The Living Goodness of God - David Mitts

⁴Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4 (NKJV))

We are created for a treasure; the treasure is called the goodness of God. 

²¹“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 (NKJV))

It is this treasure, which makes our lives transform from the lower life into the realms of being truly human and truly alive.  Yeshua spoke of this transformation in terms of losing our lower life in order to receive eternal life.

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²⁵“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25 (NKJV))

Earthly life: outer form, hole inside.versus

God’s goodness:different form and complete.

The power of eternal life, is a treasure given from heaven called the “Goodness” of God.  It is a powerful magnet that draws us to Him.  It is true food and true drink for our eternal spirit.

³¹In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” ³²But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” ³³Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” ³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. (John 4:31-34 (NKJV))

We are created to eat and drink of His goodness!!  His goodness is the tangible stuff of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It is NOT of this earth and cannot be manufactured in this dimension.  It is the stuff of eternity, the true reality.

It was manifested to the Children of Israel in the desert as manna.  Even though manna was NOT the goodness itself, listen to results it produced:

³“So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. ⁴“Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (Deuteronomy 8:3-4 (NKJV))

Manna which is connected to the Word of God kept Israel from disease and clothing wearing out.  This is a picture of eternal life coming from the goodness of God.  Gods goodness transforms our reality from one bound to this physical realm, with its food sources that bring, at best, limited benefits, to eternal life sources which make our being resonate.

When we learn to receive His Goodness, we bring a reality to our lives that is of His realm , thoughts and feelings that are His realm.

The Scriptures speak of this as the mind of Christ.

[14] But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. [15] But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. [16] For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NASB)

This means we know things and feel things that are spiritually available to us. Like what? Marriage covenant.  Caring for the sanctity of our body.  Emotional purity. Compassion for the lost. Healing for the sick. Faith.

Turn with me now to Psalm 107:

¹ Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever. (Psalms 107:1 (NKJV))

The actual Hebrew says “Give a hand to Yahweh, out of eternity is chesed, loving-kindness. 

Chesed: This word is translated as mercy of loving-kindness.  The Hebrew word is made up of 3 letters, the Chet, the samech, and the dalet.  Dalet means door, Samech is the picture of a circle, signifying eternity and chet is the word picture for a gate, or a hedge around something, like a pen or a shepherd’s protected area.  So, chesed is that which opens the door into eternity providing a shelter or an enclosure of safety.  Now, why is this mercy??  Mercy implies something undeserved. In our word of cause and effect, we feel unworthy of love.  We know that we have been selfish and have acted as we saw fit often without thinking of others.  We are starving for another reality that is NOT of our origin.  This is chesed.  God’s goodness wants to draw us to an eternal source of kindness, of mercy that transforms us in how we think and feel. Let’s continue in Psalm 107:2-7

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,

³And gathered out of the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;

They found no city to dwell in.

⁵Hungry and thirsty,

Their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷And He led them forth by the right way,

That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. (Psalms 107:2-7 (NKJV))

The redeemed are those who have said “YES” to His invitation to trust Him.  That is redemption!  He takes us when we feel like lost wanderers hungry to find a sense of home.  He gives us a reason for living, a “right way” and brings us to a destiny.

⁸Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For He satisfies the longing soul,

And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

¹⁰Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Bound in affliction and irons—

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God,

And despised the counsel of the Most High,

¹²Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;

They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

And broke their chains in pieces.

¹⁵Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For He has broken the gates of bronze,

And cut the bars of iron in two.

¹⁷Fools, because of their transgression,

And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

¹⁸Their soul abhorred all manner of food,

And they drew near to the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses. (Psalms 107:8-19 (NKJV))

Do you hear the cry of the Psalmist?  If we will cry out in our trouble, He will release from eternity, goodness.  We have only to trust Him!!

The Psalm continues but I want to step out of it for a minute and ask a question:  Have we traded true food and drink for junk food?  What happens when we satisfy our hunger or thirst with junk food?  It takes away our appetite for a little while but then what?? We feel empty because.. you can never get enough of what you don’t really need.

God’s goodness is here today.  He wants us to taste and see that He is good.

⁸Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! (Psalms 34:8 (NKJV))

If we open our heart and trust Him, He will release blessing into our lives, the blessing of true goodness that makes all of our life special and alive with love.