Goodness Anew - God's Love at Work - Week of February 26
Goodness Anew
By Margaret D. Mitchell
Week of February 26, 2023
Recently, our Lord highlighted a scripture to me and gave me a Word.
The scripture is Joshua 6:15 AMP, which says, "Then on the seventh day they got up early at daybreak and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times."
The Word of The Lord is this:
Many are on their seventh-day march. This is the day the walls fall and you step into the dominion for which you have contended. By His Spirit, God is destroying barriers to entry and you shall stand above what stood above you to offer up to God what is His. “I AM with you,” says the Lord of Hosts. I AM is bigger and more powerful than any other fortress.
God is breaking yokes and removing burdens for a major new beginning, A day of His power and righteousness revealed. A day of His glory shinning all the way through. A day of manifest victory for the army of God.
In His goodness, our Lord is fulfilling His promises and restoring people to what they once lost. He is making a way for them to experience better, giving them a fresh start, having made them wiser and stronger in Him. He is rebuilding their confidence and delivering them into destiny.
A True Fortress
God, Himself, is a true fortress and none are stronger.
In Colossians 2:5 AMP, Paul describes us as a fortress as one that stands with God by saying, "For even though I am absent [from you] in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, delighted to see your good discipline [as you stand shoulder to shoulder and form a solid front] and to see the stability of your faith in Christ [your steadfast reliance on Him and your unwavering confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]."
In 1 Peter 2:9 TPT, Peter reminds us who we are and of our purpose by saying, "But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world."
Fit and Enriched
Clearly, it’s God’s goodness that makes us fit for use, morally excellent and a vessel through which God can enrich the lives of others. God’s goodness is a powerhouse of mercy, fueled by selfless love for divine missions.
In this light, we can remember 2 Corinthians 5:18 TPT, which says, "And God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling others to God."
So, He’s giving us a breakthrough opportunity to reach out and change lives in new, expanded ways. He’s helping us establish new territory. He’s settling matters of our hearts as we go, finish the work at hand and offer up to Him what belongs to Him.
God is blessing us even more in this new life cycle. The foolishness we faced yesterday will fall away and we will be enriched to enrich others. The march will be worth it. The circumcision of heart will be worth it. The separation from the old flock will be worth it. And the wilderness experience will be worth it all.
Like Joseph
Our Lord brought to mind Joseph and how God’s goodness was poured into him through his earthly father, Jacob. That goodness contained loyalty that stuck with Joseph. We see this in Egypt, where Joseph expressed this favored blessing to others. It was accepted, valued and honored by them and also was, ultimately, returned to Joseph. So, even though Joseph's brothers didn't receive God’s goodness through Joseph initially, others, with whom God connected him, benefited from it.
Likewise, when our hearts are aligned with God's goodness, He makes a way for an outward expression of it to reach others for whom we have a heart. It may come in an unusual way or even in an unlikely place, but God will lift us into His marvelous light to be a blessing right where we are, wherever He takes us and also back home in the lives of those we’ve held in our hearts, as we continue to seek and honor Him. In this, we can be certain.
So, pray with me if you will . . .
Dear Lord,
Thank You for a merciful new beginning to experience You in a new way for new assignments. Thank You for lifting me above obstacles to enter into more of Your will and purposes. Thank You that Your goodness makes me fit and enriches my life to enrich others. Help me to fight forward with You to build Your Kingdom as You would have it.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Amen.
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.