The Goodness of God Part 5

Exodus 33:18-19

And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”

Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” 

When Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory, God responded by telling Him that He would make His goodness pass before Moses. The Lord talked about His graciousness and compassion. Someone’s glory is what makes that person look good. Although God is almighty, omnipotent and invincible, that is not the main thing that makes Him look good. It is His goodness, His grace and His compassion. No other god or entity that is worshiped by mankind can be compared. There is none other who is so good, compassionate and full of grace. Think about it. Most other religions force their followers into submission. Can you imagine how many heathen would leave their religion or flee their countries if they could do so safely? People follow our Lord because they want to, not because they are forced to. They respond to His love and kindness toward them. Our God is the greatest because of His goodness.

The Goodness of God Part 4

Exodus 18:9

Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, who He delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

 Jethro, Moses father-in-law heard about the goodness of God toward Israel and he came with Moses’ wife and sons to reunite them at the mountain of God. Moses shared with Jethro details about the stories Jethro heard before coming to meet Moses. Jethro was impressed and offered a sacrifice to God, acknowledging that the Lord was greater than all other gods. Everything that the devil did to Israel through Pharaoh was bad. All that the Lord did for Israel was good. The devil is all bad and God is all good.

The Goodness of God Part 3

Exodus 3:8

So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey….

When God saw His people in bondage in Egypt, He was not satisfied. He came down personally to orchestrate their deliverance and escort them to a land He would be satisfied with. What kind of land was it? It was a good land – spacious and with an abundant supply of food. That is what our Father is like when it comes to caring for His children. He wants us to have a good space with an abundance of food. He wants us to live large and have more than enough. He wants us to have what we need and then share with someone else. The land He gave Israel was not just one that contained milk and honey; it flowed with milk and honey. God is good!

The Goodness of God Part 2

Genesis 3:4-5

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 As long as Adam and Eve were in fellowship with God and obedience to Him, they knew only good. Satan, appearing in the body of a serpent introduced them to evil. He successfully tempted them to partake of fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so they could be introduced to evil.  What does that tell you? God is not the source of evil. Satan is. Fellowship with God and obedience to Him kept them in touch with only good. They had to commit an act of disobedience to experience evil. In order for the relationship between God and man to be genuine, man had to have a choice. Unfortunately, man has often made bad choices. Thank God for His great love for us that was revealed by the extent to which He went to separate us from sin and guilt. He sent His only Son into the world to give His life for us and pay the penalty for our sin. We are forgiven because God is good.

The Goodness of God Part 1

Let us start a new series of meditations on the goodness of God. It can help increase our faith. Everyone who believes in God believes He is powerful. However, being powerful can be scary if the powerful one is wicked. Our confidence in God's willingness to help us is affected by our understanding of His goodness.

Genesis 1:3-4

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1 reveals the beginning of life on earth as we know it today. Verse 1 and 2 can give the impression that after the earth was created something catastrophic occurred. Then in verse 3, a restoration began as God created life on earth afresh. Regardless of the view we have of the creation account, our definite insight into how we have the world as we know it now begins in verse 3. It is important to note that every time God did something, it was good. The only time God said “It is not good” was in Genesis 2:18 when the man he made did not have a female assistant. So, in Genesis 2:21-22 God fixed that. He was never satisfied until what He had done was very good. Let’s keep that in mind as we decide what is from God and what is from the devil. There is nothing good in the devil and nothing bad in God. A psalmist said, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:21) Let’s do that today.

The Unseen Realm Part 28

Joshua 6:2 NKJV

And the Lord said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor.” 

Before Joshua led the Israelites to victory in the Battle of Jericho so they could possess the land God had promised them, God told Joshua to see the victory. Before Joshua could see the victory in the seen (natural) realm, he had to see it in the unseen realm. He had to accept what he could not see with his physical eyes. That is the way God wants us to operate. We first accept it by faith based on His Word, seeing it with our spiritual vision. Then we experience it in the natural, tangible realm. Faith is not necessary to believe what you see or contact with your spiritual senses. Jesus encouraged Thomas who had the wrong attitude. Thomas wanted to see in the natural realm before He would have faith in Jesus’ resurrection.  John 20:29 NKJV says, “Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Look at how many people have been saved and transformed by the power of God because they believed in the resurrection even though they never saw the physical evidence! They are blessed, as Jesus said, because they have not seen, yet they believed. The same way we began our spiritual journey is the same way we should continue to live – accept the unseen first by faith, then experience the supernatural manifestation in the natural realm.