God is good all the time!


Yes, God is good all the time if we know just one secret . TRULY GOD IS GOOD…EVEN TO SUCH AS ARE OF A CLEAN HEART (Psa 73:1). Oh, how wonderful it would be if the whole world came to know this blessed secret: God is good all the time in winter times and summer times, on birth days and death days, funeral days and festival days, on feasting days and fasting days, on mourning days and dancing days, on sick days and healthy days, in days of prosperity and days of poverty, in days of trials and days of triumphs! However, there is only one condition: Keep the heart clean !

Although David was a man of God who loved the Lord and walked with God, one day he lost his purity of heart. Then he had so much agony that it was as if all his bones were being broken; he lost all his joy. Thank God, he knew the secret of restoration and cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psa 51:10). How sad it is that millions of people, including many Christians, are ignorant of the fact that a wrong spirit (getting irritated, angry, etc.) is the result of an unclean heart! When the heart is clean, the spirit will be right.

Dear friend, are you looking for a way out of your bitter trials? Do you want God to turn them all into sweet and blessed experiences? Keeping the heart clean is the secret of a joyful life flowing with milk and honey.

  • TPM Morning Manna.

Stay Blessed 😊
Ravi

Shalom 🙏
Blessed to be a Blessing to the Blessed People 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

We are in the Book III of Psalms (73 – 89). It begins with a collection of 11 psalms out of 17 which is associated with Asaph and may be called as Asaphite Psalms (73-83).
Interestingly Psalm 73 and 74 gives us the common questions that prevails in every generations :
📌 Good things happen to Bad People (Ps 73)
📌 Bad things happen to Good People (Ps 74)

In Psalm 73 , the psalmist narrates his personal experience in order to teach his hearers an important lesson.

Envy Of The Wealthy

( 📖 Psalm 73:3-12)

The psalmist writes,”For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked”.
“..the wicked are always carefree, they increase in wealth”. (v 3,12)

📝 The psalmist found himself on slippery ground when he focused not on God and the big picture of eternal truth but on those who seemed to live golden lives no matter how evil their choices were :
☑️ They prosper in wealth(v 3)
☑️ They have no struggles (v 4)
☑️ They are healthy and strong (v 4)
☑️ They are free from burdens (v 5)
☑️ They are not plagued by sickness (v 5)
☑️ Their minds are full of evil (v 7)
☑️ They are proud and speak with malice (v 6, 8)
☑️ They disregard God’s moral laws and power (v 11)
☑️ They are free to live and to amass wealth despite their deeds (v 12).

📌 The psalmist feels that his faith and his struggle to keep his heart pure have been in VAIN (v 13-14). In other words, the psalmist questions,” how is it possible to believe that God is good to those who are pure in heart” (v 1)

📌 Following are some facts / conditions that csuses us to envy other’s wealth / possessions.
Would you answer Yes , No or any other ?
1️⃣ I focus on other people’s possessions and compares what I have to what they have.
2️⃣ When people around me own more or have more expensive things than I have, I feel dissatisfied.
3️⃣ I find myself gravitating toward people of high social status.
4️⃣ It’s hard for me to be content when I’m surrounded by people who have more than I have.
5️⃣ I often feel jealous of other people, even though I try to hide my feelings.

🙏 Let us check our answers, and pray that God will show us any areas where we are envious or discontented 🛐

To get the answer, the psalmist enters God’s sanctuary (v 17) :
✅ When he sees the wicked from God’s perspective, the psalmist admits that his previous attitude was senseless (v 21-22)
✅ Now the psalmist feel God’s presence and He holds him by His right hand (v 23)
✅ The psalmist recognises that at any moment the wicked can be cast down to ruin. Though the wicked seem to prosper, God has made their position precarious, and without warning they will be swept away (v 18-20)
✅ The psalmist affirms that God is all-sufficient both for the present and for the future (v 24-26)
✅ The psalmist will no longer express doubts (v 15) but vows rather to TELL OF ALL GOD’S DEEDS (v 15, 28)

💞 Beloved Church, the Lord alone can give us the strength to continue in the face of adversity.
🔖 God’s goodness does not mean material prosperity but the joy of being near God and experiencing his presence and protection.
🔖 The psalmist had been feeling that he was weak and insecure, standing on the slippery ground (v 1-3) whereas the wicked were strong and secure (v 4-12). But at the end of the day he realizes that the wicked are only standing on the slippery ground (v 18).
🔖 Be content with what you have and stand on the Rock not on the Slippery Ground 🛐

Glory to God 🙌
✍🏻 Mark Boje
Arunachal Pradesh, India 🇮🇳