The Antidote to Pharisaism

“To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.”   Lewis Smedes

“Joy is God’s basic character.  Joy is his eternal destiny.  God is the happiest being in the universe.  And God’s intent was that his creation would mirror his joy.”   John Ortberg

“The happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God.”  Jonathan Edwards

“Christ is an object sufficient for the satisfaction of any soul.  Do not satisfy yourselves

with anything but Christ.”   Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646)

“If Christ be precious (and he is), then let the soul embrace him and delight in him.  He is altogether lovely.  He is all in all... oh, be persuaded to fall in love with Christ!”

Andrew Gray (1634-1656)

“There is a kind of happiness and wonder that makes you serious.”   C.S. Lewis

“The older I get, the more I am persuaded that Nehemiah 8:10 is crucial for living and dying well: ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’”   John Piper

“God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.”  Jeremy Taylor

“May delighting in Him be the work of our lives…”   Richard Baxter

“Joy is the flag that flies over the castle of our hearts announcing that the King is in residence.”   Walter Knight

“We are chosen for joy… the Christian is the laughing cavalier of Christ. 

A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms.”   William Barclay

“Discipline imposed from the outside eventually defeats itself when it is not matched by desire from within.”   Dawson Trotman

“I never made a sacrifice.”  Missionary pioneer to Africa David Livingstone

“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

“Worship is basically adoration… we adore only what delights us.  There is not such thing as sad adoration or unhappy praise.”   John Piper

“God cannot endure that unfestive, mirthless attitude of ours.  He is calling us to rejoice, to keep holiday in the midst of the working day.”   Dietrich Bonhoeffer