My Life Is Good Because God Is Good: Selah 🕊️

I have to admit… these past few weeks have been difficult.

Lord have mercy.

And not difficult in the way where everything completely fell apart, but difficult in the way where I realized I was literally living out the very devotionals I had been writing.

Come on now.

Because it is one thing to write it.

It is another thing to live it.

It is one thing to teach it.

It is another thing to be corrected by it.

It is one thing to release the Word.

It is another thing for God to make sure that Word is first working in you.

You ever write, teach, encourage, or testify about something, and then life turns around and says, “Okay, let’s see if you believe that for real”?

Because whew.

In some areas, I believe I passed the test.

In other areas, if I’m being honest, I may have skated by with a solid D+.

But to God be all the glory, in Jesus Name.

Because even in the testing, even in the pressure, even in the moments where my thoughts tried to run ahead of Truth, the Holy Spirit was still teaching me, correcting me, strengthening me, and reminding me that my life is good because God is good.

Selah.

Not long after that, I caught some negative thoughts trying to take root in my mind.

And I do mean caught.

Because sometimes a thought will come so quickly, so subtly, and so convincingly that if we are not paying attention, we may not even recognize it as something that needs to be confronted.

It will sound like reality.

It will sound like wisdom.

It will sound like, “I’m just being honest.”

But everything that sounds honest is not submitted to Truth.

Come on now.

2 Corinthians 10:5–6 says:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

That means when a thought rises up against what God has said, it does not get to roam freely in my mind.

It has to be taken captive.

And by taking the thought captive, I am casting down the imagination attached to it.

Because the imagination is not always some wild, dramatic picture. Sometimes the imagination is the story the thought is trying to build.

The thought says, “This is hard.”

Then the imagination says, “It will always be hard.”

The thought says, “There is a need.”

Then the imagination says, “God will not provide.”

The thought says, “You are tired.”

Then the imagination says, “You cannot keep going.”

The thought may point to a fact.

But the imagination tries to build a conclusion that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

And that is not casual.

That is spiritual warfare.

There is an urgency to this because our thoughts are not neutral when they begin exalting themselves against what God has revealed about Himself, His Word, and who we are in Christ.

That is why Paul’s language is so strong.

He does not say to entertain imaginations.

He does not say to reason with every thought until it feels comfortable.

He says to cast down imaginations and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

That does not sound passive.

That sounds like armor on.

That sounds like a believer who understands that the mind is not a playground for every thought that passes through.

It is a place that must be submitted to Christ.

So when I recognized what was happening, I opened my mouth and said:

“I silence the voice of the enemy in my mind, right now, in Jesus Name.”

And it worked.

The thought was arrested.

My peace was restored.

But not long after that, another negative thought came.

So I repeated the process.

And again, it helped.

But then I realized something: the Holy Spirit was not only teaching me how to silence the wrong voice. He was teaching me how to fill my mind with the right meditation.

Because a thought may be loud.

A thought may even point to a real fact.

But if it does not agree with Jesus, it is not the Truth that gets to govern me.

My mind belongs to Jesus.

This is why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12:

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

The good fight of faith is not carnal.

It is not flesh against flesh.

It is not me fighting people, fighting circumstances, or fighting to prove a point.

The good fight is staying in faith when facts are trying to lead me into fear.

The good fight is not becoming weary in well doing when I have been doing right, praying right, serving right, giving right, and still feel pressure.

The good fight is making sure my thought life is aligning with the Word of God and not with the lies, accusations, and suggestions of the enemy.

The good fight is being transformed by the renewing of my mind, not conformed to the pattern, pressure, and panic of this world.

Romans 12:2 says:

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

That means the battle is not only around me.

Sometimes the battle is within me.

It is in what I allow myself to meditate on.

It is in what I rehearse.

It is in what I agree with.

It is in whether I let a fact become a false conclusion, or whether I bring that thought into captivity and make it bow to Christ.

Come on now.

Because the enemy does not always need the situation to change in order to torment us. Sometimes all he needs is for our meditation to shift away from Truth.

If he can get me to rehearse lack more than I remember provision, he can discourage me.

If he can get me to rehearse pressure more than I remember God’s peace, he can weary me.

If he can get me to rehearse what is unfinished more than I remember what God has already done, he can make me forget His benefits.

But I do not have to agree.

I can fight the good fight of faith.

I can cast down imaginations.

I can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

I can refuse to become weary in well doing.

I can let the Word renew my mind.

And I can remind my soul:

My life is good because God is good.

There comes a point where we have to set our face.

We have to make up our mind.

Not in our own strength.

Not out of pride.

Not because we are pretending the pressure is not real.

But because faith has a posture.

Luke 9:51 says:

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,”

Jesus knew what He was walking into.

He knew what He would face.

He knew what He would endure.

And still, He set His face.

To set your face means to become fixed in purpose. It means you have made up your mind that you are going in the direction of obedience, even when the road ahead is uncomfortable.

It means you are not letting fear turn you around.

It means you are not letting pressure make your decision for you.

It means you are not letting the voice of the enemy, the weight of the facts, or the weariness of the moment move you away from what God has said.

Come on now.

And Isaiah 50:7 says:

“For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”

Flint is a hard stone.

So when Scripture says, “I have set my face like a flint,” it gives us the picture of holy firmness. Resolve. Determination. Tenacity.

But this is not stubbornness.

This is surrender with resolve.

This is not hardness of heart.

This is firmness of faith.

This is not me saying, “I can handle this by myself.”

This is me saying, “The Lord GOD will help me, so I am making up my mind now that I will not be moved away from what He has said.”

That is the good fight of faith.

Sometimes the fight is not loud.

Sometimes the fight is making up your mind that you will not become weary in well doing.

Sometimes the fight is choosing to align your thought life with the Word of God.

Sometimes the fight is refusing to let facts become final conclusions when they do not agree with Truth.

Sometimes the fight is standing flat-footed in faith and saying:

My mind belongs to Jesus.

My help comes from the Lord.

My soul will bless the Lord.

I will not forget His benefits.

My life is good because God is good.

Selah.

Here is what I am learning:

Peace is not always restored because the facts change.

Sometimes peace is restored because my focus changes.

Sometimes nothing in the natural has moved yet, but something within me comes back into alignment with Truth.

That is what happened when the Holy Spirit reminded me, “You have a good life.”

He was not telling me to ignore what still needs prayer.

He was not telling me to pretend there are no pressures.

He was not telling me to deny the places that still feel unfinished.

He was teaching me to look again.

To remember again.

To testify again.

To bless the Lord again.

Because when I began to think on what was true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, my perspective began to shift.

The facts did not get the final word.

The negative thoughts did not get to build a home in my mind.

The enemy did not get to turn pressure into accusation.

And my soul did not get to forget all His benefits.

My life may not be perfect, but it is filled with evidence.

Evidence of God's goodness and mercy.

Evidence of grace.

Evidence of provision.

Evidence of healing.

Evidence of redemption.

Evidence that God has carried me, kept me, corrected me, covered me, and loved me.

So yes, I still have things I am believing God for.

Yes, I still have places where I am growing.

Yes, I still have moments where I have to take the thought captive, set my face, and remind my soul what is true.

But I can say this with a full heart:

My life is good because God is good.

Selah.

Spoken Prayer:

Father God, in Jesus Name,

I thank You for Your goodness, Your mercy, Your faithfulness, Your patience, and Your lovingkindness toward me.

Thank You for reminding me that my life is good because You are good.

Forgive me for the times I have rehearsed lack more than I remembered Your provision. Forgive me for the times I allowed pressure, weariness, facts, or negative thoughts to speak louder than Your Truth, in Jesus Name.

Today, I bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

I cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, in Jesus Name.

I silence every voice that does not agree with You, and I submit my mind, my emotions, my mouth, my memory, and my meditation to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, help me to think on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and of good report. Help me to remember the benefits of the Lord. Help me to bless You, Lord with all that is within me, in Jesus Name.

I will set my face like flint.

I will fight the good fight of faith.

I will not grow weary in well doing.

I will testify to Your goodness, even when life still has pressure.

Thank You for forgiving me.

Thank You for healing me.

Thank You for redeeming my life from destruction.

Thank You for crowning me with lovingkindness and tender mercies.

Thank You for satisfying my mouth with good things.

Thank You for renewing my youth like the eagle.

My life is good because You are good.

And I will not forget.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.