THE
FOUNTAIN OF UNCEASING JOY
BREAD
11 You
have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalms 16:11 (NIV)
8 Taste and see that the LORD is
good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and
hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Psalms 34:8-10 (NIV)
3 His
divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through
these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through
them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter
1:3-4 (NIV)
5 Your
love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your
justice like the great deep. O LORD, you
preserve both man and beast. 7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in
the shadow of your wings. 8 They
feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of
delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we
see light. 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your
righteousness to the upright in heart.
Psalms 36:5-10 (NIV)
1 Blessed
is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way
of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his
law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which
yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalms 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in
trouble. 2 Therefore
we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the
heart of the sea, 3 though
its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah 4 There
is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the
Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at
break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice,
the earth melts. 7 The
LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Psalms
46:1-7 (NIV)
37 On
the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of
living water will flow from within him.”
John 7:37-38 (NIV)
7 Instead
of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double
portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 “For
I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make
an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and
their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they
are a people the LORD has blessed.” 10 I
delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has
clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden
causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations. Isaiah
61:7-11 (NIV)
1 Praise
the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits--3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your
diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with
love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that
your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The
LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. Psalms 103:1-6 (NIV)
17 Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17 (NIV)
28 And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who
have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (NIV)
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have
come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Do not let the
false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.” Clare of Assisi
“All
earthly delights are but ‘streams’; but God is the ocean.” Jonathan
Edwards
“Consider God in your own experiences of
Him. There is a taste and sight of His
goodness. This surpasses the greatest
capacity of mere natural understanding.
Have not many of you found the delightful, gentle moving of God into
your souls, sprinkled with His inward blessings as you seek Him? Have you not sensed His gentle rebuke in your
conscience when you are slipping away from Him?
Have you not found sometimes an invisible hand raising you up when you
were dejected, or some unexpected providence stepping in for your relief? Our hearts can easily realize that it was not
a work of chance. You have found that
He is indeed a ‘rewarder of those who seek Him’, and you can set your seal that
He is what He has declared Himself to be in His Word.” Stephen Charnock
“You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you
are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but
it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may be painful and
make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel
that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals Himself so graciously and gives
such sweet refreshment that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily
strife than others in their hours of rest.” C. H. Spurgeon revised by Alistair
Begg
“There is no other god like this. He never
relinquishes the role of inexhaustible benefactor of his ever-dependent, happy
people.” John Piper
“The key to our
joy is not the goodness of our day, but the goodness of our God.” Donna Evans
“Few delights can equal the mere presence of One whom we fully
trust.” George McDonald
“The Lord’s chief
desire is to reveal Himself to you and, in order for Him to do that, He gives
you the experience of enjoying His presence.
He touches you, and His touch is so delightful that, more than ever, you
are drawn inwardly to Him.” Madame Jeanne
Guyon
“God put my old dream through a paper shredder.
I am now old enough to be very happy about that fact. I am grateful that God hadn’t left me to
my own shrunken version of the good life.” Paula
Rinehart
HEART
SAVOR
·
There is
fullness of joy in His presence.
·
Joy is
the infallible mark of a Christian.
·
Taste and
see that the Lord is good. Blessed is
the man who takes refuge in Him.
