No Limits to the Goodness of God! by Pastor Brent Lokker

(This is taken from chapter 2 of my new book, Daddy, You Love Me www.BrentLokkerMinistries.org)

In the garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve enjoyed deep closeness with God, the serpent came and challenged them to doubt His goodness. That tactic has never changed. The same question must be answered in the midst of the uncertainties of life to this day. “Is God really good?” Your answer will determine your view of life and will affect the degree of peace and joy you carry in your heart.

The enemy doesn’t want you to know the truth that you are never separated from God’s heart of love (Rom 8:38-39). Since Jesus already disarmed the devil by stripping him of his sham authority (Col 2:15), the only card the enemy has left to play is the deception card. If you believe one of his deceiving lies, he gains power over you with it. Your champion, Jesus, came to shine the light of His glorious truth into you, incapacitating the enemy’s lies. Jesus continuously reveals the truth of the Father’s heart by reminding you of who you really are as a son or daughter of the King.

By hearing and agreeing with the genuine voice of your Father who adores you, the old tapes of inadequacy will lose their power to hurt you. And you will be certain of the right answer to these questions that may have plagued you in your past:

Is God fed up with me or enamored with me?

Is He just putting up with me, or is He truly proud of me?

Is He looking to put me in my place, or is He a Father who’s pleased with me and looking to build me up?

Does He enjoy watching me squirm and punishing my failures, or is He fulfilling His promise to victoriously lead me through this life into His awaiting arms?

Is God mad at me, or mad about me?

Personally, I’ve made my mind up about the goodness of God, with the overwhelming support of the Holy Spirit. This issue of God’s unfailing, massive goodness is completely settled in my heart. That doesn’t mean that I have all the answers to why certain things happen. Instead, I have a knowing in the depth of my being that God’s goodness is far better than I can imagine and far bigger than I can see with my limited perspective.

If you are thinking that God is a little bit better and kinder than the best person you know, you are a billion miles short of the actual truth. Our Father is altogether other than anybody we know. He is perfectly good, perfectly kind, perfectly loving, and always for us, with infinite power to back it up.

One practical application of agreeing with God’s goodness is choosing to disagree with your own assessment of yourself and your circumstances whenever it doesn’t match up with the truth of God’s goodness.

It’s important that in your pain you don’t build a case against the extreme goodness of God. It’s equally important that you not tear yourself down, because you would be criticizing the one whom God adores and has perfectly crafted just the way He wanted. It doesn’t glorify God one ounce to put yourself down or to feel bad about yourself. When you do this, you are agreeing with the accusing lies of the enemy. Once you get this truth of God’s goodness for yourself, you will see others with His eyes, and like God, you will go on a faultless-finding mission!

One day all will be made crystal clear. And when it is, the goodness of God will never, ever be in question again. Until then, trust His promises:

My joy will lie in them and in doing them good. (Jeremiah 32:41 NJB)

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us ... (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV)

I am the Lord, I do not change.(Malachi 3:6, NKJV)

Listen to His heart for you today:

I am a good Father and I will always be good to you every day of your life.

I am unlike any earthly parent you have ever known—nothing whatsoever

like an abusive or neglectful parent

and far better than the best dad or mom you have ever seen.

The more you know Me, the more you will love Me and trust Me.

But even as you are learning to trust, My love for you never changes!

Listen to Papa's Blessing over you:

This is the video I showed last Saturday night--it's taken from the last chapter of my book. Enjoy His MASSIVE love for you!

The Ways of God's Voice by Pastor Susan Fochler

I am so grateful for those times when I have really needed to hear God, and He has revealed Himself faithfully.  He has not always told me what I expected to hear, but it has always been what I needed.  Those “aha!” moments so flood us with life and light!  And the impact of His truth continues to reverberate through our being like ripples on the water.

The Ways of Gods Voice

by Pastor Susan Fochler

 

God’s voice comes to us in many different forms.  We might simply “hear” Him.  We might also see, sense; even smell, taste or just “know”.  It is all those things, and more.  Hearing God comes through our spirit, so we perceive in a different dimension through our spiritual senses than we do through our natural senses. 

Communication between people consists of both verbal and non-verbal messages.  Psychologists say that non-verbal communication makes up at least two thirds of our communication.  So it follows that much of what we “hear” from God would also be non-verbal.

Psalm 29 has a lot to say about God’s voice.

God’s voice is tangible, omnipresent, mighty and awe-inspiring:

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders...

The voice of the Lord is power; the voice of the Lord is majesty; the voice of the Lord breaks cedars...v. 3-5

His voice fills us with joy, releases freedom and child-likeness:

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, Sirion, like a young wild ox. v. 6

His voice is a creative power that accomplishes the impossible:

The voice of the Lord kindles flames of fire; the voice of the Lord convulses the wilderness;  v. 7-8

His voice causes new life to come forth in our lives; and fills us with awe and wonder at His tender compassion, together with the beauty of His holiness:

The voice of the Lord causes hinds to calve...while in His temple all say “Glory!” v. 9

His still, small voice

Elijah was a mighty prophet who was accustomed to hearing God’s voice clearly, and often saw Him show up with amazing signs and wonders.  But as we read in 1 Kings 19, shortly after Elijah took on the prophets of Baal,  he was running for his life in fear of retribution.  God came to Elijah.  This time, however, when God came, He wasn’t in the wind, or the earthquake or the fire.  He didn’t come with power.  This time He came with a “still, small voice”, a “gentle whisper”.  But it had such a radical, tenderizing affect upon Elijah that he pulled his cloak over his face before approaching the Lord.  He didn’t do that when God sent fire down from heaven!  His heart was touched; he was humbled and in awe.  There was something in that voice that helped Elijah remember who he was, and awakened him from his stupor.  God spoke with Elijah in an intimate, nurturing way to let him know how loved and precious he was, on a day he wasn’t being the conquering prophet of power.  Elijah was just needing to know his Dad really cared.

Yes, God will sometimes show up with acts of power and awe-inspiring might.  But He will always be that still, small voice in your life; illuminating, calming, bringing forth life.  As powerful and all-knowing as He is, in His love for us He chooses to make Himself small and comprehendible.  The challenge for me has been learning to position myself to hear Him.  I believe the secret to hearing that voice with consistency is in allowing our own inner voice to be stiller and smaller than His.  My main hindrance to hearing His voice is typically that internal “white noise” of cares and distractions that can over-ride the nuance of His gentle ways.

I encourage you to often take the time to still and quiet your heart before the Lord.  As you position yourself to hear His quiet whisper, your “aha” moment will come!

Love,

Susan

Unlocking your Dreams is easier than you think by Pastor Angela Ellis

Dreaming with God is exciting and exhilarating. But for many the birthing of a dream has been difficult. Sometimes the dreams we dream with God seem so big that we stay in a place of wonder. We wonder how in the world we will ever accomplish the vision before us!

The good news is no dream is too big for God! After all, He is the co-creator of our dreams. It's His very heart to give us the blue prints to our dreams, but often we are so caught in the wonder we forget the practical side of things such as the simple steps that could propel us forward into those dreams.

I believe in this season we are being beckoned by our Beloved to progress from dreamers to doers of His dreams.

To do this there are some practical things we can do, baby steps. The key is that we do something and keep moving in forward motion.

I encourage you all to ask Holy Spirit what is one thing I can do today that would take me one step closer to the dream I have dreamt with you?

Angela Ellis