All right, everybody, welcome to Valley Creek. Come on, whatever campus you're at today, Denton, Flower Mound, Gainesville, Lewisville, Online; can we just go ahead and welcome each other together for a moment? We are so glad you are here with us. We've been in this series called Yahweh: The Lord, Your God. We've just been taking a couple of weeks to just talk about who God is and what He's like. We've been slowing everything way down to just turn our attention to Him. 

I don't know about you, but this series has been really refreshing for me. It's been so good to just talk about God. I mean, Jesus tells us that the definition of eternal life is that we might know God. If eternal life is knowing God, then it's pretty important that we know who He is and what He is like and His characteristics and His attributes and His nature and who He is and what He is like. We've said in this series that there's not this immediate application to take away from each week, but that our whole goal in this series is to simply fix our thoughts on Jesus. To literally think on God, think about God, think of God, think with God. To set our minds on Him, to fill our mind with the thoughts of God so our lives can become full of the reality of God. 

Like, if you ever actually even want to change from the inside out, one of the most important things you can do is just to learn to think about God, to fix your thoughts on Him, on Him, about Him, of Him, with Him. What we've said is that the most important thing about you is what comes into your mind when you think about God. That your thoughts about who God is determines your life more than anything else. It's the greatest predictor of your future. When you think of God, what do you think? Do you think He's angry, judgmental and harsh, condemning, or loving and gracious and kind? Whatever you think about Him, that impacts your life more than anything else. It impacts your marriage and your parenting and your school and your work and your finances and how you deal with problems and brokenness. It impacts how you even engage today, this morning, with us. The question is not, do you think about God, it's when you think about God, do you think about Him rightly? Do you think thoughts that are worthy of Him? 

Fix your thoughts on Jesus. Then, we talked about how Jesus is the image of the invisible God. That Jesus came to show us exactly who God was like. He came to settle it once and for all, all the debate, all the confusion, all the wondering of, what is God actually like? The primary reason Jesus came to this earth was to show us who the Father was. He says, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." In other words, "You want to know how God talks? Look at how I talk. You want to know how God thinks? Look at how I think. You want to know how God moves? Look at how I move. You want to know what God believes? Look at what I believe. You want to know if God's compassionate? Look at my compassion. In other words, If you've seen Me, you've seen everything you need to know about who God is." We looked at this verse that says, "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." 

In other words, it's the face of Jesus that gives us the knowledge of God. If we want to know who God is and what He is like, all we have to do is look at Jesus and we'll know exactly who He is and what He is like. Then, we talked about Yahweh, that God actually has a name. We kind of took this confusing stuff and we tried to pull it all apart. "Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they ask me, "What is his name?" Then what shall I tell them?' God said to Moses, 'I am who I am (Yahweh). This is what you to say to the Israelites: I am (Yahweh) has sent me to you.'" God has a name and His name is I Am. It's where we get the word Yahweh from. Yahweh, I Am, He is the Lord. 

Have you ever stopped to just think about the fact that God has a name? He's not distant somewhere out there in the universe totally separate from you. No, He has a name and He's personal and He's present and He wants to be in relationship with you. He tells us His name as I Am. I Am. The only self-sufficient, self-existent one. The eternal, invisible, immortal, infinite one who has life in Himself. Only God has life in Himself. God is spirit. He is an un-bodied personal power with the ability to act and think. He has a will. He has a heart. I Am, means He always has been and He always will be. I Am, means He has no beginning and He has no end. I Am, He was, He is, and He will be. I Am, it means there is nothing that has been created that wasn't created by Him. 

I Am, it means there is no space that He does not fill. I Am, it means He doesn't need anyone or anything for anything, but everyone and everything needs Him for everything. I Am; He is all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present. I Am, whatever He does is good, is right, it is true. I Am; He is not always what you want Him to be, but He is exactly who you need Him to be. When you realize He is not always who you want Him to be, but He is exactly who you need Him to be, you realize He is exactly who you want Him to be. We've said that when God has a name and we use His name, it brings with it all the reality of God. The name of God brings the reality of God into the situation. His name literally is His personhood, His presence, and His power. It defines His identity, His characteristics, His attributes. When we say "In the name of Jesus," it takes all of the reality of God and it brings it right into that situation in that moment. 

We've said while there are so many little gods in this world, only one, the I Am, is worthy of the attention, the affection, and the focus of your life. What we've been learning in this series is that God wants to reveal Himself to us. He wants to show you who He is. He's not holding back. He's revealing Himself. Everything that can be known about God is only available to be known because He has decided to reveal it. In fact, God so badly wants you to know who He is that He has set eternity in the hearts of men, the Bible tells us. "Put the desire for eternity in you." Eternity is not a time or a place. It's a "I Am." David says, "My heart says of you, Seek His face, your face, O Lord, I will seek." God has hardwired your heart to long for the presence of God. Or how about the Psalmist that says, "My soul, my heart, my flesh cry out for the living God." 

In other words, God designed your body, your mind, your soul, your heart, your spirit, everything about you is hardwired to long for God. This is why you will never be satisfied by this world. This is why the more of the world you get, the less satisfied you are. The more pleasure you get, the more possessions, the more money, the more success, the more significance, the more of the world you get, the less satisfied you are. Why? Because your entire being was designed to find its rest in God, and you will never be at rest until you find your rest in the I Am. Yahweh, the only one who has life in himself. It's not that God is all that hard to find. We just have to seek Him with all our heart. In fact, He says, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." Can I ask you a question? Are you seeking God in a way that you'll be able to find Him? 

If you can't find God right now, is it on Him or is it on you? Or how about when Jesus says, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father and I too will love him and show Myself to him." In other words, Jesus says He is ready to reveal Himself to those who are ready to obey, to those who have decided the answer is yes, what's the question. That's who God shows Himself to. Are you with me on this? God wants you to know Him. He goes on this journey with us. If we jump into the journey of the Israelites, they're on their way from Egypt to the promised land. They're on their way from the past to the future. They're on their way from what was to what can be. Bondage to freedom. God's talking to Moses, and He says, "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Then Moses said to Him, "If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here."

Don't read so fast through this that you miss the gravity of it. God is saying, "Hey, I'm with you and I'll take you." Moses says to God, "God, if You don't go with us, we're not going anywhere." Moses says to God, "I don't care where I go or what I do, so long as I know who I'm with. I don't care what valley I have to cross, what mountain I have to climb, what battle I have to fight. I don't care what the situations or the circumstances are. God, what I want more than anything else is I want You." See, Moses understood what we forget, is that in His presence is fullness of joy. If He is the definition of life itself, then there is no life apart from God. Moses would have rather stayed in the desert with God than gone to The Promised Land without God. <

Can I ask you a really honest question? Would you rather be in the desert with God or The Promised Land without God? Now, before you answer that question really quick in church, with the churchy answer, let's just think about it for a second. Does your heart prefer the desert with God or The Promised Land without God? Now, before you answer that question, you have to think of things like this. Every time God says, "Let's go," and you decide to stay, what you're saying is, "I would rather stay here with this than go there with You." Every time God says, "Let's stay," and you decide to go, what you're saying is, "I would rather go there with that than stay here with You." 

Every time God says, "Let's go," and you say, "Nah, I'm going to stay. I'm going to stay in my pride. I'm going to stay in my sin. I'm going to stay in my attitude. I'm going to stay right here in my offense, in my bitterness. I'm going to stay right here in my rebellion. I'm going to stay here with my money, with my time." What you're saying is, "I would rather stay here with this than go there with You." Every time God says, "Hey, let's stay here a little while," and we say, "Nah, I'm going to go. I'm going to go get that relationship. I'm going to go get that job. I'm going to go chase the lust of the flesh, the cravings of the eyes, and the pride of life. I'm going to go get me what the world has to offer." What you're saying is, "I would rather go there with that than stay here with You."

When we choose to stay when God asks us to go, and go when God asks us to stay, what we're doing is we're just choosing a different god to rule over our life. That thing becomes your Lord. It becomes your master, because you are slaves to whomever you obey. Yet God says, "I am the Lord (Yahweh) your God (Elohim)." That's the word for God. When I don't go when God asks me to go, and when I don't stay when God asks me to stay, and you get it. This is not necessarily talking about a big faith journey. This is like God just saying, "Hey, you've been in this sin long enough, let's go." Or this is just like saying, "Hey, that relationship is dysfunctional and broken for you. We've got to stay." What you're doing in that moment is you're choosing a different elohim, which just means ruler or judge. You're choosing a different god to rule over your life. There is no god you want ruling over your life other than Yahweh. Because every other god wants to steal, kill, and destroy. Are you with me on this? This is why David says, "Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." 

In other words, David says, "I would rather be a servant with God than be a king alone in this world." Are you a king right now in the world or are you a servant with God? Because the paradox of all paradoxes, we're just trying to talk about God, is simply this, the desert with God is a promised land and the promised land without God is a desert. Some of you just need to hear that and soak on that for a second. Because you're chasing what you think is the promised land, and it's really weary and dry, isn't it? You're wondering why. It's because you left God a long time ago and tried to pick something else to be your God. He's saying, "Hey, it's time to come back home." 

It goes on. "Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.'" Now this is... I want you to catch this in context. This is Moses, and he's crying out to God, saying, "Show me Your glory." But, this is Moses. He's already seen God in the burning bush. He's the first person, the first human who God declares His name to. He's watched God defeat the gods of Egypt with the ten plagues. He's been following the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. He is known as Moses, who God would speak to face-to-face, the way a man would speak to his friend. He spends time in the tent of meeting filled with the presence of God. He's gone up on Mount Sinai to meet with God, and yet he is saying, "Now show me Your glory." In other words, he is saying, "God, I know You, and I want to know You so much more." He's saying, "God, I know You, and I know there are so much more of You to know." 

This is a picture of someone who knows God. People who really know God want to know more about God. People who really know God, know how much more of God there is to know. Because He is immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. How deep, how wide, how long, how high is the love of God? It is unsearchable. People who know God live with the spirit of wisdom and revelation that they may know Him better. It's like the surface has been scratched, and they realize how much more is under there, and so they long for the things of God. Jesus says, "Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For will your Father not give to you the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" In other words, the greatest gift God will ever give you is the gift of Himself. When we ask for more of Him, He promises to show it to us. He says, "Show me Your glory, God. Show me who You're like." 

"The Lord (Yahweh) said, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord (Yahweh), in your presence.'" Moses says, "God, show me Your glory. Show me who You really are, what You're really like, at the core of who You are. I want to see Your glory." Now, I don't know about you, but when I think about, okay, God's going to show me His glory, I would think He would say something like, "I will cause all My power to pass by you." Or, "I will cause all My might to pass by you." "I will show you all of My strength." "I want to show you My wisdom, My supernatural ability." When we call out for the glory of God, we would think there would be the thunder, lightning, earthquakes, shaking, fire, burning and wind and all of this stuff. God says, "You want to see My glory? I'll cause all my goodness to pass in front of you."

In other words, God says, His goodness is His glory, and His glory is His goodness. The glory of God is that He is infinitely good. At the core of who He is, the deepest, most profound, most unfathomable, unsearchable reality of God is that He is good. It's how He defines Himself to us. See, the word glory just simply means renowned. It means what you're known for, what you're famous for, what you're good at. Moses is saying, "God, I want to know what You're famous for. I want to know what You're known for, like what You're good at, what You're gifted at." I mean, think about Michael Jordan. What's the glory of Michael Jordan? He can shoot a basketball, right? What's the glory of Tiger Woods? What is he known for? Right? What's the glory of Patrick Mahomes? 

He can throw a football. How about the glory of Elon Musk? That dude can innovate like nobody's business, right? Warren Buffett, what he is known for is investing. Okay, what is God known for? Being good. What's the glory of God? That He's good. God is good at being good. That's what this tells us. That's what He's famous for. Famous for being good. He says that all of His goodness is in His name. When He says His name, all of His goodness shows up into that space. The glory of God is His goodness, and His goodness is His glory. This is how He defines Himself to us. Is this who you think Him to be? I mean, one of the most often repeated verses in the Bible, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good." He is good. 

Not just that He does good, or thinks good, or acts good, or does good deeds. No, He is good. It's His very character. It's His nature. It's His identity. It's the deepest part within Him. Every interaction you will ever have with Him is an engagement and an interaction with His goodness. Everything He does, everything He says, everything He thinks, everywhere He goes, everywhere He's like, every other attribute that He has, flows from this one deep profound reality that He is good. If you've been in this church for years, we've talked about how identity determines behavior. Who you are determines what you do. We know this kind of thing that, fish (swim), birds (fly), dogs (bark), cats (meow/annoy). Let you hear whoever's around you. A good God can only say and do good things. 

If He is good, then He can only say and do good things. It's His identity. That means everything He says, every one of His commands, every one of His laws, every one of His ways, everything He gives you, and everything He withholds from you, is good. Because it has to be, because He is good, so He can only do and say good things. I mean, just think of the Bible. "Taste and see that God is good." "Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He instructs sinners in their ways." "He will not withhold any good thing from those who love Him." "You are good and you do good," the Psalmist says. 

"Jesus came doing good, healing all those who are under the power of the devil." Jesus preached a message called good news. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The name the Bible gives Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Father is known as the Good Father. In fact, it even says that the Holy Spirit is the Good Spirit. "He who began good work in you will be faithful to complete it." "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights." "What you intended to harm me, my God intended for good." "We know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes." He is good, so He can only do good. He can only say good. He can only think good. Therefore, God's will is good. "Peace on earth, good will towards men." Everything about God is good. 

Yet, if we're honest, we struggle to believe this. In the last couple of weeks, these messages, I know a lot of you got stuck on the whole concept of this sense that we can't ascribe the works of darkness to God. We struggle because we see this brokenness and this pain in our own life and we somehow want to build a bad theology, and say it was God's fault. But if God's good, He actually can't do a work of darkness or He would no longer be God. Because He can't be good and do evil, He would no longer be God. You can't ascribe that to Him. I know some of you struggled a couple of weeks ago when we talked about the little gods, the elohim. You're thinking, if God's good, why would He create bad elohim? Well, He didn't create bad elohim. He created good elohim who rebelled against Him and chose evil over His goodness. I mean, go all the way back to the beginning. "In the beginning, God created everything and saw that it was... very good," is what it says. Why? Because God can't create anything bad. 

Lucifer was an angel of light. He was beautiful, the Bible tells us. He was good. God didn't make a bad Satan. He made a good Lucifer who rebelled against God because God gave him a free will because it's good for a good God to give a free will to the beings He creates. How about humanity? Adam and Eve. "In the Garden, they were... very good." Very good. We were very good. Then, we had a free will and we decided to rebel against God. All the evil and the darkness and the brokenness and the pain is not from a good God, it's from beings He created that rebelled against Him. If He is good, He has a good will. Therefore, everything that submits and surrenders to the will of God by nature is good. But, anything that rebels against the will of God, even if you think it's no big deal, by definition is already bad. 

Because if He is the definition, He is good. He is the definition of goodness. Anything that does not submit or surrender to His kingdom by nature is already evil, is already bad, it is already broken. Are you with me on this? Everything He does is good. He can only do good, say good, think good, act good, will good. He is good in all of His ways. Every other characteristic and attribute that flows out of Him comes from that. In fact, a lot of us, if we would say, how would you define God, we would from the New Testament say, "God is love." That was good, good try. Love. A lot of us would say love because later in the New Testament it defines "God is love" and we think that's the thing. But, His goodness is actually deeper than His love. It's because He's good that He loves. You can sit on that one this week. 

See, the truth is – these core truths are the deepest theological reality in all of creation. This is part of our life-giving liturgy. If you're here every week at the end at all of our campuses, we say out loud, God is good. Jesus has forgiven me. I am loved, and everything is possible. Maybe you kind of mumble through it, and you're getting your purse and your Bible and your phone and your keys while it's happening. Or maybe you like actually grab the depth and the profoundness of this. See, this started as what we call the core truths for our kids and we just wanted to teach our kids the core truths of what's real in this world. Then, we realized, oh, it's not just our kids that need it. Actually, our students need to figure this out. Then, we started doing it in students, and then we realized, oh my gosh, it's not just students that need it. We need it. We need it because every problem in your life can be traced back to your unbelief in one of these areas. 

Now, we've said this for years and I'm just going to be honest with you, for years we've taken flak back from people who have said this is too simple. This is too basic. Like, this isn't really, like it's like watered down, you're kind of like a light church, like this isn't really deep and profound. Okay. I realize this is in kids' vocabulary, but here's what I want to say. The kingdom of heaven belongs to little children. Jesus speaks to us in a language we can understand. Hebrews tells us that the depth of maturity is understanding righteousness, which is God's goodness. There's something in us, our pride, that wants to hear big words. I mean we could do it – sanctification, justification, eschatology. 

We could spend every week talking about angels and demons and the end times and heaven and hell and the depravity of man, as if somehow that takes us deeper than God is good. Listen, Jesus speaks in a language you understand. If you've ever compared John 3 and John 4 together, John 3, He's talking to Nicodemus, a prideful Pharisee teacher of the Israelite people, and He does all this explaining of this deep, "You must be born again," and, "The wind comes, but we don't know where it goes." I mean, like read it, like I don't even understand. I'm like, I don't know totally what you're saying there. Then, in the very next chapter, the woman at the well, a broken, washed out woman. Jesus just says, "Hey, if you'd asked me, I'd give you springs of living water. You'd never be thirsty again." I get that. I get that. Because He speaks in a language you can understand. 

Because He is good, He sent Jesus to forgive you. "He who did not spare His own son, will He not then in Him give us all things?" When I know I'm forgiven, I now really believe that I am loved. When I know I am loved, there's no fear in love. I'm no longer afraid. I have courage and I have faith and I can move forward. Because I know I'm loved, I start to believe everything is possible. Why? Because if Jesus could defeat sin, death and the grave and rise again, if that's possible, then I tell you what, everything else is possible. But, if I don't believe something is possible, it's probably because I question whether or not I'm loved. If I don't believe I'm loved, it's because I'm not sure I'm really forgiven. Condemnation is at work in my life. If I don't believe I'm forgiven and my past could be atoned for, it's because I don't really believe that God is good. Hear me. 

Every problem you face today can be traced back through unbelief in one of these areas. Like, right now, think about it. What's the biggest problem you have? Which of these don't you believe? Hopelessness is unbelief in the goodness of God. That's all it is. Hopelessness. My marriage will never get better. I will never be healed. This will never change. The circumstances will always be the same. The situation will never be different. I'll never break out. I'll never have, nevers and always. Hopeless? It's unbelief in the goodness of God. Because what is hope? Hope is the confident expectation of the goodness of God. Hope is rooted in God's goodness. 

If I'm hopeless, it's because I have unbelief in His goodness. See, every temptation in your life comes from a place where you question God's goodness. If I'm tempted to sin or to do this thing or to go this way, and I know I'm not supposed to, where is that coming from? It's coming from the fact that I question God's goodness and I look at this thing and I see something good in it and I'm willing to do evil to go and get it for myself. No one goes and does something that they don't believe is not going to be good for them. Like, even the places that you're tempted and you don't act on, hear me, the very fact that you're tempted, you have to think about it, tells you it's a place you question the goodness of God. Why? I am not tempted to drink arsenic. I know it's bad for me. I don't even think about it. 

I'm not saying I don't do it. I'm saying I don't even think about it. Why? Because I know it's not good. I am not tempted to jump out of a plane without a parachute. Why? Because I know it's not good and I bet neither are you. The places that you're tempted and you act on, or the places that you're tempted and you don't act on, are places in your heart where you question God's goodness. Not that you don't believe in Him, you just think He's holding out on you, so you're willing to do evil to go get good because He's holding that out on you, so I've got to go get it for myself. Because I'm convinced there's a Bible in there, like in 1st Suggestions, "He who… I mean, God helps those who help themselves." Like, clearly the Lord wouldn't be mad at me on this; like, He wants me to go do it. God is good. He's good to you. He's in a good mood. 

Literally, I want to stop here. I'm not even halfway through this message. I want to stop here because I want you to think about this, this week. Do you really think that God is good? Not, can you say these at the end of service? Do you believe He's good? Do you think He's good? Is there evidence in the way you live your life that proves that you believe He's good? See, we just rush on past this stuff, and we're quick to say it, but we're slow to think it. If you try to understand God through the situations and circumstances in your life, you're always going to have a bad view of God. But, if you try to understand the situations and circumstances of your life through God, you're going to have a really great perspective. 

If you try to look at God through the situations, circumstances, the brokenness, the pain, some of you, all the junk you walked in here with today, and you're looking at that, and then you're trying to understand God through it, you're always going to question His goodness. But, if you look at God, and then you try to interpret your circumstances and situations, even when you don't like them, you can still see His goodness flowing into them. You can, by faith, trust that He is good. What a lot of us do is we have an experience, and we allow that experience to become our theology. An experience of something that did happen, something that is happening, something we're afraid is going to happen to us, and we build this whole theology, this whole belief on who God is and how life functions and how it moves, all from an experience that we're probably misinterpreting. One of the saddest things in your life is to spend your whole life believing something isn't true. 

That God's not good. He's not good to me. Do you believe He's good? Every place that you're doing something right now that you know God's asked you not to do is a place you question His goodness. Every place you know God has asked you to do something, and you're unwilling to do it, is a place you question His goodness. Every place you're offended is a place you question His goodness. Every place you grumble is a place you're questioning His goodness. Every place you're anxious, depressed, afraid, controlling, that's a place where you question His goodness. 

Every place you say, "I'm holding on to my money and my time and my sexuality. I'll do with God all these other, not those." Okay. Just so you understand, you're just questioning His goodness there. I mean, literally, like late last night, the Lord showed me this, and I just thought, what was the original thing that God asked them not to do in the Garden? God asked them not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Knowledge of Good and Evil. They were in the Garden made by a good God and everything He made was very good. They walked with the glory of God. They saw the goodness of God with their own eyes, heard it with their own ears, experienced it with their own life, so they already had the knowledge of good. They already had the knowledge of good. They were never meant to have the knowledge of evil. 

You were never created to live with the knowledge of evil. You were created to live with only the knowledge of good because He is good. The moment they eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, what happens? They question the goodness of God. That is the first thing that happens. They hide from God. You only hide from someone you don't think is good. "Adam, what happened?" "The woman you put me here with did it." You didn't give me a very good woman, so you can't be good. "Eve, what happened?" "The serpent deceived me." The assignment you gave me to walk in victory over it was too hard, so you can't be good. Do you see it? 

Then, like Isaiah says, we become people that start to finding good is evil and evil is good. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Think about it like this. We sin, we fall short of the goodness of God. Every time we take our eyes off His goodness, the only thing that will happen is we will sin. Miss the mark. Fall short. Get off the way. Get off the good way on the bad way that leads to destruction. It's the weirdest thing. I don't know how to say this to you, but this whole week, man, I've been so weepy. Like, you could just look at me and my eyes would fill up with tears like every day this week. If you know me, you know that's not really like a normal response for me. 

I've just been thinking about how so many of us live so short of the goodness of God in our lives. But, how so many of us can quote these things, but then we go out and we live like He's not good. I've been thinking about what it costs us. What does it cost you to not live as though God was good? The worry, the fear, the stress, the anxiety, the selfishness, the greed, the brokenness, the pain that might feel like pleasure in the moment. But I promise you, three years down the road, that thing's coming back with a vengeance. It's like we say, "God is good," but then we live like the world is good. God is good, but I do all the world's ways, the world's thoughts, the world's attitudes, the world's opinions. Let the world define for me all the things. 

But, if God is good, it's got to change something, doesn't it? Do you think God is good? Do you believe He is good? If you're struggling with me saying I want you to just think about that this week, you're like, "Oh yeah, no, I… yeah, yeah; yeah, brother, I believe God is good." Okay, just stop for a second then. Like, I don't want to like, rock you, but here's what I then want you to… okay. Where in your life do you question His goodness? What would be different in your life if you really thought God was good? There is no way you have all the answers to that question, because if God is good, and He is the self-sufficient, self-existent, infinite one, then the most undiscovered, unexplored, lack of revelation, reality in all of creation is the goodness of God. 

You will never get to the end of discovering God's goodness. What if your life mission was, "I'm going to spend however many years I have on this earth, exploring and discovering and living and declaring the goodness of God." You say, "I've got no idea where to start." Take your Bible, open up to the Concordance, look at the word "good," just read all the verses. Don't even go to them. Just, most of the time, if you have a Concordance in your Bible, they will have like most of the verse there. Just read it. This is who God is. Look at Jesus. He is the image of the likeness of God. Last verse, "The son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being." Jesus radiates God's goodness. If God is good at being good, He's famous and known for being good, and Jesus is the radiance of God's glory or His goodness, then if you question or don't believe in or are struggling with the goodness of God, just go read the gospels. 

Look at Jesus; in His face is the knowledge of the glory of God. You won't find on one page a work of evil or darkness or mal-intent or lack of compassion or mercy from Jesus. Because He's good, so He can only say and do good. A lot more to say. I want to challenge you this week. Wrestle through that thought. Does your life support the thought or belief that God is good?

What would be different in your life if you actually believed it? Good Spirit, would you just work in us today? Would You show us Your glory in the face of Jesus? Holy Spirit, there are a lot of thoughts we have about You. Would You help us repent every place where we don't believe You're good? Come with Your tenderness and Your compassion and Your mercy and Your grace. 

Strip us down, Lord, to the core of who we are. If the core of who You are is good and we were created to live in the glory, the goodness of God, then strip us down to every place in us that doesn't believe or align or submit or surrender to Your goodness. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.