Have you thought about the goodness of God lately? When Pastor Piedmonte was the Pastor of First
Assembly in Binghamton NY, there were times when he would say to the people, “God
is good,” then he would encourage the people to say, “all the time,” then he
would say, “all the time,” and the people would say, “God is good,” if I remember
this correctly.
Another thing Pastor Piedmonte would encourage the congregation
to do is to sing this song, “It’s Amazing What Praising Can Do.” I think it was his favorite song. It went something like this:
“It’s amazing what
praising can do,
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
It’s amazing what
praising can do, hallelujah;
I don’t worry when things
go wrong
Jesus fills my life
with a song,
It’s amazing what praising
can do, halleluiah.”
Then we would repeat it several times and it was great. Someday he may sing this song in the New Jerusalem
that the Bible talks about in Revelations 21:2 coming down from Heaven. I sure miss Pastor Piedmonte and his preaching
and encouraging words, he truly knew the goodness of God and demonstrated it
daily.
Psalms 118:1 says this, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He
is good!
For His mercy endures forever.” Do you ever think about the mercy of God and
His constant help?
Psalms 46:1 says this, “God is our refuge and strength, a
very present help in trouble.” Can you
think of any time that God helped you when you were in a troubling situation? If you can’t think of a time since you were a believer,
think of this, when you were a non-believer you were in terrible trouble because
of your sins, with no possible way of escape from the evil one and hell, pain
and agony forever, but then, because of God’s goodness, mercy and grace He drew
you unto Himself. Everything that was
done for your salvation was God’s doing, the only thing you did was receive God’s
goodness, mercy and grace and His free gift of salvation.
What about the things God has done for you after your salvation;
all His wonderful blessings and the peace, love and joy that surpasses all
understanding, along with deliverance, healing and special relationships, and
what about the conviction of the Holy Spirit when you are tempted to sin, or
have sinned, so you will be able to repent. God gives you godly sorrow so that you can repent
and turn away from your sins, praise God. Also think of the many things that
the Holy Spirit has taught you and brought to your remembrance when you needed
to use them because He is the true teacher. God does all that because He is good.
David knew the goodness of God and His mercy and he never
forgot it. This is what he wrote in
Psalms 103:1-13,
“Bless the Lord, O my
soul;
And all that is
within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my
soul,
And forget not all
His benefits:
Who forgives all your
iniquities,
Who heals all your
diseases,
Who redeems your life
from destruction,
Who crowns you with
lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your
mouth with good things,
So that your youth is
renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord executes
righteousness
And justice for all who
are oppressed.
He made known His
ways to Moses,
His acts to the
children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful
and gracious,
Slow to anger, and
abounding in mercy.
He will not always
strive with us,
Nor will He keep His
anger forever.
He has not dealt with
us according to our sins,
Nor punished us
according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens
are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy
toward those who fear Him;
As far as the east is
from the west,
So far has He removed
our transgressions from us.
As a father pities
his children,
So the Lord pities
those who fear Him.”
I hope this lesson has been an encouragement to you and I hope
that you will never forget the goodness of God. And I hope if you can, put Pastor Piedmonte’s
song to music, or come up with your own little tune, you will sing it and thank
and praise the Lord through it because when you start praising God you will find
it’s easy to remember God’s goodness to you.
Something to think about, God bless and have a great day!!
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