BY HUMILITY

God Is A Good God

The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. Psalm23:6

The Word of God tells that the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble and His goodness and mercy are with us.  His loving kindness goes before us. As a Good God, He gives us good and perfect gifts. Sickness and disease is part of the curse of the law, and Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse. His plan is to bless us and not cause us harm. Hence in the name of Jesus Christ, we repent of sin and close the door to the devils' gifts and accept God’s goodness. In the name of Jesus Christ we can come against the enemies of fear, debt, poverty, and greed. Galatians 5:28 - 29 says, "There is [now no distinction] neither Jew, nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ [are in Him, Who is Abraham's seed], then you are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to promise. (Amp.) As a seed of Abraham, in the mighty name of Jesus, we can thank almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, for the abundant blessing that He is giving us. His word is unchanging:

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:5

The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:9

Yes, the Lord is good to all who call upon Him and put their trust in Him. He loves to give miracles, breakthroughs and victories to all those who trust Him.  The LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly? (Psalm 84:11). He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32). God is loving, faithful, just, and righteous.  He will defend us and protect us and provide for us as we live for Him.   His word is unchanging:

Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed,  Because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning;  Great is Your faithfulness.  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"  The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly  For the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:22-26

Yes, the LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. The bible records king David having lost everything, strengthened himself in the LORD and looked unto HIM for comfort. As a result, the LORD did deliver him from all troubles and made him recover all that he lost (I Samuel 30:19).  The Lord who blessed and gave Abraham unlimited riches and delivered and promoted David hasn’t changed and He will do the same for those who trust only in Him!  Yes, we are called to:

(a)  to do the Lord's ministry with power and compassion of the Lord Jesus followed by signs, wonders and miracles and bring God's comfort and His transforming power to multitudes;

(b)  to walk with God and talk with God face to face as Enoch, Abraham, Moses and Jesus Christ Himself to intercede for the people who have no hope and to make them receive God's direction to organize their life;

(c)  to be filled with the 9 Gifts and Fruit of the Holy Spirit, in order to be transformed into the image of Christ and to reflect Him to the world in one's daily life.

We are a needy people with a great and wonderful Savior who has promised to meet and supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We need for God to assign His Warrior Angels with swords of light, to surround us everywhere we go   and protect, defend, and preserve them from the enemy. We need him to heal and protect us from sickness and disease and infirmity and for every curse to be broken from our lives! We need for God to place a hedge of protection around us and restore all things thirty fold this day! We need for the Lord today to deliver us; heal our land; change our circumstances; bless and prosper us in all things. We need all the miracles and things that God can do and give today for us and be a blessing to others! And God is more than able to do all this and more. His word is unchanging:

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,  and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power  which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:15-23

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

One of the misunderstood phrases in the bible is to “wait on the Lord” which is not something passive because it’s to expect earnestly, to watch with neck outstretched, to  persevere, to remain around for, to wait on or towards something to happen that God will do. And yes, God, who worked on and provided total salvation for man in Jesus Christ will bring real salvation for His trusting ones because He has promised that none who wait for Him shall be ashamed. And those who have trusted in His Holy name shall rejoice in Him because of all that He will do for them.  No matter what the negative circumstances that we might find ourselves in, we can wait upon God to save, heal and deliver us because He is our shield, our exceeding great reward, our defense, our friend and our God. We can wait only upon Him for our expectation is only from him. None other can do what He can do. He is after all a miracle worker and a mountain mover. He inclines His hear to us and hears our cries. He brings us out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay and sets our feet upon a rock and establishes our steps. He exalts us to inherit the land when the wicked are cut off for with the Lord there is mercy and abundant redemption. His word is true:

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.  My soul waits for the Lord  More than those who watch for the morning- Yes, more than those who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD;  For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.  And He shall redeem Israel From all his iniquities. Psalms 130:5-8

Do not say, "I will recompense evil";  Wait for the LORD, and He will save you. Proverbs 20:22

The bible has many examples of what expectantly waiting on the Lord and hope in His word for His plenteous redemption and deliverance and what it shall accomplish. One of my favorite stories is about when Elisha and the children of Judah were besieged by the enemy and were starving. Ben-Hadad king of Syria had gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.  As a result there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. However Elisha the prophet said:

"Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.' " So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it." 2 Kings 7:1-2

God does nothing on earth unless He reveals it to His prophets. But God has also stated that those who despise the word of His prophets, He will require of them. So the officer who was the right hand man of the king put his life in jeopardy when he despised Elisha’s prophetic words. (It’s true that some foolish men just do not learn and accept God’s word on some matters and they pay for their deeds even with their lives.)  God’s word goes on to state:

Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die? "If we say, 'We will enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die." And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.

For the LORD had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses-the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, "Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!" Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact-their tents, their horses, and their donkeys-and they fled for their lives.

And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it. 2 Kings 7:3-8

The lepers had enough of their circumstance and situation and decided they were going to act and do something even if it would cost them their lives.  (Yes, many times God’s bring His people to a place where they must walk on the water or sink. It is in such times that they find the miracle working power of God to be true and see that the Lord is the Lord and that He does what He has said He would do to bless, protect and preserve His own.  For after all He is the Lord and He loves to bless and prosper His own even miraculously with the spoils of war from their enemies, just like He did for these lepers.)  God’s word records:

Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king's household." So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, "We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound-only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact."

And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king's household inside. So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, "Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.' "

 And one of his servants answered and said, "Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see." Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, "Go and see."

And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 2 Samuel 7:9-16

Men are not accustomed to believing God, walking by faith and not by sight and trusting His word and those of His true prophets, even though Elisha had said that God would provide a miraculous deliverance. So they would not believe the words of the Lepers until they could see things for themselves with their natural eyes instead of their spiritual eyes.  But the fact of the matter remains that the officer who scorned Elisha’s words paid with his life for his foolish actions. It doesn’t pay to be arrogant and proud and a respecter of persons for  God’s word records:

Now the king had appointed the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria."

Then that officer had answered the man of God, and said, "Now look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it." And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

Men have a lot of foolish ideas which they make as doctrines but God’s word does not lie and God has not changed. We see from the Word of God that God weighed and judged the actions of the lepers and the arrogant officer. The lepers were blessed and the officer was cursed!  So who is to say that God does not do such things today? For after all He is the Lord, the Judge of the whole earth and His eyes are on each and every one to render to each one according to his work. For God’s word is true:

'Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me;  I kill and I make alive;  I wound and I heal;  Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.  For I raise My hand to heaven,  And say, "As I live forever, If I whet My glittering sword,  And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies,  And repay those who hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, And My sword shall devour flesh,  With the blood of the slain and the captives,  From the heads of the leaders of the enemy." '  "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And render vengeance to His adversaries;  He will provide atonement for His land and His people."  Deuteronomy 32:39-41

And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us.  This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation."  Isaiah 25:9

For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,  Who acts for the one who waits for Him. Isaiah 64:4