People are searching for satisfaction, unfortunately most of world is looking in all the wrong places. Sin over promises and always under delivers, but Christ is the desire of the nations, He is the wholeness that the human heart is crying out for. We who belong to Christ have been granted access to the river of life, and the intoxicating goodness of God’s presence. We need to understand that God’s presence is pure bliss, He is unimaginable unending oceans of ecstasy.

“In your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

“They shall be abundantly satisfied by the fatness of your house and you shall cause them to drink from a river of your pleasures.” (Psalm 36:8)

Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to “rivers of living water,” but David here says He is a river of pleasure. The Holy Spirit is a river of infinite bliss, He is the eternal fountainhead of ecstasy.

In doing word studies you can find some very interesting things in the bible. Looking up phrases or different words in the original greek or hebrew context can really shed light on the scriptures. One day I looked up the word “gladness” when it says in hebrews that Jesus was,

“Anointed with the oil of gladness above all His companions.” (Hebrews 1:9)

When you look at that word “gladness” in the greek Thayer’s bible concordance you’ll find a startling revelation, the word is (agalliassis) meaning, “exultation, or extreme joy.” Right away this caught my attention, this verse says that Christ wasn’t merely anointed with a mild-tempered joy barely enough to scratch a grin, no He was filled and consumed with an extreme joy – and let me add that it’s important to understand that the “anointing” is not an “it,” or a “thing” the anointing is the Holy Spirit Himself. Therefore we can conclude that joy is not something that God gives, joy is what He is. God is extreme infinite joy! This should be easy enough to understand considering the scriptures tell us the, “joy of the Lord is our strength.” Joy is from Him, it’s not a separate substance from His Person, it’s one of His eternal attributes.

With this being said if you are going to seek pleasure then you need to meet the river of pleasure Himself. Christ is better than any drug or alcohol. His presence is not just better because drugs are “sinful” and He is not, but His presence is stronger, more enjoyable, and infinitely more intoxicating. Drugs and alcohol are a mere shadow, cheap substitute, and demonic counterfeit for the real thing: God’s glory. Don’t settle for the devil’s cheap knock-offs, but jump into the river of God and be swept away into the bliss of your union with Him!