Tag Archives: C.S. Lewis

Appreciating Uniqueness, Rejoicing in Life's Moments

(In the Moments) Quiddity. It Could Change Your Life.

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Rubbing Your Nose in it

I have a good friend named Ches who, when introduced to something new, will bring it to his nose to smell it. I used to think this odd, but now I see his point.

Surprised by Joy

C.S. Lewis’ autobiography, Surprised by Joy, introduced me to the word “quiddity.” Of his friend, A. K. Hamilton Jenkin, Lewis wrote that he “seemed to be able to enjoy everything, even ugliness.” [1] From Jenkin’s example, Lewis learned to, “attempt total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering at the moment; in a squalid town to seek out those places where its squalor rose to grimness and almost grandeur.” [2]

He called this a “serious, yet gleeful determination to rub one’s nose in the very quiddity of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it was.” [3]

I need to tell Ches about this. 😎

While I still don’t fully grasp the glee Lewis is describing, a longing is stirred by fully appreciating things, even the unpleasant ones.

What is Quiddity?

The definition of quiddity is “the inherent nature or essence of something or someone.” [4] It’s what makes it unique.

The application of quiddity in his own life has moved John Piper. He wrote, “To wake up in the morning and to be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the coldness of the wooden floor, the wetness of the water in the sink, the sheer being of things (quiddity as he called it). And not just to be aware, but to wonder. To be amazed that the water is wet. It did not have to be wet. If there were no such thing as water, and one day someone showed it to you, you would simply be astonished.” [5]

“To not just be aware, but to wonder.” I love this. As we age, the fascination of life can escape us. I long to regain the wonder and curiosity of my childhood.

Appreciating the quiddity of the moments of my life is something I want venture into, and I believe this quest will have profound benefits.

Accepting the Ugly and Unpleasant Parts of Life?

I’ve spent a lifetime running from and denying the hard parts of life. But these difficult aspects of my journey have played a major role in who I am today. God has used them to prune my heart. [6]

Appreciating the unique essence of each part of my journey, and immersing myself in my surroundings, prevents me from worrying about myself. I’m complete in Christ. [7] He’s unleashed me to be more fully present each moment. This brings freedom to my soul.

Because I appreciate and seek to understand how God has uniquely made each person, I find it easier to love them as Christ has loved me.

Quiddity’s Wonder Helps Keeps Me Present

Appreciating the beauty of each present moment is a lesson I’m learning. As I have expressed previously, learning to fully embrace life’s present moments has become a driving force for remaining conscious of God’s omnipresent closeness. The awareness that He is constantly with me provides me with the bravery and fortitude required to confront everything He chooses to allow my way, both the happy times and the challenging ones.

The idea of unique qualities, built into the fabric of every part of God’s creation, should awaken an exciting curiosity in me to be on a never-ending adventure of discovery, with God as my guide.

The links between appreciation and gratitude, and between being curiously present and joy, are becoming increasingly clear to me as I write.

Challenge

Pause a moment and take inventory. Truly cast your heaviest burdens on God, as He has commanded you to do. [8]

Look around. Awaken all your senses to where He currently has you.

I see a bird feeding from our suet cage and the colors of the leaves beginning to change in the coolness of the early autumn day.

The sounds of an American crow and a white-throated sparrow fill the air (Not trying to impress with the bird sound identification, there’s an app for that 😁).  I hear the gentle flow of our man-made mountain stream and the heavy breaths of Jack, our ever-enthusiastic Australian Shepherd puppy.

I smell the musty scent of drying leaves. I feel the gentle breeze.

I pause and allow wonder and curiosity to emerge. What’s the origin of the Australian Shepherd breed? As the days get colder, where will the white-throated sparrow go?

What about you?

What’s around you this very moment?

Allow the quiddity of whatever it is to invite you further into the moments of now. Keep trusting God with the hard stuff. He knows. He’s working to make you more like Jesus. Enjoy the journey.

Prayer

Lord, help me fully embrace all the moments of my life. Help me understand that in Your sovereignty, You allow me to experience all things for Your purposes. Teach me to embrace and cherish all You bring my way, the pleasant and the unpleasant.

You’ve given me five senses to appreciate life’s moments. These senses are only active now. You’re taking care of me. I can focus on now, no past regrets, no future concerns.

Please teach me how to fully appreciate the qualities of the people and objects You bring my way.

As I seek to obey Your command to love others as You’ve loved me. [9] Please give me a full understanding of the essence and uniqueness of every person You bring my way, even those who seem unpleasant. I ask these things so that I might love them sacrificially, as You’ve loved me.

Thank you for teaching me about the quiddity of something or someone. Please teach me how to keep my eyes off of me and on everything You bring my way. May my appreciation of my surroundings help me praise and worship You moment by moment.

Amen.

[1] Surprised by Joy, Harcourt, p. 199

[2] Ibid, p. 199

[3] Ibid, p. 199

[4] Google Dictionary

[5] Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul, John Piper, Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors

[6] Romans 8:28-29

[7] Colossians 2:10

[8] I Peter 5:7

[9] John 13:34

Other posts in our series In the Moments:

As Sea Gulls Fly

The Gift of Presence

It is Finished

Behold the Moments

Tranquility

Stop Striving

Simplicity In Christ

What is Good

Yet Will I Rejoice

Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing

Exploring Grace and Joy together

Stay Present My Friends

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 

Robby Buck

Nonfiction books by the Author:

Because joy is rooted in God and is eternal, it doesn’t ebb and flow with the waves of circumstances. In fact, as we grow in our understanding of joy, we can even experience it more acutely when life is hard. Why? Because God uses trials to conform us into the image of Christ. With this awareness, which gives us glimpses of God’s greater purposes, we rejoice because of His masterful work to free us from needing anything but Him.

For these reasons, and many others, joy in the Lord is commanded in scripture. It’s not just a good idea, it’s vital to our journey as human beings. Rhythms of Joy

Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in an old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

Practicing the Presence of God, Staying Present with God

(In the Moments) Stay Present my Friends

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Savoring present moments becomes a catalyst for practicing the Presence of God.

“What do you think?” a voice interrupts your thoughts.

Suddenly you’re brought back to the present. Your spouse, your child, your friend has been sharing something important, but you were thinking about what was next on your never-ending to-do list. You have no idea what they just said. Busted!

On another occasion, you miss a magical moment on your family vacation because you’re dwelling on a regret from your past.

God has given us five senses to bring awareness of His creation around us. These senses are available now, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now.

What are some of your favorites?

For me:

Sight: Sunset, or sunrise over water or mountains

Sound: Water rushing past rocks in a mountain stream

Smell: Tea olive, gardenias

Touch: Sea breeze, fall wind in my face, soft sheets

Taste: Chocolate pie, dark coffee

When we savor now, we’re enjoying a gift from God. A lady on a plane once told me that’s why “now” is called the present. It’s a gift.

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24 NASB)

Why do the Living not Understand?

There’s an old movie entitled Our Town which drives this point home.

One character, named Emily, dies while giving birth to a child. However, the stage manager allows her to go back to the past and observe the morning of her sixteenth birthday.

From her vantage point, she has a profoundly nostalgic appreciation of the transient beauty of life’s insignificant moments. However, she realizes that people, including her younger self, don’t understand how precious the moments of life really are. She is stunned that nobody savors and fully appreciates “now”. They all seem so disengaged. Later she would say of the living, “They don’t understand.”

Paul – “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:13 NASB)

Jesus – “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34 NASB)

God doesn’t want us to be imprisoned by the regrets of our past or fears of our future. He wants us to be present with Him moment by moment.

Abiding is Staying Present with Jesus

Jesus tells us in John 15 to “abide” in Him. Other meanings of this word are to “tarry” or “stay present with.” Jesus says in the same chapter that there is complete joy found in “staying present” in His love and loving others as He has loved us.

Staying present with Jesus is essential to our spiritual lives, and it leads to experiencing and savoring life’s moments. Otherwise, life quickly passes us by.

Savoring present moments becomes a catalyst for practicing the Presence of God.

Quiddity

Of his friend, A. K. Hamilton Jenkins, Lewis wrote that he “seemed to be able to enjoy everything, even ugliness.” [1] From Jenkins’ example, Lewis learned to, “attempt total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering at the moment; in a squalid town to seek out those places where it’s squalor rose to grimness and almost grandeur,”[2] He called this a “serious, yet gleeful determination to rub one’s nose in the very quiddity[3] of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it was.”

What I learn from this is that in our endeavors to “enjoy” the nature of something and experience it with our senses, we notice the “good” and the “bad”.

Challenge

Take notice of what you see and hear right at this moment. Do you smell anything? Perhaps you’re drinking a cup of coffee and feel a gentle breeze upon your face like I’m experiencing as I write.

What calls you away from being fully present? Is it a looming duty, a past regret, a worry about the future? Whatever it is robs you of fully embracing the gift of now. Give these things to God and don’t take them back.

During life’s “nows,” we show love by caring for the people in our lives. In an instant, our present moments become memories. When we savor our times with the people God places in our path, there’s a richness which touches our hearts and slows the swirl of life.

But what’s most important is being present with God. The Holy Spirit of Jesus indwells us, and we are never alone. God is in us and around us. We are in Him and He is in us.

Tarry, remain, abide in Jesus. Now, we feel His presence.

In your presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11b.

Prayer

Lord, I need you desperately on this one. I can determine with all my might to stay present, but my mind quickly wanders. By Your Indwelling Holy Spirit, please keep me in the moments of life, fully savoring all which surrounds me, receiving all things from Your hand. 

In my moments of now, my I, above all things, recognize Your nearness and show Your love to all You bring my way. May this be the overarching goal of every day, to receive Your love and give it away.

Amen

And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?  My hope is in you. (Psalm 39:7 NASB)

[1] Surprised By Joy, Harcourt, p. 199

[2] Ibid, p. 199

[3] From the Oxford Dictionary: Quiddity – the nature or essence of someone or something.

Other posts in our series In the Moments:

As Sea Gulls Fly

The Gift of Presence

It is Finished

Behold the Moments

Tranquility

Stop Striving

Simplicity In Christ

What is Good

Yet Will I Rejoice

Sorrowful, Yet Always Rejoicing

Exploring Grace and Joy together

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 

Robby Buck

Nonfiction books by the Author:

Because joy is rooted in God and is eternal, it doesn’t ebb and flow with the waves of circumstances. In fact, as we grow in our understanding of joy, we can even experience it more acutely when life is hard. Why? Because God uses trials to conform us into the image of Christ. With this awareness, which gives us glimpses of God’s greater purposes, we rejoice because of His masterful work to free us from needing anything but Him.

For these reasons, and many others, joy in the Lord is commanded in scripture. It’s not just a good idea, it’s vital to our journey as human beings. Rhythms of Joy

Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in an old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

The Death of Discouragement, The Lord our Courage

Courage For the Dis-Couraged

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Zerubbabel started out well. He’d led a group of Jews returning to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity. His mission was to rebuild the destroyed temple. 

He had the credentials;  a descendent of King David [1] and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. [2] But there were difficulties.  Zerubbabel, along with the rest of the people, got side tracked from building God’s house while they built houses for themselves. Work on the temple slowed to a standstill for a number of years. [3] 

Part of the problem was the opposition Zerubbabel faced from the Samaritans, who wrote slanderous letters to the Persian kings and hired counselors to intimidate and frustrate the workers. [4]

Zerubbabel and the Jews were discouraged. Amidst todays social and political unrest, as well as as economic instability, many of us can relate.

So what turned the tide? Four years later we read about a joyous dedication of the temple:  And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy (Ezra 6:16 NASB).

Along the way, discouragement was replaced by courage to accomplish what God was calling them to do.

That kind of courage would serve us well today.

What was the recipe for the courage which turned the whole affair around?

Turning the Tide from Discouragement to Courage.

A Call to Obedience

First, the Jews had to change their behavior. This was prompted by a call to obedience from the prophet Haggai: Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways! 8 Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house … (Haggai 1:7-9 NASB) 

This rebuke from God was a call to stop focusing on their paneled houses and complete the job of rebuilding the house of the Lord, which remained in desolate ruins. [5]

God’s word was heeded and the Jews obeyed. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people showed reverence for the Lord (Haggai 1:12).

Obedience is always the first step.

A Call to Courage

Then the Lord told the people, “I am with you.”  Hearing this, the spirits of Zerubbabel,  Joshua, and all the people were stirred up. They pushed past the apathy and opposition and resumed work on the house of God. [6]

Then came the call to courage. But now take courage, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord, ‘take courage also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all you people of the land take courage,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ declares the Lord of hosts. 5 ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’  (Haggai 2:4-5).

The promise of God’s presence stirred up the spirits of the Jews and gave them great courage.

God’s presence turned the tide and mustered the hearts of His people to accomplish what He desired. 

But it’s not just a one time reminder. We need to continually realize God’s nearness, especially when facing our own challenges. This awareness of His presence changes everything.

Rebuilding the temple was never easy. Zerubbabel the the Jews needed to constantly know they weren’t alone as they went about God’s business.

How about us? 

Paneled Houses

Like Zerubbabel and the Jews, are we focused on our concerns while God’s work is being neglected? What are our paneled houses? 

It’s a great question to ask. God was not condemning the Jews for having nice houses. The problem was their focus. Their desires had taken the place of what God desired.

What’s our focus? Are we consumed with our “needs” above God’s business? God tells us that if we focus on His kingdom, not our own, He’ll take care of what we need.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33 NASB).

“Aim at Heaven and you get Earth ‘thrown in’: aim at Earth and you will get neither.” (A Joyful Christian  C.S. Lewis) 

God is With us

As we endeavor upon what God is calling us to do, we’re never alone. The things God asks us to do, and to endure, are often extremely difficult. In our work for God, our weaknesses are exposed. 

This a good thing. We sometimes face what we might call God sized problems – tasks which are impossible to accomplish without God working through us.

In our weaknesses, God is strong. [7]  

As God’s children, we’ve been given His Spirit, which Paul calls the Holy Spirit of promise, [8] to indwell us.

The Holy Spirit, the promised presence of God, is to guide and empower us and give us courage for whatever we face. Right this moment, God’s Spirit indwells His children. Though we may not feel His nearness, He never leaves us.

Whatever our circumstances, we can embrace God’s presence. When we do, courage rises.

Prayer

Lord, what great encouragement You’ve given us with the story of Zerubbabel and the rest of the Jews. Though they were discouraged and distracted, they obeyed You. They drew great courage from their belief in Your nearness and from Your powerful presence. Thank you.

Today, You are as close as breath to us, Your children. You are with me right this moment, indwelling me, empowering me, guiding me, comforting me and loving me. Thank you!

Please help me abide in Your nearness and live my life in utter dependence upon You. Apart from You I can do nothing of eternal worth. I want to be about Your kingdom and Your business.

Please show me quickly when I focus on my own paneled houses and neglect what You desire for my life.

I love you.

  Amen

Journal Time

With your journal in hand, spend time thinking about things of this world which tend to consume your focus. Ask God to bring clarity and write down your own “paneled houses”. Ask Him to show you what business of His you might be neglecting, like Zerubbabel and the Jews leaving God’s temple in ruins.

Based on what you believe He is telling you, write a prayer of repentance and obedience, asking Him to guide and empower you by His presence.

Thank Him for giving up His life up to save you and giving you His Holy Spirit to be your constant Helper. Thank Him for the Joy of His presence and the courage He gives you by His nearness.

Come back to this journal entry often.

[1] I Chronicles 3:16-19

[2] Matthew 1:12-13

[3] Haggai 1:1-4

[4] Ezra 4:1-24

[5] Haggai 1:4

[6] Haggai 1:13-14

[7] 2nd Corinthians 12:9-10

[8] Ephesians 1:13

Other Posts in our Rhythms of Joy Series:

Joy is important because it’s an experience of God

The amazing connection between grace and joy

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

 

Keep Seeking the Kingdom, Orienting Our Lives from Above

Rhythms: UP (What in the World am I Doing for Heaven’s Sake?)

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Live with the End in Mind

So far in UP we’ve looked at the exceedingly lavish love of God: God’s Amazing Love

We’ve determined how necessary it is for our vitality: God’s Essential Love

And become aware of what threatens us knowing it: What Hides God’s Love

We’ve marveled at the reality of our union with Christ. learning to trust that He indwells us: Christ Lives in Me and that we’re

also in Him: Raised up with Christ

We’ve established that we were created to only be satisfied when God is our highest joy: Who’s your Treasure?

And, we’ve seen how Jesus wants us to share His joy in how we love: Obtaining the Joy of Jesus 

Let’s now look at how we can orient each day around these spiritual realities?

Orienting Our Days

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:1-2 NASB).

In the above verses, Paul gives us a framework for how to position our minds in a way which will change how we view and live each day.

Since we, as children of God, are in Christ, we’ve been raised up with Him. Though physically we still reside on earth we’re to keep seeking His will and we’re to set our minds on things of eternal value.

This type of living keeps us in the flow of Jesus’ joy.

But, how does it play out on a Monday afternoon?

Keep Seeking 

From our position in Christ, we’re to continually seek what’s on God’s heart.  As Jesus demonstrated, we’re to aim at doing God’s will above our will. Even in the midst of carrying out our day to day responsibilities, we’re to require God’s glory in all we say and do.

In the fray of the day, what we experience in front of our eyes can consume our focus and energies.  But, as our days unfold, we’re to strive for seeing and doing what has long term, eternal value in every situation. 

This mindset is impossible without a moment by moment dependence upon Christ’s Holy Spirit within. It also requires a growing confidence that, as we focus on heaven, God will take care of us.

Jesus said it in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 

We’re to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NASB).

As we go, we keep seeking the things on God’s heart, leaving the rest in His hands.

Setting Our Minds

As we keep seeking God’s will, we’re also to set our minds from the eternal position we now have in Christ. This means orienting our minds from above, seeing all of life from a long term view. 

What a different perspective!

From our eternal orientation, we look at every moment, every person and every choice differently.  Since people have eternal souls, they rise to the top of our priority lists.

We desperately need the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us in our interactions with others. As Peter put it in I Peter 4:11, Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Setting our minds on things above, means speaking words of life and loving the folks God places around us in His strength. Living today with eternity on our minds, keeps God’s purposes at the forefront. We continually say, “Lord, what’s next?”

Story: 

Once upon a time there was a man who was hostile toward God’s plan. It wasn’t that he hated God, he just didn’t realize what God was up to. Out of his confusion, this man played a part in the murder of many folks who were following Jesus Christ.

In a very startling way, Jesus intervened and showed this man that He was Lord. This man believed and spent much time alone with Jesus, growing in the sweetness of intimate fellowship with Him.

This man began living his life from an eternal perspective, seeking God’s will above his own. He learned to trust God when it came to his own welfare. This produced a freeing joy, which overflowed into rejoicing, in spite of his difficult circumstances.

This way of enjoying Jesus, no matter what happened, characterized this man’s life. He just had to tell others. He spoke and wrote about his hope of heaven and how he was experiencing eternal life even on earth.

Over time, his outspoken ways caused him to be thrown in jail. But even in prison, he continued to experienced the joy of being with Jesus. Because of his faith, he cared more about eternal matters than his temporal welfare. From his prison cell, he wrote:

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel,  so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else,  and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will;  the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice (Philippians 1:12-18 NASB)

Of course, this man was Paul.

From the above verses, we see an excellent example of seeking the things of heaven above the circumstances of earth. Paul’s excitement and joy stemmed from the fact that his difficulties were producing eternal results.

Paul sought God’s kingdom above all else. He oriented His life from above; living from the long view of eternity. 

Conclusion

C.S. Lewis once wrote. “Aim  at Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in’: aim at Earth and you will get nothing.” [1]

We’re not to get so wrapped up in the temporal things of this world that we lose focus on what’s most important.

We need to continually ask ourselves: What in the world am I doing for heaven’s sake?

We can trust the details of our lives to Jesus, freeing us to seek God’s glory as we love the folks He places in our paths.

The challenge is to live each moment of our earthly lives with the end in mind, asking how our words and actions impact eternity?

Live with the end in mind. 

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Colossians 3:17 NASB).

Prayer

Lord, thank You for wanting me to find joy right now in how my story ends in eternity with You. Thank You that, because I’ve been raised up with Christ, I’m in position to take the long view, to see things from Your eternal purposes. Please allow me to see each person from the standpoint of their journey with You, even if they don’t have a relationship with you yet. Also, please help me see the opportunities to bring You glory in everything I do, even in the most mundane endeavors.  Thank you Father.

Personal Study

Highlight Matthew 6:19-34

Explain it in your own words

Apply it to your life

Respond to God in prayer 

[1] The Joyful Christian, C.S. Lewis, B&H Publishing Group

Previous posts in the UP series:

God’s Amazing Love

God’s Essential Love

What Hides God’s Love

Christ Lives in Me

Raised up with Christ

Who’s your Treasure?

Obtaining the Joy of Jesus 

.Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Complete Joy

Joy is a Person

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I’ve been a joy seeker from an early age. As a child, before life’s troubles crusted my heart, I tasted joy: Christmas smells and lights, waking up to freshly fallen snow, strawberries from my grandfather’s garden, family vacations in Vermont.

These whiffs awakened desires for lasting joy built into me by my Creator. I went searching for more,  but  lost the scent along the way, traveling many wrong roads.

  • Lasting joy isn’t found in buying your first car or going on your first date in said car.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t happen when you leave home and go to college. Nor does it happen when you finally graduate.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t come from drugs, sex and rock and roll.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t come from pleasing people or accumulating possessions
  • Lasting joy doesn’t happen when you get married and have children of your own.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t come from trying to be a great  husband or father.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t happen when you’re successful in your career, when you pay downs debts and build up your 401K.
  • Lasting joy doesn’t come from trying to live a life free from troubles and striving after smooth circumstances.

God doesn’t want us settling for finite pleasures to fulfill our need for eternal joy. He made us for much more. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that our Lord finds our desire not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday the sea. We are too far to easily pleased.”[1]

Joy isn’t automatically realized when you give your life to Christ and invite Him to indwell you by His Holy Spirit. But this is where the journey begins.

Wrong pursuits  of joy require painful redirection of passions, making room for more Jesus in our lives. He is Joy Personified.  “In Your Presence is Fullness of Joy;”[2]

On the night before He died, Jesus laid out in clear, unmistakable terms, our path to complete Joy:

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.(John 15:9-12 NIV)

Verse 9 – A declaration of undeserved Love and a command to Remain

Verse 10 – A conditional for staying in the love of Jesus

Verse 12– A specific command, fulfilling the condition and becoming the true goal of every day

Verse 11– The astounding result of loving sacrificially – Complete Joy

Lord, help us receive Your love and give it away. How brilliant that the way we stay in Your love and experience Your Joy is by loving others the way you’ve loved us. This can only happen as we abide in You. Day by day guide us to those You want to love though us. Fill us with the Joy of Your presence as we love.

[1] The Weight of Glory, C.S.Lewis

[2] Psalm 16:11b NASB

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures. Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post once a week. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Joy Defined, Joyful Heart, Joyful Strength

How Can the Joy of the Lord be our Strength?

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Weeping

God’s people were weeping. They’d been through years of exile in a foreign land, but were back in Jerusalem, gathered before the newly rebuilt Water Gate. Ezra, the priest, asked for the book of the Law of Moses to be brought forth. He read it from early morning to midday. The people were attentive and greatly moved.[1]

Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground (Nehemiah 8:6) NASB.

From hearing the law of God, something was awakened deep within the people. A longing for God was stirred up. They began to weep.[2]

A Call to Joy

When Nehemiah heard the people weeping, he said to them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” (Nehemiah 8:9)

Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

David had written years before, “In Your presence is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11b).

In this time of grieving, of weeping, of longing for God, the people needed to be encouraged. Their hearts needed to be infused with the joy of the Lord which grows with His nearness.

What is Joy?

The word Hebrew for joy Nehemiah used to cheer the people literally means gladness. But joy has much deeper implications than just being happy.

In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis describes joy as the experience “of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.” He goes on to say that joy only has one characteristic in common with happiness and pleasure, “the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again.”[3]

So this experience called Joy is an awakening in our hearts of a longing for God, knit into every fabric of our being. Joy exuding from the Lord, awakens our longing for Him and invites us further into His presence.

Enjoy

God has given us many things to enjoy. Nehemiah commands the people to enjoy eating the fat of the land and to drink of the sweet, making glad their hearts. These enjoyments are a physical manifestation of Joy flowing from God’s bounty of delight. He wants us to enjoy what He’s created.

Then Nehemiah directs the people to ultimate Delight, to God Himself.

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b).

The Joy of the Lord is Your Strength

Joy, of the Lord. Full Joy, exuding from the Lord’s nearness, quickening the heart, inviting us deeper. As our hearts are cheered with stable, eternal Joy, unaffected by any worldly circumstance, courage is born. A cheerful, courageous heart gives us strength.

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22).

When Joy of eternal quality cheers the heart, a courage and strength of the same type emerges.

How Can The Joy of the Lord Be our Strength?

  • The Joy of the Lord is our strength when we determine to have no joys above Him, no relationship, no possession, no achievement, no security, no delight.
  • The Joy of the Lord is our strength when we recognize all earthy pleasures as coming directly from His heart to us, designed to be enjoyed, not apart from Him, but as part of our enjoyment of Him.
  • The Joy of the Lord is our strength when we recognize that the experience of joy is not an end in itself, but a longing to draw us to God Himself. Joy is an invitation.
  • The Joy of the Lord is our strength when we realize that enjoying God above all earthly delights brings Him glory.

Prayer

Lord, so many things compete for my delight in You. I’m guilty of “requiring” the circumstances of my life to be okay for me to have joy. I’m so sorry. Thank You for showing me that eternal, rock solid joy is found in You at all times. Thank You that as my heart is cheered in You, courage arises. Finding my eternal joy in You, gives me strength for even the most difficult trials. Long time griefs, which seem to have no end, have threatened to discourage and dishearten me. But You are my Joy. When I see this and trust it, my heart is cheered and courage emerges. This gives me strength in these most difficult trials. Thank you dear Lord, my King, my Sovereign, my Joy.

[1] Nehemiah 8:3-6

[2] Nehemiah 8:9

[3] C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, pp. 17–18.

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Rejoicing in Life's Moments

Quiddity. It Could Change Your Life. (Republished in the Moments)

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Rubbing Your Nose in it

I have a good friend named Ches who, when introduced to something new, will bring it to his nose to smell it. Until recently, I thought this quite odd, but now I’m seeing he may be on to something.

Surprised by Joy

I was introduced to the word “quiddity”  in the book, Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis’ autobiography. Of his friend, A. K. Hamilton Jenkins, Lewis wrote that he “seemed to be able to enjoy everything, even ugliness.”[1] From Jenkins’ example, Lewis learned to, “attempt total surrender to whatever atmosphere was offering at the moment; in a squalid town to seek out those places where it’s squalor rose to grimness and almost grandeur,”[2] He called this a “serious, yet gleeful determination to rub one’s nose in the very quiddity of each thing, to rejoice in its being (so magnificently) what it was.”[3] I need to tell Ches about this.

I don’t yet grasp the glee in all Lewis is referring to. However, the thought of fully appreciating something for what it is, even when unpleasant, awakens a longing within me.

As a side note, Lewis defined Joy as “the experience of an unsatisfied desire, which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction.”[4] Quiddity awakens a desire within my soul.

What is Quiddity?

Quiddity is defined as, “the inherent nature or essence of something or someone.” More simply put, the “whatness” or “what it is.” [5]  Quiddity is the quality of what makes something or someone unique.

John Piper has been moved by the application of quiddity in his own life. He wrote, “To wake up in the morning and to be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun’s rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the coldness of the wooden floor, the wetness of the water in the sink, the sheer being of things (quiddity as he called it). And not just to be aware but to wonder. To be amazed that the water is wet. It did not have to be wet. If there were no such thing as water, and one day someone showed it to you, you would simply be astonished.”[6]

I too want to appreciate what makes the people and things around me unique. Several benefits of this focus come to mind:

Accepting the Ugly and Unpleasant Parts of Life?

I’ve spent a life time running from and denying the hard parts of life. But these difficult aspects of my journey have played a major part in who I am today. The unpleasant parts of life have been used to prune my heart as I desire to be full of Joy, in the Lord, always. [7]

Lord, help me to fully embrace all moments of my life. Help me understand, that in Your sovereignty, You allow me to experience all manner of people and things for Your purposes. Teach me to embrace and cherish all You bring my way, the pleasant and unpleasant.

Keeping Me From Being Self Focused

Fully embracing my surroundings, appreciating the quiddity of all aspects of my journey, keeps me from worrying about me.  I’m complete, in Christ.[8] He’s unleashed me to be more fully present each moment. This is extremely freeing.

Lord, You’ve given me five senses to appreciate life’s moments. These senses are only active now. You’ve taken care of me. I don’t have to clutter my mind with regrets from the past or concerns for the future. Please keep me focused on the present and teach me how to fully appreciate the qualities of the people and objects You bring my way.

 Helping Me Love Others as Christ Has Loved Me

By appreciating and seeking to understand how God has uniquely made each person, I can more easily love them as Christ has loved me.

Lord, You’ve commanded me to love others as You’ve loved me.[9] You tell me that if I do this, I’ll remain in Your love and that You’ll make my Joy complete.[10] This is amazing. Please give me a full understanding of the essence and uniqueness of every person You bring my way, even those who seem unpleasant. I ask these things so that I might love them sacrificially, as You’ve loved me.

In Conclusion

I need to spend more time with Ches, learning how to rub my nose in the magic of what surrounds me.

 Lord, You know my desire to Rejoice in You always. Thank you for showing me about Quiddity. Please teach me how to keep my eyes off of me and on everything you bring my way. May my appreciation of my surroundings help me praise and worship You moment by moment. Amen.

[1] Surprised By Joy, Harcourt, p. 199

[2] Ibid, p. 199

[3] Ibid, p. 199

[4] Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul, John Piper, Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors

[5] Google Dictionary

[6] Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul, John Piper, Desiring God 2010 Conference for Pastors

[7] Philippians 4:4

[8] Colossians 2:10

[9] John 13:34

[10] John 15:9-12

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains