Desiring God

1. I used to think it was a bit conceited of God to be so into Himself. Now I see it differently. Think about it. If God DIDN'T enjoy Himself, that would denote that there's something wrong with Him! And if there's something bad about Him, then how in the world can He expect others to enjoy Him?
2. This of course carries over into the question "How in the world can a person expect others to be attracted to them or their God if they are depressed, angry, discontented, etc., in themselves, in Him, or in anyone else?"
3. If I'm "delighting myself in the Lord" then even in sorrow, I will be at peace and will even find some happiness, because I will be content in God, knowing that He's in charge of my Happiness, and want's my Joy to be complete ;)
4. Re: p. 33 "...if the world He made were out of control, frustrating His design again and again, God would not be happy." I have to dissagree. I look at it from a Jewish perspective. Even in Jewish weddings, there is a moment of sadness intentionally mixed into the festivities. This shows that there's a time for everything. The world, even in nature, is either out of control or else we, mankind, are ill equipped to deal with it's ever changing weather patters globally speaking. I believe God CAN be happy even when the things He created don't go according to design. Look at Lucifer becoming satan. God is still a Joyful God! He still enjoys Himself! Yet there must be a touch of sad-Love that God has as He fondly recalls the good times He had with Lucifer before he became satan. This isn't to say that God isn't in control of the world and the weather, or that He can't use it all to His Glory. He IS in control of it! I suppose that my point is that there is MUCH saddness and devistation to the human heart caused by the events which are in turn caused by a world and "mother nature" who seem to have all gone mad. And yet, God is Joyful in Himself still! He IS above all, and DOES work all things together for good. So even when so mach saddness abounds, God finds Joy and is at Peace.
5. I suddenly find myself feeling very secure as I contemplate God's Eternal Joy in Himself! The "God of Joy" is in charge of MY Joy! What could I possibly fear in the end? Yes, there ARE trials and there IS pain, but in the end, God works it all out for my Joy, Peace, and Contented Satisfaction.
6. Wow. To blame satan for being the source of pain and frustration WOULD be to say that somehow he has more power than God! While satan is the worker of all evil, and he WILL pay for all the evil he has done, and rightly so, it is true that he is not allowed to do anything that God doesn't allow him to do. God uses all bad circumstances to His advantage, one way or another. He HAS the ultimate power! Does this then mean that God is to blame for evil? No. God does NOT tempt satan to come up with evil things to do to people. Rather, satan submits his evil plans to God, who then approves or denies them, depending on whether it will suite His Holy purposes in the end. God does not wish pain or evil upon people. However, without pain and evil in the world during this time of "Heavenly conflict" there would be no reason for people to reach out to a Holy and Loving God for Healing, answers to their heart-cries, and Peace. There would be no comparison between good and evil, therefore there would be no choice between the two for people to make. A choice denotes more than one option. If there were only good or only evil to choose from, there would be no choice, and we would all be robots.
7. Jesus died for Pilot, Herod, the Pharisees, the Jews who condemned Him, and Judas who betrayed Him. He Loves the memory of each of them to this day. He Created each of them in His image. Nothing can separate anyone from the Love of God! Only those who reject Salvation through His Blood and who reject the Relationship He offers them, can truly be condemned by God at His own will, which is NOT for a person to define in such matters. Therefore, as I did a year ago, I refuse to condemn Judas to hell. I now refuse to condemn anyone else to hell either. Rather, I choose to believe that all concious beings, either in this life or in the future, will be given a choice, and I also choose to believe that God is SO Irresistable that few will genuinely turn Him away once they see what He is really like!
8. I now see at least one reason for why you told God to get out of your life: some part of you was testing Him. You didn't want Him in your life because you didn't believe He would stick around, and you couldn't believe in a God who wouldn't love you even though you had told Him to leave you alone. Yet apparently, that was the God you were taught to believe in (I know I was: in fact, that was at the heart of the theology I was taught about Him), and so you didn't want that God in your life. And later, when you saw clearly that God IS in your life anyway, you took His Relationship with you to heart, and now you teach it to those He brings into your life for that purpose.
9. What all of this (in chapter 1) means, in part, is that the sins I committed in the past, and any wrong thing I may do now or in the future (probably in ignorance, but even in emotional outbursts or major errors in judgement), are all things that God allowed because He knew that He would work it all together for His Glory in the end! There is so much FREEDOM to my heart in this! I CAN'T be condemned BECAUSE of JESUS dying in my place on the CROSS! While I'm not to seek out sin, I have NO reason to be afraid of it, either. Even if it does happen, I know that it was allowed by God, I am still LOVED by God, and He STILL offers Forgivenss to me, because I BELONG to Him! It's all about the Relationship with Him. He and I HAVE that now, and He WON'T let me go! And I don't want Him to ;) I find FAR too much Peace and Security in Him :)
10. In Chapter 2, I'd like to just get out a BIG BLACK MARKER and blot out a whole bunch of stuff...