I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15
“Divine goodness, as one of God’s attributes, is self-caused, infinite, perfect, and eternal. Since God is immutable He never varies in the intensity of His loving-kindness.
He has never been kinder than He now is, nor will He ever be less kind. He is no respecter of persons but makes His sun to shine on the evil as well as on the good, and sends His rain on the just and on the unjust. The cause of His goodness is in Himself, the recipients of His goodness are all His beneficiaries without merit and without recompense.
With this agrees reason, and the moral wisdom that knows itself runs to acknowledge that there can be no merit in human conduct, not even in the purest and the best. Always God’s goodness is the ground of our expectation. Repentance, though necessary, is not meritorious but a condition for receiving the gracious gift of pardon which God gives of His goodness.
Prayer is not itself meritorious. It lays God under no obligation nor puts Him in debt to any. He hears prayer because He is good, and for no other reason. Nor is faith meritorious; it is simply confidence in the goodness of God, and the lack of it is a reflection upon God’s holy character.
The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty is eager to be friends with us.”
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963) in “The Goodness of God” in Knowledge of the Holy, 57-58.
God has been good to the GTP team on our retreat with generous hosts, David and Rhonda Snyder. We have felt His kindness to us through them because of His grace and generosity. We have not earned it but we have received it with open hands.
God has been overwhelming us with the beauty of His creation and wildlife. As we sit “under a friendly sky” (pictured above from their porch) in the reality that “the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty is “eager” to befriend us, we rejoice.
This joy strengthens us to serve in the power of His precious promises and to minister according to His might. We need it as we have work to do. But we know Christ is with us and cares for us, because we are His friends.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ also fill you with hope and joy. May His unfailing kindness change your whole outlook as it has shaped ours. May your relationship with Him propel you to selfless service for God’s glory.