God is good all the time

For 22 years, I lived on the campus of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary which also happens to be the home of the LifeSongs radio station. Plastered across the banner of its website (lifesongs.com) are the words "God is good all the time."

When we say "God is good," what do we mean? One source I looked up defined the meaning as "morally excellent, extraordinarily beautiful, deeply glad, and extravagantly bountiful." While these are abundantly descriptive words, my thoughts on God's goodness are a little more simple: deeply caring, free from selfish motive, and action-oriented.

How do we know God is good? The Bible tells us over and over. Consider these scripture verses:

1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is GOOD; his love endures forever.

Psalm 100:5 "For the Lord is GOOD and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Psalm 34: 8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him."

Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble; He cares for those who trust in Him."

Have you ever heard someone say "It's all good"? I heard those words coming out of mouth several months after our Hurricane Katrina experience even though we were displaced from our home in New Orleans indefinitely and life was full of uncertainty. It just seemed like an easy way to sum up what was happening but truly it wasn't accurate. You see, someone would ask how we were doing and I was quick to brag on how God was providing for us in so many ways and I typically punctuated my comments with "it's all good." One friend, upon hearing me say that, responded, "Judi, it's NOT all good. Your home was flooded. You lost a lot of things you loved. That's not good. But God is good!"

You're right, my friend. All of that wasn't good but it got me to the place where I could say without doubt, "God is good."

Last week, before I had given any thought to this week's focus, I reflected about our Katrina experience on Facebook through the lens of last week's emphasis on the love of God:

Thirteen years ago, I never questioned God's love, even as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina flooded my home, my community, and my world as I knew it at the time. It was hard -- really hard -- to walk through those days and weeks and months displaced from NOLA. But today, more than ever, I am in awe of the people who stepped up as the hands and feet of Jesus in our lives. "I would have despaired unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps. 27:13) I saw God's goodness in the faces of a family who gave us a place to stay for five weeks; in the church and individuals who filled a gift registry wish-list to stock our new home; in gift cards and checks that came at 'just the right time' to remind us that God would supply our every need. God's goodness didn't spare us from an horrific natural disaster but His goodness gave us hope for what would come from it.

We were banking on His character ... the goodness in His character. He can't not be good!

On page 47 in In His Image, Jen Wilkin described God as ...

• "infinitely good" -- we can't know all of his goodness ... just what we see and experience and yet he's more good than all of this. I am reminded of how a young mom with a special needs child described her response to the words of the bridge in the song "Good Good Father" by Chris Tomlin. "You are perfect in all of your ways." She said, "I struggled with this because of my child and the challenges that come with his condition. I finally had to lay down my perception that God had made a mistake. Instead, if I say he's perfect in ALL of his ways, then this includes my child." Her honesty in this journey was (and is) inspiring because we all have to process our disappointments in life with the truth that God is "infinitely good."

• "immutably good" -- meaning, unchangingly good. "His goodness undergoes no increase or decline, nor does it waver. In him there is no darkness at all, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be. He is good and he goes good. There is no better version of him to come, no progress from good to better to best for him. God's goodness is his utter benevolence, the complete absence of malice. God does not, cannot, and need not improve with age. He is as good as he has been or will ever be. Perfectly good. Utterly good" (47).

What a source of security and encouragement! God will always be good. His character does not change.

Perhaps this promise is what boosted Anne Graham Lotz (one of Billy Graham's daughters) when she recently received a diagnosis of breast cancer three years to the day after her husband drowned. Instead of being devastated, Anne has chosen a very different perspective.

What fuel has the Refiner added to the fire as He works to reveal Jesus in and through you? He has recently stoked the fire under me! I'm encouraged when I remember that when a refiner purifies gold, he melts it in a pot over the fire. He keeps turning up the heat until the dross, or impurities, rise to the surface. He then bends over the gold to skim off the dross, and continues doing so, until he can see his face reflected in the surface of the gold. (Latest from Anne, accessed 9/5/2018)

Anne Graham Lotz is choosing not to despair but to cling to God's goodness, to hope in the Lord.

Goodness is not in our character. Any goodness in us comes from God ... as he grows us in the Refiner's fire.

And like his holiness and his love, God does not make us play hide-and-seek until we find figure out his goodness. In Psalm 119:68, we read, "You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees." We can look to God as the perfect role model of goodness and how to do good things.

And just as we are called to love as God loves us, I believe we are called to "do good" just as God does good in our lives!

Recently I was listening to a podcast featuring Dana Spinola, creator and CEO of the store fab'rik. While she has an impressive back story for starting her business, what really caught my attention was what happened after God got a-hold of her heart on a mission trip to Haiti. She changed her business motto to "High Style with Heart" and felt like she couldn't continue with business as usual. While she still oversees the business in her boutiques (40 stores in 10-11 states), she also created "free fab'rik," a styling experience for women transitioning from sex trafficking (funded by donation, run by volunteers). Check it out at http://www.freefabrik.org/. Dana also takes her different staff members on mission trips to Africa (where she adopted her daughter Asher in Ethiopia). Truly Dana is set on doing good even as God is doing good in her life.

Another example of doing good is in our book on pages 51-52. Did you read about Osceola McCarty? She quit school after sixth grade and, from then on, helped her family by washing and ironing clothes for people in her Hattiesburg, MS community. "In 1995, at the age of 86, she contacted the University of Southern Mississippi to let them know she would be donating a portion of her life savings to fund scholarships for African-American students to receive the education she had missed -- a sum of $150,000." WHAT? Jen Wilkin pointed out that "Osceola McCarty, child of poverty and child of God, wanted to do good, and generously so.... Those who know good awaits them in heaven can afford to be generous on earth."

Note that Dana and Osceola have followed God's leading in goodness. They responded to God's touch on their lives. They've done good and been recognized for it in a positive way.

But if we reflect on Jesus' time on earth, we know that Jesus, the ultimate do-gooder, was not only NOT recognized in a positive way, he was put to death!

"He went about doing good. . . . They put him to death by hanging him on a tree" (Acts 10:38-39). Peter's words to the Gentiles about how evil responds to good instruct us. If we are to walk in the light as he is in the light, we will strive to be good and do good, and we should prepare to be treated as he was treated. There is no room among the children of God for any goodness aimed at securing favor with God or others. Only a goodness aimed at expressing our gratitude to a good God will do. (53)

And finally, take a look at Galatians 6:9-10. Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

What are our take-aways from these verses?

• Don't become weary in doing good. It takes time and effort! Sometimes MUCH time and MUCH effort.
• A harvest is coming IF we don't give up! We're up against "internal resistance" and "resistance of others."
• Do good to ALL people (remember my story about serving the homeless? ALL people!).
• And especially to those who in family of believers! My friend Courtney Veasey uses the analogy of a water sprinkler ... we get so set on doing good to others and take for granted our family of believers. The grass under the sprinkler needs watering too!

So, "what is the will of God for your life? That you would be good as he is good. That generosity would be your first impulse in the morning and your last thought at night. That you would walk in the light as he is in the light. There is no darkness in him and no room for it in us." (54)

What's your favorite rom-com?

Romantic comedies ... everybody loves 'em. Well, maybe not everybody (my husband much prefers westerns and James Bond!) So what's your favorite rom-com? "Sleepless in Seattle"? "You've Got Mail"? The author of our book mentioned that "Titantic" was the number one grossing romantic drama of all time (at least so far). Jen Wilkin then compared Jack and Rose's lusty love story to a couple in Dallas, Texas that, at the writing of the book, was celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. Talk about lasting love. Curious, I goggled their names -- Jack and Lucille Cannon -- and found the news story featuring their celebration: click here for a sweet story about a couple in their 90s whose love hasn't been sensational, just steady and supportive.

Ah, love, so complicated and multi-faceted. We look for examples around us but everyone else's love story seems better than ours. OR we confuse "love" for warm feelings and wonder why we don't "feel" fulfilled.

I'm so thankful we have God's Word and Jesus' example to help clear away the fog of what love truly is.

Like, Love, or Lust

Part of the issue with understanding love is that we have just one word in the English language for LOVE but, in the Greek, there are at least 4 (yep, take a minute to google and you may find more!).

Eros: romantic, sensual, even sexual love (think 'erotic')

Philia (or phileo): brotherly, affectionate love; feelings; bonds formed through shared experience (used 54 times in the NT)

Storge:Parent's love for child

Agape: Selfless, unconditional love; "act of the will;" a love that acts; choosing; intellect; looking out for the interests of the one being loved (Rom. 5:8; John 13:35); used 259 times in the NT ... remember the importance of repetition from last week? Yep, this should get our attention!

This week's chapter we're looking at in In His Image is "God Most Loving." Our challenge is the call to obedience in this. In keeping with our overarching questions: "What is the will of God in your life" related to THIS characteristic? "To love as you have been loved" (42).

How Are We Going to Get There?

Let's start by thinking through this quote from p. 38:

Unless we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will love ourselves and our neighbors inadequately. RIGHT LOVE of GOD is what enables right love of self and others."

God is LOVE. It is WHO He is. Remember last week? Nothing you can do can make Him stop loving you. Nothing you can do can make Him love you more. Jesus loves you (sing through the first verse and chorus to remind yourself:  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.)

The question really comes down to DO YOU LOVE HIM RIGHTLY? Sure, we've been commanded to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but do you? Is there evidence in your life ...

• not just the cross around your neck
• what about the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?
• what about holy living?
• what about holy talking?

Is He "rubbing off" on you?

Also on p. 38, Jen Wilkin writes,

A deficit in our love of neighbor always points to a deficit in our love of God. We must first focus on loving God rightly.

This reminds me of John's words in 1 John 4:7-8:

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

John's words are very direct ... he cuts to the chase ... God loves us so we need to love one another. You don't love? Then perhaps you don't know God! Ouch!

But, John, you don't know my challenges and my difficult person ....

Jen Wilkin addresses this on p. 42:

"If love is an act of the will -- not motivated by need, not measuring worth, not requiring reciprocity -- then there is no such category as unlovable."

Let that sink in and then remember Rom. 5:8 again: While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were STILL unlovable ... self-centered ... not caring about Him or His Word, He died for us. He 'agaped' us ... dying was an "act of His will" ... He chose to be our sacrifice so that we could be restored to relationship with God His Father!

1 Corinthians 13: The Love Chapter
Since we're exploring what it's going to take for us "to love as we have been loved," it's important that we take a trip to 1 Corinthians 13 to be reminded of the Apostle Paul's definition of love ... what  it is and what it's not. And lest we get distracted by his poetic words and forget that he's writing this letter to a church that's needing a course correction due to big heads and worldly influence, remember that chapter 13 falls right in the middle of Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts. He's emphasizing in a number of ways that LOVE, not spiritual gifts, is what's most important.

Take a minute to read the chapter ... maybe even outloud. (Click here for the NIV.)

Did you hear it? Love is more important than speaking well, prophesying well, or giving well. All of these gifts are good but, if done without love, you're wasting your time because it's not pointing people to Jesus. Of course, this makes me wonder how this translates to what I do on a regular basis -- both in academics and at church. Am I teaching in love? Here's how Jim Fowler put it:

1 Corinthians 13 for Teachers ¹ If I teach with the best educational techniques, and provide stimulating and motivational lessons, but have not love, I am but a time-wasting information processor. ² If I spend hours preparing my lesson plans with the clearest instructional objectives, but have not love, I am just an over-organized ideologue. ³ If I utilize the most eye-catching visual aids and the latest classroom technology, but have not love, I am just a high-tech visionary. ⁴ A loving teacher is kind and patient with every student, regards each student as an important individual, and treats their personal problems with confidence.
 ⁵ A loving teacher does not merely talk at, but relates to, the students, and provides a exemplary model of life to those in the classroom.
 ⁶ A teacher’s love is not condescending, does not play favorites,does not gossip, does not publicly humiliate, is not easily agitated or discouraged, and does not blow-up or give-up on misbehaving students. ^7-8a A teacher’s love bears the responsibility of instruction, believes that student’s minds should not be wasted, hopes that every student will achieve their potential, and endures all disturbances in the process. ^8b-12 The latest text-books will soon be out-of-date. Contemporary teaching methods will become outmoded. Educational technology is obsolete before we know it, but a loving teacher can affect a student’s life forever.
 ¹³ Now abideth preparation, instruction, and love. But the greatest of these is a teacher’s love that seeks the highest good of the students.

I'd encourage you to try this yourself with your vocation or hobby or volunteer service ... consider what it is you do, what it comes across as without love, what love is -- and is not -- in this context, and so on. You can use the template below if it helps:

¹ If I _____________________________________________ but do not have love, I am only ____________________________________________________________________________.

² If I _____________________________________________ and if I ___________________ ___________________________, but have not love, I am just ________________________.

³ If I _____________________________________________ and _____________________ ________________________, but have not love, I am just __________________________.

^4-5 In my setting, love is _______________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________.

⁶ In my setting, love is not _____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

⁷ In my setting, love always ____________________________________________________.

^8-12 ________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

¹³ And now these three remain, ____________________, ___________________________,

and love. But the greatest of these is love.

One Last Thing

Before I wrap up this week, I want to go back to a quote on page 40 in In His Image that really grabbed my attention:

When God acts in ways we perceive to be unloving, the problem is not with HIS actions but with OUR limited perspective.

As we're challenged to love others as we are loved, we're taken back to the reminder that our love for others hinges on how we love Him. So, in light of this quote, it begs the following questions:

• Do you trust Him enough to love Him?
• Do you love Him enough to trust Him?

In review, as we consider what God's will is for our lives -- or in keeping with the premise of this book of reflecting the image of the One who created us -- we have learned that we are to be holy as God is holy AND to love as we have been loved.

That'll keep us busy for this week!