Goodness of God

April 1, 2017

Devotions:

“The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭31:3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

        “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬

        As we experience the goodness of God in our lives we are not to think that it is God's approval for our misbehavior.  It is also not God telling us to get our act right by our own will power because we cannot.  His goodness is an open door to us to bring us into His presence in order that we might experience His salvation and transformation of our lives.  His goodness is the open door.. His goodness is the transforming power.  By His goodness He has forgiven all our sins.  By His goodness we are born again. By His goodness we have been made His righteousness and holiness. His goodness leads us into fullness of life.  We cannot come to Him with a superficial facade of our own righteousness but we come to Him in honesty, admitting where we have missed it and sinned and what our weaknesses are.  We come to Him because of His goodness naked before Him but looking to His life in us to live through us in a way that is pleasing to Him.  If we thought we would be judged or punished then we would not freely come to Him but we would hide like Adam did after he had sinned.  God told Adam and Eve the consequences of their sins but He did not judge them.  He gave them hope in the first prophecy of the coming Messiah. 

        God's goodness is not an endorsement of our sin but an open door out of our sin. Only when we reject God's goodness do we stay in our sin.  We can reject by saying "NO" to God  or by trying to fix our sin problem ourselves.  It is already fixed in Jesus. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.  Hebrews 12:2