HE IS - I AM : LIVING OUT OF MY IDENTITY IN CHRIST!
HE IS GOOD —I AM FIRST CLASS.
I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them.
Romans 15:14
May 2 He is - I am. Good -undeniably present…
He is good in nature, and everything he does is good, …. It is not a work he wills to do; it is the most common outcome of who and what he is.
When he stands in a room, goodness fills it. When he moves into a neighbourhood, goodness follows him. When he sits at my hospital bed, goodness rules the atmosphere. The presence of evil, …. flees from his company, because it cannot hold out against the force of goodness that is in him. HIIA p.53
Because Christ is in me, I can be kind, gentle and gracious in every circumstance. As such I stand in stark contrast to the cruelty, coarseness and rudeness of my natural world. I become light there. I become hope there. I become God’s goodness there. p. 55 HIIA
Bible Story: Mark 5:1-20 Out of the boat healing
Reflection:
In a conversation I had with my daughter’s husband, jan 12, 2021, he acknowledged this, “the more that I am able to see that God is good, the more I am able to trust Him.” Curtis I agree.
Curtis also suggested that what is “Good” might actuality be something that is beyond our ability to truly understand. “Good is the way things are meant to be, designed perfectly —something more than what this life itself can offer…there is this possibility that what is “good”is in reality outside of beyond our human experience,” This is what he shared with me. Perhaps this is what Jesus may have been trying to suggest when he said, “Only God is good”? (Mark 10:28).
So then could it be that the one who came from the “outside”, from Heaven, is the only one who can help us to what is “good”.
In Christ the goodness of Heaven is now on the earth, “on earth as in heaven”. To encounter Jesus is to “know” what “Good” is. Sometimes the saying in true, “seeing is believing”.
Being Good, Laurie says, “it’s not a work he wills to do, it is the most common outcome of who and what he is.” But there is more. The truth is that in Christ, to quote Laurie, “I become God’s goodness there”, in the world.
Today’s story is another one of my favourites. It reveals the goodness of God. What God did when I told this story has given it a special place in my heart. Why? Because God revealed His goodness. Let me share.
My strategy with children’s moments (story-time to honour the kids in our gatherings) in our gatherings was to try to paint a picture of the message I was about to deliver. I had a mentor who once said, “If you can’t teach kindergarten, don’t teach”. So in my Children’s moment I tried to express the message in it’s most simplest form.
With this particular story (Mark 5:1-20) I wanted to emphasize that the moment Jesus stepped out of the boat and his feet touched the ground, he produced a ripple effect. The Kingdom of God literally filled the earth at the place he touched down. So much so the man possessed by Legion found the strength in himself to over power the demons within and run to Jesus for help! Instead of hiding, and running away from people, the presence of God in Christ made this man come running to Him. What happened because of Jesus’ presence, as noted in Mark 5, is true for us. Wherever we go, so to goes the kingdom of God, the goodness of God!
Months after doing this children’s moment I learned that when I was telling the story, God was healing a woman sitting in our Gathering. As I emphasized Jesus foot stepping out of the boat and the ripple affect of the Kingdom of Heaven, God was shifting the bones and the muscles in her foot. God healed her foot!!! How Good is that? That is the goodness of God. And you and I “walk” in that Goodness because of our faith in Christ. Dang, that’s GOOD NEWS!!! GOD IS GOOD!!!! UNDENIABLY PRESENT!!!! And the more I know His Goodness, yes Curtis, the more I trust Him too!