The Word To Live By:
Phil Waggoner
God certainly is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! Psalm 73:1
The Word To Live By: If you have been reading these for very long you know that my two biggest passions in life are to tell people that God is a good God and good means good and the importance of the Word of God in our lives to bring about the will of God for our lives. Those two biblical doctrines are what made me choose to make Jesus the Lord of my life. And I can tell you of all the choices I’ve made in my life that one was the most important. When you believe those two things the plan of God and the blessings of God will show up. And let me tell you, it’s always a good plan. Jerimiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God doesn’t have special people; He has special plans for everybody. And that plan is for good in your life. Just because you’re not in the five-fold ministry, apostle, prophet, missionary, pastor, and teacher, doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a place for you to glorify Him. I think of Joseph, son of Jacob. He just lived a godly life in spite of all the junk that he went through. If you read that story in Genesis 37-50 you won’t find one reference to Joseph whining or complaining or giving up on living a godly life because things “Weren’t fair,” or storming out mad because things didn’t go his way. Every place he landed from slavery to prison, his attitude was one of a servant and a person who glorified God in and wherever he was. I think his attitude is best summed up when he said to his brothers (who were lying to him again) in Genesis 50:20, “You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that He could save all these people, as He is now doing.” The other day I was talking to one of my daughters on the phone and she asked me how I was doing. I replied, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, I’m at 13.” She replied, “Wow! Why?” I said because fifty-one years ago, before I knew you or your mother, I made a decision to live by and walk by faith in the Word of God. And this is where it has brought me.” Have I messed up? Many times. Have I made wrong decisions? Lots of them. But what was intended for evil in my life, God turned it for the best. When a tough situation comes along, I have a go to scripture. Psalm 84:11, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing dees He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” My soul and body might not always be “pure”, but He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on my behalf, so that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. So my heart is pure and by faith I walk into the goodness of God in every situation the world throws at me.
Read through the Bible in a year: Romans 9:30-10:21; 1 Samuel 19; Psalms 64;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 4, John 9:22-41, Revelation 6
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160