Tag Archives: God is good

October 13, 2023 · 5:29 AM

Every Good Thing

One of the habits that my wife and I are developing is to stop and thank God on the spot when something good happens. We’re pretty good at praying and taking our needs to Him, but most of the time when He answers, we just celebrate and move on. We believe it’s important to recognize when God answers. What we know about God is that every good and perfect gift we receive comes from Him (James 1:17). When good things happen, it’s from God. Think back over the last week, month and year. How many good things has God given you? Take time to thank Him for all the good things He’s done and given you because every good thing comes from Him.

Here are some Bible verses on good things from God.

1. You have done many good things for me, Lord, just as you promised.

Psalms 119:65 NLT

2. Lord, how wonderful you are! You have stored up so many good things for us, like a treasure chest heaped up and spilling over with blessings— all for those who honor and worship you! Everybody knows what you can do for those who turn and hide themselves in you.

Psalms 31:19 TPT

3. You satisfy my every desire with good things. You’ve supercharged my life so that I soar again like a flying eagle in the sky!

Psalms 103:5 TPT

4. As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11 GNT

5. They all wait for You To give them their food in its appointed season. You give it to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are filled and satisfied with good [things].

Psalms 104:27-28 AMP

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November 25, 2022 · 5:34 AM

The Goodness Of God

We usually take Thanksgiving as one day out of the year to be thankful for the things we have. I believe it’s important to be mindful and thankful daily for the goodness of God. I try to start each day with an attitude of gratitude. My first words of prayer each day are thanking God for another day. Then I thank Him for His goodness and His mercies. I need the daily reminder that God is good and He is for me. He gives us good things, and He doesn’t withhold good things from us as believers. Being thankful daily for His goodness is one way to count my blessings. Being mindful of His goodness helps me to keep perspective on who He is and who my supplier is. All that we have comes from Him and belongs to Him. The more we appreciate the goodness of God, the more of it we will see.

Here are some Bible verses on the goodness of God.

1. Every gift God freely gives us is good and perfect, streaming down from the Father of lights, who shines from the heavens with no hidden shadow or darkness and is never subject to change.

James (Jacob) 1:17 TPT

2. The Lord is our protector and glorious king, blessing us with kindness and honor. He does not refuse any good thing to those who do what is right.

Psalm 84:11 GNT

3. Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Psalms 103:1-5 NLT

4. How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

Psalms 31:19 NLT

5. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalms 23:6 NLT

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October 4, 2022 · 5:46 AM

Getting God’s Help

There was a time in my life when I was upset with God for not answering a prayer. When He didn’t answer, I had already purposed not to get bitter against Him, but I was still mad at Him. I knew I needed God for my salvation, but I was done with Him beyond that. I told Him, “You didn’t answer me when I needed you most. Why would I ever ask you for anything else again?” I decided that God could exist in my life, but we weren’t going to be friends. We may be on talking terms, but it wasn’t going to be friendly terms. When needs came up, I approached them with an I got it attitude. I needed God’s help, but I wasn’t going to ask for it. I lived that way for a couple of years until another great need came up that I couldn’t do anything about. Only God could. I decided to bring down my wall and reconcile with God so I could seek His help.

David was a man who spent most of his early adulthood on the run. He was pretty self sufficient in the pasture with the sheep, but when Saul started chasing him, he developed a need for God. He learned how to ask Him for help and to depend on Him. I’m not sure what kind of king he would have been had he not learned to develop his ability to ask God for help. His needs drove him to his needs as ours should for us. God uses tough times to develop our prayer life and our relationship with Him. They’re a way for us to see that we can’t always do everything on our own. They also help to humble us so that we reconcile with God and ask for His help. He loves us and is a very present help in our time of need if we’re willing to ask for it.

David prayed in Psalms 86:4, “O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help” (NLT). God is not telling you to figure it out on your own and He’s not trying to make you fail. He’s looking for you to recognize your need for Him. He doesn’t hold any grudges or our past against us. He knows we are human and that we need Him. He’s full of love for you at this very moment and is ready to help when you ask for it. Don’t let your hurt, anger or pride keep you from asking for His help when deep down you know you need it. You’re only hurting yourself when you don’t seek Him and His help. Remember, God is good all the time. You don’t have to do things on your own.

Photo by Garon Piceli:

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February 2, 2021 · 5:59 AM

Purposing To Trust

In February of 1998, my mom went into the hospital with some crazy symptoms. She thought it was a reaction to the chemo, but it wasn’t. The cancer had spread. On March 1st, she slipped into a coma of sorts. After a week or two of that, they took us into a side room to let us know they were sending her home and hospice would be assisting us for her final days. Our heads were spinning. We had fasted and prayed for healing, and it looked like our prayers were going unanswered. After the doctor left the room, we stayed behind still in shock. My dad spoke up and said, “We will keep believing and praying for a miracle, but be prepared in case He doesn’t answer the way we want Him to. I want each of you to purpose in your heart right now that you won’t be bitter at God if He chooses not to heal her.” She passed away on April 17th that year. Even though it hurt, because we had purposed in our hearts beforehand, we remained faithful to God.

The Early Church believers suffered more than most throughout the centuries of the Church. Each of the 12 disciples were martyred for their faith. Rome fed Christians to the lions for public sport. Nero used the heads of Christians as torches throughout the city. Yet somehow, these believers stayed faithful to God and encouraged each other with words of faith. The New Testament is full of Paul’s letters to these believers facing these issues. Many of them were written from jail. I’m sure that fear was doing its best to silence believers and to question their faith. However, because of their determination and they purposed in their hearts to follow God no matter what, our spiritual ancestors endured, stayed faithful and passed down a heritage of rock solid faith to you and I.

Psalms 116:10-11 says, “Even when it seems I’m surrounded by many liars and my own fears, and though I’m hurting in my suffering and trauma, I still stay faithful to God and speak words of faith” (TPT). This is the determination that each of us must make in our hearts. Our faith can not be dependent on our circumstances. Our trust in God’s goodness cannot be eroded by prayers that aren’t answered the way we think they should. Our suffering and trauma is not a reflection of His love. It’s a result of sin in the world. We must determine in our hearts and minds that no matter what happens in this life, we will stay faithful to Him. We will still speak in faith. We will still trust in Him. Even when things are happening here that we don’t like or understand, God has a plan and is able to work it out for our good. Don’t stop trusting in Him during the hard times. This earth and these sufferings are only temporary.

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

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August 15, 2019 · 5:40 AM

Comfort In Calamity

When I was in high school, my physics teacher gave us an assignment where each of us had to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks and glue. There were some other specifications it had to meet as well. Then, on the date the assignment was due, he put the bridges to a battery of tests to see how well they held up. One test was a weight test. He kept adding weights to the bridge until it broke. Only one bridge in the class survived this test. The rest all cracked at some point under the weights. On that particular one, the teacher ran out of weights to put on it and it was still standing strong.

The book of Nahum in the Bible is a book of prophesy that spoke of a time of calamity and hard times that were coming. Unlike some other books of prophesy, this one was designed to administer peace in those times. Even the name of the prophet God chose to write the book Nahum has significance to the prophesy. It means comfort. I believe God was telling the readers of this book that no matter how bad things get, He is there to comfort us and give us peace.

Nahum 1:7 says, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him” (NLT). I love that first phrase. It’s not a promise, it’s a fact. The Lord is good. He’s also strong. Each of us have a breaking point under the weight of stress, but God doesn’t. He is a strong refuge when we are weighed down. We must learn to trust Him with our burdens and the weights that we carry. Even though at times it feels like we’re alone, He is close to us ready to comfort us in our time of need and able to handle the weight that would crush us.

Photo by James Peacock on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other writing ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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December 3, 2018 · 5:47 AM

Expect Great Things

A few years ago, a video went viral of a man who was terrified to touch a teddy bear. They had blindfolded him and made him think he was on a show like Fear Factor. When he got the courage to put his hand in the plexiglass box, his fingers brushed up against the teddy bear. He squealed and yanked his hand out. For about two minutes he kept trying to reach in, but his fear was overwhelming. When he finally takes the blindfold off, he realizes it’s just a teddy bear, laughed, then grabbed it and spiked it on the ground. Everyone around him was laughing because he was too afraid to pick up a teddy bear.

It was easy for us to laugh at that because we weren’t the one blindfolded. Everyone else could see and knew he wasn’t in any danger. That’s kind of how Faith works. We’re blindfolded and can’t see. God is asking us to trust Him, but too often we are terrified. Our minds psych us out and we start freaking out. When we take a tiny step of faith and we experience something we aren’t anticipating, we squeal and pull back. All the while, God is saying, “Would you just trust me?”

In Matthew 9, two blind men were following Jesus calling out to Him for healing. Jesus asked if they believed He could heal blind eyes, and they said yes. Verse 29 says, “Then Jesus put His hands over their eyes and said, ‘You will have what your faith expects!’” (TPT) I believe He is still saying that to us today. Don’t let your mind expect the worse and create fear of what God is going to do. Expect God, who is good, to give you what you need. You don’t have to be terrified of what He has for you. Expect great things from Him because He gives good gifts.

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November 7, 2018 · 5:47 AM

Finding Grace

When I was around seven or eight, I did something that upset my mom. She told me that when my dad came home from work he was going to punish me. She then sent me to my room to wait. After I got in there, I began to think of the punishment I was going to get. I thought about hiding. It seemed like the best plan until I thought about escaping through the window. I then realized that would make it worse. Finally, I decided to put on every pair of underwear I had and some baggy pants. As I waited, all I could think about was the punishment. To be honest, I don’t remember the punishment that day. I just remember the build up and fear.

When you and I sin, we often act like that. It’s the Adam and Eve approach to sin. We feel bad for what we’ve done, and more than anything, we’re embarrassed. It’s obvious God knows about it, but for whatever reason, going to Him seems like a far fetched idea. To be forgiven freely doesn’t feel right, so we wallow in our shame for a bit. It’s like we feel the need to punish ourselves over our sins. The truth is that God doesn’t want us to hide from Him in those moments. He wants us to come to Him right away for the grace He gives.

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it” (GNT). The verse before says that Jesus understands our weaknesses and sympathizes with us. He didn’t come into the world to condemn us, but that through Him we would find grace when we need it most. He is merciful, and too often we forget that. There’s no reason to hide from Him because of what you’ve done. He knows about it and loves you still. Approach His throne today, get the grace you need and lose your shame.

Photo by Kevin Jesus Horacio on Unsplash

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September 19, 2018 · 5:55 AM

Comfort In Calamity

When I was in high school, my physics teacher gave us an assignment where each of us had to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks and glue. There were some other specifications it had to meet as well. Then, on the date the assignment was due, he put the bridges to a battery of tests to see how well they held up. One test was a weight test. He kept adding weights to the bridge until it broke. Only one bridge in the class survived this test. The rest all cracked at some point under the weights. On that particular one, the teacher ran out of weights to put on it and it was still standing strong.

The book of Nahum in the Bible is a book of prophesy that spoke of a time of calamity and hard times that were coming. Unlike some other books of prophesy, this one was designed to administer peace in those times. Even the name of the prophet God chose to write the book Nahum has significance to the prophesy. It means comfort. I believe God was telling the readers of this book that no matter how bad things get, He is there to comfort us and give us peace.

Nahum 1:7 says, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him” (NLT). I love that first phrase. It’s not a promise, it’s a fact. The Lord is good. He’s also strong. Each of us have a breaking point under the weight of stress, but God doesn’t. He is a strong refuge when we are weighed down. We must learn to trust Him with our burdens and the weights that we carry. Even though at times it feels like we’re alone, He is close to us ready to comfort us in our time of need and able to handle the weight that would crush us.

If you’ve been going through a tough time and have been wondering where God is it how could a good God allow bad things to happen, check out my friend’s book “God is Here” by clicking here.

Photo by James Peacock on Unsplash

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September 17, 2018 · 5:46 AM

A Restored Life

Jonah is a story we are all familiar with, and it’s a story we can all relate to in some fashion. I believe every one of us are created with a purpose only we are uniquely qualified to accomplish. Jonah was called to a city he hated and a people he couldn’t stand. He knew that God is merciful and good, so he knew that God would forgive the people of Nineveh if they repented. So he did what so many of us do, he ran from his calling. Of course you know that didn’t work out so well. A storm threatened the life of everyone on the ship he was on. That’s when I believe he thought if he died, so would the people of Nineveh.

You know that he had the crew throw him overboard and the Bible says that God prepared a large fish that came and swallowed him whole. As he sat in the darkness, he remembered that God is good and would even forgive him for this disobedience. In Jonah 2:2 he said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me” (NLT). Jonah repented of his actions and God heard him. He asked God for help even though he was in the middle of paying the price for his disobedience and God answered his prayer.

There are times that all of us disobey God. Like Jonah, we need to get past our pride and call out to God for mercy. It doesn’t matter what kind of trouble we’re in or how far away from God we feel, a simple cry for help is heard in Heaven. God is waiting to respond to each of us to restore us to the life He’s called us to. It takes us reaching the point where we cry out to Him though. The good news is that we don’t have to wait until we hit rock bottom or are so far away we’re sitting in darkness. God will hear your cry wherever you are and answer you. He is full of mercy, compassion and forgiveness, and He is waiting to restore your life.

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