How bout them Duke Blue Devils baby!
God bless.
I. GOD IS THE STANDARD OF GOODNESS
How do you determine what is “good” … and what isn’t “good”? What is the STANDARD for “goodness”?
Read: Matthew 19:16-17
The Rich Young Ruler had everything money could buy … he was living the GOOD life. One day he comes to Jesus and asked him 19:16.
Jesus wants to teach him the STANDARD for “good” … 19:17a
The Rich Young Ruler didn’t know what “good” was. He thought it consisted of “good things”, “good circumstances”, “good feelings”. He even thought that being “good” would get him to Heaven (19:17b-20).
Anything that is GOOD, comes from God. If it’s not from God, it isn’t good. If something isn’t good, it didn’t come from God. It doesn’t matter how good it looks … how good it feels … how good it tastes … if it doesn’t come from God, it isn’t good. AND … if it isn’t good, it didn’t come from God.
BEETS didn’t come from God … BUT chocolate did! There will be no BEETS in Heaven! Adam & Eve had no BEETS in the Garden of Eden … they came after the fall of man … a result of the CURSE upon the earth! BEETS will be the main course in Hell … Heaven will be full of chocolate.
GOODNESS IS NOT DETERMINED BY EXPERIENCE, BUT BY ITS SOURCE.
Somebody might say: “How can God be good when thousands were killed in 9-11. I can’t believe in a God who would allow that.”
Let’s say you were right … and that God isn’t good … and that He really doesn’t exist. You’ve still got thousands of dead people. Getting rid of God didn’t solve your problem at all!
How do we answer the fact that God is good … yet bad things happen? ANSWER: If it isn’t good, then it didn’t have it’s source in God. YES, God is sovereign … He is in control. God ALLOWS bad things to happen for reasons that we don’t have a clue. BUT … God didn’t participate in their sin in any way, form or fashion. God is good!
Our problem is, we use the wrong STANDARD for “goodness” … we use OUR standard. OUR standard is: “Good” is whatever is “good” for me. We say: “I am the standard for GOOD”. GOD says: “I am the standard for GOOD.”
The PROOF of “goodness” isn’t in the EXPERIENCE … it’s in the SOURCE. Nobody likes to get a SHOT … but it’s GOOD for you. Dentist …. Surgery …
God’s GOODNESS doesn’t mean that BAD things won’t happen to you. We live in a bad, evil world. BUT … because God is GOOD, He can take the BAD things, and bring eternal GOOD out of them … IF … we let Him. Romans 8:28.
We always want to blame somebody for the BAD things that happen to us. God is always handy, so we blame Him a lot. “If there is a good God in Heaven, how could He let this happen?” What are we really saying when we blame God? We are REALLY saying: “Since God didn’t act the way I thought He should … He is either WRONG, BAD, or DOESN’T EXIST.” BUT, you can’t really be mad at a God you don’t believe really exists, can you?
See how foolish this is? Are you going to believe in God ONLY if He acts like you want Him to? You would be better off carving a god out of a piece of wood … or chipping one out of a rock. Are you going to form your opinion of God from how He acts IN RELATION TO how YOU would act if YOU were God? You would be better off worshipping YOURSELF … since you’re putting yourself on a higher level than God. You’re determining what is “good”. You’re setting the standard for what is “good”. NO! God sets the standard for “good”.
God is GOOD … ALL THE TIME! AMEN? It doesn’t matter what happens to you, it could have been worse.
Dr. W.T. Watson used to tell this story at Trinity College. “There was a preacher who, no matter what bad thing you said had happened to you, he had the habit of always saying ‘It could have been worse!’ One day a man in his church decided to put a stop to this and attempted to stump ..his Pastor at the door after the service. He told his Pastor, ‘I had a dream last night’, to which the Pastor replied ‘It could have been worse’. The man went on, ‘I dreamed I died’, to which the Pastor replied, “It could have been worse.’ ‘I dreamed I died and went to Hell’, the man stated. The Pastor replied, ‘It could have been worse.’ He thought he had the Pastor this time. ‘Pastor, what could be worse than dreaming you died and went to hell?’ The Pastor replied, “It could have been true!”
It doesn’t matter what happens to you … “It could have been worse.” Ain’t God GOOD to have not allowed it to be any worse? AMEN?
Romans 8:28 – all turn
I don’t always know what “good” God has in mind when He allows tragedy, heartache & disappointments to come into our lives. I don’t know … BUT … I don’t have to know. What happens in my life may not BE good … it might be tragic & terrible. Maybe I can’t see any purpose in it at all.
BUT … What does this verse say about what I am to “know”? I may not be able to SEE how it is working for good … or FEEL LIKE it is … or UNDERSTAND HOW it is working for good. BUT … I am to “know” that it is! I need to look at it from God’s perspective … not mine.
Don’t ever think that God’s GOODNESS means that bad things won’t ever happen to you. God is GOOD … BECAUSE … HE takes the BAD things that happen to you … and brings eternal GOOD out of them. I may never SEE the “good” that comes out of it … this side of Heaven. OR … I MAY. BUT … I can “know” that God means it for “good” … OR … He would never allow it to happen.
God knows what’s best. God has one up on us … He’s OMNISCIENT! You & I can only see things in the PRESENT tense lens … God sees things with the ETERNAL VIEW lens. God has a lots better view from Heaven than I do in Bell, Florida! What happens to you & me may not BE good … but it IS working together FOR good. AND … I can “know” that … when I put my faith & trust in a “good” God.
CONCLUSION:
Ain’t God good? God is good … all the time. That’s His nature … He HAS to be good. God has given you & I so much more than we DESERVE … AMEN? If we got what we DESERVE, we wouldn’t have driven to church in our fine automobile (“It could be worse!”). We wouldn’t have such fine clothes (“It could be worse!”). We could be in the finest hospital or the finest jail in Florida. We could be lost and bound for an eternity in the Lake of Fire.
Ain’t God good? AMEN?
We’ve gotten into the habit of saying: “THIS is good!” (A promotion, a raise, a gift, a pleasure in life, CHOCOLATE!) We should get into the habit … whenever something GOOD happens to us … instead of saying “This is good!” … saying “GOD is good!” AMEN?
How can you make God’s GOODNESS … REAL in your life?
o Don’t judge God by YOUR STANDARD of “goodness”.
o Don’t judge God by whether He does what YOU want Him to do.
o Don’t judge God by how YOU would run the universe if YOU were God.
God says: “When you start creating universes … and control the tides … and keep the planets in orbit … THEN I’ll come to YOU for advice … THEN I’ll let YOU determine what is “good”. IN THE MEANTIME, we need to trust in the GOODNESS of God.
Perrnoble.com
Seven Things That Leaders Should Never Apologize For September 30, 2009
#1 – Never Apologize For Dreaming Big!
We have a HUGE GOD who can do things that are absolutely MIND BLOWING…and if we focus on HIS POWER rather than our limitations we will always be willing to hear what He says and then do it…even though we don’t have all of our questions answered.
He’s God…He wants more for the church than we want for it…ask big!
#2 – Never Apologize For Your Passion!
I once had a guy tell me, “Dude, I think you would be more effective as a leader/communicator if you would just calm down a little.”
Here’s the problem…I can’t! Jeremiah 20:9 is my verse…Jesus began a fire inside of me on May 27, 1990…and it’s only gotten hotter.
You can be consumed with passion…or be content with being passive. One Jesus will use to change the world…the other the enemy will use to dull your soul.
#3 – Never Apologize For Wanting To Lead!
If you are called by God & gifted by God to lead…THEN LEAD! Here’s the deal…someone is going to make the decisions. Someone is going to call the shots…and if that is the call that God has put on your life then DO IT!
BTW…when you do this it IS going to make people mad. AND…if you can’t handle the fact that people ARE going to hate you simply because you try your best to listen to Jesus and then do what He says…you may not be called to lead!
#4 – Never Apologize For Not Embracing Someone Else’s Agenda!
You have got to understand that, as a leader, if you experience any level of success then other people will always want to attach themselves and their agenda to you. I often tell people, “your burden is not my passion!”
As a leader we are responsible for embracing God’s vision for our lives…not everyone else’s!
I am not saying everyone else’s idea is bad…or even wrong…it’s just that you can’t embrace something that God didn’t truly birth inside of you…and doing so will only lead to personal frustration and your organization trying to manufacture energy for something that they hate!
#5 – Never Apologize For Expecting The Best From Others!
Leaders cannot be afraid to set high standards…EVER! I believe it is WRONG to expect perfection from others…we’re all humans, we screw up! BUT…it isn’t wrong to expect others to give their best. (BTW…MOST of the time if people see the leader giving their best it will inspire them to do the same!)
#6 – Never Apologize For Wanting To Reach More People!
From time to time people will take a shot at me for wanting to see more people come to church…and…
I AM GUILTY AS CHARGED!
I can’t help it…the change in life that Jesus has brought about in me…I want as many people as possible to hear about it! I want as many people as possible to have their lives changed. I want as many people as possible to KNOW that they KNOW JESUS! I just don’t see anywhere in Scripture where that is a bad thing.
Don’t EVER apologize for embracing the fact that God has called us to RECONCILE (not REVILE) the world! (II Corinthians 5:16-21!)
#7 – Never Apologize For Saying “No” To What You KNOW You Need To Say “No” to!
One of the biggest frustrations I’ve ever had as a leader is when I commit “sins of obligation,” you know, when I do something because I feel like I have to rather than doing it because I truly feel led to do it because of the Holy Spirit’s leadership in my life.
Just because we have opportunities doesn’t mean we need to embrace them…because saying “yes” to everything often means we have to say “no” to the things that are REALLY important.
