Good day
What I believe the Holy Spirit wants to share today is for us to not only know, but believe, that God is good.
I recently sent out emails about being at peace and believing in the goodness of God, and also about how the foundation we have is the love, goodness and mercy of God, but for today's message I want to emphasize that it's not just enough to know (by means of understanding only) that God is good, we have to believe it as well.
For example, it's not enough for someone to know about Jesus, they have to believe in Him as well. It's like if someone was to explain everything they knew about Him, were able to recite His teachings or refer to passages in the Bible about Him, etc. but then never actually placed their faith in Him for their salvation, their knowledge of Him actually counted for nothing, so knowledge in and of itself is one thing but knowledge without believing doesn't count for anything.
The below passage tells us that we must believe in the goodness of God:
Psalms 27:13-14
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
Another example found in the below passage says that we must come to know - and believe - the love God has for us.
1 John 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Bible is filled with examples of how God is a provider, that He cares, that He loves, that He honours His word and His covenant ... All of these examples serve as an encouragement for us to place our trust in Him but unless we believe that God is good, and that He is good towards us, we'll never get to fully experience His covenant in our lives ... (But let us also be clear at all times where the focus needs to be concerning provision and supply)
Luke 12:16-34
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
My encouragement today is simple my friend, God wants you to believe in Him, not just know about Him.
Not only to read, learn and come to know about His love, His mercy, His grace, His faithfulness, etc. based on head knowledge but by experience!
... and for someone reading this right now, you find yourself in this place, you know about God, you know a little about His word, you've heard of His character (that He is good, that He loves you, etc.) but you haven't quite flicked the switch on just yet or made the transition where you need to move from knowing about these things to actually believing and placing your trust in Him; where you need to maybe start saying to yourself that "God is good, He is good towards me, He loves me, He wants to protect me, He wants to heal me, He wants to provide for me, He accepts me, He's forgiven me, He has a purpose for me" ... it's making a decision to believe in what God says about you and in who He is, and wants to be, and continue to be, in your life ... so make that decision today dear friend, move from knowing about God to knowing and believing the love God has for you. Amen!