Luke 6:45 English Standard Version (ESV) The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

While I love this verse and wish so much to be a good person, I hear my Savior’s voice when called good.

Luke 18:19 English Standard Version (ESV) And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

This Luke quote comes towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount, after He begins telling parables. This quote follows the comparison to the fruit of trees. But He does stop there. He continues with a very important truth related to our hearts.

Luke 6:47 English Standard Version (ESV) Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:

Only after we hear, believe and obey His Word will He show us whether our Words proceed from our hearts or from somewhere else.

The desire to be good does not make us good. Jesus told us as much in Luke 18:19. The comment in verse 47 follows the parable of the ones who dig deep and build their house on the Rock. Jesus being the Rock, we must build up our hearts upon Him, line upon line, precept upon precept, so that what we have put deep in our hearts has that sure foundation.

To know ourselves as Jesus reveals us in truth, to be shown what we are made of begins with hearing, believing and doing His Word. That is the faith demonstrated to us by Abraham. It is walking by faith.

Romans 8:1-2 English Standard Version

Life in the Spirit

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Genesis 1:9 English Standard Version (ESV) And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

There comes a time when we look at God’s creative Word and in those Words is the power to make things happen.

Exodus 34:10 English Standard Version (ESV) And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

Then the Lord made a covenant by giving His Word. While that covenant had power to do marvelous things it also had constraints. The covenant did not have the power to go beyond the constraints to which God had placed boundaries according to His will.

There is no doubt that we have witnessed the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Psalm 27:13 King James Version (KJV) I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Fainting is akin to failure, to fall down, to close ones eye as if asleep. Failure to see the goodness of the Lord is directly linked to belief, faith in the Lord. It is this faith that gives us eyes and ears to recognize the goodness of the Lord.

The world screams at us that our God has failed us and nothing could be further from the truth.

God is keeping covenant and in that covenant there are restrictions that God Himself will not violate because He is God and keeps His Word. Our failure to recognize that only gives some measure of credence to the lies the world is telling us.

Genesis 1:9 (in part) God Said and it was so.