Jonathan Edwards; the old school theologian is widely regarded as an ambassador of the faith. He was a well studied thought leader that many of today's prominent pastors draw their concepts from. I was recently reading a book about Jonathan Edwards and it covers many of his concepts that are extremely deep. Edwards depth came from a developed relationship with the Lord so deep that you can smell his desire in his books. This man relentlessly pursued Jesus.
Now a concept that caught me recently was this idea of redirecting our emotions and joy from the world to things of God. We all have affection for things of this world because we equate these things with something of great value. Usual that value is identified with being able to provide us with satisfaction, happiness or joy. We rarely stop to challenge our beliefs in regards to affections such as money and recognition. Edwards would call these "false affections". Then we have affection to things not of this world, the things of God and His kingdom (fellowship, ministry, prayer, reading the Word). These are things that we hear about in church that pump us up and make total sense but loose value because the pay out is so far away from us. However if we were to really unpack these affections we would find that they satisfy our desires not only now but into eternity. Edwards called them "true affections", claiming that they are worthy to be pursued. The understanding of this concept would not only provide us satisfaction and happiness but it would bring us joy. Joy is on par with true fulfillment which is what we all so desperately want but so few of us ever really experience. Many of us can feel happy and satisfied but joy is rooted in the Spirit and we only can experience this when we are pursuing things of God.
On an evangelistic tip don't you think that non-believers would be more open to hearing about Jesus when we explain that it's not about repenting of your sin and correcting behavior but it's about acknowledging your sin and redirecting your efforts (emotions and joy). Redirecting from things that don't last, that don't satisfy, and that don't bear fruit to things that are of the Lord that do provide every good thing (true fulfillment).
Proverbs 2:4-7 "and if you look for it as for silver ans search for it as hidden treasure then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God... He holds victory in store for the upright".
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"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, 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 a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis from The Weight of Glory
And to add, anything by Jonathan Edwards is worth reading. I recently read a book that was simply a collection of his sermons. If you've never read Sinner's in the Hand of an Angry God then read it next. It'll take 15 minutes and it'll elevate your perception of God's grace.
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