What do you think?
Rate this book
Enjoying God: Experience the power and love of God in everyday life
We believe in God, we serve God, we love God – but do we ENJOY God as much as we can? Does our head knowledge translate into affection of the heart? Do we have a meaningful relationship with someone we can’t see? Do we feel excited about God every day, in every context?
Tim Chester shows us how to relate to each of the three Persons of the Trinity, and what this look like in practice. Readers will discover that as we engage more with God, and understand how awesome he is, we can enjoy him more.
This isn’t a book about the Trinity. It’s a “how to” book exploring how we relate to God (for which we need a true understanding of the Trinity). In day-to-day life, how do the three persons of the Trinity relate to us, and how do we respond?
Tim Chester shows us how to relate to each of the three Persons of the Trinity, and what this look like in practice. Readers will discover that as we engage more with God, and understand how awesome he is, we can enjoy him more.
This isn’t a book about the Trinity. It’s a “how to” book exploring how we relate to God (for which we need a true understanding of the Trinity). In day-to-day life, how do the three persons of the Trinity relate to us, and how do we respond?
189 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2018
346 people are currently reading
1526 people want to read
About the author
Tim Chester
140 books181 followersDr Tim Chester is involved in The Crowded House, a church planting initiative in Sheffield, UK. He was previously Research & Policy Director for Tearfund UK, and has been published widely on prayer, mission, social issues and theology. He is married to Helen and has two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews
January 23, 2022
I loved this book. I finished it feeling equipped to not only enjoy God more in my daily living (Chester gives practical ways to do this!) but to look for the myriad ways He has expressed His love to me. The chapter on repentance and sin was so good, as was the one on fellowship within the church. If you enjoyed Dane Ortlund's book, Gentle & Lowly, you might also enjoy this book, written a few years prior to Ortlund's. They're really different books but covering a similar topic. (And I loved them both!)
Chester writes in an engaging and humble manner, which makes it so relatable. He closes each chapter with a personal challenge, some reflection questions, and an ongoing story about a couple named Mike and Emma, which helps illustrate the teaching from each chapter.
Chester writes in an engaging and humble manner, which makes it so relatable. He closes each chapter with a personal challenge, some reflection questions, and an ongoing story about a couple named Mike and Emma, which helps illustrate the teaching from each chapter.
May 18, 2020
Definitely one of the best books I've read in a while! A must read for any Christian wanting to enjoy their God more. It particularly helped me to relate personally to God knowing that He is three persons and taught to appreciate the Spirit much more. Tim Chester takes such amazingly deep truths and expresses them in an incredibly accessible way!
June 4, 2022
4.5
Really practical book on how to enjoy communion with God. We can have communion with God because we are united to Christ. Great use of Owen and Goodwin's stuff. Felt like the language was bit soppy at time but would still heavily recommend.
Really practical book on how to enjoy communion with God. We can have communion with God because we are united to Christ. Great use of Owen and Goodwin's stuff. Felt like the language was bit soppy at time but would still heavily recommend.
November 11, 2024
Read through this with a bunch of guys and we’d meet up each week in the early morning and discuss it over a coffee. Had a great impact on me, as did the fellowship.
September 4, 2019
This book is one of the best two books I've read all year (the other one was Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne), well maybe one of the best two books I've read for a very long time. I had it recommended to me awhile back, then saw it on a summer camp book table. I was tempted to buy it but remarked to a pastor friend that I had a pile of books by my bed that I'm currently reading. He quipped, "Put it on the top of the pile." So I would say the same to you! I've read a LOT of books on the Christian life. This one rises to the top. Read it - you will love it! Enjoying God is a delightful read full of beautiful theology about God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit, but written in such a way that fills you with joy and love for this amazing God of ours. The chapters are short and each one has a practical action step to take during the coming week to practice engaging with and enjoying God. It's hard to really describe how delightful this book is and what a beautiful, biblical picture it paints of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I'm planning on recommending it freely and reading it again myself slowly as there's just so much incredible truth to take in and apply. Every believer in Jesus who wants a closer walk with Him, should read this book!
October 24, 2024
A truly fantastic book
January 6, 2023
Read summer 2022 but only getting round to finishing the last chapter... (shameful, I know*)
A brilliant application of how the security of our union with God enables an unimaginable depth and breadth of communion with him. In laying out how to enjoy God and tap into this gift that is awaiting us, Chester offers an inticing and genuinely thrilling unveiling of what relationship with God can be. Profound yet practical, this book has significantly impacted my understanding, and consequently my experience, of what it looks like to relate to God in all moments.
*Does not correlate to the quality of this book. The Irish sea causes problems.
... But it is actually worth reading slowly and chewing over so you can watch, with joy and excitement, as your eyes are opened to experience and enjoy God more tangibly in the day to day.
A brilliant application of how the security of our union with God enables an unimaginable depth and breadth of communion with him. In laying out how to enjoy God and tap into this gift that is awaiting us, Chester offers an inticing and genuinely thrilling unveiling of what relationship with God can be. Profound yet practical, this book has significantly impacted my understanding, and consequently my experience, of what it looks like to relate to God in all moments.
*Does not correlate to the quality of this book. The Irish sea causes problems.
... But it is actually worth reading slowly and chewing over so you can watch, with joy and excitement, as your eyes are opened to experience and enjoy God more tangibly in the day to day.
January 4, 2023
One of my new all-time favorite books! Chester harmonizes rich theology with practical steps helping the reader learn how to interact with, worship, and enjoy God throughout daily life. God has revealed Himself as Trinity, and so the way we rightly relate to God is by rightly relating to the Father, to the Son, and to the Spirit. I recommend to anyone desiring to learn more about the Trinity, wanting to more intentionally enjoy God in daily life, and who wants their affections stirred for the Lord!
March 3, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. Definitely one of the best books I have ever read. I enjoyed this book so much that I am unsure what to write in a review because my mind is going in so many directions. Here are a few directions it went:
-Chester is a great writer and communicator. He speaks in plain language but is not boring.
-This book goes theologically deep and is wide in application.
-This book gave me joy, hope, a love for God and greater confidence in Christ.
-opened my eyes more to the wonderful and delightful relationship I have with the triune God.
I will read this book again and again.
-Chester is a great writer and communicator. He speaks in plain language but is not boring.
-This book goes theologically deep and is wide in application.
-This book gave me joy, hope, a love for God and greater confidence in Christ.
-opened my eyes more to the wonderful and delightful relationship I have with the triune God.
I will read this book again and again.
May 22, 2020
What a brilliant book. An intensely practical, everyday theology of union and communion with God in three Persons. Highly recommended.
-------------------------
My extended notes and quotes:
Chapter One - More
Two principles (15):
1. God is known through the three Persons, so we relate to the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
2. Our unity with God in Christ is the basis of our community with God in experience.
—> We cannot know God, but we can know the Persons of God, and relate to each of them distinctly. (15-18)
—> "Our actions don’t make us Christians… — for our union with God is all his work. But our actions do make a difference to our enjoyment of God” (21)
“ACTION: Each day for a week spend some time praying to the Father, and then to the Son, and then to the Spirit. In each case, offer praise or make requests that are particularly related to that Person’s distinctive role in your life.” (24)
Chapter Two - Joy
Enjoying God as the primary reason to pursue a relationship with God. (30)
"Relating to each person of the Trinity involves opening our eyes to the work of each on our day-to-day lives.” (33)
"ACTION: Whenever you’re alone this week, start a conversation with your heavenly Father in which you talk to him about whatever is on your mind.” (36)
Chapter Three - In Every Pleasure We Can Enjoy the Father’s Generosity
“First and foremost, you have communion with the Father by believing he loves you.” (41)
“A Fathered World”: ”One way we relate to the Father — one way we enjoy him — is to see these things [“all the good things you’ve enjoyed”] as his gifts”. (41)
“Gratitude leads us closer to God”. (47)
"ACTION: Each day this week pick something that makes you happy and pray: 'My Father, thank you for this because it’s a lovely gift from you.' “ (48)
Chapter Four - In Every Hardship We Can Enjoy the Father’s Formation
Chapter Five - In Every Prayer We Can Enjoy the Father’s Welcome
“The key thing is to think of prayer as relating to your Father rather than performing a task.” (73)
"ACTION: Each time you pray this week, start by saying ‘My Father' or ‘Our Father’. “ (74)
Chapter Six - In Every Failure We Can Enjoy the Son’s Grace
"PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE: Have a go at Owen’s ‘blessed bartering’. Thank back over the past day or week. Make a mental list of all the things you have left undone that you ought to have done, and the things you have done that you ought not to have done. Thank of your sins of thought, word and deed. And then hand them over to Jesus. Imagine them nailed to an empty cross. Stand by the cross and say, ‘Jesus was wounded for my sins’. And then receive from him love, life, righteousness and peace.” (84)
Chapter Seven - In Every Pain We Can Enjoy the Son’s Presence
Jesus doesn’t feel compassion fatigue! (94-95)
Chapter Eight - In Every Supper We Can Enjoy the Son’s Touch
“The coming of the Spirit is the coming of Jesus” e.g. Ambassador, Phone call. (102-103)
“Communion is an invitation to friendship with Christ: An invitation to enjoy and experience Christ’s presence.”(104)
Chapter Nine - In Every Temptation We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Life
Seven examples of the Spirit’s work - six biblical, and one in every conversion!
Expectations of the Spirit’s work - two dangers (113):
1. We expect too much. “They expect the glory of heaven now in this life”
2. We expect too little - closer to home.
Romans 8:5-11 “Through the Spirit, you can do something today that brings God pleasure. I wonder if you believe that.” (116)
e.g. A new car you never drive over 50km/h. “Don’t make your life so safe that you never have cause to notice the Spirit’s work. .. If you want to see the Spirit at work in your life, then attempt things that you feel you can’t do without his help.” (119)
Chapter Ten - In Every Groan We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Hope
Romans 8
Chapter Eleven - In Every Word We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Voice
“Spiritual Disciplines” —> “Means of Grace” —> “Means of Communion” (relational) (132)
Bible Reading: “The goal is to enjoy God, and planning to read the Bible each day is just the means.” (138)
Chapter Twelve - In One Another We Can Enjoy God’s Love
“The Christian community is the main context where you experience divine joy.” (143)
1 John 1:3-4. “Word, community and joy all mingle together.” (144)
Bonhoeffer: “Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them. They need them again and again when they become uncertain and disheartened because, living by their own resources, they cannot help themselves.” (145)
Singing: “We together as God’s people are enjoying God’s grace.” (145)
1 John 2: “You can’t enjoy God's love on your own. … Love for God only becomes complete when you love other people.” (146)
1 John 4:7, 11 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God … Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (147)
“If we pursue one another’s joy, then our joy and love are made complete. So if you want to find joy, you may need to stop looking for joy and instead start working for the joy of others. The strange fact is the you’ll never really be happy while you’re pursuing your own happiness.” (148)
“To give is to gain in the economy of Christ. … To gain a life that is rich and full — a life into which eternity has begun to shine — we need to lose ourselves and show the sacrificial love of the cross.” (148-149)
Test: Those preoccupied with their own needs and desires = unhappy. Those who think about others the most = happiest. “The more you deny yourself to love others, the more joy you experience.” (149)
“We feel closest to Jesus when we’re serving alongside of him. In the topsy-turvey world of the kingdom of God:
- we find ourselves by losing ourselves
- we gain most when we give most
- we experience fulfilment when we deny ourselves
- we feel happy most when we pursue the happiness of others” (150)
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE: (150-151)
- Find someone to pray with one to one
- Let people sing to you
- Look at people when you take communion
- Invite someone for a meal
Chapter Thirteen - In Daily Repentance and Faith We Can Enjoy God’s Freedom
“The number one reason I don’t enjoy God more than I do: not enough repentance. The problem is not that I sin …” (155)
“Think of repentance as the gateway to the pleasures of God.”(156)
“You can be an expert at hiding your sin from other people. But it doesn’t bring joy.
Chapter Fourteen - Under the Hood
1. THE PRINCIPLE OF THREE AND ONE (170-173)
Owen: “The saints have distinct communion with the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit”
“Without an encounter with the three Persons, the word “God” has no content for us … but in the Persons of God we have true encounter with the true God.”
Owen: “There is no grace whereby our souls go forth to God, no act of divine worship yielded to him, no duty or obedience performed, which is not distinctly related to Father, Son and Spirit.”
“… to experience one is to experience all three"
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF UNION AND COMMUNION
“Our unity with God in Christ is the basis of our community with God in experience.”
Motyer on Exodus: “Status comes by the acts of God; enjoyment by the responsive commitment of obedience. Obedience is not our part in a two-sided bargain, but our grateful response to what the Lord has unilaterally decided and done."
-------------------------
My extended notes and quotes:
Chapter One - More
Two principles (15):
1. God is known through the three Persons, so we relate to the Father, the Son and the Spirit.
2. Our unity with God in Christ is the basis of our community with God in experience.
—> We cannot know God, but we can know the Persons of God, and relate to each of them distinctly. (15-18)
—> "Our actions don’t make us Christians… — for our union with God is all his work. But our actions do make a difference to our enjoyment of God” (21)
“ACTION: Each day for a week spend some time praying to the Father, and then to the Son, and then to the Spirit. In each case, offer praise or make requests that are particularly related to that Person’s distinctive role in your life.” (24)
Chapter Two - Joy
Enjoying God as the primary reason to pursue a relationship with God. (30)
"Relating to each person of the Trinity involves opening our eyes to the work of each on our day-to-day lives.” (33)
"ACTION: Whenever you’re alone this week, start a conversation with your heavenly Father in which you talk to him about whatever is on your mind.” (36)
Chapter Three - In Every Pleasure We Can Enjoy the Father’s Generosity
“First and foremost, you have communion with the Father by believing he loves you.” (41)
“A Fathered World”: ”One way we relate to the Father — one way we enjoy him — is to see these things [“all the good things you’ve enjoyed”] as his gifts”. (41)
“Gratitude leads us closer to God”. (47)
"ACTION: Each day this week pick something that makes you happy and pray: 'My Father, thank you for this because it’s a lovely gift from you.' “ (48)
Chapter Four - In Every Hardship We Can Enjoy the Father’s Formation
Chapter Five - In Every Prayer We Can Enjoy the Father’s Welcome
“The key thing is to think of prayer as relating to your Father rather than performing a task.” (73)
"ACTION: Each time you pray this week, start by saying ‘My Father' or ‘Our Father’. “ (74)
Chapter Six - In Every Failure We Can Enjoy the Son’s Grace
"PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE: Have a go at Owen’s ‘blessed bartering’. Thank back over the past day or week. Make a mental list of all the things you have left undone that you ought to have done, and the things you have done that you ought not to have done. Thank of your sins of thought, word and deed. And then hand them over to Jesus. Imagine them nailed to an empty cross. Stand by the cross and say, ‘Jesus was wounded for my sins’. And then receive from him love, life, righteousness and peace.” (84)
Chapter Seven - In Every Pain We Can Enjoy the Son’s Presence
Jesus doesn’t feel compassion fatigue! (94-95)
Chapter Eight - In Every Supper We Can Enjoy the Son’s Touch
“The coming of the Spirit is the coming of Jesus” e.g. Ambassador, Phone call. (102-103)
“Communion is an invitation to friendship with Christ: An invitation to enjoy and experience Christ’s presence.”(104)
Chapter Nine - In Every Temptation We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Life
Seven examples of the Spirit’s work - six biblical, and one in every conversion!
Expectations of the Spirit’s work - two dangers (113):
1. We expect too much. “They expect the glory of heaven now in this life”
2. We expect too little - closer to home.
Romans 8:5-11 “Through the Spirit, you can do something today that brings God pleasure. I wonder if you believe that.” (116)
e.g. A new car you never drive over 50km/h. “Don’t make your life so safe that you never have cause to notice the Spirit’s work. .. If you want to see the Spirit at work in your life, then attempt things that you feel you can’t do without his help.” (119)
Chapter Ten - In Every Groan We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Hope
Romans 8
Chapter Eleven - In Every Word We Can Enjoy the Spirit’s Voice
“Spiritual Disciplines” —> “Means of Grace” —> “Means of Communion” (relational) (132)
Bible Reading: “The goal is to enjoy God, and planning to read the Bible each day is just the means.” (138)
Chapter Twelve - In One Another We Can Enjoy God’s Love
“The Christian community is the main context where you experience divine joy.” (143)
1 John 1:3-4. “Word, community and joy all mingle together.” (144)
Bonhoeffer: “Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them. They need them again and again when they become uncertain and disheartened because, living by their own resources, they cannot help themselves.” (145)
Singing: “We together as God’s people are enjoying God’s grace.” (145)
1 John 2: “You can’t enjoy God's love on your own. … Love for God only becomes complete when you love other people.” (146)
1 John 4:7, 11 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God … Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (147)
“If we pursue one another’s joy, then our joy and love are made complete. So if you want to find joy, you may need to stop looking for joy and instead start working for the joy of others. The strange fact is the you’ll never really be happy while you’re pursuing your own happiness.” (148)
“To give is to gain in the economy of Christ. … To gain a life that is rich and full — a life into which eternity has begun to shine — we need to lose ourselves and show the sacrificial love of the cross.” (148-149)
Test: Those preoccupied with their own needs and desires = unhappy. Those who think about others the most = happiest. “The more you deny yourself to love others, the more joy you experience.” (149)
“We feel closest to Jesus when we’re serving alongside of him. In the topsy-turvey world of the kingdom of God:
- we find ourselves by losing ourselves
- we gain most when we give most
- we experience fulfilment when we deny ourselves
- we feel happy most when we pursue the happiness of others” (150)
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE: (150-151)
- Find someone to pray with one to one
- Let people sing to you
- Look at people when you take communion
- Invite someone for a meal
Chapter Thirteen - In Daily Repentance and Faith We Can Enjoy God’s Freedom
“The number one reason I don’t enjoy God more than I do: not enough repentance. The problem is not that I sin …” (155)
“Think of repentance as the gateway to the pleasures of God.”(156)
“You can be an expert at hiding your sin from other people. But it doesn’t bring joy.
Chapter Fourteen - Under the Hood
1. THE PRINCIPLE OF THREE AND ONE (170-173)
Owen: “The saints have distinct communion with the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit”
“Without an encounter with the three Persons, the word “God” has no content for us … but in the Persons of God we have true encounter with the true God.”
Owen: “There is no grace whereby our souls go forth to God, no act of divine worship yielded to him, no duty or obedience performed, which is not distinctly related to Father, Son and Spirit.”
“… to experience one is to experience all three"
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF UNION AND COMMUNION
“Our unity with God in Christ is the basis of our community with God in experience.”
Motyer on Exodus: “Status comes by the acts of God; enjoyment by the responsive commitment of obedience. Obedience is not our part in a two-sided bargain, but our grateful response to what the Lord has unilaterally decided and done."
March 20, 2019
What a joy it was to read this book. To read of our communion and union with Christ, the latter of which cannot change and the former that we should strive to grow deeper in.
Tim Chester does a great job of both presenting how we can enjoy God and emphasizing the importance of understanding the God that we ought to enjoy.
I have always longed to enjoy a relationship with God. Craved it. Reading this taught me that I can. I don't have to make it to a certain level of Christianity to do so. In each chapter, he shows how in any situation (hardship, community, joy, grief) we can enjoy an aspect of God and a Person of the Trinity.
I will recommend and encourage this to any Christian who has not read it. It is intended to be read with someone else or group of people. And each chapter is intended to be read weekly, and there are questions for each chapter and a call to action, which are always extremely practical and (usually) helpful.
He summarized the book wonderfully at the end:
"Here's the main point of this book. At 5 am in the Dublin rain waiting for a bus, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all actively engaging with me. And, if I choose, I can respond and enjoy my relationship with them. The same is true for you right now wherever you are and whatever you're doing."
Oh and he's British, so there's lil gems in there that this American enjoyed
Tim Chester does a great job of both presenting how we can enjoy God and emphasizing the importance of understanding the God that we ought to enjoy.
I have always longed to enjoy a relationship with God. Craved it. Reading this taught me that I can. I don't have to make it to a certain level of Christianity to do so. In each chapter, he shows how in any situation (hardship, community, joy, grief) we can enjoy an aspect of God and a Person of the Trinity.
I will recommend and encourage this to any Christian who has not read it. It is intended to be read with someone else or group of people. And each chapter is intended to be read weekly, and there are questions for each chapter and a call to action, which are always extremely practical and (usually) helpful.
He summarized the book wonderfully at the end:
"Here's the main point of this book. At 5 am in the Dublin rain waiting for a bus, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all actively engaging with me. And, if I choose, I can respond and enjoy my relationship with them. The same is true for you right now wherever you are and whatever you're doing."
Oh and he's British, so there's lil gems in there that this American enjoyed
May 12, 2024
Too often in the world I live in, God is seen as a fact or proposition and not a person. There is an old English word, “Experimental,” what we would say in the modern world, “experiential.” This book helps us truly experience God in a way that is orthodox and not tainted by the Pentecostal/Charismatic world. Truly enjoyable.
June 20, 2022
Refreshing and very encouraging!
January 12, 2023
(4.5/5)
I really enjoyed this book! Chester challenges readers with enjoying the Triune God in everyday life. I was especially challenged by how Chester speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so intimately (and separately) and differently than I hear in a lot of Christian circles. With simple applications and great reflection questions at the end of each chapter, I would 100% recommend to anyone who desires to better understand the intimate, daily way we relate to God ( as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and His desire to have that relationship with all believers.
I really enjoyed this book! Chester challenges readers with enjoying the Triune God in everyday life. I was especially challenged by how Chester speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so intimately (and separately) and differently than I hear in a lot of Christian circles. With simple applications and great reflection questions at the end of each chapter, I would 100% recommend to anyone who desires to better understand the intimate, daily way we relate to God ( as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and His desire to have that relationship with all believers.
June 15, 2024
"The lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden was that God is an uncaring Father and so we should go it alone. Satan didn't dispute the existence of God nor his power. The lie was that God doesn't care. All the evidence was to the contrary. God had placed Adam and Eve in a place of security and plenty-and given them the fruit of every tree except one. His provision was complete. Yet humanity believed the lie that God is distant and uncaring. We still do. Still today, says Jesus, our problem is that we lack faith (v 28). We don't believe God cares. We think of him as distant. We see this world as unfathered."
Very very good. Feel like I understand God the father in a sweeter and nearer way.
In our union with Christ we can have communion with God.
Would be a great study to do as a group.
Very very good. Feel like I understand God the father in a sweeter and nearer way.
In our union with Christ we can have communion with God.
Would be a great study to do as a group.
April 15, 2021
I am deeply thankful for Tim Chester’s writing. He is clear and practical, warm and human and helpful. This book is a helpful companion to us in our desires to enjoy more of God in every day life. I would put this beside Rankin Wilbourne’s Union With Christ as a book that helps me understand how being united with Christ changes everything — down to the very simplest/“unremarkable” moments. God is with me in every moment and I have the opportunity to enjoy Him in all things. This book walks through what it looks like to enjoy God in good times and suffering, how spiritual disciplines/means of grace increase our joy, how God meets us in temptation and longing and failure. Would recommend working slowly through it; I know I will return to it often.
January 31, 2023
- Highlights how we can deepen and enrich our relationship with God as we relate to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Emphasizes our unity with God (gift) and communion with God (result of faith)
- Explores how we can enjoy God in everyday life with every chapter ending with a “putting it into practice” paragraph, actions and questions/challenges to reflect on.
“Prayer, community, worship, service and suffering are all means that God gives us to enjoy and deepen our relationship with Him…every pleasure (the Father’s generosity), every pain (the Father’s discipline), every prayer, failure, fear, supper, temptation and groan has the potential to draw us closer to God if we see God at work in it” (Page 133)
- Emphasizes our unity with God (gift) and communion with God (result of faith)
- Explores how we can enjoy God in everyday life with every chapter ending with a “putting it into practice” paragraph, actions and questions/challenges to reflect on.
“Prayer, community, worship, service and suffering are all means that God gives us to enjoy and deepen our relationship with Him…every pleasure (the Father’s generosity), every pain (the Father’s discipline), every prayer, failure, fear, supper, temptation and groan has the potential to draw us closer to God if we see God at work in it” (Page 133)
January 10, 2019
What a wonderful, heart-warming, practically helpful read!! One I shall return to.
November 20, 2022
One of my favourite books of the year. So helpful and wish I’d read it long ago. 14 practical chapters on enjoying God. Loved it.
September 11, 2024
Um livro excelente, verdadeiramente edificante, além de muito prático.
January 10, 2023
Absolutely love this book. I love the way the book is structured and how practical it is. 100% recommend everyone to read!
April 18, 2020
‘ .. we never lose God. Nothing can separate us from his love. When other things are stripped away, we’re always left with God, and he is enough.’
March 3, 2020
I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I was less stuck in sin? It just hit me hard and uncomfortably, showing me how much I wasn't enjoying God. But so so good to hear.
And like a father uncomfortably disciplining his child but in a loving way, that's the tone Tim Chester takes. So I almost want to read it again (or just the last sections of each chapter which are the summaries).
I love his main argument that: Our union with God in Christ (his never changing gift) is the basis for our communion with God in experience (can go up and down depending on my obedience / worship).
So every day I want to look at God's objective gifts, and turn it back in worship and obedience.
And like a father uncomfortably disciplining his child but in a loving way, that's the tone Tim Chester takes. So I almost want to read it again (or just the last sections of each chapter which are the summaries).
I love his main argument that: Our union with God in Christ (his never changing gift) is the basis for our communion with God in experience (can go up and down depending on my obedience / worship).
So every day I want to look at God's objective gifts, and turn it back in worship and obedience.
February 9, 2024
This book was wonderful! Full of such simple truths that were sweet and practical.
I listened to it but I think it was meant to be read slower. Like one chapter per week.
I loved this book so much, highly recommend!
I listened to it but I think it was meant to be read slower. Like one chapter per week.
I loved this book so much, highly recommend!
May 7, 2019
This is a book to read slowly and savour. The practical suggestions of how to respond really help too. It warned my heart and grew my love for Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
January 23, 2020
Really great read. Easy. Deep. Refreshing. Biblical. Theological. Gospel-centred. Practical, real, rubber-hits-the-Road application. I’ll be recommending this to many.
September 19, 2024
Good book.
I feel like it (once again) relates quite well to other books I’ve recently read, namely delighting in the trinity. Timmy boy discusses the idea of being deeply relational with the 3 body’s of God.
“God didn't create the world because he needed love or wanted cheering up. He's the triune God, who lives eternally in a community of love and mutual delight. Father, Son and Spirit have all the joy they could ever want and in a far richer, purer form than we could ever provide. So why did God create the world when he didn't have to? The answer is grace-uncompelled, unmerited grace. "He must have created us not to get joy, but to give it."
Definitely convicting at times, which is great.
“But if you feel like a child of the God who has poured out his love on you, then your service will be willing, full and joyous. You will delight to please your Father rather than feeling obliged to obey your master.”
“The key that unlocks the treasury of joy is gratitude.”
Shout out to whoever from book club like 6 months ago recommended this🫱🏻🫲🏾
I feel like it (once again) relates quite well to other books I’ve recently read, namely delighting in the trinity. Timmy boy discusses the idea of being deeply relational with the 3 body’s of God.
“God didn't create the world because he needed love or wanted cheering up. He's the triune God, who lives eternally in a community of love and mutual delight. Father, Son and Spirit have all the joy they could ever want and in a far richer, purer form than we could ever provide. So why did God create the world when he didn't have to? The answer is grace-uncompelled, unmerited grace. "He must have created us not to get joy, but to give it."
Definitely convicting at times, which is great.
“But if you feel like a child of the God who has poured out his love on you, then your service will be willing, full and joyous. You will delight to please your Father rather than feeling obliged to obey your master.”
“The key that unlocks the treasury of joy is gratitude.”
Shout out to whoever from book club like 6 months ago recommended this🫱🏻🫲🏾
February 5, 2024
Chester got off to a bad start by stating early in the book that "The life of Moses is far from exemplary." Are you freaking kidding me? How arrogant do you have to be to reject the meekest man on earth as a model? But he said some good stuff, too. Particularly this: "The most astonishing phrase in Jesus' teaching [on prayer] is not the phrase 'your Father,' but the phrase 'our Father,' which begins the Lord's Prayer. The point is not just that Christians are family together with one another, though that's true. The point is that we pray with Jesus, and that with Jesus we say, 'our Father.'" I was gobsmacked by the insight that "our Father" isn't so much me and you as it is me and Jesus. (Bugs me that we don't get to sing those two most important words in the prayer every Sunday.)
Simon Bubb did his usual solid work as narrator.
Simon Bubb did his usual solid work as narrator.
July 29, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyable. I slowly ate this up because each chapter was like a delicious meal, and at the end of each chapter he had extremely practical “Action” steps to take.
The book is full of grace, clarity, illustrations, and practical advice. I would say that none of it was “new” to me (meaning, no totally new theological ideas), but much of it was said in a creative, inspiring way. He’s a great writer, simple to understand, and he really pushes you to try to commune more with the Triune God.
Overall, probably the book I’d recommend most to any general Christian from all the books I’ve read this year. Really accessible, insightful, worship-producing, and practical. A win all around. Because of this, I’ll definitely be reading more of Chester’s works.
The book is full of grace, clarity, illustrations, and practical advice. I would say that none of it was “new” to me (meaning, no totally new theological ideas), but much of it was said in a creative, inspiring way. He’s a great writer, simple to understand, and he really pushes you to try to commune more with the Triune God.
Overall, probably the book I’d recommend most to any general Christian from all the books I’ve read this year. Really accessible, insightful, worship-producing, and practical. A win all around. Because of this, I’ll definitely be reading more of Chester’s works.
February 14, 2021
“Ao recuar do pecado, está desfrutando da vida do Espírito.”
“O problema não é o meu pecado. O pecado em si não nos priva de Deus, pois Deus é gracioso e nos providenciou um meio de reconciliação mediante a obra do seu Filho. Então, o pecado em si não nos impede de nos deleitarmos em Deus.”
???????
Não sei se foi erro de tradução espero
que seja mas esse trecho não tem como concordar
o restante do livro tem um base boa sobre relacionamento com Deus, deleite nEle e porções sobre a doutrina da trindade.
“...nunca podemos nos esquecer de que o fundamento da nossa comunhão com Deus é a nossa união com Deus em Cristo. A maravilha da graça de Deus é que o nosso relacionamento com ele não é algo que temos de conquistar. É uma dádiva do começo ao fim.”
“O problema não é o meu pecado. O pecado em si não nos priva de Deus, pois Deus é gracioso e nos providenciou um meio de reconciliação mediante a obra do seu Filho. Então, o pecado em si não nos impede de nos deleitarmos em Deus.”
???????
Não sei se foi erro de tradução espero
que seja mas esse trecho não tem como concordar
o restante do livro tem um base boa sobre relacionamento com Deus, deleite nEle e porções sobre a doutrina da trindade.
“...nunca podemos nos esquecer de que o fundamento da nossa comunhão com Deus é a nossa união com Deus em Cristo. A maravilha da graça de Deus é que o nosso relacionamento com ele não é algo que temos de conquistar. É uma dádiva do começo ao fim.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 205 reviews