Deuteronomy 30:19 New King James Version (NKJV)
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live
God has good plans for your life. You may not believe that but it’s what the Bible teaches! I was having a conversation with this person once who had many things going wrong in their life. Even though they are a believer, they weren’t seeking God at all. In his heart, he was far from Him. This individual was very angry at everything going wrong and I could easily see that the anger was directed towards God. I tried to encourage him saying, “I understand that you’re angry that things aren’t working out the way that you want them to work out but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles… bad things happen because we live in a fallen world and it’s not about what happens to you but how you respond!” This guy got even angrier and said, “well, the person who designed the cookie should have done a better job!” He was blaming God for his own bad decisions in life and for life just happening! Here’s the thing: your life right now is not God’s fault. Yes, the blessing of God is His fault and you cannot earn or deserve it, but your faith releases His grace! Your faith unlocks the flow of His goodness in your life. Your bad decisions are of your own choosing. God’s not controlling you and forcing you to make good decisions. He’s given you a free will and you need to learn to make good decisions; decisions in line with His will. We’re called co-labourers with Christ. What does that mean? We’re working together with him. He doesn’t work alone. If we run off and do our own thing it’s not going to be good, that’s why we need to work together with Him and choose to walk in the path of life!
John 10:10 New King James Version (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
You want the best for yourself and for your family and for your loved ones. It’s funny how we want the best for our loved ones but somehow believe that God doesn’t. So many people think that God kills, steals and destroys – but the Bible shows us that it is the enemy who does that! The first step towards experiencing a good year is believing that God wants you to have a good year and knowing that He is good. God’s will for you is that your life would be abundant; overflowing with His goodness, love, favour and blessing. Yeah, I know that sometimes things don’t always work out the way we may have hope for, you might be saying that you’re not seeing the promises of God manifest in your life. Just because your experience isn’t lining up with the Word doesn’t make the Word of God a lie. The word of God is true. Even though I’m not experiencing what God’s Word talks about, I will always default to saying that God’s word is true and I need to adjust something in my life if I am not seeing the results. I need to come into alignment with God’s word. Don’t let your experience define what you believe about the Word, let the Word define your experience.
Psalm 34:8 New King James Version (NKJV)
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
We need to be convinced that God is a good Father. If we are convinced that He’s a good father, then when something bad comes our way we’re not going to get angry at Him and wonder why He’s being mean, no! Instead, you’ll boldly declare, “I know that You’re good. This cannot be You!”
James 1:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
When we’re convinced of the goodness of God we will start to start to interpret life correctly. God only desires good things for you! Some weird, whacked religious people will interpret that to say something like, “sickness is sometimes a good thing.” That is not what I am saying; that is pure rubbish! Sickness is never good. If sickness were good there would be sickness in heaven but there is no sickness in heaven, and may God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). That should solve this matter altogether! Sickness is not good (ask any doctor) and therefore sickness is never God’s will for you.
Ephesians 3:20 New King James Version (NKJV)
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us
The second part of that verse is vital because it means that God’s power flows in proportion to the degree that the power is working in you. God cannot do the immeasurably more than you could ever ask, hope, imagine or think if there’s no power working within you. We’ve got a part to play in experiencing the goodness of God – we need to receive it by faith.
No matter what happens in life, make the goodness of God your default. Resolve that if it’s good, it’s God but if it’s bad, it’s the devil.