Satisfied with God’s Goodness
Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. Psalm 65:4 NKJV.
In spite of all that’s going on in the world today, I am still pondering this great theme, of the goodness of God. In my readings I am coming across it time and again. The current political, economic, and social climate around the world, does not change my view of who God is.
But that’s not the case for many people. How about you? What is God really like to you? Are you and I satisfied with God and His great goodness?
As I’ve said recently, many people have an erroneous view of God. It’s like the story they have of God is affecting the way they see God and many other things. Author Howard M Guttman in his book Coach Yourself to Win, says this. “Our story is a preconceived notion that we hold on to that effects the way we view reality. Unless we are willing to reframe our stories, we will never get ‘unstuck’ from our current reality”.
We have many stories, voices within us that can sway us immensely in our thinking. Experiences we’ve been through and situations we have faced can shape our thinking (which may or may not be backed by truth or facts), and therefore our behaviour.
But I believe the Holy Spirit graciously gives a revelation. He wants to rewrite that inner story, to be one of truth. He wants to show us what God is really like. That revelation, that new story changes a whole lot of things.
Are we satisfied with God and His great goodness?
Remember from the last Brief Word when I said, the level of our Revelation determines the level of our Reality. Revelation brings true reality.
The Apostle Paul had a revelation. One minute he had a penchant for passionately persecuting plucky praying precious people, then, it so happened on his peregrination (that’s our word for the day, which means his travels), boom!
He had a particularly pertinent powerful pronouncement, a real, relevant, reprimand and revelation of the Redeemer, that instantly, totally and eternally, changed his reality, and from that moment on he was calling Jesus Lord.
(See Acts 9:3-6).
God wants to give us a revelation of His great goodness.
What is goodness anyway? Here’s a list.
Goodness – friendliness, generosity, goodwill, grace, graciousness, honesty, integrity, kindness, mercy, morality, righteousness, rightness, superiority, virtue, advantage, beneficence, benefit, benevolence, honour, kind-heartedness, kindliness, mirrored, nourishment, quality, uprightness, value, wholesomeness, worthy, ethicality. (www.thesaurus.com).
That’s what God is like! He is all of those things. And because we are in Christ we get to enjoy them all!
God’s goodness is who He is. It is His identity. But how do we adequately describe God? Here’s another list.
- God Is Infinite – He is Self-Existing, Without Origin, without end
- God Is Immutable – He Never Changes
- God Is Self-Sufficient – He Has No Needs
- God is Omnipotent – He Is All Powerful
- God Is Omniscient – He Is All-Knowing
- God Is Omnipresent – He Is Always Everywhere
- God Is Wise – He Is Full of Perfect, Unchanging Wisdom
- God Is Faithful – He Is Infinitely, Unchangingly True
- God Is Good – He Is Infinitely, Unchangingly Kind and Full of Good Will
- God Is Just – He Is Infinitely, Unchangeably Right/Perfect in All He Does
- God Is Merciful – He is Infinitely, Unchangeably Compassionate and Kind
- God Is Gracious – God Is Infinitely Inclined to Spare the Guilty
- God Is Loving – God Infinitely, Unchangingly Loves Us
- God Is Holy – He is Infinitely, Unchangingly Perfect
- God Is Glorious – He is Infinitely Beautiful and Great
So are we satisfied with God and His great goodness?
Here’s the thing.
- When we understand someone’s heart, we can understand their habits.
- When we understand someone’s character, we can understand their conduct.
- When we understand someone’s identity, we can understand their activity.
And it’s the same with God. We may not always or at first understand what God does, but we can understand who He is, that He is good. Living with that mystery, is childlike faith.
Bill Johnson says, The level of revelation God gives you, will always be equal to the level of mystery you and willing to live with.
But! When we discover who God is, His nature, character and His identity, we are in a place where we can discover and understand what He does.
For example when kids behave in a certain way, at first glance we could wonder why they did that. But when we know them and understand their heart, their character, that insight gives us light and understanding about what they do and why.
We’re not condoning or excusing bad behaviour, but the illustration remains, that conduct comes from character. So when we have some insight into who they are on the inside it helps us fathom what they do.
So are we satisfied with God and His great goodness?
Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. Psalm 65:4 NKJV.
We shall be satisfied. What with? The goodness of the house of God, and God’s holy temple. Being where God is, and in the place of worship is where we want to be. Living with a measure of mystery does not stop us knowing God and worshipping Him for who He is.
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! Psalm 31:19 NKJV.
There’s an ever-unfolding revelation of God and His great goodness coming your way.
Let’s be satisfied and content with God and His goodness.
That’s a place of maximum security.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Coming Soon!
My next book, Finishing Well — How to Complete Your Course and Leave a Legacy, is about to be launched.
It’s about running well and finishing the course of life we have each been assigned. It’s about leaving a legacy. It’s about eight key attributes we need to adopt, eight mind-sets that once we receive believe and live, will change our behaviour character and destiny.
It is very exciting!
A Book Launch will be held Monday 19 September 2022, 7.00pm at The Atrium Café, Tauranga.
If you’re in the area we’d love you to come! Invitations will be out soon.
Please contact me to pre-order and secure your copy.
Please also pray with us for a smooth production and publication process and for the funds needed to publish it.
Thank you!
