GOD IS GOOD

"For the Lord is good; his mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting; and his faithfulness and truth endure in all generations." (Psalm 100:5 Amplified)
"O Give thanks to the Lord, for His is good; for his mercy and loving-kindness endure forever." (Psalm 107:1 Amplified)

God's Goodness is one of His 'attributes', and because He is God His goodness is self-caused, infinite, perfect and eternal. As an attribute of an unchangeable God, He never varies in His intensity of His goodness. His goodness is what causes Him to be kind, cordial, and full of good toward all man.

God's Goodness is different than human goodness, because God is perfect. A.W. Tozer states that "the Goodness of God is the drive behind all the blessings He daily bestows upon us. God created us because He felt Good in His heart, and He redeemed us for the same reason."

Charles Wesley had this to say of the Goodness of God:

Before my faith's enlightened eyes

Make all Thy gracious goodness pass;

Thy goodness is the sight I prize:

O might I see thy smiling face;

Thy nature in my soul proclaim

Reveal thy love, Thy glorious name.

"O Taste and see that the Lord is Good!" (Psalm 34:8)

1. God's Holy Word

2. Knowledge of the Holy by AW Tozer

3. The Heart of CC

Who is God?

When we think about God, we have a tendency to place Him in a box of our making. We think limited thoughts about Him when in fact He is unlimited.

Our minds simply cannot contain Him as He is infinite; He is endless; He is limitless. In I Kings 8:29 Solomon stated "...Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built."
In Psalm 145:5 the psalmist says: "I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your Majesty, and on Your wondrous works."

We say God is a mystery because we cannot understand His infinity. We must accept the things we do not understand by Faith. God has given us His Word to help us learn about God, and by searching God's Word we can find true facts about God called 'attributes'. An 'attribute' is a characteristic that is true about God and how He reveals Himself to us. Love, for instance is not a quality that may grow or diminish, but it is the way He is, as with all of His attributes. He IS Faithful; He IS Merciful; He IS immutable; He IS Holy.

A.W.Tozer, a noted Christian Author of some 50 or 60 years ago, states in his book "Knowledge of the Holy", that "The God we must learn to know is the Majesty in the heavens, God the Almighty Father, Maker of heaven and earth, the only wise God our Saviour. He it is that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out like a tent to dwell in..."

For the next few weeks I am going to meditate on God's attributes and perhaps by thinking about His attributes we can have a better concept of "Who God is".

1. Knowledge of the Holy by A.W.Tozer
2. God's Holy Word
3. From the heart of CC

Psalm 37

Last week I endeavored to encourage all to get into the Bible and to study God's Word. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the Wilderness He quoted each time from God's Word: "It is written....It is written...It is written." Knowing God's Word is the quickest way to resist Satan and cause him to 'run'.

Psalm 37 is a wonderful example for getting to know God's Word. In Psalm 37:1 we are told:"Fret Not Thyself..." But by going deeper into the Psalm, we find that when God gives us a command, He will also show how it is to be done.
In verse 3, 4, and 5 we are told to:
1. Trust in God
2. Delight myself in Him
3. Commit my way to Him
4. Then to Rest in Him.

As we study the rest of the Psalm, God reminds us that He will Sustain us (vs. 17) and that He knows each day we have. Verse 23 shows us that our steps are established by Him, and verse 24 tells us that He holds us by the hand. Verse 25 is a reminder that though I have been young and now am old, He has never let me down. Verse 28 states that He 'does not forsake His righteous ones'.

In verses 39 and 40 He tells each one of us that He is our salvation, our strength, and we can take refuge in Him. It is easy to not fret when our God shows us how it can be done.

Oh Lord, I will keep Your law in my heart (vs. 31). Amen

1. Psalm 37
2. From the heart of CC

Why Study the Bible?

Paul the Apostle was the mentor for young Timothy, and in II Timothy 2:15 he admonishes Timothy to "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." This verse is reason enough to show us the importance of studying God's Word, but we can even go to the Old Testament and find more reasons.

We have a gold mine in Psalm 119. Last week I used verses from this Psalm to go parallel with the Prayer of Jabez. This week I will give some verses to show why we must study God's Word.

In Verse 9 the question is asked: "How can a young man keep his way pure?" and it is answered in the same verse "By living according to Your Word." If we want to live righteously, we need to know what God's Word says and live by it.

Verse 11 states: "Thy word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." We need to have God's Word in our hearts to help us keep from falling into sinful ways.

In verse 72 it tells us that "the law of thy mouth (His Word) is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver". God's Word is more precious to me than all the riches available to man.

Verse 104 tells us that we will gain understanding through His words. How can one say they do not understand God's Word when it is not even read.

It is very beneficial to get into a Bible study, perhaps in one's neighborhood, or in the church. It is also important to take a few minutes each day and read the Word. Just a few verses at a time, starting with 15 minutes and gradually increasing it. Take a chapter such as Psalm 119 and see what instruction you can glean from it that can be useful to your own life.

You will find in no time at all, you will have a deeper understanding of God's Word, and you will find that like Jabez (talked about in last week's blog) you will have enlarged your territory of wisdom and understanding in the ways of the Lord.

It has been said "God's Word will keep you from sin; Sin will keep you from God's Word."

1. Psalm 119
2. From the heart of CC

The Prayer of Jabez

A few years ago there was a lot of talk about the 'Prayer of Jabez'. This prayer is a little verse, actually two verses in the middle of a chapter of boring genealogy. This is how it reads from the Amplified version of I Chronicles 4:10: "Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request."

Wow! What a strange little verse, but a simple prayer, and it says "God granted his request." As I was reading Psalm 119, I thought it interesting that one could take this little verse from I Chronicles and compare it to many verses in Psalm 119.

Jabez' first request: "O would You bless me".
In Psalm 119:17 the Psalmist asks God to "deal bountifully with Your Servant."

The second request was: "enlarge my borders". ( Now some think this is to expand the territory he works in, or owns, or any number of things. I think it could mean he wanted to expand his mind, have more wisdom and understanding.)
In Psalm 119:33 the Lord is asked to "teach me thy way", and in verse 34 it says "give me understanding."

The third request is that "Your hand might be with me".
In Psalm 119:35 the Psalmist asks that the Lord "make me go in the path of Your commandments"; asking for God's guidance.

The last request is that "You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me."
In Psalm 119:37 the Psalmist asks the Lord to turn away his eyes from beholding that which is not good and turn away reproach. In verse 101 it state: "I have restrained my feet from every evil way."

So I am going to take the liberty of using these verses and thoughts from Psalm 119 and write my prayer:

"O Lord, deal bountifully with Your servant, helping me to increase my wisdom and understanding, guiding me in the way I should go to follow Your commandments. Keep my eyes from looking on evil and keep me from going in to evil places. And I thank You for hearing my Prayer. Amen"

1. I Chronicles 4:10
2. Psalm 119:17,33,34,35,37,101
3. From the heart of CC

The Dove of Faith

The past 4 weeks I have given my thoughts and reasons on "Why Christians Suffer". This past week one of my daily devotionals had an article by Arthur Christopher Bacon, which to me seemed to sum up everything I have been trying to say. The verse that is given is Matthew 6:32, "Your heavenly Father knoweth." (This was written over 100 years ago, so some of the words used may not be considered 'politically correct' today, but was written in love.)

"A visitor at a school for the deaf and dumb was writing questions on the blackboard for the children. By and by he wrote this sentence: "Why has God made me to hear and speak, and made you deaf and dumb?"

The awful sentence fell upon the little ones like a fierce blow in the face They sat palsied before that dreadful "Why?" And then a little girl arose.

Her lip was trembling. Her eyes were swimming with tears. Straight to the board she walked, and, picking up the crayon, wrote with firm hand these precious words: "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight" (Matthew 11:26). What a reply! It reaches up and lays hold of an eternal truth upon which the maturest believer as well as the youngest child of God may alike securely rest--the truth that God is your Father.

Do you mean that? Do you really and fully believe that? When you do, then your dove of faith will no longer wander in weary unrest, but will settle down forever in its eternal resting place of peace. "Your Father!"

I can still believe that a day comes for all of us, however far off it may be, when we shall understand; when these tragedies that now blacken and darken the very air of heaven for us, will sink into their places in a scheme so august, so magnificent, so joyful, that we shall laugh for wonder and delight."

1. Article by Arthur Christopher Bacon
2. From the heart of CC

Why Do Christians Suffer? (Part IV)

These past 4 weeks I have given my reasons for "Why Christians Suffer". The first reason, and one that we cannot get away from, is that we live in this world of sin. The Bible says that it rains on the just as well as the unjust, so we can just expect suffering as we live this life on earth.

The second reason is that all sin has its consequences. This is the suffering that one might say we bring upon ourselves. The sad part of it is, whatever suffering comes as a consequence of our sin, it often causes suffering to others as well, and can be far reaching.

A third reason would be that some suffering is allowed by God to Glorify Him. Though we may not understand it, we know that He knows all things, and His Grace is Sufficient.

Reason #4 that answers the question of "Why Christians Suffer" is that it is used for discipline. Nearly 2000 years ago a Chinese sage wrote "when heaven is about to confer a great office on a man (or woman) it always first exercises his mind and soul with suffering and his body with hunger, and exposes him to extreme poverty and boggles all his undertakings. By these means it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature and enables him to acts otherwise not possible to him." These things of themselves cannot do anything but cause confusion, but with God's Hand in it, iron comes into the soul, and one sees all things working together, bringing wisdom and understanding.

Jeremiah 29:11 states "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Our heavenly Father often allows suffering as a form of discipline to bring the expected end.

An example of discipline would be an Olympic athlete. The precision and skill that goes into a sport, whether it be ice skating, gymnastics, skiing, or some other fete, is not something that one picked up just by chance. It has taken years of discipline, self-denial, aching bodies, and even broken bones, to learn to perform a fete otherwise impossible.

In Hebrews 12:7 it states: "You must submit to and endure for discipline; God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not train and correct and discipline?" So, do not despair when suffering or trials come your way. Whatever it is for, you know it cannot reach you unless it has first gone through our Master's hand, because we are held in the palm of his hand.

My prayer:
O Lord, You have not promised a way free of stones and thorns, but I know You will go with me all the way. You have not promised me riches, but You have said You will provide all my needs. You have promised strength for each day, Your comfort to go with me; and You will carry me on Eagle's wings. You are my God and my King. You are my Lord God Jehovah; in thee will I trust!
Amen

1. Mencius, the Chinese sage
2. The Holy Bible
3. From the heart of CC