It all started when I was en route to Audacious conference in Manchester- making a decision to go in faith, however in the morning I was feeling that it was a bad decision and when things started to go wrong, I felt that that was 'confirmation'. Well I began my journey to Manchester, LATE :( *sigh*, enjoying good worship music getting me ready for the week ahead when I miss a turn and find myself in Liverpool!! That was the last straw! I had tried to keep positive all morning but now I had been pushed over the edge! Everything was going wrong - but just at that moment I began listening to a song "Glorious" by Katie and Bryan Torwalt and there's a line that says 'I know nothing apart, apart from Your Goodness God' - that challenged me ALOT! I made a decision to stop seeing the negatives of the day but to focus upon God's goodness :) .....and this is where I was led .......
....well I arrive at the conference (in good time I must add- if I had stressed any more that would have been a waste of a rise in blood pressure) and a scripture is shared:
Psalm 31:19
Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
Amazing! Now that was confirmation!!! I had encountered God's goodness - not because on that particular day, at that particular time God had decided to share His goodness with me - but I had chosen to set my eyes on something that existed before time began!!
David said 'Taste and see that the Lord is good' in Psalm 34:8. If anybody knew about negative situations it was David! A number of times people tried to kill him - his own son tried to take over his throne!! But during all those circumstances what did David focus on? In Psalm 27:13 David says:
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
He sounds like somebody who has tasted the goodness of God because he is looking forward to seeing more of the goodness of God - he knows it is something worth expecting! What are we expecting to see? And what are we even taking in with our eyes? Hebrews 12: 1-3 says how we need to keep our eyes on Christ (the goodness of God) and lay aside any hindrances - we should be focussing on the goodness of God- that's all we should be drinking. We can see that in all his situations, David looked for the goodness of God (Psalm 63).
It can be hard to believe that the goodness of God exists at a time when we are surrounded by suffering and pain, but like David we must believe and expect - Jesus tells Martha when He goes to raise Lazarus from the dead, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?". We have access to God's glory, His goodness. In John 1:51 Jesus tells a man that he will see heaven open and angels descending on Jesus. Now remember the last time we heard such imagery was in Genesis when Jacob went to sleep and had a vision of a stairway into Heaven where angels were ascending and descending. This tells us that Jesus is the stairway into Heaven - and where is Jesus - Christ IN US the hope of glory (Colossians)!! If that is the case we have constant and open access to the goodness of God! Let me give you an example:
Two thieves receive the death penalty for their sins. Life seemed unfair from the start- having to steal to survive- and life was consistent with being unfair to the end as they are strapped to a wooden cross waiting for cold greeting of death...but life unexpectedly throws something at them. In between the two thieves was a Man called Jesus. One of the thieves turns to look at Jesus and with hate in his eyes spits curses at Jesus - he's glad to see the back of this life - it had nothing for him anyway.... the other thief corrects the man and turns to look at Jesus, and sees the Saviour of the world and asks Him if he can go to Jesus' Kingdom. Jesus looks at this man , this robber, who has known nothing but crime and tells him that he will be with Jesus in Paradise! ... Woooo! The goodness of God in motion! One man chose to dismiss the goodness of God and the other received as he saw the goodness of God! The goodness of God is on display - Romans 1:20 says we are without excuse! Titus 2:11 says that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men!! We are constantly exposed to the goodness of God, He is the Father of Lights- but how will we respond?
In Romans 12:1-2 we are challenged to give our lives to God in response to His mercies- in response to His goodness we are to worship Him with our lives! Lamentations says His mercies are new every morning!! Great is His faithfulness! And in response I do all to His glory!
This week I have learnt to focus on God's goodness and 'forget not His benefits' - anytime I need a reminder- i will have to watch the Father of Lights DVD where God's goodness can be seen in action!
*Meditate on His goodness*
No comments:
Post a Comment