Captivated By Beauty!

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple."

Psalm 27:4

"On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate."

Psalm 145:5

“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” 

Psalm 16:11

Two of my favorite places in the world and the most beautiful places I have ever been are Hanalei Bay on the island of Kauai and in Kings Canyon National Park by  Boyden Cave. Oh how many days I have surfed at Hanaleiand and sat out in the water looking out over the panorama all across the western horizon with beautiful waterfall cascades throughout the majestic green mountains of the North Shore of Kauai coupled with the beautiful perfect waves of Hanalei Bay and all the sea life. Many times I would sit on my surfboard out in the water with a smile on my face and just breathe it all in and take it all in all the colors and the  life and the feeling of being so alive. 

The other place is on the Boydon Cave trail in Kings Canyon National Park. When hiking there you pass the cave and walk about 2 miles through this narrow canyon full of cascading pools each a little higher than the next that lead to a beautiful waterfall. It used to be the highlight of all the retreats I took youth groups, college groups, singles groups, and my church for 33 years. I'd lead the group to hike up to these pools and we'd spend the day there. Sometimes the trail was overgrown with poison ivy and it was always an adventure to get there but it was well worth it. Once we reached the main pool where people would sun, dive, and swim I would always spend precious and unforgettable time observing the majestic surroundings al around the pool. As I observed the forest and the majestic mountains that surrounded and created the hidden solitude of these pools, I  cannot explain the affect that taking this all in had upon me. I would often be left breathless by the splendor of those mountains and trees and pools surrounding me and my vision. It's as though I'd been granted a brief glimpse of the splendor of the new earth would look like in the ages to come. The best description I could say of what would happen to me was that I was captivated by such beauty. No matter how many times I spent at those pools I never stopped being drawn and moved by such beauty. 

There are many things viewed by our eyes that have the power to evoke delight in our hearts. We could say the same thing about things we hear such as a beautiful song. There is also the beauty of a scent such as that of a flower, perfume, or the fragrance of the ocean when you know you are close to it. 

What makes something beautiful? Sam Storms defines it this way:

"Whatever is done is that surprises and takes our breath away; whether it is the golden  glow of a lingering sunset, the cavernous  depths of the Grand Canyon, or the inaugural steps of a firstborn child. Beauty is whatever causes our hearts to beat with increasing repeatedly and sends chills down our spines or causes goosebumps to rise on our arms. Beauty is whatever stirs up worth in the human Spirit and  enables us to feel the dignity of self in the hope of tomorrow."

But  beauty can also be acts of courage, compassion, kindness, virtue, generosity, or self-sacrifice. But what of God? Can we speak of him as beautiful?

To me God is beauty itself, the source of all beauty. Augustine put it this way: "God is my father, supremely good, beauty of all things beautiful." 

Our response to a beautiful sunset, an inspiring action, the grandeur of the mountains, or a captivating song stir in me the realization that God desires no less, and indeed far more, from all of us in our relationship with him. God's revelatory manifestation of himself in creation, providence, in scripture, and preeminently in the face of his son, Jesus Christ, is designed to evoke within our souls the  breathtaking delight and incomparable joy to which God alone is worthy. Beauty is that in God which makes him eminently desirable and attractive and quickens in our soul a realization that it was made for a different world.

God, the source of all beauty, suddenly pulled back the curtain on his glory, which is his beauty made manifest. He has disclosed Himself into the creation and redemption in order that we might stand full of wonder in his presence, beholding the sweet symmetry of his attributes, pondering the unfathomable depths of his greatness, amazed by the wisdom of his deeds, and awestruck by the limitless extent of his goodness. This is his beauty!

God's beauty is perfect, absolute, and independent. All other beauty is is a derivative of the creators beauty. Therefore,as beautiful as it is, it is only beautiful in a secondary sense and only to the degree that it reflects the excellencies of God and fulfills the purpose but which he made what is beautiful. The Spirit of God communicates God's beauty to this world through creation. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard."

Psalm 19:1-3

But whatever beauty we see now is what I feed echo of the invisible realm from which it came, a dim fortaste in anticipation of the beauty of the world to come. Fourth century church father, Gregory of nicer put it this way:

"Hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kills the desire for the hidden to what is constantly perceived. Therefore, the ardent lover of beauty, although receiving what is always visible as an image of what he desires, he longs to be filled with a very stamp of the arch type. And the bold request which goes up the mountains of desire asks this: to enjoy the beauty not in mirrors and reflections, but face to face."

It was never God's plan for me to worship Kings Canyon, Hanalei Bay, or anything that he has made; but to see in and through all these things a glimpse of the glory that yet awaits me.

CS Lewis reminds us that, 

"the books are the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things, the beauty, the memory of our own past, are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistakes for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of the tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never visited."

When we encounter divine beauty, it is more than merely enjoyable, it is profoundly transforming. The apostle Paul says that this encounter of seeing Christ is the very means a change or is John piper put it be holding is the way of becoming. Paul alluded to this in 2 Corinthian's 3:18  when he says, "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 

His point is that what we see is what we be! When you see the beauty of Christ his beauty takes hold of is and awakens us to the reality of it being whode beauty we are being called to and conformed to by his gracious initiative. God's beauty has the power to dislodge from our hearts all that is ugly and unattractive and awakens us to embrace all that is beautiful, lovely, and God like. God's beauty has the power to dislodge from our hearts the grip of all moral and spiritual ugliness. When we engage with heavenly beauty it elicits love and forges us new affections that  no earthly power can ever overcome. Light of Christ beauty also exposes all those things that once captivated our hearts but we find out our incomparable to the beauty that we find in him. Not only that we discover the destructive powers of all those lesser beauties that once captured the desires of our hearts.

King David's passion was to see and behold this beauty. I am not trying to take away the joy and delight that you have in seeing, hearing, and sensing beautiful things. What I'm challenging you to do this is to see that the essence of Christianity is raising your eyes to the source of all beauty the beautiful one Jesus Christ!

Jonathan Edwards said it this way, 

"there is a very great delight the Christian enjoys in the sight he has of the glory and excellency of God. How many arts and contrivances have men to delight the eye of the body. Men take the light in the beholding a great cities, splendid buildings, and stately palaces. And what delight is often taken in the beholding of a beautiful face. May we not well conclude that great delights may also be taking in pleasing the eye of the mind in seeing the most beautiful, most glorious, the most wonderful being in the world? 

The answer is YES! That sort of true happiness and sin killing spiritual delight rises from the sight or apprehension of the most beautiful being in the universe who is preeminently excellent.

 To be continued...

Content or Discontent, Which "Tent" Do You Live In?

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:11-13

What makes you happy? Is it physical comfort? Six-figure salary? Emotional stability? The absence of conflict? Sexual gratification? Any earthly or  temporal achievement? What if these are all absent from your life? Are you therefore unhappy? 

God has destined you to a state of soul in which we experience and express optimum happiness in God. True happiness is your whole soul resting in God and rejoicing that  so beautiful and glorious a being as God  is ours. God has so loved us and given us the privilege to  be able to enjoy making much of him forever. It is there where true happiness lies.

Another word use by the apostle Paul for happiness is contentment. Which tent do you live in contentment or dis-contentment?

The apostle Paul in Philippines 4:11 says that he had to learn to be content. Contentment does not come naturally for us. We are all discontent by nature because though we think things on earth will bring contentment, the fact is that nothing on this earth can bring true happiness and contentment to us. So we have to learn the secret of happiness. 

The lie we must fight is the frantic effort to think that money, drugs, chocolate, and a full equipped SUV can do for us with God cannot.

Contentment and discontentment is all a matter where you look or who you love or who's offer of pleasure you'll accept. If you look for anything in the world to find your happiness and joy you will inevitably become discontent. I have said many times that virtually everything you find on this earth that brings you happiness will one day make you sad. First, because nothing on this earth lasts. Secondly because the way God made your soul is so that nothing can satisfy your soul on this earth, therefore, you will always end up discontented in life if you think you can find your contentment here on earth. 

Augustine said it best, 

"Oh Lord you have made us for yourself and our hearts find no rest unless we find it in you."

You were made to find your greatest joy and greatest happiness and greatest contentment at the display of God's glory in Jesus Christ. Jonathan Edwards put it this way:

"The pleasures of loving and obeying,loving and adoring, blessing and praising the infinite being, the best of beings, the eternal Jehovah; the pleasures of trusting in Jesus Christ, in contemplating his beauties, excellencies, and glories; in contemplating his love to mankind and to us, in contemplating his infinite goodness and astonishing loving kindness; the pleasures of the communion of the Holy Spirit in conversing with God, the maker and governor of the world; the pleasure that results from the doing of our duty, and acting worthily and excellently; these are the pleasures that are worthy of so noble a creature as a man is."

So how do we learn contentment? We must endeavor to increase our spiritual appetites by meditating on spiritual objects. Every time I surrender my mind to meditate on base and sordid objects  their grip on my life will be intensified. The apostle Paul tells us that these are the things that will elevate and deepen your joy to daily meditate on:

Finally, brothers, 

whatever is true, 

whatever is honorable, whatever is just, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is commendable, 

if there is any excellence, 

if there is anything worthy of praise, 

think about these things. - Philippians 4:8

Paul is challenging us to actually think about these things, ponder them, pour over them, and become vulnerable to the power of God is invested in them to transform our values of happiness and feelings of happiness and to energize our wills.

Perhaps no one was more diligent on meditating on spiritual objects than David, king of Israel. I'm reminded of three statements in particular, which express the intensity and single-mindedness of his devotion.

"I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."  Psalm 16:2

"I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." Psalm 16:8

"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26

David was so diligent to avert his eyes from all lesser beauty. His resolve was to set the Lord before him, to concentrate his attentions and the energies of a sore on the majesty and power of the one who alone who would sustain him when all else is shaking. This was not just in frequent or occasional choice or one he reverted to in times of crisis,but was in orientation of life to which he was always committed.

Like David that was Paul's orientation in life. That is why he was able to say that no matter what state of life he was in abasing or abounding. He was a contented man. His happiness, his joy, his contentment, the color of his life, was bound not on anything in this world whether good or bad, rich or poor, not on any circumstances good or bad, not with whether life was going good or life was extremely difficult; no, Paul's contentment was rooted in God and God alone and is it no wonder why Paul can say things like "rejoice in the Lord always"(Philippians 3:1; 4:4)

One of my great heroes, Jonathan Edwards tasted this kind of contentment in the midst of the most bitter experience of us really life. After 24 years faithfully pastoring his church in North Hampton, Massachusetts, he wasn't just the fired by an overwhelming vote of the Mail membership of his church. But like Paul, he seemed to live above earth and hell, out of reach of everything here below, so that he looked in all the rage and torment of men with a kind of holy indifference and undisturbed tranquility. How did he do it? One church member sympathetic to Jonathan Edwards described in which reaction to being fired:

"That faithful witness received the shock, unshaken. I never saw the least symptoms of displeasure in his countenance the whole week, but he appeared like a man of God, who is happiness was out of the reach of his enemies and his treasure was not only a future but a present good, over balancing all imaginable ills of life, even to the astonishment of many who could not be at rest without his dismission."

I love this, "out of reach of his enemies and his treasure was not only a future but a present good."

That is the contentment that Paul learned and spoke about. That is the contentment that David knew. 

Have you been living in the tent of discontentment? Oh dear reader order your in such away life so that you can be easily enticed by the beauty of Christ. Make it easy on your soul by exposing yourself to the things that will awaken your desire and deep in your holy longings. Ask God to become the epicenter of your life, joy, and as a result, to help you like Paul learned the secret of contentment: 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 2:13)

Whether you are  abased or abounding  may you become a contented person because your joy, your happiness, and your life is routed not on this earth but I'm Jesus Christ.