Thursday Thought's

Good morning! I trust that your journey with God is full of the richness of the presence of God. His Word reveals that He will never leave or forsake us! Isn’t that a powerful promise that goes with us through every moment of our lives? I am learning to depend on that promise even more as I continue my journey of life. I am learning to depend on this promise even more as I see the continuing changes in our culture. I shared this thought last Sunday and I still believe it today!! “God has a Word for this generation.” Each of us needs to take heed to the Word of God and allow it to do its work in our lives!!

I read Psalm 100 this morning. Take time to read it and recognize the commands of God as well as the promises of God. The Spirit through David reminds us to shout, sing, serve and be glad in the first few words. The Spirit reminds us that we are the “sheep of His pasture” and that “He has made us.” Verse 5 spoke to me this morning. This verse reveals the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, the mercy of God as well as the truth of God. Psalm 100:5, “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

If you grew up in a Christian home, you may have been taught this childhood prayer: “God is great. God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen.” While simplistic, that prayer covers one key characteristic of God: His goodness. It can be hard to believe in God’s goodness for many reasons, including when we’re in pain. We forget it when we’re in conflict. We think it’s for everyone else except us when we’re depressed. And when we’re worried or stressed out, we can’t seem to find—much less think about—God’s goodness, even when it’s right in front of us.

Focusing on God’s goodness is so important to your life because it gives you perspective on your darkest days, when you need it the most. Each of us has encountered and more than likely we will encounter more dark days on our journey of life. But we cannot ever afford to forget God’s goodness. This decision can cause each of us all kinds of difficulties. Our enemy can use these difficulties as a weapon to work against our relationship with God.

Each of us can remember those moments in which the goodness of God was revealed to us when life was providing us with various challenges and difficulties. At those moments we must choose to look to God and His Word for strength, guidance and direction. The goodness of God will not fail us if we will place our complete trust and confidence in Him. I understand the challenge of making the decision to trust God but I have also personally seen the reward of trusting God and placing my confidence in Him.

I truly believe that God wants to give us a life of spiritual confidence, even on our most difficult days. He wants to give us the assurance we need that is found in the Word of God. He will provide the protection we need regardless of the situation that we may be facing. He wants to give each of us a life of spiritual influence and spiritual abundance. He will provide the guidance, direction and strength to meet the challenges of life head on and come out victorious in our walk with Christ!!

These are challenging days to say the least. The headlines on the various information sources reveal strife, stress, anxiety, difficulties, etc. in every continent in the world. We can run from these challenges and we can choose to ignore these challenges.  Or we can face these challenges and walk in the strength and faithfulness of God’s goodness.