Randy Snook

Titus 3:4-5

Titus chapter 3, verses 3 through 4. But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Welcome to the Bridgeway Christian Church Daily Advent Devotional for Friday, December 20th. My name is Randy Snook, and I serve as a Kidsway teacher along with my wife Sue at Bridgeway.

Today, I'm going to talk about having joy in God's goodness. I love dogs. They bring me such joy and help me to stay healthy as they motivate me to go out on long walks, both for their benefit and mine.

As with many dog owners, in order to affirm desired behaviors, we often reward them by saying, good dog. However, at least with my dog, he really isn't that good. In fact, one minute he may be doing exactly what I want, and the next he's trying to steal food out at one of my grandkids' hands.

But with God, it is intrinsic to His nature. He is always good. Psalm 31 19 says, Oh, how abundant is your goodness.

And Zechariah 9 17 proclaims, How great is his goodness, and how great his beauty. There is a beauty and joy in knowing that our God is good. This goodness of God is not static and simply a characteristic to be admired.

It leads God to take action, which takes us back to the Titus. I first quoted, But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. As we look forward to the coming of Christ during this Advent season, we can be filled with the joy of knowing that He is good.

There is a song sung by Cece Winans called The Goodness of God, and I just love this song. I wish I could sing these lyrics for you, but fortunately for you, I'm not going to try. But I do want to share a few lines.

About halfway through the song, she sings, Your goodness is running after, it's running after me. With my life laid down, I surrender now, I give you everything. Oh Lord, your goodness is running after, it's running after me.

Let's conclude in prayer. Father, I thank you for running after us, no matter what we have done, and sending your son Jesus to this earth to save us. I pray that we will surrender ourselves to you and give you everything and all that we are.

May we let the joy of your goodness fill our hearts this Advent season. In Jesus' name, amen.