The Goodness of God

[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! (Psalm 27:13)

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

The basis of our faith, the key to walking in and receiving all that His Word promises us is this truth: He’s a good, good, Father. It would benefit our faith walk greatly to meditate on the goodness of God. When our hearts guide us in that Truth, our interactions with God the Father are based on love – ours for Him and His for us (John 3:16). You will never be able to receive from His hand all of the blessings that Jesus secured for us if somewhere in your spirit you see God as judgmental or overly demanding. He is a Giver. He is a Blesser. That is Who He is. Our successful walk through this life with Him is based on that Truth.

I remember a woman’s Bible study I attended several years ago in which one of the attendees commented on the discussion of the love of God by warning, “But He is also a God of wrath.” She was not dwelling in the love of the Father. Her “faith” in God was not “rooted deeply in love and founded securely on love” (Ephesians 3:17). Her understanding of God had much to do with fear, rather than faith guided by an understanding of our Father’s love and goodness. Our Father is love (1 John 4:16), and to acknowledge and fully experience that love is the determining factor in a successful faith walk.

[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself] (Ephesians 3:19).

Jesus is the Mediator of God’s promises to His children. He came to restore us back again into the Father’s love. Those in Christ have been given the priceless privilege of being children of God (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1). In His earthly ministry Jesus constantly demonstrated the love of the Father and the power of faith. He healed all who came to Him in faith (Matthew 4:23, Acts 10:38), He forgave those who had compromised God’s “ways of doing and being right” (Matthew 6:33, John 8:11), and He demonstrated what faith looks like (Matthew 14:25-31, Luke 5:1-9). He taught us about the force of faith (Matthew 17:20). When He spoke and taught of the Father and life in the Spirit it was always in terms of abundance (John 10:10), joy and peace (John 14:27, John 15:11,), and our Father’s good pleasure (Luke 12:32). “Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above” (James 1:17) through Jesus:

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Our work in the family of God is to see to the faith end; to guard our hearts:

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

We keep careful watch over our hearts when we refuse entrance to thoughts that contradict what the Word says (2 Corinthians 10:5), when we immediately recognize incorrect or misguided teaching concerning spiritual things (1 John 4:1), when we always acknowledge the goodness of God, and when we resolve to honor God through our faith in Jesus:

Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]. (John 6:29)

The Word teaches us that the faith which pleases God is “activated and energized and expressed and working through love.” (Galatians 5:6) Truly understanding our Father’s character is the prerequisite for the faith that pleases God.

The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3)

“We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) – a short verse that profoundly creates a strong faith-filled life. In His Word our Father teaches His people about the mountain-moving, fig tree withering, walking on water power of faith. He also teaches about the empty result of a lack of faith:

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. (Hebrews 11:6)

Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]. (James 1:6-8) {Emphasis mine}

It is to our great benefit to meditate on the goodness of God, for that knowing will under gird and enhance and strengthen our faith:

….(faith which is that leaning of the whole human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) (2 Thessalonians 1:11)