Devotions

God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.  I’ve heard that declaration and response cited many times. We say it, but do we think about what it says? Do we believe it? Is God good? Is He good when the circumstances around us are not? Is He good when illness strikes? Is He good all the time? Or is He good only during the times all is going well?

Do you know that what you think or know about God will either invite you to know Him more or it will become a wall to knowing Him at all?  What do I mean by that?

Remember the Parable of the Talents? You can find it in Matthew 25. Jesus told the story of a master who called three servants into his presence before he went on a trip. He gave one five talents, another two talents and the last one talent. When the master returned he called each back into his presence. The first with the five talents had doubled them and returned ten to the master, the second with the two had also doubled his and returned four talents to the master. The master’s response, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” [vs 21-22]

The last servant however, had not done anything with his. He simply buried his talent and gained nothing to give back. This servant viewed the master differently. The first two saw him as a good master, one who would reward them for their faithfulness.  The third viewed the master as a hard, demanding man, so he did nothing to please him. He gained nothing, returned nothing, and ultimately received nothing.

Our view of our Great and Almighty Master will determine whether we gain or lose, whether we pursue or ignore Him. So, is God good?  All the time?  For me, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

I am not a fan of Halloween. I never have found anything delightful in this commercially-energized holiday. I hate the gore, the occultic proclamations of witches, demons and devils that too often take a front row seat.  I find no beauty, nor goodness, nor grace in this day. There is enough evil in this world without dressing our children in it.

Whenever this date rolls around I think about what Paul wrote. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” [Phil 4:8-9]

I love those words … true … noble … right … pure … lovely … admirable … excellent … praiseworthy. I don’t see many of those words in this day. I sometimes wonder if those words have even become archaic in our day and age. We no longer talk about true … we talk about relevant. We don’t call out noble or right, we lift success and power. As for lovely, admirable or excellent, we highlight defiance, opposition and failure. Praiseworthy? I’m not sure we even see that much in our churches.

It’s time, beloved, to focus on Paul’s words again, not the words we see touted in media and networks. If I am going to think about anything this day, I want it to be defined by one or more of those words.  Today, it’s the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy that will capture my attention and thanksgiving.

I came across this devotion from a few years ago and decided to repost it … I love this baby turtle story!

A baby turtle was standing at the bottom of a large tree and with a deep sigh, started to climb. About an hour later, he reached a very high branch and walked along to the end. He turned and spread all four flippers and launched himself off the branch. On landing at the bottom in a pile of soft, dead leaves, he shook himself off, walked back to the bottom of the tree and with a sigh started to climb.

About an hour later, he again reached the very high branch, walked along, turned, spread his flippers and flung himself off the branch. Again, he landed in the leaves, shook himself off, went to the bottom of the tree, sighed and started climbing.

Watching these proceedings from the end of the branch were two little birds. Mommy bird turned to Daddy bird and said, “Don’t you think it’s time we told him he was adopted?” *

There are those days when I feel a bit like that baby turtle-bird! I know I am supposed to fly – and not just fly but soar on wings like eagles. Instead all I seem to have are a bunch of flippers that won’t function like wings. I’ve been adopted into the family of God, I am being conformed to the image of His Dear Son, but I’m just not there yet!

So, I keep climbing up, and I keep crawling out, and I keep launching myself off in faith … and one of these days, these old earth-bound flippers will be wings and I will soar!

Isa 40:31: But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. [NIV]

*Taken from “Encouragement-Wired,” by Tom Reid.

Toward the very end of the Sermon on the Mount recorded in the Gospel of Matthew are some of the most terrifying words ever uttered or heard.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” [7:21-23]

I have heard many a sermon on the Sermon on the Mount, given a few of them myself. I’ve studied and read commentators thoughts on what Jesus said. I’ve heard people worry about whether they would be included in the dire warning given here. I remind people often that if they are worried about their inclusion, they are probably not included.

“…but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” is the foundation of Jesus’ warning. If you do the will of the Father, you do not need to be warned. If you, however, do not do the will of the Father, you should stop and heed the warning. And what is the will of the Father about which Jesus is talking?  “[The LORD is] not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” [2 Peter 3:9 NKJV]

It is not our abilities to prophesy or drive out demons or perform miracles that matter, it is the condition of our hearts. It is the knowledge of our Lord and Savior and coming to Him in repentance, that will keep us from ever hearing the most terrifying words ever uttered … “I never knew you. Away from me ….”

O LORD keep my heart right before You. May I live a life of repentance. May I seek Your face and know You. Amen.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1 that “knowledge puffs up.” And Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:5 that we are to “add to our faith goodness, and to goodness, knowledge.”

It sounds contradictory, but it isn’t. Peter wants us to add the knowledge of God who called us by His glory and goodness. He urges us to add the knowledge of our Savior and LORD Christ Jesus. When we add that kind of knowledge to faith we find ourselves well grounded.

Paul understood that also. Look at the admonition that follows his declaration that knowledge puffs up. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” [1 Cor 8:1-3]

For Paul, knowledge and love are combined. The goal of knowing God is loving God and loving God means God knows us.  God knows us!  God doesn’t just know about us, He knows us – to the very depths of our being. His knowledge of us is wonderful.  Remember what He said to Jeremiah? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” [1:5]

I need never put on a mask when I approach my LORD. He knows me, knows all about me, knows what is behind that mask that I often wear around people to hide my true self. To Him, my true self can be displayed, in all its vulnerability, because I know His knowledge of me is greater than even my knowledge of myself. And it is always, in every way, cloaked in the love that is so deep He sent His very own Son to ransom me from sin and slavery.

Know me, Father! Amen.

I am working in the same department as a temp this year as I did last year. I’m doing just about the same work. It was a lot easier to get up to speed this year than last. Last year I knew nothing at all about what I was supposed to do. I knew so little, in fact, that I didn’t know enough to even ask the right questions. Knowing what question to ask is vitally important in all of life.

Peter, in his second letter, gives us a list of virtues in that first chapter that we are to add to our faith. The first one was arete, goodness.  The second one—knowledge.  We are to add to our goodness, knowledge.  But what knowledge do we need? We must know what we need to know before we can ask the right questions and pursue the acquiring of knowledge.

And wait, didn’t Paul tell us that knowledge “puffs up” in 1 Corinthians 8:1? So, who do we believe? Paul, who says that knowledge puffs us up, turns us into arrogant know-it-all’s? Or Peter, who tells us to add knowledge to our faith?

We believe both.  Peter is specific on the kind of knowledge we need.  Verse 2, “…through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Verse 3, “…knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” Verse 8, “…knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 We are to know God in all his glory and goodness. We are to know Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD. We are to know Him in increasing measure. This knowledge will never puff us up if it grounded in goodness and in the One Who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

I want to know you LORD! In all Your goodness, glory and grace. I want the knowledge of You to permeate every part of my life!  Grant my plea, O God. Amen

Col 4:2:  Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. [NIV]

Devote, or as the King James says, continue.  It means to be earnest towards, persevere in, be constantly diligent, or to adhere closely.  We are to be all those things in prayer.  Scripture is abundantly clear that God’s people are to pray – to come to Him confidently.

I love to hear the voices of the people I love.  Family can call me and I recognize their voices immediately.  Friends call, and I can tell with the first hello just who is on the line.  When I hear their voices, I am instantly attentive to them.  My thoughts don’t wander and my focus doesn’t shift.  I love the voices of those I love.

God is that way with us.  We need not identify ourselves as if he has forgotten whom we are.  We don’t have to re-introduce ourselves, cite our spiritual history or remind Him about the time we were saved.  He isn’t going to confuse us with someone else.  He knows us.  I love the verse found in 2 Tim 2:19:  Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his.”  [NIV]

It is vitally important that we pray earnestly.  We must persevere in prayer and be diligent to it.  God certainly will not forget our voice; in that we can be assured, but we can so easily forget His.  In fact, the goal of the world, flesh and devil is to drown out God’s voice.  The enemies of our soul want us to fail to pray so that across time we fail to recognize the voice of our Father when He speaks to us. Being devoted to prayer enables us to zero in on His voice amidst the many who speak to us.

Beloved, let us be diligent in our prayer life.  Let not a day go by without our coming to our Father God in prayer.  Let us stay so attuned to Him that even the softest whisper from Him is recognized and trusted.

Waiting. Oh LORD, I hate waiting! Why must I wait? How long before we see you move in power and might? How long before you sweep through our churches, our communities, our families with Your Presence in fullness of glory as promised? Oh LORD! I hate waiting!

And yet, waiting is so much a part of life. I wait constantly. I wait in traffic. I wait in lines in stores. I wait for things I ordered to arrive in the mail or library books to become available. I wait for the medicine I’m taking to do its work. I wait for payday. I wait for vacations. I wait to see people I love. I wait—every day I wait for something.

And yet, waiting for those ordinary things of life doesn’t seem as bad, nor as long, as waiting for the LORD to manifest His presence in our midst. Waiting for revival seems too long a wait to bear at times.

This morning I read Psalm 27. I’m not sure what prompted David’s writing of this song. He seems to be crying out to the LORD amid the foes who seek him harm. He seems to be crying out for God to reveal Himself. It seems that David’s cry is my cry this morning, “Hear my voice when I call …. Do not hide Your face from me!” [vs 7, 9]

As David ends his song, I must end my prayer. “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” [vs 13-14]

I will wait, LORD.

Add to your faith, goodness.  Arete in the Greek, meaning that essential, intrinsic goodness that defines who we are deep inside when no one is watching. When Scripture deals with goodness, it is not looking at how we feel, look, or even what we do.  People can do good things without really being good inside.  History has proven that point quite well.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans was quite clear of something else. That apart from God no one does good, and that apart from God no good thing lives in us. Trying to be good on our own is not going to work.

I remember when I first read the verse found in 1 Peter 2:9. It made such an impact on me that I memorized it and I often return to it when I’m having doubts or wondering about how God can love someone like me who stumbles so often.  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Want to be people of goodness? Then we need to declare the goodness of God who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.  That phrase “praises of Him” is “arete Theos” in the Greek – God’s Goodness. We are to declare God’s Goodness.

Darkness cannot live in us when we legitimately praise God for His goodness.  The more we praise, the more we begin to develop the character of God in us.  When that happens, goodness begins to spring from the relationship we have with our good LORD and Savior.

I had my yearly required Medicare physical a couple weeks ago. I love my doctor.  She is great and will tell it like it is, explain things, answer any question I might have, and help me to formulate ways of caring for myself apart from just prescribing more medicine. At this appointment, we reviewed everything and then she said something I shall never forget. “Don’t lose any more weight.”

I just stared at her. Huh? She then asked what was wrong. I told her that in my nearly 72 years, that was the first time any doctor had ever told me not to lose any weight! She laughed and said that since I’m “aging” (there’s that tell it like it is part of her), I need to maintain a small cushion of weight in case I get seriously sick.

The thing is I feel good at this lower weight, and a side benefit is that I’m looking good also.  I have more energy and can do a lot more.  Feel good. Look good. Do good.

Last Sunday we continued our study out of 2 Peter 1:3-8 … adding to our faith, goodness.  Unfortunately, we don’t really recognize true biblical goodness any more.  We dwell on feeling good, looking good and sometimes, even on doing good.  But God’s requirement is that we be good.  Scriptural goodness is moral goodness.

Peter uses a Greek word for goodness (arete) that describes essential, intrinsic goodness. It is what we are when no one is looking.  Where and how do we develop that kind of goodness?  More tomorrow!