“The Parfait of God”
Strange title, huh? Well let me tell you where I’m going with this. All last week, I hadn’t had a clue as to what to write for the weekly word, and I prayed to Him asking for His input.
I have just started my small group on a new series on the “Attributes of God” by Chip Ingram. In that study there are seven attributes that Chip identifies. This week we are looking at the “Goodness of God”. And as we go deeper we will be looking at Psalm 145 and identifying statements of His goodness. In my prep I printed out the Psalm and marked it in red for this Thursday’s discussion.
Okay, but what does that have to do with this?
We have a bread ministry going as most of you are aware of, and last night was Tuesday pick-up at Panera. We picked up the bread, and the manager came over to Guyla and said, “I have a Parfait left that won’t be any good tomorrow, would you want to take it with you?” Guyla said, “Sure”, and we took it home. Don’t know much about a Parfait, so we opened it. This one was made with unsweetened yogurt, had fruit in the bottom, and a crunchy topping that you add to it and eat it. My first taste was the unsweetened yogurt that I scraped off the top cover. If you don’t know what that tastes like, let me tell you it is not very tasty. However, when you mix it all together it is really a tasty (healthy) dessert.
So what does that have to do with the weekly word and the goodness of God? We will get there in a minute, I promise.
Right now, I want to bring in Psalm 145.
1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and
your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.[c]
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
The words David wrote tell of the “GOODNESS OF GOD”. One Attribute of Him. Add to that:
The Sovereignty of God,
The Holiness of God,
The Wisdom of God,
The Justice of God,
The Love of God, and the
The Faithfulness of God, and stir them all together and you come out with the “Real God”.
I woke up last night around 4:00AM, with the answer to my dilemma of what to write for the weekly word. My answer to prayer was “I gave you the opening “The Parfait””. You have the Body, “My Goodness”. You put in the ending.
God is like a Parfait. If you look at just one part of the parfait, you might not like it, but if you find all the ingredients and stir them together the result is awesome.
Ed Johanson