Delight

De*light:  \di-lit, de-\ 

“To effect with great pleasure; to please highly;

 to give or afford high satisfaction. 

 Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy,

 and not dependent on sudden excitement.” *

Last night I had a quick catch up session with our youngest daughter in Oklahoma.  She was explaining everything that had been happening to her and her husband since we last talked a couple of weeks ago.  Then with a burst of excitement she proceeded to fill me in on her first two ballet students and all the antics of their first two lessons in her studio that Jeremiah and her set up in their garage.  You have to understand that this is a long time coming dream that has come true for her.

JoAnna always took her ballet seriously as a little girl up through her high school years and beyond.  As she got older she began to talk about her dream of starting her own studio, and although some in the family did not take her seriously, she stuck to her guns and is now in the beginning stages of seeing the fruition of that vision.  Her heart’s desire has always been to not only teach her students the physical intricacies of the art of ballet, but to also minister to them as they go through the trying times of life as young ladies growing into maturity.   She and her husband have already been ministering to the Jr High youth in their church and she is now able to expand that one on one ministry to her ballet students.

My heart swelled as JoAnna shared her success story with me.  I don’t think that I could be more proud and delighted with her in the consummation of this dream.  I have always tried to encourage our kids to pursue their dreams no matter how outrageous or different from the mainstay of thinking on the lines of career paths that they may be.  I believe that if God has put a vision in your heart, then you need to follow it and see where He is leading you.  And while I believe in a good education, I also understand that pursing the goal of a good college education is not the only ticket to success in life.

I was reminded of all this as I re-read Matthew 3:17 this morning.  “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”  (NKJV)  I wrote yesterday about the revelation of how this view of Jesus by the Father is also the view and/or opinion that He has about you and me.  Today I continued my study on the same theme and began to see that this is the perfect example of God’s grace.

The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary explains that when the author used the term “well pleased” he was trying to convey God's “absolute complacency once and forever felt toward” His children.  The commentary goes on to express that “The English here, at least to modern ears, is scarcely strong enough.  ‘I delight’ comes the nearest perhaps, to that ineffable complacency which is manifestly intended.”  You see God’s “delight” in us is a once and forever, absolutely settled in heaven fact to Him!  There is nothing that can change His mind.

Our heavenly Father “delights” in us not because of our own performance in life, but because of Jesus’ perfect actions in the total consummation of the Old Covenant requirements established through Moses.  II Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  That’s His grace and it based completely on what Jesus did for us, and once again, that is how our heavenly Father sees us!

Over these last three years I have had many false judgments and accusations come against me, but you know what?  It doesn’t matter one bit!  I have (finally!) learned that the only thing that matters to me is God’s judgment of me, and according to His Word, I am a “delight” in His eyes!

I think that most of you would agree with me when I say that children are a “delight” to their parents.  Sure there are times where they may do something that we would not have done, but when push comes to shove, they are still a “delight” in our eyes.  How many times have you mentioned the word “kids” to someone and were immediately inundated with multiple photos of their children as they whipped them out from their wallet or purse before you could blink an eye!  Just think about how fast our heavenly Father shows off yours and my pictures before the inhabitants of the heavenlies when He discusses His kids with them!

So, take some time this weekend to remember your status as a favored and “delightful” member of God’s family.  Allow the thought of His “delight” of you to fill you with the overflow of His love and then go and drip on someone around you!  Have a great weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Who's DELIGHT am I expecting today?”

* Webster’s 1828 dictionary