"Father, you created the heavens and the earth...and you also created me. You know the details of my innermost being...mind, body and spirit. Today will you grant me the understanding of how good you really are so that truth touches all that I am? In Jesus name, AMEN."
Holding His Hand
Imagine a really bad day. Your business is about to collapse (or your co-workers have gotten you fired). You get word that your daughter is pregnant out of wedlock and the father has disappeared. You pick up the phone to hear a police officer describe how your underage son has been arrested for drunk driving. Suddenly you realize the hissing sound coming from the bathroom is actually your hot water heater spewing water all over your hardwood floors. You then turn around to the door bell ringing…jerk open the door and expect your neighbor to give you more bad news as you say, “Now what?!” Though life is rarely that dramatic, it has trained us to expect bad news to pile up every day.
But I have good news for you today! The “gospel” you have believed means “good news.” Your relationship with God is based on good news, not bad! Read that line again. Repeat it to yourself a few times. Father wants to retrain your heart to see good in every day and expect good things on a regular basis! In fact, God was at one time so associated with being absolutely good, that the very word “God” we use today is a shortened form that comes from the word meaning, “the good.”
One day Moses had seen God’s power and presence in the deliverance of Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians, but still he asked to see the glory of God. Father God’s response was to show Moses the intense afterglow of his glory while He passed by proclaiming his “name” or nature. He declared himself as the One who was merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful abounding in love. But here is the beautiful thing: God called all these descriptions of his nature “My goodnesspassing before you”. Why is God good? BECAUSE He expresses all that character towards you personally! That’s good news.
How do I know you are a candidate for this experience of His goodness? The psalmist said, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his mercy endures forever.” (Ps 106:1) His goodness is experienced by anyone who needs mercy. If you are weak, tired, hungry, troubled, or hurting, then you are the kind of person he is showing His goodness to. Generation after generation have known firsthand the goodness of God! So can you!
James writes: “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning” (1:17) GOOD and perfect gifts come from a Father whose nature does not vary, nor does He change his mind and turn away. His unchanging goodness is available from the realm of the Spirit into the natural every day.
What is the implication for us today? There are actually many, but let’s focus on just one. Learn today that what God is doing in your life is always without exception good. The ministry of the evil one is always bad. Never get the two confused. Don’t blame God for those things that are actually the work of Satan.
I have good news for you today: God is in a good mood! It is his will to demonstrate his good intentions toward you. At the very birth of Jesus was the announcement that He had come to bring “peace on earth, good will toward mankind.” It is no surprise then for us to read that Jesus “went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil…” (Acts 10:38)
What is going on in your life right now that would be described as the good work of God in your life? Look for it. What is your response? Again the psalmist said, “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, his mercy endures forever.”
This is how we become rooted in love!
Sharing His Heart
Tell someone today about the good things you are thankful for. Look around. Take your eyes off your problems and start looking at the good things at work around you...and let someone else know that God has been good to you.
Thank you for your donation toward tithes, offerings or the building fund. "And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 28:2
