God Is Good

by children’s pastor Brenda El-Talabani

Each of these devotional blogs entries is meant to be read on your own or if you have family or friends you live with, to be read together aloud. A suggestion is to do this after you have dinner around the table together. At the conclusion, please spend time in personal reflection or in sharing with one another your answers to the questions at the end. Be sure to conclude with prayer.

Read Romans 51-11

^“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8)

Maybe you and your family pray the prayer, “God is great, God is good . . .” before you eat. Or perhaps you used to pray it, or you have heard someone else pray it. I invite you, as we move into the Easter season, to remember during these difficult times how good our God is. It is an awesome realization that God is so good, that He loves us just as we are, in our current situation. As I searched the scriptures, the following passages spoke to me reminding me of God’s goodness:

Genesis 1:31-2:4 reminds us that God’s creation is “good.”
Nehemiah 9:13-15 tells us that God’s commands are “good.”
I John 11 let’s us know that we can imitate God because He is “good.”

In Romans 5:6-8 I am reminded of how great His love is, that God chose to send His Son, Jesus, to die for me and for you – even while we were still sinners. He is that good, and it helps me to understand a little more of His character when I understand goodness.

Look around you today, take some time to see how God is demonstrating His goodness and His love to you. Be thankful for all of the ways you see God’s goodness given to you. Be thankful during this Easter season for God’s goodness to you in sending Jesus Christ to bridge the gap between us and God, giving us life forever with Him.

I pray that you find comfort in God’s word as you read scriptures about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. As you are reading, allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, guiding you into a deeper walk with God.

Reflect with someone else or on your own:

List some ways that God has been good to you, and your family, friends, co-workers.
Think about Ezekiel 34:11-15 and the difference between a good shepherd and a bad shepherd. Reflect on how God is the Good Shepherd.
What do I need to ask God to reveal to me today in understanding how good He is?
What can I pray and thank God for?
Pray this prayer or use it as a guide for your own:

Heavenly Father, thank You for being so good to me in so many ways. It’s an amazing thing that You loved me so much that You were willing to do all that You did in sending Jesus to earth to bridge the gap between me and You. Thank you God for . . .