The Pleasures of God was originally written in 1991. It was revised in 2012, which was the edition I read. Of course any information about God never goes out of date or is exhausted.To review this book is to try to review God's word. How do you do that? I'm not trying to say John Piper's words are any comparison to the Bible, just that he uses scripture to show God's delight in being God.
Many times I had to stop reading and just ponder the spiritual meaning of certain paragraphs. John Piper writes as if he knows God personally, which is what all believers should agree on. Sometimes we don't profess the God we know in a personal manner. God too often becomes a distant relative.
Piper writes that God will not turn away from doing good. That He is not waiting for us, He is pursuing us. How many ways the enemy of our souls can make us fear that the God and Father of Jesus Christ is too good to be true.
I could not think of any answer of why we would fear this, except that the enemy is feeding us lies like he did in the garden of Eden.
There are times we don't even consider what God's pleasure is. Isn't that what our Christian life is to be all about. We often don't seek and search the pleasures of God. We often don't see and savor the glory of God.
John Piper states to not love God and delight in Him is a great loss to us and insults Him. These reminders and much more are revealed in this book about God.
I had to read slowly and deliberately to get every detail Piper writes. There is so much fruitful information that applies to everyone on a journey for God. I came away awe struck at how little I know about God and how I should be seeking His presence continually.
I recommend this book to those that too often beat themselves up on not living a good enough spiritual life. It is also a must read for those that enjoy the true greatness of God. For both kinds of people John Piper writes "What pleases Him is not our work for Him, but our need of Him."
"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."
