Always good!

Thursday, October 30, 2014 (7:00 a.m.)

Awesome, Holy God,

You are good. Always good. Thank You that we have this as the basis for our hope. Circumstances change. Your Truth does not. Thank You.

Thank You that I get to come before You. I have ready access to Your Word. How very grateful I am to You that as I read Your promises, as well as the warnings that accompany many of them, I find myself smiling. Smiling because even here I am reminded that You are good. Always good!

I love that I get excited when I read Your Word. The hope that bubbles up inside is hard to contain. I nod my head, all the while wanting to shout the potential for Your joy out for others to hear.

Then of course, I silence myself. I might be wrong. Someone might disagree. Change this in me Father I pray. Just as easily as I reach for the tissue to wipe the tears in my eyes, truly I reach for You.

It's in Deuteronomy that I am again reading this morning. Somehow it all seems brand new. Fresh. Exciting. And hopeful. So incredibly hopeful! Thank You Father.

Thank You that we get to look to You. Come before You exactly as we are. Without pretense. Flawed. And yet You love us. Truly. Fully. Without reservation.

Under Values today (p.121) Illustrated Bible Handbook explains, “While we no longer live under the law covenant... the deep expressions of love, and the obedience that love motivates, are the same for us today.”

Quoting here from a Theology in Brief about Law in the New Testament, “What does the Bible put in place of law as the Christian's guide to holy living? Jesus said it when He promised His disciples the Spirit: 'He will guide you into all truth' (John 16:13)... Laws may tell us how to behave. But only God's Spirit can make the loving kind of life law describes a spontaneous expression of a personality which God is reshaping from within.”

And this I know to be true! I see You working in us. Every single day there are situations that present themselves and we are responding to them differently than ever before.

We are currently a living example of what The Life Recovery Bible claims is the PURPOSE of Deuteronomy, “To assist God's people as they live in the present by reviewing what God has done in the past and considering what God has promised to do in the future.”

Reading the final paragraph of the introduction to this amazing book, again I am filled with such a huge degree of peaceful, joy filled hope. “Rebuilding a broken life is serious business. In Deuteronomy, God gives that subject His full attention. He gives us essential guidelines for God's plan of victory. He shows how we can gain direction from the past, guidance for the present, and hope for the future. Deuteronomy is a handbook for rebuilders.”

And what is the firm foundation of this hope? The Truth that You are good. Always good! Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. I love You. Use me well this day. Thank You. Amen.

(529 words ~ 8:46 a.m.)