Hello everyone!
This is Jeff Kim. This is my reflection on the book titled When I Don’t Desire God, How to fight for Joy by John Piper, a senior pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis.

In the book John Piper talks about ways that help us fight for joy and how to sustain it. The first way for fighting for joy, he contends in chapter three, is that we are called to fight for joy. John defines evil in this way: So preferring the pleasures of money or power or fame or sex over the ‘pleasures…at [God’s] right hand’ (Ps. 16:11) is not like preferring caramel to hot fudge. It is great evil. Indeed it is the ultimate meaning of evil. Esteeming God less than anything is the essence of evil (p. 34). John stresses that loving Jesus and God involves in loving and liking His Personhood the most above all else in this world. He says that without us loving Jesus above all things, we cannot go to heaven. Therefore, he holds that there is nothing more important struggle than the struggle to: see and savor Christ above all things—the struggle for joy. He also stresses keeping one’s faith in God to maintain joy that comes with it. Faith, he contends, makes us to take hold of eternal life. Because of Satan trying to weaken our faith, therefore we must fight to keep our faith thus to enable to always rejoice in and about God. John calls the fighting for joy is a good fight by giving five reasons. The first reason is: the enemy of our joy is evil (p. 38). He holds that evil strives to make you like in yourself or other things in this world such as one’s fame, wealth, and money more than God himself. Therefore, you are against evil that diminishes the value of God. Second reason is…because we are not left to our own strength in the fight (p. 38). God fights for and in us in the fight for you with evil. Third, it is a good fight because: it is not a struggle to carry a burden, but a struggle to let a burden be carried for us. The fight for joy is about trusting God with our burdens (i.e. worries, anxieties, and concerns of our lives) and leaving all our burdens to Him. It is a fight for gaining freedom from worrying and for finding peace and hope and joy in God. Fourth, it is a good fight because: it does not involve self-exaltation but self-humbling (p. 39). He emphasizes that we admit that we could do nothing away from God and acknowledge that we need God and without God we are helpless in terms of sustaining continuous joy in God. Fifth, it is a good fight because by fighting it God can be glorified. Engaging in this good fight means that we value God more than anything else in this world. It shows that God is the only ultimate source of joy and worth fighting for obtaining it. He also asserts that the fighting itself is a gift from God. We are not able to fight this good fight, but only God can enable us to fight this fight. Paul said: God’s grace made his work possible. He worked, but ‘it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me’ (p. 41). Like Paul’s saying, it is our duty to engage in the fight for joy; however it is God’s grace that enables us to fight.

The second way to fight for joy is: a fight to see (p. 5). John stresses that seeing God’s glory is essential. He points out that: God’s ultimate purpose for creating the universe and ruling the history of redemption is the manifestation of his glory for the everlasting enjoyment of a redeemed people (p. 59). He asserts that God wants us to see and rejoice in and appreciate his creation and “the value of the glory of God.” Seeing the glory of God and worthiness of Christ is indispensable in savoring God because by seeing His glory will we be enabled to sustain to rejoice always in all circumstances.

The third way to fight for joy is fighting like a “justified sinner.” John first explains the meaning of justification. He holds that in order for us to go to heaven, we should be declared as righteous in the courtroom of heaven. In contrast, we were doomed to eternal punishment due to our sins. However Christ died for our sins, and through His blood, we were declared righteous and granted with salvation and eternal life. Therefore, if we receive its free gift of salvation (i.e. we were declared as righteous by Christ’ blood on the cross) by faith alone, it can make us free from our sins and redeem us from eternal condemnation. Then he gives an example of Prophet Micah. Micah had sinned against God and he had to “sit in darkness.” Although God’s anger burned against him and he had to endure its consequences of his sins, Micah did not give up hope on God that He will restore him by saying “God will be my light.” John calls Micah’s attitude as “gutsy guilt.” He contends that even Micah screwed up by sinning against God, thus God imposed upon him darkness as its consequence, Micah, by faith of justification, were able to manage to rise from his darkness. John asserts that like Micah, we must be able to preach the faith of justification to ourselves in times of troubles, trials and hardships in the fight for joy.

The fourth way is to recognize the invaluableness of the word of God in the fight for joy. John gives ten reasons of the worth of the Bible in the fight for joy. They are: 1. The word of God awakens and strengthens faith. 2. Through hearing the Word, God supplies the Holy Sprit. 3. The Word of God creates and sustains life. 4. The Word of God gives hope. 5. The Word of God leads us to freedom. 6. The Word of God is the key to answered prayer. 7. The Word of God is the source of wisdom. 8. The Word of God gives us crucial warnings. 9. The Word of God enables us to defeat the devil. 10. The Word of God is, therefore, the source of great and lasting joy (p. 97-113). The importance of number one is that if the Spirit brought to us faith without the proclamation of Christ in His Word, Christ would not be honored, and we would not put our faith in Him. Because of the Sprit’s willingness of revealing Christ to use through His Word, our faith can be strengthened. Thus in this faith we can taste and see the source of all our joy. The importance of number two is that when we are filled with the Word of God, it also fills our hearts with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Sprit, we become more knowledgeable of Christ, when we know more of Christ, He ignites joy in our hearts over “ the glory of Jesus,” making us more desiring of His Word and thus valuing God more than anything else in this world. The importance of number three is that only the Word of God can give life that is everlasting and firm. Physical bread lasts only a short period of time. John asserts “And with that life comes the light of life, by which we see the glory of Christ.” The importance of number five is that the freedom is essential in the fight for joy for two reasons. He contends that the one reason is that we would face the eternal punishment without us having been cleansed our sins through Christ’s blood. The other reason is that our sins are so corrupt and defile that we are unable to see and savor what is best for us. Thus sins are great joy-killers because they hinder us from seeing the glory of God and from God as the ultimate and most desirable than anything else sins can offer or make us astray. Speaking of the Word of God being the key to answered prayer, Jesus said “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). John explains the meaning of one abiding in Jesus. He says that abiding in Jesus means taking Jesus’ words in the Scripture as if a living person speaking to him or her. In this way, if the person keeps what Jesus talks to him through His Word, his prayers will be answered.

The fifth way to fight for joy is by musing and memorizing the Bible. Speaking of the time for reading the Bible, John recommends early in the morning. He tells us that we decide the most convenience time for ourselves, but he suggests that morning time is usually not disturbed easily. As to the methods of reading the Bible, he recommends to us to follow a certain Bible reading plan like one that assigns the Old and New Testaments simultaneously daily. John holds that reading the Bible consistently help us prepare daily spiritual warfare with Satan; it equips us to fight and defeat Satan and evil forces with the Sword, the Word of God—our only attacking weapon. Speaking of memorizing the Bible, he suggests the method created by Andrew Davis. You can find his method on page 122. John recommends to us to memorize verses but only phrases, chapters and eventually a whole book of each Scripture. He also suggests reading serious Christian books to gain insights that each author received from God. By doing musing, memorizing and reading serious Christian books, he says, would all help believers to equip us to become victorious in the fight for joy.

The sixth way to fight for joy is praying intensely and with a focused mind. John contends that: Prayer is our response to God in reliance on his Spirit; and meditation is our response to God in reliance on his Word (p.148). Speaking of the Word of God, he asserts that: Think and mull and ponder and chew until you see God the way they (the inspired writers) see God—namely, as precious and valuable and beautiful and desirable. This is how the Word serves joy (p. 149). John emphasizes that prayer and meditation is inseparable because without meditation, prayer can function only as our expressing our sinful feelings and ideas to God, he calls “humanistic spirituality.” In contrast, without prayer, we would strive to become successful in fulfilling God’s words by our own strength thus easily tends to become Pharisees. He holds that prayer wakens the Spirit that inspires us to savor God’s glory and Christ through meditating the Word. In chapter ten, John talks about how we should practice praying. He stresses that we must prayer ceaselessly and set aside prayer times each day. He says that we ought to take prayer time seriously just as if taking an extremely important appointment. Thus, we should be able to tell others “I am sorry, I have an appointment already.”

The seventh way to fight for joy is wielding this world by using five senses to savor the glory of God. He basically says that to enjoy God and God-given joy, we could observe and appreciate God’s creations and creatures in this world by using taste, sight, touch, smell, and hearing.

The last way to fight for joy is if even darkness of our lives does not life, we should continuously do what we can do while waiting for God’s joy and restoration. John emphasizes greatly that joy is part of our duty. Although we do not sometimes feel like joyful especially in times of troubles, he holds that we do rejoice always because that is our duty for God. Then we must do our job. Thus God might make us repent and confess our sins that lead us see the glory of God and which makes us savor Christ. God enables us to be able to rejoice always in all circumstances.

In conclusion, I recommend this book highly because you will gain great insights of Pastor John Piper. He is a bestseller author and he has in-depth and sharp insights. I could not include all his insights from this book. I greatly enjoyed reading this book.