“Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His blessings in the last days.”  (Hosea 3:5 NIV)

“Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days.”  *Hosea 3:5 NKJV)

I used to ask myself, “What manner of blessings the Lord will ever show us that will cause our hearts to fear Him?  What is the magnitude of such goodness that touches our hearts and be so in awe of Him?   I believe it is when we get so blessed by our Daddy God even when we fall short of His glory.  Hmmmm … it could be!   Nobody is perfect, therefore no one is deserving to experience His goodness in our lives if we come under the law.  But thank God we are under grace.  Thank God for the finished work of Jesus Christ that made us as sweet smelling offerings to His nostrils.

When we see His hand move so powerfully in our favor most especially when we think we are not worthy of it, this is the pure grace of God.  He blesses us not because we are good.  He does because HE IS GOOD!  It is when we witness Him overwhelmingly blessing us without having any trace of us deserving it.  Such will cause our hearts to worship Him in reverential fear of how GOOD our Heavenly Father is.

Jesus, Who is our advocate with His blood as our defense, is the ultimate reason why His goodness is seen in our lives in spite of our shortcomings.  Indeed, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)   Our newness in Christ is a gift that cannot be earned, but can only be believed, received and experienced.  “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”  (2 Corinthians 5:19)  Once reconciled in Christ, there is no turning back.  “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

We have been so programmed in this world to think that we always get what we deserve.  Yes, this is true.  We get our salaries by what we work for.  We get promotions when we strive to do better.  We do good and get good.  We do bad and we get bad in return.  But, when we become new creations in Christ, with minds renewed and hearts transformed, we enter into a different level of walking with God.  Our gauge when the kingdom of God has invaded our lives is when the supernatural becomes our natural.  It is when all curses are reversed into blessings in spite of, all because of the cross.  It is when our believing gets so rooted and grounded that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD Who is more than eager to bless us than us being blessed.

I’m not saying that we get licensed to sin all because we still get what we don’t deserve.  Absolutely NOT!  When we understand what the grace of God means, it empowers us into righteousness.  It enables us to think right.  It graces us to believe right.  Therefore, it causes us to do what is right.  “For sin shall not have dominion over us, for we are not under law but under grace.”  (Romans 6:14)

Our human intellect cannot equate God’s thoughts and plans towards us.  They are too foreign to its own carnal thinking.  This is the reason why we have been commanded to keep hearing and hearing the word of Christ where faith comes.  Our limited comprehension needs to be “brainwashed”, for lack of a better word, by the word of God for us to be able to tap into His thoughts and ways that are higher than ours.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9)

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9)

God Who is rich in mercy and abounding in love sent us the Holy Spirit to abide in us forever.  It is His Spirit Who reveals to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.  It is He Who changes us from the inside out, molding and conforming us into Himself as we delight ourselves in Him. It is by the Spirit of God where we move and live and have our being, exploring all that He has freely given us.

“God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)

One time, I was helping a good friend sell her memorial plan for she is no longer in need of it.  I prayed for the leading of the Holy Spirit as to whom shall I ask for help.   Almost immediately I had a person in mind and right away I sent her a message.  Within the same day, I got a favorable feedback that we found a buyer.  The very next day it was sold and payment was rendered swiftly.

I informed my good friend about the sale.  I somehow knew that she was going to give me a little commission for such a minimal thing that I have done.  I just sent a message to one person and that was it.  But, God Who is rich in mercy and abounding in love, as I always see Him to be, surprised me.  I suddenly got a message that she was giving me five times more than what I expected.  Truly, I stopped and pondered.  My mind wasn’t comprehending while my heart was pounding.  It was such a bizarre experience that I lost the ability to respond in a normal manner.

When I came home from work that day, I simply asked the Lord what was that all about.  He simply whispered in my heart … “See, this is what I mean by … people will fear Me because of My goodness.” No one can truly comprehend how good He is.

What a learning experience I had.  Whatever He desires to reveal to us, He always issues an invitation for us to taste and experience. Walking with Him always require an encounter and it cannot remain just an information.  It is always from information to revelation to transformation.  Always take note of whatever He has freshly spoken, when believed and received,  He shall cause you to see.

Indeed He provides for us simply because He love us.  He is a faithful Father Who knows the needs of His children and moves on their behalf.  What I just experienced cultivated a reverential fear in my heart, knowing that what happened to me was all about His love, mercy and grace. It’s all about His goodness that brought me to change the way I think about Him Who is limitless and boundless in power, tracing nothing of me earning it.  This is the kind of goodness that melts our hearts like nothing else.

‘For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”  (Psalm 100:5)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness that is steadfast and enduring.  Thank You for opening the eyes of my heart to experientially see that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with You.  Thank You, Jesus, for Your finished work that sealed me to be pleasing before Daddy God.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for teaching me how to move and live and have my being in You, that I may know Jesus more and more each day of my life and make Him known.  Amen!