” he obviously didn’t mean that literally every minute Epaphras was involved in intense intercessory prayer. He did mean that intense intercessory prayer was not a one time or occasional practice for Epaphras. It was a regular, ongoing ministry.

“a servant of Christ Jesus”

Just before describing Epaphras’s intercessory prayer, Paul tells us that he was “a servant of Christ Jesus.” There are many ways to serve our Lord. One way to serve Him is through intercessory prayer for others. When we are praying for others, we are serving Jesus!

Intercessory Prayer is for All of Us

While I don’t deny that some Christians are called to a special focus on intercessory prayer, this should never become an excuse for any of us not to make intercessory prayer an important part of our lives. At the beginning of the same chapter where Paul gives Epaphras as an example for us, he urges all Christians to be devoted to prayer:

Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving.

At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. (Colossians 4:2-4 CSB17)

In Romans, Paul asks other Christians to join in his struggle through prayer. Here, the Greek word for “join in struggle” [sunagōnizomai] has the same root as the word [agōnizomai] for struggling in prayer used in Colossians 4:12.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. (Rom. 15:30 NIV)

May God call and strengthen you to grow in intercessory prayer for others. As you do, you can pray with faith knowing that God will be using His great power and wisdom to help those you pray for and to further His good purposes in their lives and in our world, to the glory of Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .