Saturday, April 6, 2013

April 6 – Goodness Stored Up For You

How great is Your goodness, which You have stored up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, before the sons of men! Psalm 31:19  

Can’t you just imagine a basket sitting on a shelf—it has your name on it because you have respect for the Lord. You peek inside the basket and there is Jesus’ goodness heaped up there just for you. He wants to share that goodness. So what is “goodness?” According to Dictionary.com, goodness is the state or quality of being good; moral excellence; virtue. kindly feeling; kindness; generosity; or excellence of quality. Additionally, goodness is displayed with integrity, honesty, and compassion towards others and allows us to do the right thing. No doubt about it—Jesus was a great example of goodness. Psalm 65:4 says, How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. So as we strive to be like Jesus and encourage this character trait in our children and \grandchildren let us remember that it is Jesus who chose us and as we peek into that basket with our name on it, may we be overwhelmed with the goodness that Jesus has for us. Reach out and take it. Choose to make goodness part of your life. 

Training Tip – Write out the word “goodness” surrounded in smaller words by the meaning of the word “goodness” as listed above or from your own word study. Do one for each family member, or just one for the whole family. Cut that paper into a puzzle shape. In your devotion time with your family read the scripture above, Psalm 31:19, and talk about fearing—showing respect for—the Lord, and about goodness. Pass out the puzzle and have them put it together. You may want to repeat the exercise for each of the kids if you did just one puzzle for the family. 

Lord Jesus, thank you for choosing us to be part of Your family. Help us to share your goodness with others around us.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.
© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

 

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