God is Good, and He loves me, that is the truth. Intellectually we all believe this right?
But as we are learning in "Lies Women Believe" , just because we know the truth, does not mean we believe the truth. The way we live reveals what we believe, and as my favorite pastor always says; "the heart will always make a convert of the mind", what we believe in our hearts will ultimately determine how we think.Sometimes it is hard to believe in our hearts that God is good, and that He loves us, because let's face it, bad things happen. "How can a God of love allow terrible things to happen to innocent people" or "If God loves me then why did He allow me to be hurt?"
I think it is all about perspective. Having an eternal perspective is something we gain through the process of getting to know the Lord more and more. I am sure we can think of people who have been through terrible things, and yet they shine with so much love and strength. While others are destroyed. What is the difference?
The difference is whether one trusts in God, or in Man.
The Lord contrasts the difference in Jeremiah 17:5-8. The person who "makes flesh his strength" (v.5) Does not know God, therefore, he "cannot see when good comes". When we fail to get to know the Lord, we are blind to the blessings of God. When trials come (and they will) we view them as harsh and cruel and believe the lie that God is not good, or that he doesn't love us. In verses 7 & 8 the Lord describes the person who trusts in the Lord as a tree by the river with deep roots. This blessed person is someone who meditates on God's word day and night (notice the comparative scripture Psalm 1), their roots are deep and have a reservoir of water (the Word), so when heat and drought comes they are fruitful and not anxious.Nancy Shared how gracious the Lord was to her when her father was taken unexpectedly. He gave her Psalm 119:68. Her father instilled this truth in her as he raised her, and when she needed it most the Lord was able to reach in to the reservoir of her heart.
Psalm 119:11
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
What is good?
Matthew 19:17...“Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God....
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
I think one of the ways we are deceived is we don't understand what good is. Satan has deceived us, claiming to open our eyes, instead he blinds us.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
What is love?
Another way we are deceived is to think love is a feeling, or that if God loved us he would give us our way, keep bad things from happening. But we know He loves us, because He gave His life for us.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Let's talk
- What is the source of all evil in the world?
- Read Romans 8:35-39. How does Paul describe the Love of God? What does it mean to you to be loved this way?
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