good morning my friends i'm Pastor Steven Brooks. welcome today to our online internet around the world church service and i'm so happy that you are here today i believe god's word which is loaded with power is able to empower you to do what he has called you to do and to be the person that he has called you to be whoo praise the lord we're gonna have a good time today in the word of god before we jump into today's message let me share with you and remind you about our upcoming israel tour the dates for the tour are may 16 through the 26 20 22. you've got time to get ready you've got time to get registered you can get registered with a 300 deposit that secures your spot and my friends this tour is loaded this is a luxury first class tour uh hand-picked hotels the itinerary is hand-picked it is going to be fantastic i will be on the tour my wife will be there i will be teaching at various sites and we are going to have a lot of fun together i want you to get registered i would like for you to come to israel on tour with me again the dates are may 16 through the 26 20 22 praise the lord we will be going to uh various sites caesarea by the sea uh this time we're actually going to go to the stella morris church where the cave of elijah is at that's the cave he actually lived in they say there in the mount carmel area and of course we will go up mount carmel we will go to megiddo and to cana and to nazareth praise the lord we're gonna have a great time going on a boat ride on the sea of galilee going to the golan heights going to the jordan valley going to the ancient city of jericho we're going to go to the traditional baptismal site down by the kumaran area this is a little further south and this is a beautiful area uh also we're going to go back to in getty while this is where david hid out when king saul was trying to hunt him down and kill him and you'll get a first-hand observation of the type of a place david and his men were staying in this is a beautiful place but at the same time it's a little bit rough because it's out there in the wilderness and you can imagine david sleeping in some of those caves and some of those caves are probably the ones he literally did stay in at various times so we're going to in getty which is a national park we will be uh going by saint george's monastery one of the most photographed sites concerning monasteries in the world praise god bethany and then on to jerusalem whoo to the mount of olives we're going to go to the garden of gethsemane various places there in jerusalem we'll be in jerusalem for multiple days oh my goodness we're going to be shiva to the valley of ilah and we are just going to have a tremendous time the price let's see where's that price i'm looking for the price the price all inclusive 46.49 46.49 that includes your international airfare and that's flying out of new york jfk and back all the way to tel aviv and back and includes all of your hotels it includes tips includes taxes it includes breakfast it includes dinner and also included in that is a special fish lunch at the sea of galilee so my friends uh this is the tour that you have been waiting for and some of you you have a burning in your heart to go to israel and we're going to go and we're going to see the sights and we're going to go in comfort and joy hallelujah and we're also going to go and meet the lord his presence always comes there's always a refreshing that the lord brings and we are anticipating that as well so please get registered just as quick as you can the dates again may 16th through the 26th 20 22. it is going to be an unforgettable tour praise god i look forward to seeing you there in person praise the lord now today let's take our bibles and let's go to genesis chapter 12 and let's take a look for a moment at verses 1 and 2. now the lord had said to abram get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that i will show you i will make you a great nation i will bless you now everything there's no exclusion everything that god does always has a purpose that is baked into it god has pre-planned it out there's a reason specifically for why he does what he does and here he says i will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing i like that blessed to be a blessing and yes there's a purpose for you being blessed his purpose for blessing you is so that you can be a blessing everywhere you go now this is important to understand god will not bless you beyond your commitment to be a blessing let me say that one more time god will not bless you beyond your commitment to be a blessing praise god so often we like the finished product of abundance or maybe we could call it prosperity or however you would like to label it or overflow so often we like the finished product but there are many believers that don't want to go through the process that delivers that wonderful product we must embrace the process and of course embrace the final product now the process is that you give according to the blessings upon your life you step into the process that enables you to come into abundance and the process is that you give according to the blessings upon your life you don't wait until you have a lot of money before you start giving how many christians have you met who actually have that mentality or and are making that literal mistake they're thinking i can't give i can't give until i get a whole bunch of extra and then when i get a bunch of extra then i'll start giving and that is a deceptive mentality you don't wait until that point you will not become financially blessed as an accumulator but rather according to genesis chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 you become blessed as a distributor so your your success is not based on what you're accumulating your success and your prosperity in god is based upon your distribution it's based upon your giving out whoa it's time to be excited about kingdom living and we must have a giving heart in order to look in in order to engage this beautiful expanse of living in christ kingdom living you have to have a giving heart now first timothy chapter 6 first timothy chapter 6 verse 17 it says command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they may be rich in good works ready to give willing to share storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life praise the lord now in verse 17 we're told that god gives us good things to enjoy who i like that but we must we must bring out verse 18 into the full expression of our lives and in verse 18 we have four things we have four reasons for you could even say the purpose for why we're being blessed and here they are number one we are commanded to do good how many you know you don't have to be a multi-millionaire to do good hallelujah right where you're at you can do good hallelujah it says about jesus in acts chapter 10 verse 38 he went around doing good doing good well pastor stephen what does that mean well that has a pretty broad expression doing good i mean that that's a big umbrella to stand underneath there's all types of creative and expressive ways that you can find to do good so we are commanded number one to do good number two to be rich in good works rich in good works you can go around doing good works they don't have to be things like building a skyscraper they can just be these good works that you see something that you can do something that you can touch it's something that you can put your heart into and you can be a blessing so we do good we are going about being rich in good works and number three we are told to be ready to give ready not reluctant not oh oh i've had about enough of that no ready ready whoa to give um see you need a giving heart you need a giving heart to get on the heartbeat of god and to get into that blessing you need a giving heart so you connect with god's heart you're on the same frequency with god well i'm on the frequency with god you can't be if you're not a giver if you're not a giver you can't be on the same frequency ready to give willing willing to share oh pastor stephen i want the whole pie no no you get two slices we're going to give you a double blessing but the rest the rest we're going to share praise god we are distributors we're not trying to just grab everything grab grab store grab you know hoard no no we are told to do these four things do good be rich in good works ready to give willing to share in other words you're being blessed to do these four things you're being blessed to be a blessing oh yes yes verse 17 god gives us richly all things to enjoy oh you'll have plenty to enjoy but but as you look around you see the work of the kingdom as you look around you see you see you sense the heart of god and you see certain things certain things that you must respond to through these four steps of doing good being rich in good works ready to give willing to share now when you work this process of having a giving heart and being involved in these biblical instructions it will carry you hear me today it will carry you into unlimited blessing not something with a restriction not something with the ceiling that says you can only go this high and that's it you've tapped god out god's done no no you work these principles and you step into this kingdom process of living which is a heart of giving my friends it'll carry you into unlimited blessing now having shared god's word with you let's operate kingdom process let's develop the heart of giving let's exercise our faith and honor the lord with our finances we are now going to bring the holy tithe and the offerings into the storehouse of god is the systematic giving of 10 of all of your increase to the lord and we're instructed to do that in god's word we are staying with his principles we are staying with kingdom process you are blessed to be a blessing this brings you into the blessing where it's manifesting profusely in your life you're carried into overflow and it gets greater and greater and greater and greater even into into the field of unlimited blessing so let's honor the lord with the tithe and let's sow seed let's bring in offerings and honor the lord in that category as well now if you prefer to mail in your tithes and offerings please send them to stephen brooks international p.o box 717 moravian falls north carolina the zip code here is 28654 again stephen brooks international p.o box 717 moravian falls north carolina 28654 if you would like to bring the tides and offering in online you can do so at the ministry website stevenbrooks.org there's a link on the homepage that says give it has a red heart on it you can click on that and you can bring your tithe and offering in from anywhere in the world day or night into the storehouse of the lord you could do so electronically praise god thank you for your giving thank you for your giving father bless your people we thank you that as you brought abraham into full supply into overflow we thank you that we are the seed of abraham and i see you lifting your people up where they have great empowerment to bless because they are blessed and they have great ability to extend that blessing because they have more than enough father bless your people in jesus name amen and amen praise the lord today glory to god well my friends today i felt led of the holy spirit to talk about the subject taste and see and this will be in the category of a continual study of the goodness of god and we want to examine this today in the light of god's word and let's do so by starting today in psalm 31 verse 19. this has been a key text for us as we have been looking at the goodness of god and we're going to begin today from that same portion of scripture now let's pray heavenly father as we go into your word we ask that your holy spirit would illuminate the scriptures and that our thinking our thought processes would be in harmonization with your word which is also your will for our lives thank you father let the light be bright but the eyes of our heart see it we thank you in jesus name we pray we all agree and say amen praise god psalm 31 verse 19 oh how great is your goodness god is a good god his goodness is legendary it's great it's not just like average it's great goodness how great is your goodness which you have laid up which he has reserved which he has kept stored up just for us just for you in this end time generation which you have laid up for those who fear you which you have prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men what has been laid up my friends is now being released into your life keep your mind on the goodness of god and how great that that goodness of god is i want you to be meditating on god's goodness i want you to be meditating on the fact that it's for you and that it is being released into your life there are many different things right now that are competing for your attention that are competing for what it is that you're thinking about and god through the instruction of the holy spirit wants you to be thinking about the beautiful goodness of god flowing in your life in philippians chapter 4 verse 8 the message bible says i say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on the best not the worst again the message bible says i'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on the best not the worst i'm aware like i'm sure you are too of all the negative crazy things that are going on out there in the world and in our nation today but that's not where your focus is supposed to be yes we can be aware of external circumstances but that's not where we're going to zero in our focus at no our focus needs to be precisely defined as being on what god is saying praise the lord you know one of the last sermons that prophet kenneth hagin ever ever taught just before he passed away in one of those final sermons this is what he said he said we are indeed in the last days and everything god said he would do in the last days will be done whoo stop and think about that my friends were running out of time and these good things that god has spoken forth that will happen to his people that will happen to the church it's going to happen he's going to get it done and so we are actually living in the greatest hour because god has saved the very best for the end and we're right there at the end again kenneth hagin said we are indeed in the last days and everything god said he would do in the last days will be done now i believe that because of that we need to be people that are rejoicing we need to be people of great expectancy because i'm telling you god is moving now amongst his people and it's only going to increase this is a time to not only believe in the goodness of god this is a time to celebrate the goodness of god can you give me a good shout of amen out there praise the lord praise god hallelujah exodus chapter 34 verse 6 oh i love this verse and the lord passed before him that would be moses and proclaimed the lord the lord god merciful and gracious longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth god is abounding in goodness now that word abounding in the hebrew means more than an adequate supply of goodness it means more than what would be an adequate supply it is an abounding supply it can also be translated as inexhaustible goodness well pastor stephen god's been very very good with previous generations he's just run out of steam now oh god's got plenty of goodness and he has actually kept the best for the end time generation and it is being released now it has been held for a very timely season we are now in that season the goodness of god is being released and it is coming an inexhaustible measure the lord the lord god abounding in goodness say it with me the lord the lord god abounding in goodness whoo praise the lord when you are convinced of god's goodness it becomes a part of your belief system whoo i need to say that again when you are convinced of god's goodness it then becomes a part of your belief system and when you believe it then you will speak it and that's exactly my friends what we saw david do in one of the most beautiful psalms in the bible and that would be psalm 23 and let's go directly to verse 6. he says surely now notice when he's using the word surely do you denote uh trepidation do you sense uh like somebody that's not quite solid on this no you see somebody that is completely persuaded you see somebody that's completely convinced and given over to that truth which is that surely he says goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life wow and you need to have that mentality where you are absolutely convinced that surely with no doubt surely with great certainty goodness is following you everywhere you go now it comes in a tandem it comes in a in twins goodness and mercy but today we're focusing on the element of goodness goodness always following you all your life long the goodness of god always with you always with you why are some of you always expecting something bad to happen to you where is that thought process originating from it's not coming from god it's not coming from his word you need to let your doctrine and your theology you need to let it be based on the word and not on some experience you had when you didn't know the word i've had bad things happen to me before and when i look back at many of the things that happened it happened because i permitted it why did you permit it pastor stephen because i didn't know any better i didn't know my authority in christ i didn't know the goodness of god or that god had a good plan and so i was a little bit just open to whatever happened and if you're open to stuff like that you're like the person that goes to bed at night just trusting and hoping that everything's okay and so you don't lock your door trust me if you don't lock your door there is something that the enemy there's something that a thief just senses and picks up hey i think over there is just an easy target and you know what if you don't like your door you are an easy target maybe you can get away with that for a while i remember growing up in rural mississippi my grandmother never locked the door my grandfather never locked the door down they lived way back in the woods and the nearest neighbor who was quite some distance away they knew the neighbor way over there and they knew the neighbor way back over on the other side and then there was a saw mill way back on that other end and back over there they knew who had that so they kind of all knew each other and it's not like you really had drifters or strangers driving down deserted long country roads you know you know dirt roads with that so everybody knew each other so back back in that era you maybe could get away with something like that although i still kind of thought it was strange i i thought well i i thank you for me i'd lock the door but that was just back then but how many of you know today you probably should lock your doors well i trust god well i do too but god's not going to lock the lock on your door he leaves that up to you he leaves that up to you he leaves the exercising of authority up to you even if he's delegated it to you it's up to you what you do with it or don't do with it so you need to use the authority that god has given you and so when you start walking in the light of god's word you realize that god is good he has been good all the time he was actually trying to help you when when you didn't know certain things he was trying to give indicators he was trying to give signs as much as he could he's not going to violate your will or override you in other words he's not going to step in and shout hey don't do that he's given you free choice which is also the freedom to get in here and study and find out what's rightfully yours thank you jesus but my friends as you begin to walk now in the illumination of god's word and understand that he's good he's good you'll see that goodness is coming along with you everywhere you go it's it's just god's goodness is at every hand some of you bless your hearts you think that if you actually make the full commitment to serve god that he's going to send you to antarctica and you hate you hate freezing weather and you think well if i really surrender to the lord he's going to make me do something that i don't want to do now who in the world told you something crazy like that where is all of that bizarre level of like retreating back from god because you don't want to get close to him because because you think he's not good my friends when your heart is surrendered to him and you are sold out to him and you are living for him with all of your heart he actually has nothing but good plans for you he's he's even sensitive to what you like he's not going to send you somewhere you don't like and even if if if it were his plan to send you there that that liking it and loving it suddenly it's it's given to you it's given to you and you would like it you really would you really you really would he's not trying to make anybody miserable he is a good god let the word of god liberate you today from thoughts that would keep you from getting close to god because if you think well if i get close to god he's my he's liable to send me off to mongolia to be a missionary [Laughter] all of that crazy way of thinking comes out of a lack of understanding the goodness of god praise the lord he's good good good surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and let me tell you this it gets better as you continue the journey it gets better the goodness gets richer and thicker and more apparent the longer you walk with the blessed savior and i'm here to tell you today that that goodness will be with you god's goodness will be with you every single day of your life until your life on earth is done praise the lord so you need to expect and accommodate the goodness of god thank you jesus thank you lord now this is something that's very interesting david said surely in other words you see the conviction the knowing that through personal experience that god's a good god um sometimes i hear christians making technically what would be a good statement like god's good hallelujah god's good you ever heard you know people kind of you some of them get really into it you ask them how they're doing oh pastor steven i'm blessed i'm blessed going in i'm blessed going out i'm blessed with heaven's bet you know pentecostals are real good that i'm blessed with heaven's best but if you were to stop and ask them when they're not you know when they don't put on the show you know if you're to ask them do you really believe that some if they're honest would say well in my head i know that's the way i should respond but i've got areas of my heart where no i don't really believe that that's why you can shout and holler stuff like that i'm what's going on bless going out but you live a very ordinary life there's there's nothing that denotes an exceptional goodness of the touch of god there why it's not really believed it's not really believed you have to believe it first you have to believe it first and then you speak it and say it see david believed it that's why he said surely goodness and mercy they're following me every day of my life he believed it and when you believe it you'll say it with that tremendous knowing and there's proofs trust me they'll be all over your life proofs of goodness all over the place second corinthians chapter 4 verse 13. the apostle paul said and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written i believed and therefore i spoke who's he quoting david david said that i believed and therefore i spoke by the way that's exactly what he was doing in psalm 23 he believed that god's good and he believed it to a point where he's absolutely convinced of it and he says surely and so he believed and then spoke so here and since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written i believed and therefore i spoke we paul speaking here we also believe and therefore speak let me see if i can clear something up that was a little bit of a confusion amongst some when the word of faith movement was real strong you had a lot of believers that got uh that were flowing in that which is a good thing but a lot of them were making these real strong how can i say faith statements um how you doing brother oh i'm blessed i'm on top i'm never on the bottom i've got more than enough and you know they start they you know they they've had you know they've heard that you're supposed to make a good confession so they're they're making it and uh they're really gung-ho and worked up but here's the problem you have to believe all that you have to believe it first and a lot of them never rooted in the word so much that it just took hold in their hearts with a tremendous faith where there is total certainty in there doubt has been blasted out and they believe it well trust me when you believe it what do you do well paul said we believe therefore in other words once we believe therefore we speak and when you really do believe and you are convinced that god is good then you speak and there's evidence of it there's proofs of it in your life why because you know he's good hallelujah he's good i know a young minister that he he's an itinerant minister and he was asked to go speak as a guest evangelist at a certain church so while he's giving his you know sharing his message he just happened to say god is a good god can you shout amen and nobody really shouted amen well he didn't quite understand what was going on but he just kept on with his message and this young man told me he said pastor stephen he said after i had preached that message the pastor the senior pastor of the church called me over to the side and said brother don't ever make that statement ever again in this church he said what statement he said god is good he said are you telling me not to say god is good he said well god's not a good god he loves us but he's not good he'll he'll put you in a car wreck to teach you a lesson he'll put cancer on your children to teach you lessons so that you can grow and mature in the faith he's he's not good and so there you see a classic example of a minister this minister had a large church of a minister whose doctrine was terribly deformed because of life experience so he is basing his view through a cloudy lens that's obscured by personal trauma and disappointments in life and he's basically saying that because i've had some bad experiences in life god's not good but see he was also a person that did not know his authority in christ that did not know how to deal with the devil when the devil showed up and you know in some ways he got steamrolled by the enemy and then you know what the enemy does on top of it after the enemy does these bad things sometimes even the preachers sometimes even the full gospel people or even the christians you know what the enemy does after he's done it after he has put his junk on them he'll actually retreat and hide with the religious guys and he'll whisper god did that to you and can you believe there's christians that are unilluminated enough in the light of god's word to actually not be able to discern that's not god that's the devil that did that and then because they think the devil did it the next thing you know they don't think he's good they don't think god's good so i'm here today to say from this pulpit that god is good he is absolutely completely good whoa hallelujah so don't run away from him run to him because the closer you get to him trust me you're getting around the the universal core of goodness woo hallelujah [Laughter] and if you had had some bad times you get close to the lord he'll bring healing into your heart and he'll even when you release that bitterness and stuff like that that frustration and you repent of it he'll heal you he'll even restore joy back into your life well pastor steve i made some really wrong decisions well he can bring healing and restore complete joy back into your life that's how good he is praise god so yes we want to have strong confessions of faith we want to speak in agreement with god's word my friends but we have to believe god's word first you really have to get settled on this that he's a good god he is good he's not it's not wait and hit you over here with a hammer he is a good god now god is going to use his goodness towards his people as a witness to unbelievers and even to backslidden christians i'd like for you to see this in psalm 126 verse 1 god's going to use his goodness towards his people as a witness to unbelievers and even towards backslidden christians 126 1 when the lord brought back the captivity of zion we were like those who dream then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was singing then they said among the nations now when it when you read the phrase they said among the nations the word nations in our english language is the hebrew word g-o-y and it basically means the multitudes who are outside of the covenant of god the multitudes who are separated from god because they have no covenant with him so it would be in other words what we would call the gentiles it says then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was singing then they said among the among the nations in other words the unbelievers those away from god the lord has done great things for them talking about god's people the lord has done great things for them then the psalmist goes on to say the lord has done great things for us and we are glad praise the lord god is going to put his goodness his touches of goodness upon your life and it will be as a witness to those that don't know the lord and it will be used as conversation starters it will be used as touch points where you have an opportunity to share god's goodness with them so that they can come into the goodness of the lord and of course come in the salvation we also see this in romans chapter 2 verse 4 or do you despise the riches of his goodness forbearance and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of god leads you to repentance let me say that again not knowing that the goodness of god leads you to repentance the passion translation says in reference to god's goodness here it says it's meant to melt the heart the goodness of god is meant to melt the heart whoa praise god i see hearts falling out right now because you're seeing that god loves you cares about you and he has a good plan for your life praise the lord when they see god's goodness on your life it is designed to melt their heart the message translation says that god's goodness leads us into a radical life change think about that and that's a good translation it's it is a paraphrase translation but he's pulling from the greek meaning and the intent of what's being expressed there and he is saying that god's goodness leads us into a radical life change and i believe for many of you you're going to start thinking differently as you realize that god loves you and that he's good and that he's good to you all the time praise god so god's goodness leads us into a radical life change so ask yourself this question do you really just want to be mediocre or average or maybe we could say normal or even subnormal do we want to just be like that i don't believe so i believe that god greatly desires to distinguish you with his goodness i want to say that again real slow god wants to distinguish you with his goodness he's going to he's going to cause you to stand out because his goodness is so strong upon your life and this would be even a radical goodness i'm talking about radical goodness not just normal goodness now remember god's goodness is described as being great as being abounding as being inexhaustible and so this really is a radical extreme goodness and god's gonna let that touch you and be displayed in your life get ready my friends get ready for this whoa praise the lord hallelujah god's going to do such an amazing work in your life that you'll be able to look at your life and say i live a radical christian lifestyle i live an extremely good life that glorifies the lord and draws others to him thank you jesus glory to god let's go to psalm 34 verse 8 this is one of those beautiful scriptures that's very easy to memorize and very easy to just get it down into your spirit and i want you to be meditating on this particular verse this week because you're going to see manifestation this again is verse 8 from psalm 34. o taste and see that the lord is good blessed is the man who trusts in him o taste and see that the lord is good have you ever stopped to think that as david wrote this through the inspiration of the holy spirit that this is actually a directive in other words this is not something that you just read and oh you just think oh that's so poetic that's very that's very nice no this is a directive this is something that you're supposed to do this is something that you're actually literally supposed to experience oh taste god wants you to do it and see that the lord is what mean and nasty ready there grape you're out no god is good and he wants you to taste and see that he is good you know i was meditating on this and here's a few insights that the lord gave me you're going to have new taste experiences with the lord's goodness just like there are countless flavors of food there are countless blessings of god's goodness for you to experience oh taste oh taste think about how many flavors there are you have italian flavor you have mexican flavor cuban flavor you have japanese flavor soy sauce and sushi and all of that and you have americana type flavors and then the spices can just go on and on and on indian food it's all good isn't it thai food it's all good but these flavors can just continue but my friends is the same way with the lord's goodness god wants you he invites you to taste this taste this taste these different elements of his goodness who praise the lord taste and see that the lord is good sometimes you have to taste certain things to know if you like it and god will allow you to do that he'll set it up i've seen him set things up in my life that would be if i could use a another expression for it almost like a taste test and he's like well just you know find out which one that you like and then we could talk about you know the full manifestation whatever it is you want in that area but some things you don't know until there is a taste and so if you go to you know these various ice cream places you and you don't really know what is available you might just want to get some samples and taste and trust me i'm sure you'll find something that you like i have my favorite i know when i go in exactly what i'm looking for praise the lord and there's these different ice cream stores we have one not too far away every time my wife and i go i know i know exactly what i'm looking for they've always got it there for me my wife she's going to get a different choice but some things you have to taste it to know if you like it and the lord will allow you to do that taste and see that the lord is good i was reading a book that i have by a very godly prophet and this old prophet lived this life out he passed away he went on to the lord uh went on to be with the lord in heaven he wrote some really good books and he was talking in one of his books about a supernatural vision he had in which the lord jesus came to him and stood before him and extended his arm out to him and said touch me touch me i am all together goodness and this this prophet this man of god touched the lord and he had the sense that within the lord there is not one speck of evil there is not one thing of him that could harm you or ever do you wrong he is all together goodness whoa praise the lord so i believe there are experiences that are being lined up for you right now to experience the goodness of the lord manifested revealed in your life some of them may even be smaller expressions but there could also be some large expressions where they're so large they're almost like billboards that display god's goodness on your life and it will generate conversation as you go watch out praise the lord it is for the glory of the lord to this and let me say this when the lord told moses in exodus chapter 33 i'm going to pass by you get ready he said i'm going to show you my glory because that's what moses wanted to see did you notice that when the glory was displayed so much of it was displayed through the goodness and anytime you get into the glory of god you are touching a key element of that glory which is the goodness of god the goodness of god is his very best for you praise the lord the goodness of god is his very best for your life thank you jesus psalm 65 verse 4 blessed is the man you choose and cause to approach you that he may dwell in your courts we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house of your holy temple we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house the word satisfied in the hebrew it means to supply fully until no more is needed again that word satisfied means to supply fully until no more is needed i'm here to tell you today that good things from god are on their way to you and you need to be expecting them you need to be celebrating the goodness of god rejoicing in the lord in his goodness whoa hallelujah praise god and delighting in his ways i see beautiful manifestations of the goodness of god coming into your life look don't ever let the devil come in there and put a wedge between you and the lord he loves to try to do that and one one of the most successful ways that i see him do that to to christians is by trying to give doubt that god is good and trying to give suggestion that see there god's not nice if he were he wouldn't allow that to happen to you see god's not good if he were good that wouldn't have happened and he tries to put through the believer's sometimes lack of understanding of the word he tries to put that wedge of separation and if he can be successful in that it will short circuit the goodness of god in that person's life so you must you must come close to the heart of god you must remove any bitterness and you must never blame god for anything bad so often the reason unfortunate things happen to people is because it's because the devil did it and the individual did not know how to deal with these dark adversarial forces and then when it happens the devil who actually did it says god did it you need to be mad at god and the whole time the devil did it and he's laughing laughing laughing because all that junk it comes from the devil but god's a good god he look the way some christians view god is that if this were real god's going to get locked up by the authorities for child abuse that's actually how warped some believers are in their thinking about god they accuse him of all of these awful things but if a literal real parent on the earth did that kind of a stuff the health authorities would come pick that person up and put them in an institution god is good it's the devil who's bad and wrecks havoc and causes great pro problems so so you have to realize god's good he gave you authority he has given you power he's giving you wisdom he's given you strength and you have to know who you are and you have to know your rights in him and you have to resist the devil and you have to always realize that god's good god is pulling for you and that his his entire intentions towards you are always good so if there's something bad going on it's not it's not god it's the enemy it's the enemy and i'm here to expose those those wrong plans of the enemy those evil workings of the enemy as being exactly that of satanic origin praise god i i was walking outside of my residence one time and there was a neighbor close by and she had a very tough situation in her life that she was dealing with and she was very negative about it and she was a christian i don't doubt her salvation one bit she loved the lord she was saved she went to church every time the church doors were open but she was mad she was literally flat out mad at god and i i said sister i said the lord is not the one that has caused these great things in life that you have to bear these great difficulties she said yes he is he's the one that put this on me to teach me a lesson and to make me humble i said i said no i said it didn't come from god and she got mad she said yes it did and she wasn't going to change it this is a person the enemy has taken a wedge and driven in there of separation between her and god and she's mad at god she's literally mad at god how can you ever receive the goodness when there's a blocker like that and it grieves god it grieves god that a person like that has had the enemy blind them spiritually um and so it will block the blessings god's always good god's always good god's always good well then why did that happen why did something like that happen pastor stephen well first of all it wasn't god that did it but if something did happen so often things happen because we don't know our rights in christ we don't know our authority we don't know how to exercise it we we didn't pray we didn't address it we didn't deal with it and there it is but the whole time god is for is even still and god says look if if you're in that situation i'm still here i'm still good now look to me and i'll give you relief i'll give you help sometimes god can even remove that situation at the least he can turn it and supply grace and he can pour in blessing to where even with it you have a smile on your face praise god praise god he is nothing but good touch him he's nothing but good he's nothing but good one day you'll stand before him in person and you'll see he's nothing but good there's no way he put cancer on you he's nothing but good there's no way he put your kids in a car wreck he's nothing but good and you love him for it but by faith love him now and receive the revelation from his word of who he is now he passed before moses and moses was like whoa the goodness that's off the limits the goodness is off the charts and that's true and he saw that as we would say under the old covenant wow glory to god now father i pray you bless your people with the fresh revelation and that you make them smile because nobody wants to draw near to somebody who's mean and nasty but father you're so good that it be an exciting invitation to come near because of your goodness and to enjoy the exuding of that goodness upon us thank you father god thank you father god thank you thank you heal those father who've had a wrong a wrong perception of your character heal them of that now father we give you praise we give you praise and we say you are good father in jesus name amen and amen glory glory glory before i close on that let me just ask you a question if you are an unbeliever and you saw a christian that taught or promoted the concept that god loves you god wants to save you but be ready he's mean and if you come to him he's probably going to put you in a car wreck to teach you a lesson what kind of an unbeliever what kind of a sinner would say i want to come to a god like that i'm having a hard enough time in life as it is and i'm supposed to go serve a god who wants to save me but yet the moment i get saved he's going to beat me up to teach me a lesson they'd be like i don't think i want anything to do with a god like that my friends we have to think we have to think about what we're presenting to the world we have to think about our doctrine that's why paul said not let many let that many be teachers you will give an account for what you teach so for a pastor to stand up and say god's not good he's refuting the eternal word of god and he will have to give an account of that and and there will be loss of merit loss of reward not only for his own life but he's he's misdirecting people mm-hmm thank you lord jesus do you ever notice god's word makes sense it's not hard to figure out he's either good or bad he's good praise the lord father bless your people with your goodness i thank you give them an expectation because it's coming with waves of glory and so much of that glory can be described as goodness waves waves of goodness coming upon them this year this year in jesus name shout amen that means so be it praise god amen now if you're watching today's program and you don't know christ as your lord and savior but you want to get your life right with god today then right now pray this prayer after me say lord jesus you died on the cross to save to redeem sinners like me jesus i turn from my sin and i ask you now come into my heart wash all of my sins away write my name in your book of life and i give my heart to you thank you jesus for saving me now in your name i pray amen he heard that prayer he saved you the moment you lifted it up to him that's how good he is you belong to him now live for him every day of your life and experience taste and see that he's good that he's good now today let us take holy communion we're going to celebrate the goodness of god and we're going to proclaim his death until he comes because it's through his death upon that cross that he bore all of our sin all of our shame the full blast of the curse of the law he took it upon himself through his death so that we could receive eternal life newness of life in him so we celebrate his death because it's through his death that we have eternal life praise the lord please today grab some unleavened bread and some grape juice glory to god [Music] hallelujah hallelujah let's pray father we thank you for the bread and we thank you for the juice and we bless it we consecrate it and we set it apart as holy we thank you that this is now the body and the blood of christ so father as we receive the body of christ we thank you that we embrace your word that you are good and that your mercy endures forever we thank you father god that your mercy and your goodness are going to follow us every day that we are on this earth for the rest of our lives now father we believe that we expect your goodness to show up we expect to enjoy it and for others to see it and it will be a magnet of curiosity to them that is a door for us to share christ thank you father for your goodness we now receive the body of jesus it's all because of him that makes it possible in his name we pray amen and amen let's receive together praise the lord father we thank you for the blood of jesus we ask that if we have committed any sins that you would forgive us of our sins and wash them all away and father if anybody has sinned against us we completely 100 forgive them and we bless them and we go on in in a walk of forgiveness now father we give you praise thank you thank you for everything that is ours in the new covenant that is based upon the shed blood of christ that gives us legal access and permission to come into your very presence and enjoy your goodness thank you father you're so good you made heaven for us wow whoo glory father we received the blood of jesus with great thanksgiving in christ's name we pray amen let's partake together praise the lord please lift your hands with me and say lord you are good say it like you believe it with all of your heart say lord you are good and your mercy endures forever say it again say lord you are good and your mercy endures forever praise god praise god praise the lord now let us say this together surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life see personalize it make it your personal promise believe it say it again say surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life the goodness of god will follow you all the days of your life and it's showing up this week expect it get ready for it be looking for it and let it be thick and profuse upon your life god bless you thank you for watching i'll see you back next time