Comments on: The Happy, Love, to God’s Glory Cycle http://uponthisrawk.com/2012/06/01/the-happy-love-to-gods-glory-cycle/ Mea Vita, Mea Sententia, Soli Deo Gloria Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:47:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: barrydean http://uponthisrawk.com/2012/06/01/the-happy-love-to-gods-glory-cycle/#comment-4944 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:24:30 +0000 http://barrydean.wordpress.com/?p=2044#comment-4944 Amy,
Thanks for the comment. Our world lives in the world of instant gratification. But how long does that gratification last? Is it as fleeting as the instant we gained it? So to your early point, the opposite would hold that delayed gratification seems foolish or at least no fun.

One of the things I am learning through this study through Piper’s book is that like what is truly done for Christ will last and this should be my focus. We learn through scriptures that what we bring to the table, our righteousness is like filthy rags (to put it mildly) (ref. Is.64:6). What is done through Christ is for our good pleasure and ultimately for His.

]]> By: Amy Deardon http://uponthisrawk.com/2012/06/01/the-happy-love-to-gods-glory-cycle/#comment-4937 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 02:11:56 +0000 http://barrydean.wordpress.com/?p=2044#comment-4937 Hi Barry, you pose a great question. You’re right I think that we all pursue happiness, but it’s critical (as you say) to pursue the correct sort of happiness. Following God often seems like delayed gratification — it’s not fun to, say, go out to fix a widow’s roof or tithe badly-needed money. There are no *rewards* with this — your friends may call you foolish if you tell them, and you may come back with splinters or have to eat noodles rather than steak for dinner. God’s pleasure (and therefore yours) in these activities is theoretical… but focusing on *the things unseen* that are eternal ultimately gives one strength to delay gratification for something that you trust will be better. And really, we do this even in our own world — the student studies rather than enjoying the sunshine, the surgeon works long hours to heal the patient rather than meet with friends, the mother sings the alphabet song 50 times to her 2 year old rather than drop him into the playpen so she can read a magazine. With maturity we recognize that doing unpleasant things ultimately leads to greater happiness.

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