TODAY’S PROPHETIC WORD
Others are looking at you to see God, and what they will see is what you are focusing on. When Jesus is your focus, they will see His light and goodness. Keep your eyes on Him because those in your sphere of influence are counting on you!
A SHOT OF GOODNESS
America could use a shot of goodness right about now. Not only has our government turned away from God’s goodness, our schools, communities, families and even churches no longer believe in His good intentions and perfect plan for us.
He wants us to know He is good, so He told us expressly so…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.”
-Jeremiah 29:11
The sad thing is, in the church, all of that looks like a 3-D movie without the glasses. If that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead — that kind of goodness — lives in us, why is the church so obviously messed up? Why are we known for persecution and judgement instead of goodness and love?
I’ll tell you why, and it’s the same problem our communities and families have: There is a real deficit of God’s great goodness in our lives. We don’t accept His love or truly believe in His goodness. The problem is not that there aren’t enough churches or Christians. The problem is, there’s not enough goodness in those people who profess Christ’s name!
When the church is the good guy, it’s powerful. The kingdom of God transforms lives, heaven invades earth and everything is better.
When the church, and individuals who claim the name of Christ, are the bad guy, that’s powerful too. The mob of hell swallows people whole in gossip and division. It controls folks into thinking they are right and everyone else is wrong. I like what Paul tells believers about not only the condition of our hearts, but the condition of the church when we don’t value goodness. I especially like the way the Message Bible words it:
“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs at happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions and ugly parodies of community.”
-Galatians 5:19-21
OUCH! Do you see yourself in there? It’s hard not to.
Again, Paul was writing to the Church! When Christians, and the Church itself, are not full of God’s goodness, everything is miserable. It doesn’t have to be like that. We can choose goodness. We can believe God when He claims to be love — when He professes that He is light — when He proves by His actions that He is truly good.
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO FOCUS ON HIS GOODNESS IN YOUR LIFE.
RECALL TIMES WHEN HE HAS PROVEN HIS LOVE FOR YOU. THANK HIM AND SPREAD HIS GOOD NAME TO A WORLD DESPERATELY IN NEED OF GOODNESS.
From my book: GOOD OVERCOMES EVIL
