How to enjoy the goodness of God in your life

How to enjoy the goodness of God in your life

I decided to write these two articles because, for Americans, we are getting ready to enter the busiest part of the year. Parties, functions, family gatherings, in-laws, and spending time with family that may be hard to love. I want to encourage us all in two points that will help us enjoy the goodness of God in our lives during this time of the year, and I hope that these two principles can be taken into the rest of your lives.

1.      Finding worth in what Christ has done will change why you do what you do.

You will still be in hard situations at times, but your reason for being there can change. When you realize that your entire life is just to be an ambassador for Christ, a perspective shift takes place.

You no longer have to win arguments; Christ has overcome the grave. He gives you the ability to be consistent when you are moral, logical, and rational. This gives you a real ability to rest. You don’t have to impress anyone, you are just a child who is loved by His heavenly Father.

Many who read my articles feel inadequate to share their faith in Christ. I want to share three points from Christ's life that will change that forever. What Christ has done and given will change your view of your self-imposed inadequacies. It will change your motivation to share the Gospel.

A.     Christ gave His life and all we have

I am the good shepherd. John 10:11A

As we examine the text, we see the title of Shepherd. The number one task of a Shepherd is to take care of what is his. He knows their needs, and he makes sure that they have what they need for them to thrive. The Good Shepherd knew the most important thing we needed to thrive as humans was to have a way back to our Creator, so that we could dwell with Him once again.

People so easily forget that, to thrive, we have to go back to our source. This is the business of life. We complicate things with all of our doing and stuff.  What did He give Adam and Eve in the beginning? Himself.  Yes, they got the garden and the animals, but the prized gift over all the other stuff is a relationship with the God of all creation. If God is the ultimate gift not given from either ego or ulterior motive, but from a necessity to understand the purpose of life. Once this is comprehended, it changes how we view everything we do. God has given us the ultimate good- Himself. We have to share with those who don’t know this truth.    

B.     Christ gave his life so we could have true life

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11B

This is why He laid down His life. Never get over this! He laid His life so that we could have continual communion (fellowship) with Him. This perspective shift changes everything. Our motivation to share the Gospel should be to give people the ultimate source of good- God.

When Jesus laid down His life, He knew He would provide His sheep with the way back to the ultimate good. This is awesome! The shepherd knew what his sheep needed to thrive. Now that we have access to God, we should have a deep desire for others to come into this rest, peace, and this all-encompassing relationship with their creator God.

I know. I understand. All these words I have written may be nicely placed and ordered, but how is this going to help you when you go to Thanksgiving and engage with loved ones who don’t like Christianity and the God that gave it, or how is this going to help you with those who say they are Christian? Still, their lives are a million miles away from what it means to follow Christ. God has given us an answer.    

C.    Christ gave the Spirit to empower us for every task and to lead unbelievers home

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

The answer is His Spirit. We notice four things about the Spirit in these verses. One, He is a helper. Two, He will be with us forever. Three, He is the truth. Four, the world does not have knowledge of Him, but we do, and He dwells in us.

The Spirit of God will be your forever helper. This does not mean that we don’t study, train, and work hard to be prepared; however, at the end of the day, it is up to the Spirit to bring to remembrance what we need at the moment of need.

I want to share a quick story to show how God can help. I was in a four-way conversation with students who wanted to debate aggressively, and this one student did not want to state what he believed. I did not really push to find out what he believed because I was talking to many people at once. I just began – as he talked- to pray for him and that the Lord would open his eyes and that the Spirit would work.

I don’t think the conversation went very well, but I did the most important things I think any of us could do at that moment. I prayed, and I gave him the truth.

He is an example of the world. He did not receive the truth at that moment. I looked at everyone around me and said, “It is all about God revealing His special revelation to you.” I rested in that, giving what they needed at the time. After Zack left —that is, one of the young men who wanted to debate — a believer who was listening came up and thanked me for representing our Lord.

The Spirit of truth dwelt in this young man, and he knew what I was saying was true. The most encouraging thing is that, as we all pray for Zack, he could be on his campus sharing the gospel this time next year if the Spirit of God works with the truth that was given. The Spirit empowers us, and it is in that that we should find our rest. See, Zack and I came into the conversation with two completely different motives.  

D.    Our motivations go from winning arguments to wanting to see people come home and find the rest that you have     

Zack came into the conversation to make me look foolish. I entered the conversation to help him build a relationship with God, who sustains and gives him life. Zack was depending on himself and the knowledge of mankind. I was depending upon God and His manifold revelation to mankind through general and special revelation. 

There is no situation you find yourself in that has caught God by surprise, so you can learn to mentally rest in whatever situation you are in. My error was never leaning in to make him reveal what he believed about God and what happens after we die. I let him attack the Christian faith without getting him to look at his beliefs.

It is impossible to have a conversation with four people simultaneously. Stay focused on one conversation at a time. However, I had a good reminder of what not to do, so learn from my mistake. I am having to apply what I am challenging you to do. Rest in the spirit of truth and knowing Him. He will reveal Himself to those who belong to Him in due time. This is what will help us to understand and enjoy God.

2.      How are you enjoying the goodness of God in your life?

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

I have walked with God long enough to pass that jewel of advice on to you. Trust that God’s will is always being done and His Spirit of truth is always at work. You don’t always need the perfect presentation. You need to have a relationship and communion with the God of all truth. You can enjoy consistent communion with this God.

I my previous article, which I wrote last year, I talked about the essentials of having a meaningful life. Nevertheless, I did not speak about enjoying the goodness of God.

How can we enjoy the goodness of God 24/7? Here is the answer: knowing that He will never leave us—end of the article. Nah, not quit. Look at the text above His Spirit came to us. He did not leave us as orphans without parents or a family to call our own. He is our King, and He is advancing His kingdom through us.

You don’t have to impress Him- He loves you despite all of your imperfections, shortcomings, and habits. He wants you to dwell with Him and have a day-to-day, deeper relationship with Him. Take a moment, if you are a Christian, and take that in. God loves you. He died for you to have an abiding relationship with the King of all creation. This should slow you down, steady your pace, and consistently calm your soul.

 You don’t have to do everything. You are loved. You are not trying to impress anyone. You have an ongoing relationship with Jesus. Steady is fast, and busy is slow. Seek to cultivate this type of living and thinking in your life. It will calm your soul.

I do a lot of things in life. I do not list them here to boast. I am a Master Student, I operate a Non-Profit, I have a teaching ministry inside of the non-profit, I am a husband to a fantastic wife and father to three amazing young women, I am an author, I operate a Farm and Small business, I have a YouTube channel, and I have two podcasts that I record and produce. I also love being outside in nature, learning to play the bass, and working out.

How do I do it all and stay healthy? I rest in God’s Spirit of truth. I surround myself with good people. I have learned that steady is fast and being busy slows me down. God gives us time for everything that needs to be done. If we find our rest in Him is when we become productive. It sounds like the opposite of what a person should do to get things done is rest, but it is true.   

Everything that we need to do, He gives us adequate time for. The question is, are we doing our will, or are we seeking God’s will? This is why it is so essential that we slow down to be productive.

When we slow down and take inventory of what we are doing, we begin to filter out the clutter of busyness. We begin by prioritizing what God will do with laser point precision. We learn to rest and not freak out when the day's to-do list does not get done. The relationships around us are valued almost as vital as your relationship with your Savior.

So you are getting ready, just like me, to enter a hectic season of the year. Take time this year to slow down, work on abiding in your Savior, trust the Spirit of truth is at work in you and through you, take inventory of stuff you may need to cut out of your life, become a steady person because that will make you fast, and know that busyness is really slowing you down. It is when we slow down that we understand how to depend upon God. It is in slowing down that you begin to learn to maintain a steady pace in life, which helps you cultivate and understand the goodness of God.  

Until next month, go out and share and proclaim the Gospel to see a life transformed because the truth worth sharing is the truth that transforms.