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- ❤️ Letters of First Love #36: To Relish in You Is Our Joy
❤️ Letters of First Love #36: To Relish in You Is Our Joy
Reflecting on God's love for us, and simply responding.
Jae Leeholland
September 07, 2025
Dear God,
What a joy it is to know you— to simply be in a relationship with you.
Thank you for teaching us that joy isn’t merely a fleeting feeling and a knowledge that can be held in our limited minds.
A faithful servant of yours, John Piper, defined joy as “a good feeling in the soul produced by the Holy Spirit as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in his Word and in his work.”
Yes and amen! Your joy is so rich and tangible I can taste it in my spirit!
It lies in the words you’ve spoken. It’s spread across the sky we see every day.
It’s near our hearts in the midst of the most cherishable moments of our lives, as well as seasons of heartbreaking losses and mournings— for you are with us.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
And now it makes sense, Jesus, why you cared so much about the Word abiding in us!
Though our eyes may fail and bodies weaken, if the Word dwells in our hearts, we will be filled with the joy of the Lord.
We praise you God for the power of your love, and your love that the Word contains. We praise you for the Spirit— our ever-so-precious Advocate and wise Counselor.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
To know you is joy. And that alone is sufficient.
To be able to read your precious words every day is joy. To see the love of Christ in others is joy. To see the butterflies that dance around this time of the year is joy.
Thank you, dear Father and Jesus, for the sacrifices you made for our eyes to be opened to see the beauty of Christ everlasting.
Where would we be without you in this lost world? Lost, confused, and anxious I presume.
So, I lift up a prayer for the lost, Jesus. May our hearts be tender to receive you abundantly and shine boldly the light of Christ to those around us.
The world needs more of you and less of us. Less of our desires and more of your glory.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
With love,
Jae
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” (Revelation 2:3-5)
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