Articles
Experiencing God’s Goodness by Faith and Knowledge
God’s goodness can be experienced in this life and the next. Psalm 34:7 reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Knowing the Bible and having heartfelt faith are necessary to have a strong relationship with God. Jesus tells us in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” When you truly have a relationship with God, you will be blessed with the opportunity to eternally live with Him in Heaven and your heart will desire to obey His commands.
Psalm 34:8 reads, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Having heartfelt faith in God is a necessary component to “taking refuge in him.” Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” The world tries to make us believe that the best rewards are physical pleasures like money, power, fame, and physical objects. However, the Lord’s gifts are truly fulfilling because He blesses His faithful children with unconditional love, never ending support, and eternal hope.
Having knowledge of His truth helps us all to understand what Jesus expects of us as His children. Jesus tells us in John 14:15 reads, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” To be one of God’s faithful children, Jesus teaches us that we must be baptized. In John 3:5 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” As God’s children, all of us must also obey His commandment to love God above all else and love others before ourselves. In Mark 12:29-31, the Pharisees asked Jesus about which law was the greatest. Jesus focused the conversation on God and replied, “‘The most important is...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Yet, we must not forget that we can only do that because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Hebrews 10:21-24 reads, “And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” As God’s children, we are all meant to spread His word by shining His light in all that we do. Our faith should be confident because it will help embolden our righteous works and ultimately help us grow stronger in our relationship with Him. In the end, our goal as Christians should be to eternally live with our Father in Heaven. At the same time, our hearts should also know that we can experience God and His goodness in this life, especially when we are living for Him with our entirety.
