A Life Worthy

Tag: God’s goodness

  • One-a-Day Monday, 11/24/14

    number 1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever (Psalm 136:1).

    He doesn’t have to be.

    Good, I mean.

    Well, sure, I know that goodness and love are at the very root of God’s character, so you could argue, “Of course he has to be good.  It’s his nature.”

    But what if it weren’t?

    What if God were all-powerful, but not all-loving?  What if he were great without being good?

    A cruel, angry, malicious god would still be God—still deserving of our obedience, our service.

    But our love?  How could I love him if he weren’t good?

    How could I love him if he didn’t love me first?

    Let’s be thankful that we will never need to find out.

    Give thanks to the Lord, Beloved.  For he is good.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 11/4/14

    number 1I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” (Psalm16:2)

    My family is out of town.  It’s just me and the dog.  And things are…different.  It’s not so much that I’m doing different things—I still eat, sleep, go to work, wash the occasional dish.  It’s that, without my family here, it all seems rather…blah.  The people for whom I do these things aren’t here, so my actions feel a little meaningless, a little empty.

    It’s kinda like that in this verse.  Apart from God, I would still have things.  I would still do things.  I would still be things.  But those things would be devoid of meaning.

    They would be robbed of their goodness.

    With God at the center, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28, if you’re wondering).  Without him at the center, why bother?  Whatever I do, or think, or feel…it’s not going to be good.  Because he is what makes it good. In him I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28).

    So, without him, bupkis.  With him…Woohooo!

    Whadday say, Beloved?  Shall we make today a Woohoo kinda day?

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 6/11/14

    number 1His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3).

    We have everything we need—We talked about that yesterday.

    Through our knowledge of him—That takes us back to Monday.

    Who called us—We didn’t call him.  He called us.  Which is a good thing, because, frankly, we probably never would have called him, and the consequences of that are terrifying.

    Chew on it for a moment, Beloved.  The Lord of the Universe has called you.  Muddy, itchy, scabby, sloppy you.  He knew just who he was calling, and he is in no way disappointed now that you’re his.

    By his own glory and goodness—Notice that it does not say, “For his glory,” or, “Because of his goodness,” though either of those would make sense.  It says, “By his glory and goodness.”  These are the attributes that draw us to God.  His glory—the holy, powerful, awesome, untouchable, unattainable perfection who is the Lion of Judah.  His goodness—the gentle, kind, loving, cross-bearing, wretch-saving peacemaker who is the Lamb of God.

    This is He who calls you.  This is He who equips you.  This is He who sends you forth in his name.

    Wednesday is no match for you.  Go get ‘em, Beloved.