Our God is so amazing! I never grow weary of sharing God’s goodness that I see, even with the little details of our lives.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. – 1 John 4:16 (NIV)
Did you catch that powerful three-word sentence? “God IS love!” He is love itself. I believe one of our purposes in life is to become more like God—to be love—to others and to ourselves. We are continually growing in love as we continue to trust God as He takes us into deeper waters in our faith journey.
A great truth I heard and believe in is:
Not only is God love, God is good. It is a double blessing when we experience the true love of God and continually live in His goodness!
You [God] are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. –Psalm 119:68 (NIV)
This psalm tells us about God’s character with “You are good” and about the way He lives that goodness out with “What you do is good.” God lives out what He is: total goodness.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. –Psalm 107:1 (NLT)
This psalm reminds us of God’s everlasting love and goodness. We have so much to give thanks for.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. –Psalm 145:3-7 (NIV)
These beautiful verses tell of the great and glorious splendor of God’s majesty that is all around us and the awesome works and deeds He is doing in our lives. All of it is because of the abundant goodness of God; we need to continually share this with others and sing of His righteous ways.
Photo courtesy of jesstjohnson under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)
Relationships are one of the greatest ways that we can share God’s love and goodness in our lives. The presence of God in us impacts and influences others whenever we reach out and interact with them.
Recently, I saw God’s goodness in meeting up with a man I met about ten years ago, when my youngest son was playing baseball with his grandson. We have kept in touch through the years with an occasional text or email. I have also shared my books with him, which he is always pleased to receive. Last summer, we decided to meet up in person at a local college playoff baseball game. It was enjoyable to be able to talk in person once again. We decided to do that again this year. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, so the game kept being delayed as there was lightning in the area, even though there was no rain. We decided to go for dinner while waiting for the two-hour delay that finally turned into a postponed game. In the end, we agreed that what was most important was that we got to share our stories in person. We mentioned how wonderful it is when, every now and then, one of us reaches out to the other to see how life is going. It makes us feel valued. We viewed our visit as God’s goodness, despite not being able to watch the baseball game.
Because of being out to meet my friend for the postponed game, I stopped at a store in that area to look for a gift for a friend who was involved in my latest book. I had been busy with other things and kept putting off looking for a gift. I was glad I followed through on the prompting to go to the store that day, as I found a present I was pleased with. My friend is not from my area and God’s goodness was that the next day he and his wife were passing by while traveling to visit more of their family. We were able to meet up so I was able to present the gift and a copy of my book to him personally. It was a beautiful time of fellowship, totally unexpected, but a great blessing to my spirit. God’s love and goodness orchestrate even the little details of our lives.
Be encouraged this week to…
…reflect on how God IS love.
…take baby steps toward being more like God: to be love.
…experience God’s character trait of goodness in your life.
…focus on being thankful for God’s love and goodness.
…celebrate God’s abundant goodness.
REFLECTION:
What is one example of God’s goodness you have experienced recently?
Who can you share with about God’s awesome work in your life?
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. –Psalm 27:13 (NIV)
