Is God Good All The Time?

Hey guys, so i was thinking about what to write a blog on and during the week something really prompted me to write it on the goodness of God.
I want to start off with this, God is good all the time!

I think that is really important!

If you walked into a church and asked if God is good, most christians would say yes. Now here comes the challenge, if they were sick and you asked them if God was good and they said yes God is allowing my suffering to make me a better person then that is not saying God is good. It is the devil who comes to kill, steal and destroy, God and the devil have not changed jobs. We need to make sure we don't have a too big view of the devil and a too little view of God. God is so extremely good and God does not punish. He is good because he brings mercy to us, not pain and troubles. God is for us and not against us!

God does not lack anything, he is perfect and good, the fault is with us. We do not understand his goodness and use the excuse that God is testing us in our suffering and our tough situations. That is not true, that says God is not good when he is extremely good!

In the bible Jesus healed everyone who came to him. He never turned them away saying that God is using their troubles to make them a better person. He healed ALL who came to him.

I read a book called 'The Shack' a while ago (if you have not read it then read it!) and i'll just share a few things that are written.

- God said, 'There are millions of reasons to allow pain, hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them but most of those reasons can only be understood with each persons story. I am not evil! You are the ones who embrace fear and pain and power and rights so readily in your relationships. Your choices are also not stronger than my purposes and i will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome.

- God said, 'The real underlying flaw in your life, is that you don't think that i am good. If you knew i was good and that everything is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what i am doing, you would trust me.

- God said, ' Just because i work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies does not mean i orchestrate the tragedies. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace.

God does not inflict pain, hurt, sickness and disease, that comes form the devil. God is good and therefore he only does good, it is who he is, he is good! It says in these verses how good God is...

Psalm 34v4
Taste and see that i am good, blessed are those who take refuge in him.

Romans 8v28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.

Mark 10v18
'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good except God alone.'

Psalm 143v10
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God, your spirit is good.

God is good all the time and we need to praise him all the time.

Malachi 3v10
'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this.' Says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if i will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Challenge Gods goodness!

Hope this has helped!
Gilbo.

Help I'm Lost, Where Is God's will?

By Demelza

At Life Group the other day, we were invited to write down a question that we had about God, and then those that wanted to could choose somebody else’s question to try and answer in a blog.

The question I chose was actually something that had been on my heart for a while: “Why is it that I don't know where I am going? I try and pray and ask for direction, but unlike everyone around me, I can't seem to get a response. Why am I failing?”

This reminded me strongly of a preach by Andrew Wilson – probably one of the best preaches I’ve ever heard. He talked about a football match (forgive me for forgetting the exact details – not a football fan I’m afraid!) where in the first half of the match, Liverpool were losing quite badly to Manchester United – they were 3-0 down, and apparently there’s not much hope of recovering from that. When it came to half time, Liverpool fans were gutted. Shockingly, one fan was so upset he killed himself during half time, without even knowing the ending. That guy was so sure that everything was over, that without waiting until the end of the match, he ended his life. Incredibly, Liverpool ended up winning the match through penalty points. How sad that that man had based his own happiness on a match he thought he knew the ending of, but didn’t.

Andrew Wilson said that watching that match at the time was painful and tense, but now, knowing the ending, he can watch that awful first half again knowing that in the end, everything would be alright.

Though there is sadness, loss and confusion in our everyday lives, we don’t have to worry about the future because not only do we know the end of the story we also know that we have a God who is guiding us through our lives, even though it sometimes feels as if he’s not there.

Earlier this year, that’s exactly how I felt: like God was giving other people direction and had forgotten me. The way I got through it was to P.U.S.H – Pray Until Something Happens. We have an amazing God who loves us so much, who wants us to come to Him and tell Him how we feel. I also limited my music to just Christian music until my head was sorted out and I knew I was right with God. I’d really recommend doing these things as well as reading the Bible and talking/praying with a youth leader when you feel this way.

With regards to failing, the point is simple, even though it doesn’t always feel it: if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? I found this verse really helpful during my exams:
“For if their purpose or activity if of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38)

Other verses I turn to when I’m feeling lost:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)

God bless  xx

Why does God change our plans?

In our last life group of the year we had a prayer workshop session and one of the stations was the ‘Wonder Wall’ where we could anonymously write a question down that we had about God, the Bible, our Faith, etc... We decided (under the suggestion of Jez, who’s clearly trying to get out of writing all the summer blogs!) to try and take a question each and research and learn the answer the best we could about that question. So... here is mine:

“Why does God suddenly change our plans causing us hurt?”

I’m going to start by flipping the question slightly... Does God really suddenly change our plan or is it that this was the plan all along and it’s just that we are not ‘all knowing’ like he is that we feel it has all been suddenly changed and that our world has turned upside down? I want to pick out the word ‘our’. If we are in Christ Jesus and saved under HIS grace and are therefore living for HIM. Is our plan really the plan we want to follow? Should we not be seeking and listening out for God to tell us His plan for us over our lives?
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Maybe this is what you meant, and I’m annoying you know by being picky over wordage – if this is the case I do apologise! So putting the emphasis back to God changing the current plan or direction of our lives: Well from what I’ve heard God he is all knowing (as mentioned above) which means he completely understands and sympathises, even empathises with our situation. Remember that God too has endured suffering – I mean look what he did for us on the cross. He endured the pain of carrying rough splintered wood at least twice the height of himself for miles, a sharp interwoven crown of blood thirsty thorns hard pushed upon his head and long rusty nails being driven into his hands and feet, before finally enduring death. This was all for things that weren’t and aren’t even his fault! But for the nation that he loves and forgives in His prefect grace. So Jesus knows about suffering; he even prayed that it would be taken away from him, much like we do: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me...” Luke 22:42 and he cried out to God: “...my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matt 27:46. So it’s ok to be hurt and confused and cry out to God - he himself did!
!)

I honestly believe that God’s plan for us never changes: “In him we were...chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him...” Ephesians 1:11 It says so in the bible – and you don’t argue with the bible! - “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true...”2 Tim 3:16. Ephesians 1:11(above) literally says that God has chosen us and when he did so, he already had a plan for our whole life- so he won’t change it! If it’s predestined by God, we will end up doing it! And don’t worry, it will always be something to demonstrate His goodness and that is suited to you, because he knows your character better than anyone. For example, he won’t make you become a preacher if you are more suited to evangelise in your workplace, nor will he send you on a road of suffering.

Things hurt and we can feel distant from God because we as a human race brought sin into the world. That’s not to say God will specifically punish you for your specific wrongs and praise you for your specific rights (that would be karma – which we don’t believe in as Christians!) It’s just that bad things are a result of sin, so they will happen whether you are the best person in the world or the worst. These things can bring us away from God but never so far that he doesn’t pull us back again. Maybe you change, a situation changes, or an opportunity comes up etc and it sends you wavering off track for a bit, but God knows you, so he knows this is going to happen and he’s already worked out a way to bring you back again. This could be a dramatic change that confuses and even hurts us at the time, but I’ve always found God in these situations when looking back. It’s all part of His plan and he can see the bigger picture, unlike us who are stuck with our magnified ‘me and my world’ view. Not because we are selfish, it’s just the only world we really have a true understanding for.
So to conclude, all I can really say is God’s plan is always and has always been mapped out for you. Jesus said “...I am the way, and the truth, and the life...” John 14:6 but Various things can cause us to waver from the plan (both things that are specifically our fault and completely not our fault) and they can hurt. Alot. They hurt because we have emotions and we have emotions because “God created man in His own image...” Genesis 1:27, and God is full of emotions and feeling. The best we can do is try and keep on track with what Gods plan is for us and the way we can do that is to keep asking and seeking His way, His name and His direction. I therefore challenge you: how on track are you with God’s plan for you? Pray for Him to reveal more about what it is, but also pray about the things that hurt. It’s ok to feel like that and I pray that he will comfort you and bring you great joy and peace over the situation.