We have so many places in the Bible where GOD is addressed to be GOOD.
One of the classic place is Mark 10:18 which says …So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
Jesus too acknowledges GOD alone to be Good.
It would be Psalms 23 that sums up the goodness of GOD.
Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
The Lord is my master, my God, my everything and I don’t need anything if I have my God besides me.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He is my provider and I trust in him that he will provide good things to me always whatever the situation may be.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
He energizes me, charges me to go on. He convicts me if I do anything wrong and directs my path to always do the right thing because he is GOD and I believe in him, I have put my whole trust in him.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Even though I go through the most difficult of times in my life, I trust that my God will never forsake or leave me. He has a hedge around me and I am in his protection always, where I feel secure.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
The lord shows people who think ill of me, how he has blessed me, how his grace and mercy is upon my life and the Lord has called me his own. He has chosen me and given me a purpose for my life. He has filled me with the Holyspirit and poured out his love on me which overflows, so that I may pour it out to others.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
If God is with me only good things will follow wherever I go and whatever I do and I will dwell in his house as long as I am connected to GOD.
-This is the goodness of GOD that I see in and around my life-
How beautifully David has summed up the goodness of GOD in Psalms 23. It touches me whenever I read it and realize the goodness of GOD in my Life. All those memories of God’s goodness just pass in front of my eyes and I only feel blessed, loved and cherished by GOD.
So what have we entitled in GOD’ s goodness towards us?
James 1:17 says… Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
How good is Our GOD to give us a ‘Perfect Gift’. He only thinks good of us and does well to us.
Jeremiah 29:11 says… For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
How good is Our GOD who promises us hope and future? Faith in our God gives us that Hope and I just want to cling onto that hope.
As Hebrews 11.1 says… Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Also 2 Corinthians 4:18 says… while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
So when we have faith in GOD, we have hope that God will give us a GOOD future with good things which on earth is temporary but God also gives us a promise of eternal life when we believe that Jesus is the SON of God and we are redeemed by his Blood, forgiven of all our Sins. What we hope for now is not only of this world but also of a place in the Kingdom of God.
When GOD has given us these amazing promises what are we as children of GOD giving GOD, aren’t we selfish expecting GOD to give us everything but do nothing in return.
When we pray we ask GOD for so many things because we have faith and through that faith a hope that GOD will give us these things.
But what are we doing for GOD? Have we asked God what he wants from us?
He is GOD… what will he want from us? He gives us everything, what can I possibly give him….?
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says… In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
I know that I owe GOD everything and I give God all the honor and glory for it. I thank him daily and acknowledge that only he can give me what I desire and bless me.
But is that enough? What does God really want from us?
To understand what he wants from us. We must understand his Love for US.
I remember when I was a child, I would run and jump into the open arms of my Dad with excitement and love and he would carry me around like a prized possession, not caring about anything else or who is watching me.
As a child, we just want to be loved by our parents. To be showered with their hugs and kisses. To be told by them we are their baby and they love us. Even though I had a sibling to share that love, I knew that I am loved and cared for and will always be loved and cared for no matter what.
Do parents have favorites? Yes, of course, they have favorites… they favor 1 over the other…, but that does not stop them from loving their children. They will never want anything to harm their child and will always think good and love their children.
What makes this favor different then? It’s the connection that they have…. sometimes connected to the firstborn sometimes to the second born, sometimes because of the naughtiness, sometimes because they see a glimpse of themselves in their child. All this causes them to favor one over the other. But LOVE is always the same… It is sometimes expressed and sometimes not but LOVE will always be the same, what they have for their children no matter the number.
God too has favorites ….. His favor is on the one that is connected to him. A connection is very important and he is waiting for us to have that connection to seek him diligently, to know him, to love him.
James 4:5 says….Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
He wants us to seek him, to speak to him, to love him. He is a Jealous God and he desires us to seek him but instead, we desire to seek worldly things. God wants our undivided attention. He wants us to set our hearts on Him and him alone and not on worldly things.
But even then this does not stop HIM, from loving us. He loves each and every one of us and each and every one is a prized possession in his eyes. Even though we do not seek him he yearns for us, and is waiting for us. Even though we are faithless he is faithful towards us and will never leave us…GOD loves us unconditionally and only wants to Give us good things as a father gives good things to his children.
He loved us to such an extent that he sent his only begotten SON to die for us so we may not die but have eternal life.
If that’s not love then what is it?…
Ephesians 2:8 says… For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
So we are first saved by God’s grace and then through our faith in Jesus Christ. Its because God loves us first and he saved us through his grace and so sent us Jesus so we can believe in Jesus and be saved.
Hebrews 11:6 says… But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
- So all we have to do is Thank him at all times.
- Have faith in Him, Acknowledge he is God and is the giver of all good things and seek him.
WOW, this sounds so easy. My life is sorted…..
Wait a minute but I thought we need to also obey God ……..Is that not required?
Romans 1:5 says….Through Him(Christ) we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,
Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
- Obedience is a choice given by God. We either choose to Obey or Disobey God.
- Obedience comes out of complete surrender to God knowing he is Supreme and Just and comes out of respect and love towards God.
- Obedience is not by force but by your own will to do what is God’s will for you and your life.
- Obedience is allowing God to take control of your life and stop being a rebel and a prideful person rather be humble and accept God.
I have been a rebel all my life. Whatever my Mom says I had to say ‘NO‘ or ‘opposite’ to what she says because it’s MY LIFE and I want to LIVE it on my terms even if It meant to destroy my life with my own hands. The excuse for the rebel is always a generation gap. A false feeling that no one understands you and you are alone. A rebel is always angry for things not going their way and not wanting to accept failure or defeat. This is only PRIDE talking.
Even though I was a rebel, God never left me. He always kept giving me a choice to correct myself. Though I was a rebel at heart, I have been a God-fearing child from childhood, been an active participant in Church activities. I have not lived a bad life because God has always been there for me, correcting me, convicting me, and at times I have accepted and corrected my mistakes because of that conviction.
I have always been praying to God but not waiting upon the lord to hear his voice, because that was religion but now GOD is real to me. His Presence is real to me, His Love is real to me and God speaks to me in so many ways….
I am not a rebel anymore, maybe a little stubborn but I want to obey God and Gods plan and purpose for my Life and I am working towards it…I know that the Holy Spirit within me knows my heart and is correcting me and making me a better person day after day. I am a WORK IN PROGRESS...
GOD’s LOVE is so Wonderful, that we cannot measure it, we cannot compare it, we just need to embrace it and feel his love poured out for us.
When Jesus carried that Cross all the way to Calvary. He saw around him so many people hating him, rejecting him, calling him names. He was bruised, wounded and humiliated…. And in all this he thought about you and me and how much we will ONE DAY love him, how much we would want to spend our time with him, want to listen to his voice, to soak in his presence, to thank him and praise him…
And because of this, he was willing to die for you and me, because it was worth dying for…. He is God beyond the boundaries of time and knows all our choices even before we make them. We are his Creation, his prized possession, carved on the palm of his hand, even the hairs on our head are counted and he knows us even before we were formed in our mothers womb. He cares for us, he won’t let us go into darkness, into the enemies clutches, he found a way to save us and he did it willingly. How great is that LOVE poured out on that Cross and How great is our GOD who only loves us…
Thank you GOD, Thank you Jesus and Thank you Holy Spirit for loving me…
He DIED so that you and I could be FREE. The blood of Jesus freed us from Slavery to Sin, Sickness, Bondage, Debt and so much more…..
Ephesians 1:20-21 says… and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Jesus has conquered every name that is named-Sickness, Bondage, Curse, Shame, Suffering ans so much more… Jesus is above them all and has conquered them all. We need to just believe and trust in Jesus for our Miracle.
I hope this encourages you and fills your heart with God’s Love…
My Choice is to Obey God what is yours?
Ambassadors of Christ 