When Good Is Good Enough

Come on, give him a good shout of praise today.

He's worthy. He's totally worthy. Good to see

you in the house of the Lord. If you have your

Bibles, reach and get it or your phone and get

it opened up to Psalm 118. It's good to know

how the Lord brings balance in our lives. Amen.

This weekend, he brought balance to the Hyatt

house. Sister Piper knows it's coming. She has

nothing to hold over Brother Mike. Now, he too

has one of those sword trophies. She was rubbing

that in there for a while. But I'm impressed.

With a total of 1 ,315 pounds, right? In three

lifts. He lifted a total of 1 ,315 pounds. With

a bench press, with a squat, and with a deadlift.

Give the man a sword. Amen? Congratulations,

brother. You could have wore a different shirt,

but we'll let you slide with that. You don't

say a lot to a man that can lift 1 ,315 pounds.

Especially when you're losing weight. I lost

what little advantage I might have had. God is

so good. Amen. And that's going to be our subject

matter today. The goodness of God. We're entering

into thanks season. I would be remiss if I did

not one more time say how much I appreciated

the message last week. Brother David, thank you

so much for delivering your heart. Amen. That's

gone far and wide and it's touched many people.

The ethos of a Christian warfare. Amen. We are

in a battle. If you didn't know, just look back

over last week and it ought to be fairly evident

that you're in a war. But even in a war, there

can be times and moments of a respite. Amen?

There's liberty. You see how that swung around

right there? There's a weekend pass. There's

a rest that even can enter in to a season and

a time during the battle. Amen. And those are

the times that as a child of God in this warfare

of faith, I think that we all look forward to.

We look forward to those moments when the good

shepherd leads us beside the still water. Amen.

How many need a little still water? I need a

little still water every now and then. I get

tired of going against the current. And it's

just peaceful to sit by the still water. Amen.

We spend time in the wilderness, but isn't it

wonderful when the good shepherd leads us into

those green pastures? Amen. And that's what I

want to talk about this morning, the goodness

of God. Psalm 118, which is a very, very powerful

psalm. The first verse reads, O give thanks unto

the Lord, for he is good, because his mercy...

God endures forever. That's the only one I want

to just read, and we'll talk about some of the

others. This 118th Psalm is the middle chapter,

the middle chapter in the Bible, and duly so

because it talks about the chief cornerstone,

the stone that was rejected. It's in this chapter

that we... that we read that wonderful verse

that says, This is the day which the Lord has

made, and let us come and rejoice and be glad

in it. That's in this 118th Psalm. But it bookends

with the same verse. Oh, give thanks unto the

Lord, for he is good, and his mercy endures forever.

Father, I love you today. I thank you for your

goodness and mercy. Lord, and this text that

we've read today. I ask God that you touch in

hearts and minds. Lord, as we speak this morning

on this simple thought that you've given us,

when good is good enough. Lord, I just felt your

quickening touch this morning. In this house

today, Lord, our minds are stayed on you, and

you are good, and we're glorifying and worshiping

you in that goodness. Lord, touch every heart

and mind today as we are open to you. And Lord,

I pray for that still water and green pasture.

In the name of Jesus today. The church said amen.

Tell your neighbor when good is good enough.

Oh give thanks unto the Lord for he is good because

his mercy endures forever. It's a theme throughout

scripture. You can read it in 1 Chronicles 16

and 34. You'll see it again in Psalm 107 .1.

You'll see it again at the closing as I mentioned

of 118. You'll see this same verse as the psalmist

would declare in 136 and 1. Oh, give thanks unto

the Lord for he is good because his mercy endures

forever. Of this Psalm 118, the great reformer

Martin Luther would say, this is my psalm, my

chosen psalm. It has saved me from many a pressing

danger from which neither emperor nor kings nor

sages nor saints could have saved me. It is my

friend, dearer to me than all the honors and

power of the earth. That's a powerful statement

about a 29 -verse psalm, isn't it? Saved me.

No emperor, king, sage, or saint could have delivered

him. It brings praise to the hearts of all of

us who read it. You can't stay down and out if

you read Psalm 118. You'll be lifted up before

you get to the end of it. Many of us would say

of this psalm, if we've read it, it has been

a good source of strength at times of trial and

tribulation. Maybe even a time and a sense of

consolation through trial and tribulation. But

when you are down and discouraged and you read

this psalm, you are instantly reminded that the

Lord is good. Come on now. His mercy is unending.

And in spite of what we are going through and

what we are dealing with, if we can just give

thanks to the Lord, it's in this thinking that

the Lord that you will have and the Lord will

be with you. reading of this psalm, it offers

encouragement to know that we will be victorious

over our trials. Amen. It's while thanking God

that we realize exactly how blessed we are. It

is in thanking God that we can take time to count

our many blessings. We used to sing that old

song back in the day, count your many blessings,

name them one by one. And when you get started,

amen, you will find that your blessings outnumber

your blessings. your trial and it outweighs your

tribulation and will tempt the scale of your

soul that's got you down and lifts you up. If

you can just stop and give thanks unto the Lord.

We're entering into the Thanksgiving season and

we're going to mention it for the next few weeks.

We're going to see why it is important that we

thank the Lord. The word in this text, the Hebrew

word for thanks here actually means to be a reverer

or to worship with extended hands. It's a halal

type praise. It's a vocal type praise. It's an

animated type praise. Oh, give thanks unto the

Lord. There are times that you can give silent

worship, if you will. There are times that you

can say to yourself, thank you, Lord, and just

go right home. But there are times also when

it needs to be an audible, visible, I'm talking

about a passionate, driven time to give thanks

unto the Lord. And that's what the psalmist is

declaring here, oh, give thanks. Somebody get

loud with your thinking. Somebody get loud with

your praise. Lift your hands up and extend them

to the heavens and surrender of your personal

self and your personal soul and let God know

that you actually realize that the goodness that

is coming into your life is coming from him.

It's a time that we have that we must declare

his goodness. Thanksgiving refers to our show

of gratitude, being appreciative. and giving

recognition, acknowledging, giving credit, and

praising the one whom they come from. Our text

reads, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is

good, because his mercy endures forever. There

are two reasons in this text that we are to give

thanks. First of all is that God is good. And

second of all is that his mercy endures forever.

I don't know about you, but I lean more to the

Lord. that mercy sometimes than I do his grace.

In this text, it declares that God is good. It's

actually giving us reference, letting us know

that God is changeless, that God is dependable,

that God is eternal. Aren't you glad that God

is eternal? Aren't you glad that God is faithful,

that God is genuine, that God is great, that

God is holy? As the angels declared in Isaiah

6 and 3, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Lord God

Almighty, holy, holy, holy. Aren't you glad there's

a declaration in heaven? But what about a declaration

upon the face of this earth when you begin to

understand that God is good? You understand and

know that God is holy. You understand that he

is immense and that he is independent, that God

is infinite. Go read Job 11, 7 through 10. You'll

understand that God is invisible in John 4, 24.

They that God is a spirit and... They that worship

him must worship him in spirit. I'm talking about

a good God. I'm talking about a God that's absent

and abstract from the trouble and the trial and

the problems that you and I deal with. I'm talking

about a God who is not restrained by the atmospheric

pressures of the life in which we live. I'm talking

about a God who is able and a God who is good.

When I think about the invisible nature of God,

I think about that God is just, that God is majestic,

Isaiah 33 and 3 will give you an insight of the

majestic nature of who God is. God is pure. When

you stop and get down to the goodness of God,

you know he's good because he's omnipotent. In

Luke 137, with God, nothing shall... be impossible.

He is all powerful. You can't outpower God. He's

better than 1 ,315 pounds. Amen. Quite a feat

here on this earth. But our God holds at the

finger's tip of his little hand that the goodness

of him that is outweighing every affliction of

this world. He's omnipotent. He's omnipresent.

In Psalm 139 7, where can I go from thy spirit

if I ascend into the heavens? Thou art there.

If I descend into the lower parts of the earth,

thou art there. Oh, God, there is nowhere. You're

everywhere. God is good. Would somebody give

thanks to a good God? Not only is he omnipotent,

not only is he omnipresent, but he's omniscient.

Hebrews 4, 13 declares, all things are naked

and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have

to do. What's that mean, pastor? It means you

can't hide anything from God because he is the

only know -it -all in this universe. Hallelujah.

And he can exercise his will. At his whim over

our life. Why? Because he's all powerful. He's

ever present. And he's all knowing. He's perfect.

He's persistent. He's righteous. He's sovereign.

Philippians 2, 5 through 8. Here's one of my

favorites. He's transcendent. God is transcendent.

What's that mean, Pastor? He's over and beyond

the created order, and he's superior to it in

every way. What does that mean? What weighs you

down doesn't bother him one bit. What stresses

us and what worries us doesn't stress him at

all. Why? Because he's extended above the created.

Why? Because in the beginning, God... In the

beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Not anything was made without him. Come on, somebody.

He's good because he's over and transcends above

it all. I am so thankful that the one in whom

I worship and the one in whom I praise and adore

is not affected by everything that's affecting

me. He is transcendent over cancer. He's transcendent

over any mental illness and any dementia that's

in the face of this world. blood disorder, blood

pressure, diabetes. I am so glad that he transcends

above it all. He's above it all. I am thankful

that God is good and it's mercy. Woo! He transcends

it. He's above it. Over and beyond the created.

order superior in every way he is wise in that

superiority the psalmist knew of all the attributes

of God but for some reason when it came time

to pen this 118th psalm the Holy Ghost inspired

him To write these words. God is good. Amen.

God is good. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. For

he is good. And his mercy endures forever. He

could have declared his omniscience, his omnipotence.

power, and all those attributes. He could have

declared it. He could have declared his wisdom

and his knowledge above everything that exists.

He could have proclaimed the transcendent. power

of the God in whom he serves, but no, the Holy

Ghost said just tell them that he's good. Why?

Because there come a time in the life of my children

when chaos has engulfed them and troubles overweighed

them and hardship and heartache has got them

down in the lowest valley that they can pick

up and read the word that you penned, David.

Holy Ghost, move on him to ride. Oh, give thanks

unto the Lord. For he is good. Hallelujah. I

want somebody to know it in spite of the hell

that you're going through. Give thanks unto the

Lord. Why? Because he transcends above every

issue and dilemma of this life. Well, my God.

and gods of this world, the gods of flesh and

stone, wood and rubble. He's good. Unlike the

devil that's out trying to kill, steal, and destroy

everything about you and around you, God is good.

And the Holy Ghost knew it and said, write it

down. Unlike humanity, God is good. My Lord,

I'm stirred. I don't know how I'm getting here,

but maybe the Lord will stir me. I don't want

to get ahead of myself. I'll try to hold on to

that one. Psalm 73 and 1. Truly God is good to

Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

Even to such as are of a clean heart. He's good

to Israel and anybody else that loves him. To

such that are of a clean heart. 105, the psalmist

said, For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting,

and his truth endureth to all generations. Try

not to get hung up here. Psalm 135 and 3 says,

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Are you

about to see a theme here? For the Lord is good,

same praise is unto his name. 145 and 9 declares

that the Lord is good to all. and his tender

mercies are over all his works. Lamentations

3 and 25 declares it. The Lord is good unto them

that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Hallelujah. He's good. Mark declares in 10 and

18, there is none good but one, and that is God.

Hallelujah. I think the Holy Ghost knew exactly

what he was doing when he inspired David to put,

oh, give thanks unto the Lord. for he is good.

You could put an exclamation right there and

not go any further. You could stop right there

and get precisely to the point. But it would

be through that whole chapter of 118 that causes

inspiration to come into an overwhelmed soul

when he says, I'll put my trust in the Lord and

not in the chariots of men. Come on. I'll put

my trust in the Lord and not in the princes of

this world. I'm going to trust God. And then

that's when he would get down. down there a little

further in 22. He says, the stone which the builders

rejected and refused has become the headstone

of the corner. This is the Lord. It is marvelous

in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath

made, and we will rejoice and be exceeding glad.

Save me now, I beseech thee. You can't read those

words and remain down and out. If you can, you've

got a greater problem. Your whole trust is not

in God. When you begin to read the inspiration

of the Holy Ghost on a man who was troubled in

most of his life, but overwhelmed in his praises,

you can't stay down. You'll pick up your head

because you'll begin to know how good God is.

If all that's not sufficient enough to make the

point, if we could do interviews, you would begin

to pose questions to people like Moses. When

you would ask Moses, is God good? Was God ever

good to you? Oh, Moses would say, well, I reckon.

When I was just born, wasn't even weaned yet.

Pharaoh declared a death sentence over my life.

God was good to me. He spared me. Some of you

had death sentences over your life. And God being

good to you. You're sitting right here in spite

of your own stupid self. Come on, I'm talking

about my own self. In spite of my own stupid

self, God was good to me. Amen. He could have

took me out a long time ago. All he would have

had to do was pick up that hand of mercy, and

I would have took myself out. Oh, and I know

looking around this room, there's enough of you

with the same testimony. Had God not extended

that mercy and his goodness into your heart and

just let you go, on about your own stupid way,

you'd have took care of yourself. But thank God.

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good

because his mercy endures forever. It's the goodness

of God. That's the only reason you're here. Get

your head up, your lip off the ground. Lift up

your eyes as the psalmist would declare. Under

the hills from which cometh your help, your help

comes from the Lord. If the people and nation

of Israel were to actually be honest with that

question, they cannot deny the goodness of God.

They would have to tell you that while we wandered

in disobedience in the Sinai wilderness, we eat

angel food cake every day. Huh? Uh -huh. I'm

not much for it. It's just an old sponge cake.

They can call it angel food if they want to.

They would tell you that we didn't have to worry

about setting up our weaver's mill and harvesting

the wool to make more clothes because our clothes

never wore out. Some of them big -footed fellas

could testify to the goodness in God and say,

you know, I was born wearing about a size 7.

By the time I come full grown, that baby was

a 14 and a half. But you know, that is the same

pair of Jerusalem cruisers that I had at seven.

And the leather just as good as it were the day

I put them on my foot. Why? Because our shoes

didn't wear out. Brethren, there would be more

spaces in many a closet in this room if they

could just deal with one pair. But God, I don't

know that he's in one pair anymore. I think he's

moved on. Some of you sitting here chuckling,

thinking, 20, 30, 35. You need a closet just

for them. You could pose that same question about

the goodness of God to the psalmist David again.

And his story would continue on. He said, look,

God's good to me. Why do you think over here

in the 118th chapter I've not forgot about how

good God is? If it was David who penned this

psalm, who knows? It really doesn't matter if

it was him or one of the others. It's somebody

who had either faced a bear or a lion. If it

was David, he'd say, look, I faced a bear and

a lion, and the goodness of God delivered them

into my hand. And don't get me down to the valley

of Elah where this uncircumcised Philistine is

cussing and rebuking God with profanities in

the army of God. Don't get me down there. There's

something that rose up in me when the hand of

God was upon me and it drove me to the valley

and the goodness of God and the perversion and

the voice of the Philistine who declared he would

feed me. to the dogs and the birds of the air.

There's something rose up in me, which was the

goodness of God that declared, you come to me

with spirit and a sword, but I come to you in

the name of the Lord. This battle doesn't belong

to me, but the victory belongs unto God. You

are mine today. I didn't know we was going to

get this involved. stirring up something down.

We ain't even got to mercy yet. We still on the

goodness of God. We got three whole pages left

and 15 minutes. You can pose that question to

Abraham. Abraham! Is God good? Has God been good

to you? Well, I just don't know what to tell

you. How good he's been to me. Let me just give

you one little insight. I've waited until I was

nearly 100 years old for this boy. And one day,

God, the same voice that I heard say, Come out

of the land of Ur of the Chaldee. I'll show you

a country. And everywhere your foot lands belongs

to you. And lift up your eyes and tell me if

you can count the stars in the heaven. Well,

just get you a handful of sand and tell me if

you can count every grain. I here declare to

you this message today. Here's my declaration

to you. Is that the stars and the sand, your

descendants will be numbered as great as. Hallelujah.

They will be more. And I'll tell you how good

he is on the same day that I heard the voice

from heaven tell me to take your son, thine only

son Isaac, up to the Mount of Moriah and offer

him there. When we got to the foot of the mountain,

I didn't know what to say to Isaac. When he looked

at me and said, Dad, I've got the wood, you've

got the fire, but where is our sacrifice? All

I could do was think about the goodness of God

and tell Isaac, God will provide for him. himself

a sacrifice. And every step we were taking up

the mountain, there was a ram coming up the backside

and he met us in the thicket on top. I'm telling

you, God is good. When I had my hand raised to

the skies to take the blow that God had ordered

me to take, the angel of the Lord stayed my hand

and showed me the ram. Why? Because God himself,

Jehovah Jireh is his name. The Lord will see

and the Lord shall. Now provide. He provided

for himself. That's how good he is. That's how

good he is. So many others we could pose that

question to. And I know that there are things

that we could complain about. You've got stuff.

That you can moan and groan and whine and bellyache

about. And here's the thing. We do. That's part

of our dilemma. Thus the reason we are as low

as we are in life sometimes. Because do we truly

trust God or not? Is he all that other stuff

that we've done covered? If he is, get over ourself.

Amen. We need to get over ourselves. I know there

are things in life that we could complain about.

But it's God who declares in this life you shall

have tribulation. But he said be of good cheer.

He didn't say whine about it. He didn't say moan

about it. He didn't say gripe and complain about

it. He said be of good cheer. I have overcome

the world. And the peace that I have, I give

unto you. Not as the world grants peace, but

it's my peace. And then I can see God on the

throne of eternity sometimes saying, well, am

I not good enough for you? What else is there?

And if I'm not good enough for you, then there's

nothing in this world that I have created and

which I transcend over that's going to satisfy

you. Come on, church of the living God. Come

on, saints of God. We could complain. We could

gripe. bellyache or we could give thanks unto

the Lord for he is good get over move on lift

up and procession we could say why us and the

devil tempted run that through my mind Haven't

we been through enough? Haven't we dealt with

enough? Haven't you had enough trouble? Heartache

and trial? Oh, he sets and perches on that shoulder

and whispers in your ear. He don't whisper, he

shouts. Because he wants you to know what he

thinks about your situation. He wants you to

know. Amen? He does. And he wants you to begin

to question the goodness of God. It's not to

say that the overwhelming factors of life don't

cause tears to come because we've cried our share.

Huh? We give it one night. From about 1 .30 in

that afternoon. To the coming up of the sun of

the following day. That was our only time. And

that was what I gave it. Because it was a load.

And we cried, didn't we, baby? But in them tears,

I never said, why us, God? Matter of fact, I

looked at her and said, why not? Who are we?

Who are you? Think about it. Do we think we're

the only people who have ever faced trials? Oh,

the devil tries to make you think you're the

only one. Oh, yeah. And then if you're full of

yourself, you'll believe it. But if you're full

of the Holy Ghost. You'll give it just a little

bit of time. You'll reflect on it for just a

moment. And the scripture declared, blessed are

those that mourn. You can mourn, but my God,

get up out of your wallowing after a season because

they shall. I'll be comforted. Don't mourn over

what you've lost in this life. Don't mourn what's

been taken away. Don't mourn over loved ones

past the time. Look up to the heaven and give

God the glory because God is good. Ain't no one

of us in here that ain't got something to complain

about. I've been praying over your house. I'm

about tired of the devil just... using your place

as a doormat for sickness. So just know there's

some agreement going on. Hallelujah. In the name

of Jesus is what I'm declaring. Hallelujah. We

might save mercy for next week. We're just hung

up on the goodness of God. He's good. And I am

determined to thank him because of his goodness.

In spite of the tribulations of this world that

you know were coming. Come on now, I've been

telling you for seven years almost. This isn't

just the high life, it isn't just the roses.

There's thorns when you pick roses. You're going

to give some blood if you're not careful to get

the beauty on the end of the stem. My God, you're

going to bleed in this life. Why, pastor? Because

there's a devil out there trying to kill you.

I love that the Lord will just show me light

bulbs coming on. That time some of us figured

this out. Why do you think you're tempted to

go back into that mess so bad? It's not for your

well -being. None of that garbage ever treated

you anything but wrong. None of it. And you won't

actually go back to that. My Lord. That really

tells God what you actually think about him.

But this position of the goodness of God and

you thanking God for that goodness is on you.

It's on me. It's a choice that you make. It's

a choice that I make. Oh, you can wallow in your

self -pity. The whole time the devil that pulls

you back into that mess is sitting over at us.

giggling and sniggering and laughing at you as

you destroy yourself, as you empty your soul

of the joy of the Lord. We was riding down the

road, I think it was maybe Thursday. We was headed

back and forth doing one of the errands, and

there was just something. The joy of the Lord

just was in the truck. And I just couldn't help,

just the joy of the Lord. So much around that

would... drain all of that out but we're driving

down the road and I tell this guy I do not know

what it is but the joy of the Lord is as near

on me as I have felt him in years I just felt

good, felt energized. Why? Because you've got

to let your bucket down in the well. You've got

to let your bucket down. Isaiah 12 tells you,

let down your bucket down into the well of the

joy of your salvation. And I've been marinating

in my mind the goodness of God all week, and

it's been two weeks since I've got to let this

out, and it just rises up in me to let me know

the ethos of a warrior. One of those characteristics

was to be a warrior. warrior of praise. And you

can't praise God unless you thank God. Unless

you're thankful for everything that's coming

into your life. I'm thankful for the trial. Why?

Because it's honing my faith. It's sharpening

my prayer life. In everything give thanks. In

everything Give thanks. This is the will of God

in Christ Jesus. Quit complaining about it and

start thanking God for it. Well, I'm not thankful

for that. Well, you might as well be because

God's doing something in you through it. Why

do you think that Romans 8 .28 is such an indictment

to the goodness of God over the influences of

the enemy? All things. Could you put that up

on the screen, Samuel? Romans 8 .28. Put that

up for me, brother, if you can. I don't know.

I won't look at it. Since we're not going into

mercy today, let's take a little bit more time.

I've got four more minutes. On the goodness of

God. You want to see the goodness of God? Right

here you go. And we know. It's in the book. If

you don't know this, it's your fault. It's written

plain. Pick a thing up and read it. I've quoted

it. Ain't no telling how many times. Brother

Randy quotes it on Wednesday. And I'm sure Brother

George and he in their Sunday school class has

quoted it. It's everywhere. And we know. work

together for what? There's none good but who?

All things work together for God. To those who

love God. Let me just show of hands. Do you love

God? Do you love? Are you hearing me? It's sort

of like when Jesus was talking to Peter. He says,

Peter, do you love me? Do you love? Do you really

love God? To those who are the called according

to his purpose. You see, the misconception in

Christendom is that this is about us. The only

part of us that this is about. is redemption.

After that, it's all him. We turn and reflect

everything to him. The only thing about this

concerning you is redemption. And if he never

answered another prayer other than that sinner's

prayer, how good is God? But in spite of just

that. All things work together for good. All

those things transpiring in your life ain't no

good in what we're dealing with. Somehow or another

it's going to get together with the goodness

of God and it's going to turn out good. I don't

know what it's going to be, but it will be. Whatever's

going on in your life, the object, The situation,

the issue may not be good, but for somehow, and

it's in the wisdom of God, good is going to come

out of what's going on in your life if you allow

it. I've quit preaching and gone to teaching

now. A statement for you to remember for next

week. Is when God. I don't want to get it wrong.

When God grants mercy. When God grants mercy.

He extends grace. That's goodness. So in reality,

where you're at right now, it's going to turn

out good for good because for some reason, whatever

it is, is working out his purpose for our lives.

I didn't say I liked it. Pose that question in

the interview. But I have chosen to give thanks

to the Lord. In an era where churches are closing

by the hundreds and thousands every year, Hopewell

is still open. Many churches never opened up

after the pandemic. They're still shuttered to

this day. But not only did something terrible

turn out to good for Hopewell, while we were

overwhelmed with debt, somehow his purpose was

in a shutdown to show this preacher that he was

still on the throne. And a year after it, we

did it free. Now. See, somehow all things work

together. And so here we are. While others are

closed, we're flourishing under a spirit of revival

without the weight of debt. Think about that.

And if he'll do that for the organizational church,

What do you think he's going to do for the church

itself? Us. We're the church. We're the ecclesia.

You're the ecclesia. You're the called out. Called

out of what? The darkness of sin. To what? Into

his marvelous light. Yeah, you're not that anymore.

You're not that anymore. And so now you look

at what comes your way through a different lens.

It's going to be good. Well, what if it kills

me? Well, to be absent -bodied is going to be

present with the Lord. How much better is there

than that? See, it's perspective. It's how you

perceive your life. Is it yours or is it his?

Man, we're plowing. deep this morning. Preach

hot at the front and then just sunk the plow

right here to the end. That was those extra two

courses and three verses that cost you. Stand

with me. Next week we're going to get back into

good when good is good enough. We're going to

talk about that second point. The mercy of God.

Because his mercy endures forever. All we need

to know today is that God is good. To give thanks

unto the Lord because of that goodness. So where

are you? Well, you just don't know. Really? Really.

Well, you're the pastor. You're supposed to be

up. No, no, no, no, no, no, that no. The same

blood that cleansed my sins cleansed yours. And

if you've pressed through to the wonderful work

of sanctification and spirit baptism, then the

same Holy Ghost in me is the same Holy Ghost

in you. So it's not the limitation of his power

because he's omnipotent. So the onus falls on

me and it falls on you. Fair? Is that not fair?

Whether it's fair or not, it's truth. To those

who love God. To those who are called according

to His purpose. What's His purpose? He's not

willing that any should perish. For God so loved

the world that He gave His only begotten Son

that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish

but have everlasting life. Sounds like a great

purpose statement. That's the purpose. And to

those who love God, all things work together

for good. I wonder how many of you would own

up with me and say, well, it's not real good

situationally. And I need a little bit of help

to get over myself. You know how hard it is to

admit that to yourself? Because you know you've

got it all together. Like a bag of Lays, you're

all in one bag sealed. You've got it. No, no.

It's probably got you. And you're just coping.

But do you know you don't have to just cope through

life? It's not about coping, it's about victory.

Be of good cheer, Jesus said. I have overcome

the world. And the peace that I have, give I

unto you. Not as the world, but my peace. That

your joy may be full. Wow. You mean God wants

me to be happy? I don't know that he's so concerned

about your happiness as he is your level of joy.

Because the two are not the same. There's so

much in life going on that I'm not happy about.

But I'm telling you the overwhelming sense of

the joy of the Lord. Come in my truck the other

day and has changed my perspective again. Again.

You know, he'll do it again. All my life, single

of that. If you need a touch from the Lord, I

tell you what, we need each other. We need each

other. We make this through by praying for each

other. Even when we don't know that the Lord's

put an extra burden of prayer on someone else

for our behalf. You would be amazed at the people

that are praying for you that you have no clue

that God has said, you know, so and so, you may

not even know them personally. But they know

your face across the room. And the Lord says,

pray for them. And they just pray for you. How

many of you need prayer? Come here, baby. Stand

down here. We need prayer. Anybody need prayer?

All things are not good, but all things work

together for good. Amen? Anybody? You're up against

it and you're ready to get out from under it?

What a great day to receive Jesus Christ as your

Lord and Savior if you don't know him. If you've

never repented of your sin and asked Christ into

your heart, today is your day. He just wants

you to know how good he really is. And for you

to give thanks. You say, well, I don't have anything

to be thankful for. Really? Oh, really? Well,

let's sit down and start making a list of pros

and cons. We got a lot to be thankful for. We

had a brand new healthy grandson on Monday. And

there was a scare right after the birth. And

I got a lot to be thankful for today. My daughter's

well. My grandson was turning a little yellow,

but little sunshine took care of that. Little

Jan. His mama was the same way and his uncle

and his sister. So much to be thankful for. This

is not the only thing going on in our life. Amen.

And what's going on in your life, that's not

the only thing going on. There's some good stuff.

Get your eyes off that other stuff. Put your

eyes on God. And give thanks unto the Lord, for

he is good. And his mercy endures forever. Father,

I love you today.