FAITHFULWORD.ORG | TEACHINGS

Romans 2:4; Matthew 5:43-45; John 10:10; Hebrews 2:9-11; [Romans 8:31-39]; Hebrews 2:12-15; I John 1:5; James 1:17; I Corinthians 14:33; Acts 10:34-38; Psalm 27:7-14; 33:1-5; 34:1-19; 73:1; 100:1-5; 135:1-5; 145:1-21

In spite of the problems that arise in life, we should stand up and declare God’s goodness. Too often, natural disasters are attributed to being “acts of God.” This phrase is only corrected if stated with a lower-case “g.” This god would of course be the god of this world, Satan. Since his fall from favor with the true God, Satan has endeavored continuously to hinder God’s purpose. When terrible things happen, Satan enjoys it. On the other hand, our God is good. As Romans 2 declares, even for those in sin and living outside the will of God, who have yet to accept God’s way or choose to reject Him, the goodness of God leads to repentance. We learn a couple of lessons here. First, God is good and reassures His people with His blessing and also invites those who have yet to repent by offering them His goodness. Second, if one would be representative of the true God, he should not associate with those who use fear as a motivation. Instead we can look for blessings in every situation and present them to those who seek answers.

In Matthew 5, Jesus speaks of walking in love and extending God’s love to everyone, not just to those who are good to us. He says, “love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”

The Devil’s mission is to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus Christ came that we might have life more abundantly. The devil is the author of death whereas God is the author of health and life. Let us place the cause of death where it rightly belongs. All that is good and perfect comes from God. God is not the cause, root, catalyst or source of confusion, but is the author of peace. Jesus, God’s son, was the express image of God. He went about doing good not evil to those who were oppressed of the Devil. The gospels reveal that there was no occasion when Jesus made someone sick to test them. He delivered the sick. If it were God’s will that there be “acts of God” to cause confusion, oppression, sickness or death, then we would have read of Jesus doing such things to people.

No matter what our situation or how negative the circumstances, God will always be there for us. We need to believe that God is ready to send His blessings — the goodness is there. God is good all the time. It is up to us to decide to look at the negative circumstances or to choose to praise God for His goodness and blessings.

We can hear about the goodness of God, read about, think about it or mentally assent to it, but until we taste of it — experience it — we will not be able to trust in Him. We train and guard our hearts to seek the Lord who will give every good thing. The goodness of God leads to repentance. He is a God of deliverance.