Good God!

On February 3, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 63: 7

I shall make mention of the lovingkindness of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion and according to the multitude of His lovingkindness.

I am involved with a group of believers who are exploring God’s goodness through the revelations of Bill Johnson as shared in his book, God is Good. This prompted a conversation with a minister friend. Together we agree that if our ministries can lead people to the understanding that God is good, then we will have been successful. As you attempt to communicate God’s goodness, you find that words fail. Just look at Isaiah’s paragraph above. How many ways and how many times does he have to say God is good for us to get it? It seems like Isaiah just can’t say it well enough or big enough to suit himself. He uses the words: lovingkindness, great goodness, compassion and the multitude of His lovingkindness. Can you see how he struggles to convey the great kindness and love of God? Why is this so difficult to convey and to receive?

I remember as a small child we used to say a very simple prayer and believe it, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for this food.” God is great! God is good! You know, some adult had to teach us that prayer. Do you think the adult believed the words? Why do so few adults, particularly Christian adults believe these words now? Weren’t we taught that God is good? How is there even space in the Christian world for Bill Johnson to write a book on God’s goodness? Shouldn’t we all be so steeped in this very basic principle as to make his book unnecessary? I wish! By the way, it is a good book and I am enjoying it. I just don’t like that there is any revelation here for any of us.

How is this hard? God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son . . . (John 3: 16). We sure can quote this verse and make signs and placards bearing its words but miss its message. If your personal theology has no other linchpin that this one, let it be that God loves you. Grasp with your heart, mind and soul that He is all good all of the time. He only has good plans in mind for you. Well, now I sound like Isaiah. There are not words enough to satisfy the communication of His great goodness. Maybe it’s best if I defer to the Apostle John who said it best, “God is love” (1 John 4: 8)

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Goodness

On June 8, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 145: 9

The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works.
This scripture is talking about us. We are the works of God’s hands, His handiwork. And He has good plans for us. He is merciful when we make mistakes and His plans for us are plans for good. Sometimes we think of God as vengeful and harsh but the Word of God says that He is a good God and that He is good to His kids. He is a loving father with plans for good things for you. He gives good gifts to His children and protects us from harm. All His ways are of kindness and goodness because He is love. His substance is love. So, all that He has is good. He wants to give more good to you than you have ever received before. Let us get a revelation of His goodness so that we allow him to pour all of His lovingkindness into our lives. You have to settle in your heart first, though, that God is a good God.

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Light

On November 27, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 5: 9      God’s word translation

Light produces everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true.

Here is another verse on God’s goodness, His inherent goodness. We cannot look too often at verses which show God’s essential nature. So often people confuse God’s acts with the corruption of this world. It really bothers me because I know His heart, I sometimes feel His heart and He really is kindness, goodness and love. Everything He does, everything He feels is based in His enormous love for us.

There is an expression related to insurance that is so inappropriate but shows clearly how we think of the situations of the world. People talk about an “act of God.” They might be referring to a tree falling on your house because of a “natural” cause. First of all, we need to understand that the idea of “natural law” is a fairly new concept, especially in view of God’s life time. What is natural isn’t necessarily Godly. There is no direct relationship between “natural” and Godly. Remember that we are not of this world (John 15: 19). Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (John 18: 36). Jesus’ said that his kingdom was not in this realm so we should not judge God or Jesus by this realm. This world has pain in it and has been corrupted by the malevolence which is in the earth.

Everything good is of God. Everything of God is good. If a thing is not good, then it is not of God. Jesus is the light (John 8: 12) and light produces that which is good. Light produces that which is approved by God and that which is true. Everything in Christ Jesus is good, approved of God and true. Conversely, everything bad is apart from God and His son Jesus. This is the message for your own heart as well as the evangelical truth. We minister according to goodness and love. If we minister from any other motivation then we do not minister according to God. This is the truth of the gospel, that God so loved that He sent goodness into the earth; into an earth that was broken and corrupted by evil God sent light and love. Whenever there is hurt and darkness in your own life, understand that God is not the source of that but that He will, if invited, rush in to bring life, light, love and healing. When others are hurting, this is the truth they need. God is good, His every expression is of goodness.

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Say It!

On November 18, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 107: 2

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

So, my question is, what is it that the redeemed of the Lord are supposed to say. We have to look at verse one for the answer: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” That is what the redeemed of the Lord are supposed to be saying. You know what I hear often though? I hear things like “God gave me this cancer to make me strong” or “God took my loved one to heaven”. That is deception folks. God is all goodness. His expression is always lovingkindness (loving + kindness). He only gives that which is good. In fact, he doesn’t even have bad stuff in heaven to give to people. “For everything created by God is good” (1 Timothy 4: 4). Heaven is filled with goodness. That makes sense, right?

When bad things happen, they are not authored by God. God isn’t giving and taking away. He is giving. “God so loved the world that he gave” (John 3: 16). We need to get our language in synch with God’s Word. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” Amen!! God is good. Even little children know that. “God is great, God is good . . . .” Let us, each and everyone, allow the truth of God’s goodness to fill us even at the sub-atomic level. God is good and we say so!

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Looking For a Partner

On October 9, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ezekiel 22: 30

And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

There is so much misunderstanding about our Father’s character and heart. This has never been more true. People still think that a life with God is about what you give up or more to the point, what He takes from you. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of who He is.

We are quite familiar with John 3: 16 but sometimes I wonder if we have every really heard it at all. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” God so loved us that He gave. His love for us causes Him to give, not take away. He is the God of good things and He longs to bless us not curse us. Human beings brought the curse into the world, not God. He created a place of good and of plenty.

In today’s selection we see God trying to find someone who would “stand in the gap” for the land. He didn’t want destruction to come onto the land, He wanted someone to intercede so that He could save it. But … He found no one. You see, humanity has sown seeds of destruction and those seeds are going to produce a crop unless God intervenes on our behalf. Unfortunately, when God gave us the authority over the earth that meant that the power and the responsibility fell to us. He gave His authority to us. He, therefore, no longer had the right to do anything He wished in the earth.

To this day He needs human actors to stand, pray and allow Him to work through them. He wants to save the land just as He did when Ezekiel wrote these words. He is a good God and wants to redeem the lands we live in. He wants to bestow blessings on our countries, towns and villages. He is looking for people who will partner with Him to remove the destruction and bring about healing and blessing. His plans for us are always plans for our good so let’s stand in those gaps and be the conduits of His love, grace and mercy.

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The Surprising Arsenal

On September 10, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 12: 21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Last week my mom called and told me that she had employed my spiritual warfare tactic of sowing into a ministry when the devil is putting up road blocks. She put today’s scripture into effect. Overcome evil with good.

The devil really, really hates it when he is trying to bother you and you write a check to God’s work. It is one of my favorite tactics and I will say that I enjoy doing it. We have learned by now that trying to get back at someone or trading blows with them is not going to yield the fruit we want. In fact, there is no spiritual weapon or spiritual warfare tactic for striking back at our enemies. Jesus said to pray for them (Matthew 5: 44).  

The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (2 Corinthians 10: 4). Besides prayer, the weapons of our warfare are love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5: 22). Now, if you choke on that a bit, I don’t blame you but ultimately we need to figure out what works and abandon that which doesn’t. The Apostle Paul knew more about fighting these battles than most of us ever will so when he says overcome evil with good he must have known what he was talking about. I believe an extension of what he was saying is that we will never overcome evil with evil. In order to overcome at all we must fight with the weapons of our warfare, namely that which is good.

I also believe Paul is telling us that we never have to be overcome by evil. The reason is that we have a savior. Besides just having the loving grace of Jesus, we also have his victory which has crushed ultimate evil. Jesus is good. He dwells in goodness and kindness. Therefore, the weapons of our warfare are good. Jesus defeated the devil by doing a good thing, really a great thing. He gave in order to conquer. Certainly that is not how most people strategize for battle. That is why giving is such a powerful weapon. It imitates Christ. That is also why it bothers Satan so much. It is a reminder of how he was defeated.  

Let this revelation sink into you. Our God is a good God and His overcoming is in His goodness. Overcome evil every time. It has no hold over you. Let goodness and righteousness be your banner.

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God is Good

On September 8, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 12: 2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is a well-known verse; we spend a great deal of time and explanation on the concepts of transformation and renewal, as well we should. I wonder, however, if we ever pause and consider the last part of the verse, “that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Pondering this latter section brings to me two ideas.

First, believers often want to know what the will of God is. Well, here is a very good clue. When considering options we can always be assured that God’s will is in that which is good and acceptable and perfect. If any of those three characteristics are present then we may well be able to recognize God’s will in a situation. Always look for that which is good if you want to find God’s will.

Secondly, so often believers and others blame God when bad events happen in the world or in their lives but you see, bad things are not God’s will. We understand that now, don’t we? His will is that which is good, acceptable and perfect. Therefore, typhoons are not His will. Cancer is not His will. Everything which is bad is outside of the will of God. 

He made a perfect garden called Eden. That we would live in a perfect garden which had spread across the entire surface of the earth was His will. Unfortunately, we let sin and corruption into the world. Now we are faced with the ravages that corruption and decay have wrought on our planet. Sin was not God’s will. Humans had and have a will of their own. And there have been consequences to our acts as there ever will be. Whatever we sow into the earth is what the earth will produce. However, you can know what God’s will is and that will always be the thing which is perfect and whole. He wants for you perfect health and wholeness in your relationships. He wants good situations and blessing in your life. He is the God of good, acceptable and perfect. Anything less just isn’t God!

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