WHAT BLOCKS YOUR ENJOYMENT OF GOD?

Psalm 23

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5

If the affections are not reflecting the reality of God's care for us, what might we say is at issue?

Since God is immutable and filled with grace and mercy, we may not say he does not care. The fault rests either in our affections (as not being adequately sensitive) or in our intellect (as not understanding reality). Affections may be desensitized by excessive external stimulation (crisis) or by the willing development of emotional callouses. The understanding may be blocked by an ill-informed or rebellious intellect. In both cases, the solution is truth. Truth informs the intellect and does surgery on the affections.

What blocks your enjoyment of God?

NOTES
When responding to enemies

• constantly remind yourself that justice is God's job
• forgive because God forgave you and because grudges first hurt the holder
• constantly remind yourself that God protects from irritation and heals wounds through (1) ecclesial connections in God, (2) blunt conversation with God, (3) declarative worship of God, and (4) service to others for the sake of God's name.
• constantly remind yourself that God satisfies to overflowing.
  

Tag(s): psalms "old testament" psalm 23