Good

Day 4

Good

Did you know that there are over 700 listings of the word good in the bible? Sometimes it means good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful or happy. Other times it means pure, upright, honorable or excellent.

Genesis 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

God is the one who created good and He is the ultimate judge as to what is good.

You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:68

Today I want to look at the encounter of a young man who asks Jesus what he must do to get into heaven in Matthew 19

"Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, 'Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?'

'Why do you ask me about what is good?' Jesus replied. '

There is only One who is good. 

If you want to enter life, keep the commandments' 

This encounter follows a mixed group of people who followed Him. Those who were seeking answers, curious as to His healing abilities, questioning if He was the Messiah, His own disciples watching His every encounter and sometimes failing in front of Him. It also included those who intended to try to trick Him, as in the case of the Pharisees.

Right after Jesus had blessed the children, I imagine because He loved them so much he was filled with joy, he meets the young man. Matthew 19:16 records the conversation.

Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?'

He was really asking, Can I be good enough to possess eternal life?  How can I earn that Prize? I'm sure that we have all been there thinking, how can I make things right what can I do to have God love me more.

Jesus tries to help the guy out by reminding him that only God is good.  He designed goodness, He is goodness. Sorry dude, you never had a chance on your own. Nevertheless, Jesus reminds him of the commandments and then in Mark 21 it says that Jesus had compassion on him.

I wonder what happens when we start telling God about things in our life and then begin asking Him questions.  Does He also look at us with compassion and then lovingly tries to redirect us?

Jesus goes on to tell him to sell everything and follow him. This was not exactly what the young man wanted to hear and he left full of sorrow because he had great wealth. The man had assigned goodness to his possessions and not to being a follower of Jesus.

So back to the question, What must I do to inherit eternal life? The answer is simply show your devotion by being willing to give up everything to follow Him. Follow the only one who is good! 

Prayer

You are good, I am not, help me to live with open hands so that you may have and use anything that I have possession of. I want to follow you and serve you.

His love endures forever

Day 2

Reading Psalm 136:1-9 I found the goodness of God.

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

God is good because,

His love endures forever.

Some translations use the word lovingkindness or mercy instead of love. The Hebrew word checed means goodness, kindness, faithfulness. God loves us!  That is very good! Not only does He love us, He shows us goodness, kindness, faithfulness and mercy. 

God is good because,

His love endures forever

The word forever, means just that. God's love is everlasting, eternal, never ending. This is good because His love continues on and on and on. 

God is good because He is the God of gods and Lord of lords.

The psalmist lists wonderful things that God has done.He declares that God has done great wonders, made the heavens, spread out the earth upon the waters, made the great lights made the sun to govern the day, and the moon and stars to govern the night

Matthew Henry stated, "Give thanks to the Lord, not only because he does good, but because he is good (all the streams must be traced up to the fountain)".

Don't you love that thought of streams being traced back up to the fountain?

God is good because He is the fountain of our lives, our joy, our salvation!

Today, will you surrender your thoughts to simply be; God is good because His Love endures Forever?

Prayer

Thank you God that your mercy endures forever, In all circumstances, in every situation and with every person. Your love is forever! Let that thought settle into our souls, allow it to quiet us in the midst of our day. 

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God is Good

Day 1

Prepare us to know of your goodness

Good; to be good, be pleasing, be joyful, be beneficial, be pleasant, be favourable, be happy, be right

God is good all the time all the time God is good!

This phrase has stuck with me from the moment I heard it. Even in those moments when I wonder if anything is good, I hold firmly the truth that He is good. Now I am not saying that every situation is good or every pain, every sickness, every death is good. What I am leaning on is that God is good!

You are good
You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love
You are love
On display for all to see

Hillsong

Something in my soul cries out, "YES!" when I say, "God is good" maybe it's because there's not a lot of goodness in the world. There is evil and sadness and pain, but somehow reminding myself of that truth that God is good and there is no evil in him, gives me hope.

 Lord prepare my eyes to see your goodness. Would you show me your goodness in people, places, and situations?

My mom has dementia and there's been times where it feels excruciatingly painful for me to watch this strong woman not remember the things that I just told her or see her struggle to remember her great-grandchildren. It's painful and  hard to see goodness in the midst of that.

I have been praying that God would allow me to see his goodness when I'm with my mom and this week God answered my prayer.

A few months ago I had given my mom the task of cutting out box tops that we had at our school. I handed her a large bright green fluorescent bag filled with box tops. They needed to be sorted into bags. She took them home because she was excited to do this task it was finished quickly. Her voice was filled with excitement and pride as she called me to tell me that it was done.

The next day I received a phone call and my poor mother was frantic! She could not find the bright fluorescent green bag full of box tops.

I was desperately trying to see God's goodness in the midst of this, but honestly I was concerned because they were for my school. How would I tell my coworkers that the box tops had been lost. I was letting people down and I was disappointed.

After a strong talk to myself, "Let it go" we searched her apartment, yet were unable to locate them. I was convinced that they had been thrown into the trash and were gone.

God is good! This week I got an exciting call from my mother. The bright green fluorescent bag had been found! Somehow, it had slid down into the side of the chair. She was so proud that she had once again regain control of the box tops!

It may seem silly to you, but I feel like God's goodness was in the midst of those darn box tops.  Finding what had been lost brought great joy to my mom and it brought deep joy to me.

God is good

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136

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Prepare My Mind

Day 6

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

What I wouldn't give to have complete control over my thoughts! There are days that my mind is on full speed, processing what has happened, what could happen and what will never happen! 

I have thoughts of 

kindness

maliciousness

forgiveness

envy

acts of service

jealousy

faith

doubt

joy

despair

and on and on and on.

As you may notice I am quite up and down with my thoughts! I need Jesus to take control of my thoughts! I need them to be under His control and His filter!

Prepare What is Missing

Day 4

We have been looking at our hearts and how to Prepare them for Jesus. Pulling weeds, cultivating and clearing out the things that do not belong have been part of this plan. Let's look at what is missing from our soil to make it nutrient rich. 

When we plant a garden, evaluating the soil is crucial to producing a healthy crop. A simple soil test can tell you if the pH is to acidic or alkaline. The same is true for us as Christians. We must evaluate the soil of our hearts to determine what must be added to become more fruitful.  

Being the expert that I am, I simply Googled, "Fruit of the Spirit test" and this Test showed up. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Here are my results

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Peace you got 82%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Patience you got 65%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Self-Control you got 48%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Love you got 40%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Kindness you got 40%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Goodness you got 40%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Gentleness you got 36%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Faithfulness you got 32%.

• For the Spiritual Fruit of Joy you got 66%.

As you can see I have some work to do! Wow, faithfulness and gentleness are really low! I need to ask God to help me grow in these areas. I challenge you to take the test and see where you could improve. 

Take you own test here 

Prayer

Lord I am so embarrassed to see how low I scored in some of these areas. Please cultivate my soil and add in what I need to be fruitful and become glorifying to you. 

Have you missed a day? Get caught up here.
Day 1 Prepare My Heart
Day 2 Pull those Weeds
Day 3 Cultivate My Heart
Day 4 What is Missing

Prepare Cultivate my Heart

Day 3

The parable of the soils shares some interesting thoughts about rocky soil. 

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up.  Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” Luke 8:5-8

"And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe and be saved.  "And those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. Luke 8:12-13 

Rocky soil must be cultivated if anything can grow there. The Rocks must be taken out so that the plant has a chance to take root. 

Just because we hear a good message or read a great verse doesn't mean that it will stick with us. In order for it to have a lasting effect it must become part of us. The only way for the seed of God to grow and help us mature is for the rocks to be removed and for the roots to go deep!

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3

Sometimes these rocks are the underlying doubts, old habits and choices that prevent us from fully following Jesus. Maybe it is time to move those rocks out and allow the word of God to fully grow inside your heart!

Prayer
Cultivate my heart Lord. Take out anything that is blocking your word from taking root. I want to grow deep deep roots that can withstand any temptation that comes. 

Prepare my heart pull those weeds

We all know about weeds.  Those pesky plants that seem almost impossible to kill and if not taken care of they will invade and choke out the plants that we want to grow.  Jesus seems to refer to these when He spoke about the soils.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Matthew 13:7

Day 2

Some of those things that God wants us to clear out of the way are thorns. Thorns that if not pulled out will choke us spiritually. They will continue to grow in strength and number if drastic actions are not immediately taken. 

One summer, I neglected to check our flowers before leaving on a 2 week trip. When we returned I was amazed at how quickly these little buggers had grown. They were as tall as I was. It took a lot of digging and sweat to remove them.  Did I mention that they have a thick thorny flesh that irritates the skin and causes a rash? What a painful experience. I learned that it is better to deal with them when they first show up than wait until it becomes so painful.

Clearing the path for God to work in our lives makes sense in light of John 15:5.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The vine is the life giving part of the plant. The branches and leaves will die if they are not connected, unblocked from the the vine.  When we allow anything to get in the way of the Holy Spirit filling our lives and creating a steady flow of God's power into us we are suffocating and eventually we will wither and die as Christians. 

We must tend to our hearts and identify the weeds that are trying to choke out our relationship with God. Even the good things can become a weed. 

Prayerfully ask God to reveal to you what your weeds are.

Prayer
Jesus, point out to me the weeds that so easily entangles me. Remove them in their entirety, roots and all.

Prepare 2015

As I was praying about 2015 the word Prepare kept ringing in my mind. Starting January 1, 2015 for 30 days I will study the word Prepare in the bible. I wonder what lessons, promises and examples I will discover?

Will you join me for the next 30 days in preparing your heart for whatever God has for us?

Day 1 Prepare my heart

Day 2 Pull Those Weeds

Day 3 Cultivate my heart

Day 4 What is missing? 

Day 5 Water my Heart with the Word

Day 6 Prepare My Mind 

Day 7 Replace the Lies

Day 8 Restore My Mind

Day 9 Prepare my Mind for Battle

Day 10 Prepare my Mind to Wrestle

Day 11 Prepare my mouth

Day 12 Prepare my mouth with words of encouragement

Day 13 Prepare my mouth to be silent

Day 14 Tell your Grace Story

Day 15 Prepare my mouth to sing your praises

Day 16 Prepare my mouth to speak your Truth

Day 17 Prepare my mouth to comfort

Day 18 Prepare my mouth to be cleaned up

Day 19 Prepare my Mouth to teach

Day 20 Prepare my mouth to declare your Praises

Day 21 Prepare my eyes to see your hand at work

Day 22Prepare my eyes to see people the way he does

Day 23 Prepare my eyes to see my sin

Day 24 Prepare my eyes to see suffering

Day 25 Prepare my eyes to be fixed on Jesus

Day 26 Prepare my hands to serve

Day 27 Prepare my hands to loosen their grip

Day 28 Prepare my hands to receive your blessing

Day 29 Prepare my Hands to be lifted High

Day 30

Day 31