I think a lot of you believe that God loves you,
but I don't think many of you think He really
likes you. The fact of the matter is, is we can
intellectually believe that God loves us, but
not have a sense that He's for us. You want to
experience the goodness of God? Stay with me.
Thanks for listening to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international
teaching and discipleship ministry that encourages
and equips Christians to live like Christians.
Well, have you ever felt like God is disappointed
in you or he's eagerly waiting for you to mess
up so he can punish you? Well, today, Chip utterly
dispels that myth as he continues his series,
The Real God. There's a lot to get to, so let's
join Chip for part two of his talk, The Goodness
of God. If you have a Bible, you'll be back in
Psalm chapter 84. How has God revealed his goodness?
It's one thing. I can tell you if you actually
come to believe that from your head down to your
heart, obedience will be completely different.
Trusting him becomes completely different. The
fear of the future, we always have some, it'll
begin to dissipate. Because if God has your best
and he's sovereign and he's control and he's
an all wise God and he's for you and he's leaning
forward on the throne to bless your life and
to help you and give you the very best. Well,
then whatever he says is the, well, that's what
I want to do. Now, by the way, it doesn't mean
that you don't have some emotional fear. Doesn't
mean the front end might be really hard, but
it means that you trust his promises because
he's a good God. He's revealed it to us in three
ways. And let me encourage you to. To let these
ways sink in and begin to practice them in a
new way. Because you've got to do some things
to move. I believe God's good to hear. First,
it's through natural blessings. Psalm 145, 7
-9 says, They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness. The
Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger
and rich in love. The Lord is good to all. He
has compassion on all he's made. Does the all
include you? He's good to all. This little phrase
is repeated all through the Old Testament. He's
gracious, compassionate, abounding, multiplying,
exponentially available. loving kindness. The
word is hesed. It's a steadfast, loyal, commitment,
love to give you the best. That's how God is
with his creation. Later in the same Psalm, verse
16 says, you open your hand and satisfy the desires
of every living thing. The Lord is righteous
in all his ways and faithful in all that he does.
And here's what I'd say is pause to look around.
We get so busy, so focused. Just observe people.
Observe people at a restaurant. Observe people
walking on the streets now. The whole world does
this. A family sitting together in a restaurant.
There's four phones out. When's the last time?
I'm serious. When's the last time you saw a sunset?
You. When's the last time you saw a sunrise?
When's the last time I'm going to take a walk
and God has displayed his goodness and his glory.
When's the last time you took a walk in nature?
When's the last time you said, I don't need to
be in a hurry? When's the last time in the traffic
and the hustle and the bustle instead of, let's
see, if I go here, I go here. If I get off this
ramp, then I get over here. Then I cut across
here. Gosh, I'm going to save two minutes and
add all this stress to my life. That you said,
maybe I'll just get in a slow lane. And put on
a song about the glory of God and realize all
these other crazy people that are commuting,
I'm just not going to be a part of that. When's
the last time you went to a park or even the
mall at one of the little playgrounds and you
just sat down and you watch kids play? And this
is the innocence. They're not worried. They're
not stressful. They're not going, I wonder what
I'll wear tomorrow. Or I wonder if there's gonna
be any food tonight. Or, you know, I wonder what
profession I'm gonna have when I grow up. They're
just having fun. When's the last time you remembered
and you just held a brand new baby in your arms
and just thought, this is miraculous. This is
amazing. Where I live, I can drive about 30 minutes
and just park in front of the ocean and just
kind of watch those waves come in. Watch the
waves come in. There's something good about being
small sometimes. You're just one little person.
I'm just one little person. You're so valuable
on the one hand, and take this the right way,
you're not all that important. You know? And
yet, left to myself, I can start to feel like
the whole world is dependent on me and every
decision and every issue and all this. If you
don't... bask in the goodness of God in the natural
surroundings, then unconsciously we will become
the center and the focus and you'll believe life
is about pressure and productivity and getting
things done. And there's a place for that, but
the place for that is, Tozer's great words, it's
living under a sky that's friendly and knowing
that this God, though exalted in majesty and
power, is eager to be friends with you. That
even for some of you, if you're like me, we are
so productive oriented. If I'm not praying and
talking and interceding, it's like even when
I'm with God, I've got to get something done.
Anybody like that? Have you ever just been listening
to a song, or this morning I put Chris Tomlin
on just various songs, and a couple came up that,
my son wrote that song. My son wrote that song.
And I just thought. I got to adopt that boy.
Man, that kid was, we went through, and it was
like, oh, God. David says, this one thing I will
do that I will seek to behold the beauty of the
Lord. Literally, the word is the delightfulness,
to meditate in his temple. That there's part
of the goodness of God you just have to stop.
And I wrote a couple things down here. I wrote
for health, for food, for love, for people, for
beauty, for life, for air, for opportunity, for
the talents, for the education that you have,
for the opportunities God's given you, that you
live in this country. One of the things I do,
I lose perspective often. I seem to be... I have
a lot of issues, but I think God uses my issues
because when I share them, it seems like you
guys have them too, which makes me feel really
better. This was a Friday night about three weeks
ago, and it was 9 p .m., and I wrote in my journal,
I rarely if ever write at night, but I'm much
at peace and very, very thankful. After another
very intense week and two nights with just a
few hours sleep, the Lord my shepherd had me
lie down in green pastures, and he restored my
soul. I restored all my work. My sermon outline's
done. I interviewed a new CFO candidate who I
think's the right one. I met with a fellow pastor,
Steve, and it was such encouraging to share at
a very deep level. I laid out all my issues in
his wise counsel. I went and swam and did my
workout and didn't count the laps but tried to
enjoy the process. My son, Ryan, just dropped
by to pick up his kids and came to my office.
We had a blast. He asked me how I was doing and
how my back was, and I shared pretty honestly.
He started to tear up. I thought, to have a son
with that kind of compassion. I fell asleep and
had his boys over that night. I slept at the
bottom of the bed. My grandson fell asleep in
my arms. God, thank you. Thank you. Those are
little things. But God reveals his goodness through
natural blessings. The second way. He reveals
his goodness is through deliverances. And I'm
going to ask you to turn to Psalm 107. It's a
very long Psalm. I want you to study it, but
I'm going to give you the structure of the Psalm.
It is the classic passage on the goodness of
God in the Old Testament. The Psalm will open
with a call to honor God's goodness. And then
what you're going to see are there are four specific
vignettes. And the author is going to say vignette
number one, vignette number two, vignette number
three, vignette number four. In each one of these
vignettes, people find themselves in an impossible
situation. They're desperate. In three of the
four, they're in an impossible situation because
of their own doing, their own sin. In the fourth
one, God sovereignly seems to be working to some
sailors. So there's a vignette, talks about a
situation, it's really bad, it's impossible.
Then the process, and each one is the same. They
cry out to the Lord in the midst of their desperation,
in the midst of their trouble, and then God delivers,
delivers, delivers. And then there's a repeating
phrase that says, let them give thanks to the
Lord for He is good. And then vignette, vignette,
vignette. It's really powerful. Have you got
it? Psalm 107, look at verses 1 and 2. He says,
O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for
his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from
trouble. Now he's going to give four pictures
of trouble. Look at verse four. Some wandered
in the desert waste, finding no way to a city
to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their souls
fainted within them. They cried to the Lord in
their trouble. He delivered them from their distress.
He led them by the straight way till they reached
a city to dwell in. Let them give thanks to the
Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous
work to the children of men. For he satisfies
the longing of the soul, the hungry soul he fills
with goodness. Vignette number two, some sat
in darkness and shadow of death, prisoners in
affliction and in irons, for they rebelled against
the word of the Lord and he spurned the counsel
of the Most High. So he bowed their heads with
hard labor and they fell. With none to help them,
they cried to the Lord in their trouble. He delivered
them from their distress. He brought them out
of darkness and out of the shadow of death, and
he burst their bonds. Let them give thanks to
the Lord for his steadfast love. His wondrous
works for the children of men. He shatters the
doors of bronze. He's talking about breaking
through judgment. 17. Some were fools through
sinful ways, and because of their iniquities,
affliction, and we'll find out it becomes physical
affliction. He delivers them, verse 21, let them
give thanks to the Lord for his wondrous works.
Skipping down to verse 23, some went down to
the sea in ships, doing business on the great
waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord for his
wondrous works in the deep. He commanded and
raised up a stormy wind. He lifted up the waves
of the sea, and then the sailors cry out on their
distress. God delivers them. Verse 31, let them
give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love,
his wondrous works to men. And then notice he
will begin and say, let them extol his congregation
of the people, the praise of the assembly of
the elders. And then verse 33 to the end of the
chapter, he's going to reach back and take the
deliverances of God historically. Because this
psalm is written to a group of people who have
missed God's goodness and they're focusing on
circumstances and their lives aren't working.
And the only way it's to pull back our perspective
and to realize, oh, in the midst of our trouble
in the past, one of the ways that God expresses
his goodness is he delivers us. He reaches in
and delivers us when we don't deserve it. The
first three times, it's because of their sin.
In fact, in your notes, I put a little summary.
He rescues us from our enemies. He rescues us
when we're spiritually adrift. He rescues us
from the shadow of death. He heals our diseases.
He saves us in the storms of life. And then notice
at the very end, after he highlights these big
moments in Israel's history, when they were in
the desert, when he delivered them from the enemies.
Verse 43, whoever is wise. By the way, in biblical
literature, the word wise, especially in the
Old Testament, it's not intellectual. Wisdom,
book of Proverbs, or even New Testament, book
of James, wisdom is understanding how God designed
life to work. It's a skill. And it's following
that. So this is the pattern or the path of God
says, this is how relationships work. Wisdom
is, I'm going to follow that path. Wisdom is,
this is how God designed money to work in our
life. I'm going to follow that path. Wisdom is,
when I've made a mistake, here's the path for
reconciliation and forgiveness. I'll follow that
path. So he's saying, let him who's wise attend
to these things. Let them consider. Let them
ponder. The steadfast love, that's our word,
loving kindness of the Lord. Can I ask you to
do just a quick glance in your rear view mirror,
in your memory bank? When has God delivered you
or delivered someone you love? Anybody been in
just a horrendous situation? Maybe you did something
really terrible. Anybody had one of your kids
in the hospital and you begged God for their
life? And he delivered. Anybody here been through
cancer? You're here. Anybody here been upside
down financially? Anybody here had a moment in
your marriage that you just thought, you know,
I get the covenant stuff. This person makes me
so crazy. Divorce is not an option, but. And
you just, you grit your teeth and say, God, I
want to learn to love this person. And he delivered
you. See, that's God's goodness. It's his mercy.
I thought back in my little life, I thought,
I think I was the most arrogant person that I'd
ever met. And it was all rooted in insecurity.
But the only way I knew growing up. Was just
to act like the tough guy and recruit the tallest,
biggest guy on the team to be my enforcer. Because
I'm kind of small. And my mouth and my arrogance
and my insecurity. And I just look back. God
delivered me. Now, I still have arrogance, but
at least it's not the big, ugly kind. I mean,
you've got to stop and look back and say, wait
a second. The God who did that, you think he
can handle this big one? Right? That you're facing.
I had a very, very troubled marriage. We both
came from alcoholic backgrounds. My wife was
a stuffer and I was a talker. We couldn't communicate.
We couldn't resolve anger. And I praise God for
Christian counseling. Even at $95 an hour. It's
a lot of money when you're making $1 ,000 a month.
And you're in seminary preparing to teach people
about God and marriage. You know the hardest
part? I can vividly remember going into the Meyer
Minereth Clinic and sitting down and waiting
for our time and just praying that no one came
through that door that knew me. That's how arrogant
I was. I was so concerned about what other people
would think. And now I look back and think, you
know, we did 12 sessions. I have no idea where
we got the money. And a few years later, we needed
to tune up and went back and sat down with someone.
You know when you get stuck? But God delivers.
I'm so glad I didn't bail out. So glad we didn't
bail out. So glad. I can't imagine. Is it perfect?
Of course not. She's still married to me. And
you laugh, but I mean, you know, I've got idiosyncrasies
that are off the chart. I'm intense off the chart.
You know, I would not want to live with me, but
I'm so glad she does. And it's better and deeper
in every, I mean, emotionally, friendship, sexually,
every, believe me, you name an area, we've struggled.
And when I say we struggled, I don't mean like,
oh, it was a little problem. It was a problem.
And God delivered. I think of one of my sons
in ICU and we didn't think he'd live. I think
of one of my other sons in a 27. hour labor that
we didn't think he was going to make it. And
we just begged God. I remember six years of going
through cancer with my wife and driving every
day to Stanford after the surgery and thinking,
is this what I get? And God delivered. Just think.
Just think. Ask yourself. Has our lives gotten
so distracted with stuff and trivia and so focused
on the future and what about and what about and
what about and what about and this unconscious
desire to control and to manipulate and thinking
in our little humanness we can determine outcomes.
What would happen if you started to look at the
natural blessings and you begin to think and
write and ponder, if he delivered, here's my,
here's my, I'm pretty logical. If He delivered
in all those areas, whatever is in the windshield
of my life that feels painful, overwhelming,
confusing, and creates fear in my heart, I can
at least look in the rearview mirror and say,
that God is with me, and that God's out there.
So all my question is, okay, I don't get it emotionally,
but I'm going to trust you. I'm going to stay
on the path. There's a path or there's a way
that seems right to men, but it ends in death.
And there's a path that's the Lord's that is
fullness of joy, where his pleasures are forever.
The third and most profound way for sure is God
has demonstrated his goodness through his son.
Jesus is the proof of God's goodness. And I love
it. It's his goodness before we did anything.
It's not a cause and effect. There certainly
is a clear relationship in scripture between
the blessings of God and obedience and the discipline
of God and disobedience. But even the discipline
of God is out of his goodness and out of his
love. He disciplines not because he's mad or
punishing us. All of the just wrath and punishment
of God was placed on Christ at the cross. If
you're a son or a daughter, he may discipline
you and bring you through very difficult times,
but it's out of his heart of goodness and love
to give you the best. You're listening to Living
on the Edge. We'll return you to Chip's message
in just a minute. But let me quickly share with
you, God has called us to do incredible ministry
work all around the world. And when you regularly
give to Living on the Edge, you're a part of
what we do. So consider becoming a monthly partner
today. Then visit livingontheedge .org. We appreciate
your generous support. Well, with that, here's
Chip. Whenever you're discouraged, whenever you
wonder if God is good, there is a historical
moment. The cross is the greatest revelation
of the goodness of God in the universe. The cross.
why we were yet sinners, not when you cleaned
up your act, not when you did better, not when
you didn't have problems, why you and me were
rebels. And we could have been far from God and
angry at God, or we could be a rebel being passively
indifferent, thinking we don't need him. Both
is rebellion. In that moment, in that state,
Christ demonstrated his love for you. He died
in your place. It's the proof. Of God's goodness.
Jesus is the guarantee of future goodness. The
proof of present goodness is the cross. The guarantee
of future goodness is the cross. He who did not
spare his own son, but delivered him up, literally,
or over for us all, how will he not also with
him freely give us all things? It's called a
priori logic. In other words, if someone would
forgive a $5 million debt, you think you could
trust him if you went out to lunch and said,
oh gosh, you know, I don't have my wallet. Oh
my gosh, you think he'll pay for it? In other
words, if God has demonstrated his love through
the cross, how will he not with him? He's loved
you, he's rescued you, he's paid for you. How
will he not with him? Give you wisdom to be in
the right relationship. Give you direction for
the right job. Give you grace in the midst of
a difficult situation. Psalm 84, 11 was the promise.
But this verse, Romans 8, 32, was why I turned
from a path that was wrong, got on the exit ramp
of repentance, and turned around and got on God's
path. I was in college. And I had been a Christian
about three years, and I knew Jesus was Lord,
but he wasn't my Lord. I knew I was in a relationship
that was wrong, and I couldn't trust God. And
a young couple that had been a Christian about
nine months or a year, it was a small school,
3 ,000 or 4 ,000, out in the middle of nowhere,
had like a red church, a white church, and a
bar, not even a gas station. And you couldn't
get anything decent to eat. So when you're a
college student and a young couple says, would
you like to come to our house for dinner? It's
like, yes. And so we, I'll never forget it. And
so they were new Christians. And looking back,
they were very poor and they had a little farm.
I mean, picture Norman Rockwell, old barn, you
know, reddish, rusted door, white farmhouse,
very simple. I think it's cool and vintage now.
But remember the tables that are plastic on top
and with the curved legs that are steel. And
then when you sat on the thing, you stuck to
them. They didn't have doors. They took a little
wire and they put a sheet because they didn't
have doors. I think they only had like two, three
rooms in the house. And they invited me over
in a home -cooked meal. Of course, they had a
garden. And they were really old, like 28 or
30. And, you know, like when you're 19, they're
completely over it. I mean, they're still romance,
people that old, you know. And we talked around
the table and I watched how these two people
looked at each other. And there was this gleam
and this love, and she just reached over and
kind of touched his hand, and like a married
couple, really, really in love. And then he said,
excuse me, we're going to have ice cream and
apple pie that she's made, and we'll be right
back, but we're doing something new with our
kids. And they had like a... five -year -old,
four -year -old, maybe a two -year -old. And
so they went over and I wasn't trying to eavesdrop,
but it's a sheet. And so you could sort of see
through the sheet and a little single bed and
all four of them got down like this and they
all held hands and they taught the little kids
a tiny little prayer. Dear Jesus, thank you for
today. Thank you for mommy. Thank you for daddy.
Thank you that you died for us. And then the
husband prayed and You know, it was, you know,
not all that long. And then they came back in
and they sat down at the table and I had great
apple pie and had a green little Volkswagen at
the time. And the roads are real windy in West
Virginia. So I came to our campus and it was
called Bartell Hill. And it was just straight
down and I lived in the dorm, Bartell. And I
can still remember I was having a talk with God.
God, that's what I want. I mean, that's what
I really want someday. And I just heard the Holy
Spirit whisper, Chip, I'd love to give you that,
but it's on my terms, not yours. And I said,
well, I just can't believe that if I give up
this girl that you have someone better for me.
And I was with a group that was big into Scripture
memory, but I was not very big at sticking with
the group. So I was slow, but I just started
memorizing Scripture. And Romans 8 .32, as I'm
in the middle of that hill, Came to my mind.
I mean, just like out of the blue. I didn't know
the Holy Spirit did this stuff. Chip, he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for us all, how will he not with him freely give
us all things? And, you know, I don't know why.
Intellectually, it went, oh, so you're willing
to die for me? You could actually get me the
right wife? And I got to the bottom of the hill,
and Jesus was the Lord of my life. Not because
I... was stronger and not because I made some
big commitment. It's because God is good. There's
three very specific responses and we'll wrap
up our time. Response number one is for those
of you, you have an intellectual relationship
with God and, but the fact of the matter is,
is that if I ask you, do you know for certain
that if you died today, you would spend eternity
with the Lord Jesus because of his? Death on
the cross and you receiving that free gift of
God. And is he a vital living part of your life?
You just, you know, just you and me with coffee.
You look me in the eye and go, nah, I'm not sure.
I don't know. This is for you. Repent and receive
the greatest gift ever of eternal life. Romans
2, 4 says that it is God's kindness and his goodness,
his forbearance and patience that leads us to
repentance. God has been so good and so kind
and done so much in your life. It's all been
to say, would you come and let me give you the
best gift ever? You can't earn it. I want to
forgive your sin. I want to come into your life
and I want to change your life. And I want you
to become my son or my daughter. And if you have
never done that right now, I would just turn
Ingram off because what he says doesn't matter.
And in my heart of hearts, I would say, almighty
God, I had no idea you were so good. I had no
idea you loved me so much. I want to turn from
my sin. And in the empty hands of faith, I ask
you to forgive me based on Jesus' work on the
cross and resurrection and come into my life
right now. And he will. And then tell someone
and we'll help you get on the new path. Second
is surrender your life and future fully to the
Lordship of Christ. This is God's will. God's
will is not you're a little bit better moral
person and you try really hard and go to religious
services. God's will is that I urge you, brothers,
in view of God's mercy, rooted in his goodness,
that you offer your body as a living and holy
sacrifice, pleasing to God. That is your spiritual
service of worship. What God wants is not your
money. What God wants is not your religious activity.
He wants you. Lock, stock, and barrel. He wants
you. And what that will do is that will reorient
your time. It'll reorient your life. It'll reorient
your money. But it will be out of a love relationship,
not trying to earn His favor. If you've never
fully surrendered, He brought you on this day
from your heart of hearts to bow your knee and
say, Lord, I want to tell you I'm afraid. But
on this day, at this place, I offer myself. All
that I am, all that I have, all that I'll ever
be. You have full rights to my life. I'm signing
the bottom of a check. I'm ushering it underneath
the throne room of God. You fill in the top,
whatever. Time, energy, money, future, location.
You call the shots and I'll obey because it's
the best and wisest plan because you love me,
you're good, you're all -knowing, and you're
all -wise. And finally, I would just encourage
those of you who say, you know, I'm a believer
and I've surrendered. Claim God's promise that
you'll never miss out on any good thing. Because
you lose it, don't you? Just because you've surrendered
doesn't mean you don't fear that you're going
to miss out, that you aren't tempted. Claim today,
Lord God, you are my son. You are my shield.
You're my grace. You're my glory. No good thing.
ever will I miss out on as I walk uprightly before
you. Before we go any farther today, I want you
to pause. I don't care what you're doing. You
might be on the treadmill. You might be sitting
at the kitchen table. You might be out running.
You might be riding in your car, but you need
to pause right now and think about what the scripture,
what God just said. If you find yourself outside
of Christ. And what I mean by that is you do
not have 100 % certainty that if you would die
at this moment, you would be ushered into heaven.
You realize that God has been good. He's been
kind. He's been speaking to your heart and you've
never turned from your sin and received him as
your savior. You need to do that right now. It
is the kindness, the goodness of God that leads
to this change of mind. He loves you so much.
He died for you. He rose from the dead. He has
a gift for you that begins this minute on this
day of a brand new life. And so let me just,
if you have not done that and you're not sure
how, right now with me, pray this, Lord Jesus,
I need you. I believe today that you died in
my place for my sin and rose from the dead. Lord,
I trust in you and you alone for eternal life.
And I ask you to come into my life, cleanse me,
forgive me, make me your son. Make me your daughter.
What I want you to know is that is called being
born a second time or being born spiritually.
Or you may have heard being born again. Just
like every person requires a physical birth to
have physical life, every person requires a spiritual
birth to have spiritual life. And I've just led
you in a prayer of repentance where Jesus promised
that as you open the door of your heart, he promises,
I will come in. Or by visiting livingontheedge
.org, then clicking the New Believers button.
That's livingontheedge .org or call 888 -333
-6003. Let us help you get started in your faith
journey. Now, Chip, I wanted to give you another
minute or so to talk to another group of people
who listened intently to what you taught today.
Dave, I appreciate that. I also want to say a
word to many, many of you who thought to yourself,
well, I've taken that step. Christ lives in me.
And when I talked about his lordship, when I
talked about absolute surrender, You know what?
There's a job or a person or a girlfriend or
a boyfriend or money or the future. And God brought
things to your mind. And I will tell you that
the dramatic, dramatic change that happens in
followers of Christ is when they come to God
and say, I really do believe you're a sun and
a shield. I really believe you give grace and
glory. And I so believe you would never withhold
any good thing from me. I want you to know that
today, all that I am, all that I have, I surrender.
And I mean it. And if you're not a little afraid,
then you don't get it. OK, we're all a little
afraid. But I just I just got to tell you, I've
watched people who've been Christian five years,
10 years, 25 years, never surrender. And when
they do, the floodgates of heaven open. They
experience power like never before. And usually
some difficulty early on. You'll get tested.
We love you. God loves you. Surrender to him
today. Incredible encouragement, Chip. So if
you're looking for some practical help to recommit
your life to Jesus, check out Chip's book, True
Spirituality. Through this resource, he walks
through Romans chapter 12, unpacking how to become
a genuine follower of Christ. To get your copy
of True Spirituality, or to order a couple of
copies for you and a friend to go through together,
go to special offers at livingontheedge .org
or the Chip Ingram app. If you are ready to completely
surrender your life to Jesus, this tool will
help you. Well, from all of us here, I'm Dave
Drewy, thanking you for listening to this edition
of Living on the Edge, and I hope you'll join
us again next time.