Living In The Reality Of His Goodness : Bishop Tony Samuels

Then this city will be an honor to me, and it will give me joy and be a source of praise and glory to me before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see the good I do for my people and will tremble with awe! - Jeremiah 33:9 

One thing we can count on in the days that we are living in is the Goodness of God. No matter how bad the world gets, it cannot wipe out the Goodness of God. God wants our lives to be a stage for Him to demonstrate His goodness. James 1:17 says, Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning for He is perfect and never changes]. There is a forever flow of Goodness coming from our Heavenly Father to us at all times, and the enemy does not want us to walk in this reality. Psalms 23:6 says, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Notice, it says Goodness will follow us all the days of our lives. That means that every day, God wants you to walk in the reality of His goodness. 

What the enemy wants to do is try to block the reality of this Goodness from our lives. He will try to make clouds over our lives (which are really in our minds) to block the rays of God’s Goodness. We know in the natural that no matter how cloudy it gets, no matter what storm may come, above those clouds there is a sun shining hot and bright; and eventually those clouds will go, and what was always there will be seen. Psalms 84:11 gives us an understanding of this: For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows present grace and favor and future glory honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. The storms of the enemy cannot cancel out the reality of His Goodness. So in the storms of life, don’t respond to the storm; respond to the Goodness of God.

Psalms 107:8 says, Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! We must awake to the ever present reality of His Goodness. This reality will determine whether we walk in victory or defeat. What we focus on is what will be magnified in this life. Psalms 34:8 says, O taste and see that the Lord our God is good; How blessed fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God is the man who takes refuge in Him. To taste something, you have to go look for it; and when you find it, you partake. You have to make a decision to consume it, savor it. Taste signifies that you had your own personal experience. God wants His Goodness to affect you personally, so that you can experience it for yourself.  

We can’t fully understand the Goodness of God unless we look to Jesus. Look at what Hebrews 1:3 says:  The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of our awesome God [reflecting God’s Shekinah glory, the Light-being, the brilliant light of the divine], and the exact representation and perfect imprint of His Father’s essence, and upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal. God sent Jesus to show us His Goodness manifested in the flesh; God with us, God among us. Acts 10:38 says, …how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with great power; and He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.  

What God wanted to show us through Jesus is Him walking in our reality, bringing His goodness to affect our lives. So you are never without His goodness; it is with you; it is in you; it is following you…so live in the reality of His goodness!