March 20, 2009

“Hallelujah! Thank God! And why? Because he’s good, because his love lasts. … Oh, thank God — he’s so good! His love never quits.” Psalm 106:6/107:1/118:1 The Message

God is …

Good … It is your everyday truth. It is your most complicated truth. It is your life-changing truth that God is good and his love lasts and never quits. Sin is bad ..  does bad things to you .. does bad things in you .. and does bad things all around you. Yet,  God never gives up on you. He never will .. because He is good. He is the Good Shepherd who never stops looking for you when you wander off or try to hide. He put himself in front of your life and has done “everything necessary to perfectly restore you to himself”. He knows you will struggle at times to really believe He is good. He knows you will doubt his goodness when tragedy overwhelms you or someone you love. He knows you will try to earn his goodness and it will wear you out trying to earn a love that never quits. Sometimes you have to say it to yourself: God is good … his love lasts … and never quits. Sometimes you have to say it to yourself all day long. And sometimes .. you have to give up trying so hard to be good enough and just let Jesus be good enough for you. Thank God … because He’s good … It only takes a moment … 

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. … I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me.” John 10:11/14 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Followers of the Good Shepherd and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)