Good God!

Psalm 73: 1       TPT

No one can deny it—God is really good to Israel and to all those with pure hearts. But I nearly missed seeing it for myself.

I have just returned from an Impact Ministry conference with Dr. Jim Richards. It was a special weekend with a special acknowledgement of Jim’s sister, Pat Richards. I am sure as time goes on, more and more will filter through my mind about what I learned. The takeaway that I loved most, though, was this statement from Dr. Richards, “God is good, and only good.” That is the point of this scripture, that God is good. And let’s get this part right – who is Israel? Well, that would be you. You have been made a royal heir according to your ingrafting into the family of God. However, some of us have nearly missed understanding about God’s goodness.

I’ve been teaching on the goodness of God for a long time, but the way Jim phrased that really resonated with me. We often hear, “God is good all the time” but it seems people don’t believe that. Perhaps we’ve heard it so many times that we have ceased to actually hear it with our brains. It amazes me how often Christians talk about the bad things God has given them. They will even praise God for it and tell you how it made them stronger. That comes from a misunderstanding of God but more particularly of Romans 8: 28 which teaches us that although bad things happen, God will take them and turn them for good. I call it the “Lemonade Scripture” because it basically says that God will take lemons and make lemonade. Because good comes out of a situation, does not mean, though, that God created the situation. That is very poor logic and just wrong. God is a good and benevolent God. He is good ALL the time and He is only good. He is never bad.

John 10: 10 reads, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Of course, these words were spoken by Jesus. If you understand, and even memorize, this verse, you will understand a great deal of the Bible and you will have a solid personal theology. First, you have to understand who the thief is. Jesus spent most of this chapter explaining the difference between a good shepherd and a bad one. He identifies himself and the Heavenly Father as good. They care for the sheep. The bad shepherd is, of course, the devil. We need to get this settled in our hearts and minds. You can imagine how funny the devil finds it when he sends bad into the world and our benevolent, good and gracious Father gets the blame for it.

Settle this once and for all in your heart and you will understand much about life and the world. When you see good, that is your Father because He is good and only good. Heaven doesn’t have any bad for Him to give you. There is no cancer in heaven. There is no hunger. There is only good in heaven. Our Father is only good, therefore always good. Don’t let this be a point of confusion for you any longer. Satan doesn’t bless you, he only curses. Goodness is of the Father. He is the source of all goodness in the earth. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. Therefore, if you see theft, death or destruction, you should be able to identify the author. The devil is a corrupter of good. He twists and perverts. He steals whatever is good and turns it inside out. There is no goodness in him.

Your Father knows how to give good gifts to His children, and He knows how to care for the sheep. He is the good shepherd for He is good and only good.

Knowing Truth

John 8: 32

You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

Jesus came to set us free and it is the truth which will set us free but it is not any old generic truth. First, it is in knowing that Jesus is the truth (John 14: 6). The second but equally important part of the equation is that it is the truth that you know which will set you free.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5: 1). You see, when we do not embrace the truth, then we subject ourselves to slavery. It is true. We fall victim to events in our past, lies we have believed, daily challenges, bad habits and on and on. We find it very difficult, if not impossible to rise above these situation which do, in fact, keep us bound to a life that is less than the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. We find ourselves repeatedly, falling short of our goals and dreams with few explanations. The ultimate reason our purposes are repeatedly frustrated is that there is a truth which we have yet to lay hold of.  However, the great news of Jesus, our beloved Messiah, is that in him is the very truth which we need to experience the breakthrough which will catapult us into everything he died to give us.

You will know the truth and when you do know and, importantly, embrace the truth you shall be set free. Sometimes, though, it is quite challenging for us to embrace truth. We have been living with the lies so long that while they keep us bound, at least they are the known factor. We have grown accustomed to them. Facing the truth can be scary. My friend, Pat Richards, who is the chief Heart Physics coach at Impact Ministries (www.impactministries.com) calls this resistance. It doesn’t mean that we are not sincere in our pursuit of truth. It is just the case that as we close in on it, there is resistance in our hearts to hearing the whole truth. It’s frightening. So, we run away. We shield ourselves from the potential discomfort of facing the bare truth.

Honestly, the fear is much bigger than the reality. I am sure you know people who have never had the courage to face their realities. I find this sad because I know that what we fear is much smaller and less painful than what we make it out to be. The fear of the truth is more painful than the truth. When we finally take that courageous leap into truth the response is always the same, “Hey, that wasn’t as bad as I expected.” Being trapped in the past, in our injuries or any of the myriad of circumstances which hold us back is much more painful.

Jesus wants us all to be free. When you sense that fear of moving forward, when your reaction to a situation is overly strong, or when you keep going around the same old mountain time and time again, then that is excellent evidence that you are encountering resistance to the metamorphic truth that Jesus is attempting to reveal to you. Trust me in this, he is gentle and his yoke is light. If you will invest all of your trust in him, he will, with nurturing grace, lead you into truth. Only knowing the truth as it applies to you can set you free. The revelation of truth about someone else’s situation might inform you, even enlighten you but it will not set you free. It’s Jesus in you, in your life, in every one of your situations that frees. It is the truth about what binds and conflicts you that will break the shackles off your life.

Trust our Lord. Go into that quiet space with him and allow him to show you all truth. Allow him to nurture you into wholeness and peace. There is so much he has for you, so much he longs to do for you and with you. It is all there. Don’t let any of it pass you by. The resistance is a sign. Let it lead you into a peaceful and safe yet revelation filled time with the Lord.