Good and evil are at opposite ends of the continuum.
God's GOODNESS is synonymous with His God-ness.
Everything about God is good and His goodness is abundant.
His goodness is summed up in His generous grace.
When we sinned, we deserved to be stripped of all
that He had so gloriously designed for us.
We ignored His law and willed to disobey.
He could have cut us off.
God, in His omniscience, knew that we would do so,
and while saddened and disappointed by our choice,
He devised a plan for our salvation.

God is a just God. The sentence of sin is death.
We stand condemned before Him, a victim of our own choice.
We have been trapped in Satan's snare and our death is certain.
That's when Jesus, God's Son, One unblemished by sin,
stepped in and volunteered to take upon Himself our sin
and suffer the wrath of God's justice in our place.
And God's love for us said "yes" to Jesus.

Our acceptance of God's goodness, Jesus' death in exchange for ours,
provides us with the opportunity for a restored relationship with God.
Justice was satisfied and, as recipients of God's forgiveness,
we experience God's profound goodness
in the peace that comes with freedom from guilt.

God's goodness is strong yet gentle, just but inviting in its appeal.
It cost God the sacrifice of His Son, separation from a part of Himself,
for our benefit,
that we can be the recipients of all that is His!
The cost to us is humility,
acknowledging our brokenness and need for forgiveness
provided by God's great self-sacrificing heart and the death of His Son.
And, it is this humble attitude,
awareness that we contributed nothing
to our own salvation,
that enables the fruit of goodness to grow in our own lives.
We see ourselves as conduits of His goodness,
not blessed by His gracious generosity to hoard,
but to open our hearts, our hands, and our homes
to those in need.

~ Prayer ~

God, you are good, and every good thing comes from You.
We are not the originators of any goodness.
We are simply recipients of Your goodness,
graciously and generously bestowed upon us,
so that we can open our hearts, hands, and homes to those
You choose to bless through us, Your humble servants.
Yes, we are soaking in Your goodness as a sponge,
so that when we are squeezed by others
we can release it, graciously and generously,
assured that there is an abundance of Your goodness available at all times
to assuage our emptiness.

Twila Charles Leichty
June 26, 2010

Redemption is really about Jesus' willingness
to pay the price to buy us back
from the master we'd chosen when we sinned, Satan.

PEACE is not passive but perceptive,
presenting man with an opportunity to embrace God's love,
but recognizing God's love has a polarizing effect
and being at rest in the midst of adversity.
(according to Phillip Keller, author of A Gardener Looks at the Fruit of the Spirit)

God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit
are at one, united in effort.
There is no conflict because their desire
is one: for our redemption, our renewal and our restoration.
God comes with His arms outstretched, inviting us into a relationship
that has, as its goal, our well-being.

It is my response to God's love that determines whether I enter into that peace
or find myself provoked by circumstances and the behaviors of others.
It is choosing not to take things or another's lived-out attitude personally
but remembering that the ways of man are self-serving,
as he seeks to embrace that which he desires or thinks himself entitled to,
those things that look good and feed pride.

It was Jesus' connection with His Heavenly Father
that enabled Him to be “serene, strong, and stable”
in the midst of adverse circumstances, around antagonistic and rejecting people.
And “it was the impact of this peace that touched and transformed people...”

Peace is being at rest, knowing that all is right between God and myself.
It comes as I allow the Holy Spirit access to my life
and ask that God work in me first
to uproot all that is self-serving, self-protective, and self defending
so that He can work through me,
making me an instrument of His peace,
providing the world with an alternative way of relating,
that of love!

Peace is not the absence of conflict
but a quietness, a stillness, a serenity even when others are hostile.
It is evidence that I am no longer trying to juggle God's interests and mine.

~ Prayer ~

Jesus was at peace with others even when they were at odds with Him.
Otherwise, others would never have seen God's love.
He had no need to argue, defend, or prove Himself.
He knew that His will was one with God's
and a love's focus on redemption and restoration
is more powerful than force to win back man's allegiance.
Help us to remember that as well. Amen.

Twila Charles Leichty
May 20, 2010

Joy ~ a fruit of the Spirit,
“one of the most significant hallmarks of God's people”
(according to Phillip Keller, author of A Gardner Looks at the Fruit of the Spirit).

Not dependent on what's happening in my life or the world around me,
not determined by the behaviors of others or my emotions,
joy is a visible indication of God “at work.”
It is indication that I believe God is who He says that He is,
that I believe that He is a faithful God and that He keeps all His promises,
regardless of what is currently happening.
It is a deep awareness that God is present, though I do not see Him,
that He is at work even when I fail to understand what He is doing.
This gives my life a stability that enables me to continue on;
it produces a settledness, a confidence that God's hand is working,
though circumstances scream their loudest
to convince me that what is seen and known in this time frame
is all that ever will be
and that despair would be a more logical choice than hope.

Yes, joy is freedom from the shackles
that circumstances would place on my mind and emotions.
It is freedom to feel all that that I feel,
understanding that what I feel is not always related to “what is in the larger frame”
but determined more by my limited view and perceptions here and now.

Happiness and joy may present themselves in the same time frame,
but happiness absconds when things are not as she would like.
Joy has the ability to “stick around” when things are difficult,
confidently and maturely waiting to be shown
how all will be fitted together
to show God's mighty hand, reveal His wisdom, and bring Him honor and glory!

Joy is evidence that I am harmonizing with God
while happiness is often pleasure with my own performance or that of those around me.

~ Prayer ~

God, keep us seeking to know You and Your Word better.
Thanks for recording the ways You've worked in past “impossible” situations
to show Your heart of love for us,
Your attentive care when You've seemed absent.
Thanks for Your ability to see beyond the frequent focus of our eyes,
for Your victory over death.
Help us to harmonize our voices with Yours
rather than delighting in our own efforts
and applauding only what pleases us.
Amen

Twila Charles Leichty
May 18, 2010