Hey Reader,
If you were to choose one song to sum up the past 18 months, what would it be?
Mine, hands down, is Goodness of God. These lyrics get me every time:
Truthfully, when I read the headlines, my heart cries out for Jesus' return. There's just so much badness in the world today.
But when God created this earth, He looked at all He had made and He called it good. And He looked at the humans He'd created and called them very good. And despite sin's attempt to mar God's good world, Jesus has conquered sin and death, bringing life, healing, and goodness into the world once more.
So even though we live in a world filled with heartache, we can still taste of God's goodness every day:
What's more, those who belong to God can't get away from His goodness:
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
God's goodness follows us everywhere we go.
Because God's goodness is both all around us and within us.
You see, our Creator God has placed His own Spirit within His children, filling us with His goodness so that we become His agents of goodness in the world. Like salt slowing down natural decay, we slow down the rot of sin in this world by our presence in it—by God's Spirit working in us. (See what Jesus had to say about this in Matthew 5:13-16.)
The fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Not our own self-made goodness, but Christ's gift of goodness to us and through us.
So open your eyes today, dear one, and see God's goodness all around you. Recognize His gifts of goodness in the sunrise, in the laughter, in the moment of repose, in the smile of a stranger, in the sacredness of ordinary life.
And then let your heart sing of His goodness all your days.
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Quote to Ponder
On the Podcast: Praying the Goodness of God
When God created the world, He called it “good.” …Is it still good today? Does His goodness live in you and in me? This week, we’re praying through James 3:13 in our Fruit of the Spirit season:
Join me as we meditate on how Jesus showed goodness while He walked this earth, and how He longs to continue bearing goodness through our lives.
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Creative Devotional Idea:
Seeing God's Goodness
A great way to recognize God's goodness in the mundane is to force yourself to see your surroundings through from a different perspective: Try arranging your garden flowers in a vase, watercoloring a familiar scene, or describing in poetry an ordinary moment of your day.
Look for God's fingerprints all around you, and capture the moment—either with a lens, a paintbrush, or just a heart open to praise. God's goodness is all around us, if only we'd open our eyes to see Him.
With much joy,
PS I'm not an artist or a florist, but lately I've been experimenting with both watercoloring and floral arrangements, and they've been some of the most refreshing moments of worship! Here's a bouquet I prayerfully arranged yesterday with flowers from my backyard. Would love to hear how you're seeing God's goodness and finding joy in Jesus these days! 💕