Nothing Can Stop Your Goodness Now by Pastor Brent Lokker and guest Michaela Thompson

One of my greatest joys as a pastor is to walk along side of a person to see God fulfilling his promise to transform them into the glorious image He’s always designed them to be.   Read this Scripture passage slowly and pay attention to how it’s all God’s intention as well as His action that brings about the transformation in our lives we’re all longing for:

“That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Jesus. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.” Romans 8:28-30 (MSG)

So as I’ve walked along side of many of you, some of you for a decade or more, I’ve watched the changes and they’re real! Knowing the struggles and heartaches you’ve had to endure, I’m so proud of you for making intentional choices to give God access to the hurting areas of your hearts and for staying in the game even when you’ve wanted to quit.   This past Saturday night at our worship service, God’s presence was so real and accessible that hearts were deeply tenderized which is often when a noticeable moment of transformation occurs (which we would call a breakthrough). I received emails from several of you in the past few days describing the astounding breakthroughs you encountered and each story caused tears to well up in me.   I want to share one of them with you from Michaela Thompson (with her permission). Thank you, Michaela, for being so vulnerable and transparent and for allowing your story to be told so others will have the courage to go on and experience the tangible hope that God is doing everything He said He would.   - From Michaela: I just wanted to share my encounter with Papa from this evening. As I drove to church this evening, my heart began to unravel and as always, I melt whenever I come into the safe loving environment of my BF family.   How do I find words to express what was going on in me? Except to say that I was wrestling with a long time nagging deep pain. As we moved into worship and sang Catch the Wind, the one line, “There’s nothing that can stop Your goodness now” caught my heart and is being continuously sung over me ever since, over all the areas of my heart that I’ve been bringing before Papa.... heartbreak, disappointment....all of it. The words of this declaration: “There’s NOTHING that can stop Your goodness NOW!!!!” flows unceasingly over those places creating hope where there was none.... NOTHING can stop Your goodness NOW!!! No, NOTHING can stop Your goodness NOW!!!   And I sat there all through your sermon, all the way home with those words flowing over me, through me to the people I care about, to the situations I’m praying into, and it’s saturating me with an incredible confidence I haven’t felt before. I can see and feel the flow of His unstoppable goodness into what had seemed impossible, impenetrable and immovable, but is now wholly succumbed by His overwhelming goodness, His overwhelming love.   What I realize is that His Goodness and Love have been flowing over my life all along - the difference now is that I am connecting with that reality more and more on an emotional level in those places in my heart where there was a disconnect. I’m receiving that flow more and more in and through me. Part of the process is allowing myself to experience the disconnect and accept that this is what has been happening in my heart — and this is where my heart unravels. This is where I let Jesus BE WITH me in that place and I surrender.     When things have been so difficult for so long, I began to believe that there was no other reality for me. I’ve had to face that deeply hidden lie and give myself permission to live, to have joy, to have hope once again. That’s the journey I’ve been on.... to allow myself to come alive, to flourish, to receive Papa’s upgraded life; Experience and live from peace, to live a joy filled life; to not settle for mere existence anymore, but BE the change, BE Kingdom of Heaven on Earth everywhere I go… I want to see people come alive inside!!! There’s so much MORE for us!!   I have moved from asking, begging, pleading God “Please heal me!” to giving myself permission to agree with Papa’s overwhelming resounding “YES” over my life.   My heart unravels and suddenly I find that the cords that once bound me  are wings with which to fly! I’M GONNA CATCH THE WIND!                                                                                                                         Blessings! - Michaela   (If you want to listen to Pastor Brent’s message this past Saturday, "A New Reformation: Heaven’s Culture Released Through Us!”, click here: http://blazingfire.podbean.com/e/blazing-fire-mission-brent-lokker/)