DELIGHTFUL CHRISTIANITY

 

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. (Psalm 37:4)

True Christianity is not what most think. Certainly not what Satan has advertised or the world proclaims. It is even not like some of the twisted caricatures we hold in the less matured, earliest days of our walk with Him.

It is delightful. But we must understand and pursue what is most delightful …

It is Him.

God is almighty and majestic, consuming, and the great Judge of heaven and earth. But when you come to know Him—realizing how much He delights in you, how fearfully and wonderfully and precisely He made you, the plans He has for you, that it is all found in Him, and that He is waiting for you to wait for Him and enjoy His presence—your soul is filled with joy.

The great key to the fullest life in Christ is what David and Paul (and everyone who truly knows Him) have said all along: It is to know Him. “Delight yourself in the Lord,” David said. Dwell in His presence long enough in the still watches of the night or the early morning quiet that you come to genuinely know the perfect One, the gracious, holy Father and friend full of lovingkindness. For to know him is to love Him. To know Him more is to never be disappointed.

The one who lives there, more and more, finds their worldly desires fading away. for they increasingly delight in His delights. And they find as they delight in Him that He loves to take them there. They become one with Him and the world begins to see a completed man or woman. God-filled humanity in its truest form.

BUT HOW?

The price to live there is time and attention. Listening through His Word and by His Spirit. Years of turning to Him rather than to worldly voices and substitute delights.

The religion of most people consists in abstaining from sins they secretly love. Negative godliness is common; it is supposed by most that our religion consists in things we must do rather than pleasures we enjoy. (Spurgeon)

What they do not realize is that genuinely abiding in Christ, drawing near and remaining near affords the ultimate delight, the greatest pleasures. Over time, things we had such a taste for in our worldly infancy grow tasteless and plastic.

“My religion consists in some things that I must do and in some things that I must not do.” I reply, “Mine consists in things I love to do and in avoiding things I hate and would scorn to do.” I feel no chains in my religion, for I am free, and no one is more free. He who fears God and is wholly God’s servant has no chains about him; he may live as he likes, for he likes to live as he ought. (Spurgeon)

The Lord has more for you. But it is all found in Him.

 

A morning prayer …

NIGHT WATCHES

Good morning, Father! What a joy to be awakened early, just to be with You! My days and nights are Yours. Thank you that, for years, You have counseled me in the still night watches where it is just us here. Thank You for the thousands of times in the early hours you have …

Spoken to me from Your word.

Calmed my fears that were troubling me.

Overcome the Enemy harassing me.

Organized my thoughts, sorting it all out, simplifying.

Delighted my heart, just with You!

If I didn’t know You do this for all who come to You, I would think it is just for us, done in a special way only for me.

But of course, it is.

For when the Father, Son, and Spirit wake each of us it is perfectly unique. Never-to-be-repeated. How can this be, Father? There is one explanation:

You are God.

You are MY God,

And I am Your son!

All that I was made for—

Every thought and breath

Every use and purpose

Every joy and delight--

Is found in You.

So, I rise in the night and look to You. Instantly my heart is stilled in Your Throne Room.

My mind renewed.

My anxiety forgotten.

My direction gained.

My soul enlarged.

My spirit filled.

My song restored.

My heart made happy in You!

And then, I am overwhelmed by the thought that You are always here—night and day—to delight in forever!

Bill Elliff

July 7, 2026

2:30 am