The Goodness of God - Part 13 - The Beatitudes, Part III

Hello, this is Mike Kennedy with the Living and Victory broadcast. We're going to continue our series today on the goodness of God. He is so good. Amen. If you haven't experienced his goodness, I encourage you to listen to this, make changes, expect to experience his goodness. This is part 13 of the series, but it's the third session on the Beatitudes. Amen. The series itself is based on Psalms 34 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. It's backed up with John 10 10. The enemy comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But I have come that you may have life and life abundantly. It's progressive. Well, the Beatitudes are progressive too. In the previous couple messages, we've talked about a few of the Beatitudes. We talked about poor in spirit. Matthew 5 3 in the CEV says, God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of God. Being financially broke is not what this is talking about when it says poor. It's about being poor in spirit. In other words, humble. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. Everything you are, everything you have is dependent on him. He is my source of abundant supply. People think that they, you know, made it. I'm a man. I did it with my bootstraps. I put them on myself. You couldn't breathe without the goodness of God, without the Creator. You depend totally and completely on God's overwhelming desire to do you good. It's not somebody who's a beaten down weak loser. We talked about those who mourn. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Mourn means godly sorrow, does not mean grief. It means sorrow because of sin and their life are condoning sin. We've talked about blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Well, weak people don't inherit the worth. Meek people inherit the worth. In other words, you have to be strong in the things of God. Be a fighter to inherit the earth. This is very misunderstood word from the Greek, the word meek. It comes from the word pros, P-R-A-U-S, which means meek, humble, gentle, not weak. It's people who are mild, mannered, but very strong, very powerful, not easily moved by what others think, say, or do, not some wimp. Amen. It's a calm, mild, gentle disposition to stand against the flesh, to stand against schemes of the enemy, to stand against attacks, lies, what other people do. Amen. It's yielded to God, which takes strength. It takes faith to do that. We talked about blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled, filled with God's goodness, filled with everything they need, meeting their needs. Amen. That you

will be satisfied. Well, the next one is after you are filled and satisfied, you progress in a loving character towards other men. Amen. Towards your brothers and sisters in the Lord. This begins in verse 7 and there's four steps into this. It's mercy, pure in heart, peacemaker, being persecuted for righteousness. These deal with other people and their issues and how do we respond to them, to other people. Amen. So today, we're going to get into blessed are the merciful. Join your faith with me. Let's turn to God and ask Him for understanding, for revelation of His Word. Amen. For changes we need to make so that we will live in the blessings of God. Amen. Heavenly Father, we come to You asking You for revelation of Your Word. I ask You to help me. EXPLAIN YOUR WORD. I ASK YOU FOR REVELATION AND LIGHT FOR EVERYBODY WHO IS LISTENING THAT WE WOULD GROW UP EXPERIENCING YOUR GOODNESS, EXPERIENCING YOUR BLESSING, LIVING IN YOUR MERCIES, IN YOUR GOODNESS THAT ENDURE FOREVER. FATHER, WE TOUCH AND AGREE ON THIS ASKING FOR IT IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN. WELL, MATTHEW 5-7 SAYS BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY. WELL, I NEED MERCY. AMEN. I NEED HELP. MERCY IN HEBREW IS HESED. H-E-S-E-D. AND I DON'T SPEAK HEBREW, SO I PROBABLY DIDN'T SAY THAT BY THE WAY A HEBREW SCHOLAR WOULD SAY, BUT IT MEANS GOD HAS AN OVERWHELMING DESIRE TO DO YOU GOOD. THE BLESSING. AMEN. IN GREEK IT COMES FROM THE WORD ELIMON. ACTIVELY COMPASSIONATE IS WHAT IT MEANS. IT ALSO MEANS THOSE WHO ARE LIKE GOD. MERCIFUL IS LOVE AND ACTION. AMEN. THIS IS NOT FEELING SORRY FOR THE POOR PEOPLE. SORRY FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE IN NEED. IT'S BEING BLESSED SO MUCH THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO HELP THE POOR PEOPLE. IT'S GODLY COMPASSION ON THEM. AMEN. YOU HAVE MORE THAN WHAT YOU NEED TO SUFFICE AND MEET YOUR NEEDS TO BE A BLESSING FOR YOU, THAT YOU CAN BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS. NOW I'M NOT SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE WORD SAYS, WE GOTTA RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD, THAT IF YOU DON'T WORK, YOU DON'T EAT. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT SOCIALISM, THINGS HANDED TO THEM, WHERE THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING BUT LAY AROUND, GET STONED, GET DRUNK, AND YOU TAKE CARE OF ME. THAT'S UNGODLY. YOU DON'T WORK, YOU DON'T EAT. IT'S ABOUT HELPING THEM UP. IT'S A HAND UP, NOT A HAND OUT. IT'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, GETTING THE WORD OUT GLOBALLY, THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THE CHURCH IS SUPPOSED TO DO. GOING THROUGH THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS SO THAT MY CHURCH MAY BE FULL. DRAW THEM IN, TEACH THEM THE WORD, BECAUSE IF THEY HAVE THE WORD WORKING IN THEIR LIFE, THEY WILL COME UP AND OUT IF THEY ARE DOERS OF THE WORD. SO THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TEACHING THEM THE WORD OF GOD, THE GOODNESS OF GOD,

AND HELPING THEM WALK IN THE GOODNESS. AMEN. DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SUPPORT EVERYBODY THAT JUST WANTS TO LAY AROUND AND DO NOTHING. AMEN. THE WORD OF GOD IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BREAD. THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND THAT THINK THAT THE CHURCH IS HERE JUST TO FEED THE POOR. NO, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT OUT OF EVERY WORD OF THE MOUTH OF GOD. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THE WORD. IN OTHER WORDS, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE THE GOD-KIND OF LOVE SPRINGING INTO ACTION, FOR THIS IS THE SAME LOVE AND ACTION THAT WILL COME BACK TO YOU. HOSEA 6-6 SAYS, FOR I DESIRE MERCY AND NOT SACRIFICE, AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD MORE THAN BURNT OFFERINGS. JESUS QUOTED THIS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. THE NEW LIVING TRANSLATION IN MATTHEW 12-7 SAYS, BUT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE CONDEMNED MY INNOCENT DISCIPLES IF YOU KNEW THE MEANING OF THE SCRIPTURE. I WANT YOU TO SHOW MERCY, NOT OFFER SACRIFICE. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LIVE IN MERCY. WE'RE SUPPOSED TO RECEIVE THE MERCIES OF GOD. AMEN. THE AMPLIFIED OF MATTHEW 12-7 SAYS, AND IF YOU HAD ONLY KNOWN WHAT THIS SAYING MEANS, I DESIRE MERCY, READINESS TO HELP, TO SPARE, TO FORGIVE, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE, AND SACRIFICIAL VICTIMS, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE CONDEMNED THE GUILTLESS. GOD IS THE GOD OF MERCIES. IF YOU'RE DEEP IN SIN, IF YOU'RE LIVING IN SIN, HIS MERCY GOES DEEPER. THE BLOOD, IF YOU TURN TOWARDS HIM AND ASK HIM FOR MERCY, ASK HIM FOR FORGIVENESS, IT WILL WASH YOU CLEAN LIKE YOU NEVER SINNED, MAKE YOU RIGHTSTANDING BEFORE GOD. AMEN. NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU'VE FALLEN, HIS MERCY GOES FARTHER. IT'S SUFFICIENT. IF YOU WANT JESUS, HE IS THERE FOR YOU. IF YOU REJECT HIM, WELL, THEN YOU'RE GOING TO HELL. BUT IF YOU RECEIVE HIM, HE WILL CLEANSE YOU, HE WILL RECEIVE YOU, NO MATTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. AMEN. NO MATTER HOW MANY FAILURES YOU HAVE, NO MATTER HOW MANY FAILURES YOU HAVE DONE, HOW GRIEVOUS THEY ARE, HIS MERCY ENDURES PAST ALL THAT. GLORY TO GOD. IN ROMANS, THE LORD LED THE WRITER OF ROMANS TO SAY, grace and peace be unto you. You know when a Jew met somebody on the street he'd say peace or shalom. When you or I meet somebody on the street, at least where I come from, you say hello, hi, what's up, hey man, what's going on? But the word peace or shalom, man that is such a good thing. Well see Paul was saying peace be unto you. Paul wrote and said grace and peace. No one has true peace until they have grace, the grace of God. Grace comes first, that's why he starts off like in 1 Corinthians,

it starts off with grace and peace be unto you. So does 2 Corinthians, so does Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and both of the books of the 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. We see a trend here, grace and peace be unto you. But when the Lord led Paul to write 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, when it came to certain books of the Bible, the writers were led to start off with grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. Well 1st Timothy was written to a preacher. A preacher needs great mercy, I need great mercy. You want to know why I need great mercy? One, because I'm a human just like you, I have flesh, but also a minister of the gospel. The word says they are held to a higher standard because if we lead somebody astray, we're held accountable to that. I need mercy, pray for me, amen. 2nd Timothy, Paul said again, grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. Titus, he said grace, mercy, and peace be unto you. You see when the Lord was leading people to write the epistles to an individual, He included mercy. Individuals, you and I, we need mercy, amen. Hallelujah. There's not one of us here that does not need the mercy of God. You may have enough pride to say, no I don't need God, I don't need His mercy, I'm good enough the way I am. Oh you're in a bad position, you're worse off than you think you are. None of us deserve to go to heaven, but if we receive His mercy, we get the blessings of God, we get eternity, we get blessings in this life and in eternity, amen. Because we need God's mercy, He gives us mercy, amen. Lamentations 3.23 in the King James Bible says, thy mercies are new every morning. The new King James in Lamentations verses 32 or 22 through 24 says, through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. Glory to God, I'm not consumed, I'm not taken out because of the mercy of God.

You know back in 2002 when I was still racing Harley Davidson motorcycles professionally on a drag strip, I was man, I was going fast, I was coming up in the national ranks and I was out of track in Texas and I had this check in my heart, man something's not right. But I wanted to race man, I like speed, I like going fast, that's why I fly jets now because it goes faster than a drag bike. But I like the sound of it, I like the smell of the fumes, oh man, the rush of the taking off, the g-forces, it was a blast. But this day I had a check, don't do it, don't do it, but I overrode it. I did what my flesh wanted, I went out to the track, Sharon noticed something was wrong, she tried to convince me not to race, you know, but you know I'm proud for I'm a drag racer, man I'm a man, I'm here to race. Now I can handle it babe, I'm okay. She's trying to convince me not to, but out of pride, stubbornness, not listening to the Lord, rebellion, I went out and raced. Hey dude, I set two track records that day, man that's awesome. Well actually I set three. The third one was after I set the track records and was slowing down, had a mechanical problem, my bike went sliding, I hit a concrete wall, had a helicopter ride for ten thousand bucks that I don't remember, and I woke up in the hospital and the Lord had mercy on me, He spared me. They told my wife I'd be mental retarded and paralyzed if I lived, man I'm not paralyzed at all. Glory to God. So back to Lamentations, it says, Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. THE LORD IS MY PORTION, MY SOUL, THEREFORE I HOPE IN HIM. Yes, Lord, the Lord just put it on my heart that somebody on here wants to know more about that accident and what the Lord did. There's a lot more to that testimony. It's on my website. You can go to my

website at mikecannaday.org or fqm.org and you can find it on there. That's F as in Foxtrot, Q as in Quebec, M as in Mike, I as in India, N as in November.org fqmin.org and it's under the testimony. Pictures of me drag racing, pictures of parts of my bike, pictures of me in the hospital and what God has done for me. If you turn towards Him, He will do for you and your family. Amen? If you've had an attack from somebody in your family that made the mistake I did, did something dumb, that rebellious, out of pride and they're in a bad condition, God will have mercy on them. I encourage you to listen to that testimony of what God has done because He's not a respecter of people. Amen? He will do it for you. Back to Lamentations 3 24. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him. That word hope, that's not this wishy-washy hope in the English language. It's confident expectation. You expect it. Amen? You expect to see God's goodness in the land of the living. Well, you're breathing. That means you're living. That means in this life. Hallelujah? Well see, Jeremiah in Lamentations 3 here, he had almost given up on what was going on, that the Lord was going to take them out because of all their sin, because of the rebellion that was going on in Jerusalem, things that were going on that were, and things were not going well for them. But hesed, mercies, that also means covenant or steadfast love because of God's steadfast love, because of His mercies. Amen? Now this word is also linked to goodness in Psalms 23 verse 6. They're tied together. Well see, Jeremiah remembered the word of the Lord. He remembered Psalms 23 verse 6. And he stirred himself up just like King David did. He stirred himself up into the goodness of God, the word of God. There's times where the enemy is attacking you and you need to stir yourself up. It is written. It is written.

It is also written. Amen? You need to stir yourself, build yourself up. No, I'm an overcomer. I'm not defeated. Satan, you may have got in a couple punches, but I'm coming up. I'm coming out by the goodness of God. Amen? We need to stir our self up knowing that God's mercies endure forever. Psalms 100 verse 4 says, Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. You know, thanks leads to victory. There's two of my favorite verses in the Bible comes to mind. Second Corinthians 2 14 says, Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph, who always causes us to win. Amen? Leads us into triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. And then first Corinthians 15 57. But thanks be to God. Notice thanks comes first in both of these victories where he leads us in triumph and thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He ain't leading you to victory. You need to receive Him, be part of the family, the eternal family of God that wins. I win, I win, and I keep on winning not because I'm so great. My wife thinks I am, but the truth is because of the mercy of God, the goodness of God. Amen? I mean, the goodness of God gave me my wife. Matthew 6 33 says, Seek ye first and all these things will be added to you. Well, I've also got scripture that says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing. Cher is my good thing, man. And it's because of Matthew 6 33 where I sought the Lord and He gave her to me. Glory to God I scored. Amen? Psalms 100 verse 4, Into his courts with praise be thankful to him and bless his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations. Mercy is mentioned 25 times just in Psalms 136.

It says, Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good. I give him thanks. I thank you, Lord, for your goodness. I thank you, Lord, for your mercy. I thank you, Lord, for keeping us, for protecting me and my wife, for protecting our household, prospering us. Amen. I thank you, Lord, for bringing us through hell, through attacks of the enemies. You are so good to us, Lord. You need to do that over your family. Amen. O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord, to the God of gods, for His mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures forever. There's three. To Him alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who by His wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who made great lights, for His mercy endures forever. The sun to rule by the day, for His mercy endures forever. For the moon and the stars by night, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who struck Egypt and their firstborn, for His mercy endures forever. What do you mean they struck Egypt and their firstborn? Yeah, He protected and set His people free. And brought out Israel from among them, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His mercy endures forever. Provided a way out. But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for His mercy endures forever. People who are being attacked, where there's a whole army chasing you, there is a way out. Amen? The army, it could be the IRS, it could be physical attacks, it could be gangs, whatever it may be, there is a way out. And if you turn towards God, He will show you the way out. Amen? To Him who struck down great kings, for His mercy

endures forever. And slew famous kings, for His mercy endures forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His mercy endures forever. And Og, king of Bashan, for His mercy endures forever. And gave their land as a heritage, for His mercy endures forever. Who remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy endures forever. And rescued us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever. Who gives food to all flesh, for His mercy endures forever. Ogiv, thanks to God of heaven, for His mercy endures forever. 25 times in this verse, it declares His mercy endures forever. There's no end to it, but you must receive it. Amen? Not reject it. He is the God of mercy, the God of compassion. Hallelujah! Yeah, He sent Jesus, His only Son, to the cross. That doesn't sound like mercy. Actually, it is. It's mercy and compassion. First of all, His Son, Jesus, became Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and He did it because of love for you, love for me, His mercy. Amen? You know in Matthew chapter 20, verse 29 through 34, it says, Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out saying, Have mercy on us, Son of David. Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet. Be quiet? No, be careful who you listen to. They should have been screaming louder and louder, Lord have mercy on me. You should not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? There's no compassion in this bunch. Be quiet. We want to hear from Jesus. No, I want to see this person get healed. Amen? Now that's mercy. But they cried out all the more. See, faith and trust in God does not quit. If you get on a bad enough situation, you will cry out to the Lord. Amen? But don't quit. See, there's so many people that said it didn't work. I tried

it. No, it tried you and you failed. You quit. You know how to overcome in marriage? Don't quit. Divorce is not an option. Amen? Don't quit. They cried out all the more saying, Have mercy on us, Lord Son of David. So Jesus stood and called them and said, What do you want from me? What do you want me to do for you? They said to Him, Lord that our eyes may be opened. We need to ask the Lord when we need things. We need to ask Him for mercy. We need to ask Him for favor. Have you asked God for what you need? So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes and immediately they received sight and they followed Him. Now that's a good thing. They were healed. They reached out to Jesus. They were healed and then they followed Him and His Word, His ways. Amen. They asked for mercy. They got it. Do you know why a lot of people don't believe in healing? They don't know the goodness of God. God will touch your body right now. He will help your financial situation, your marital needs, whatever you need. Just say, Lord, I ask you for mercy in my situation. I ask you to help me in this. I want to see your goodness in this, Lord. Forgive me, Father, for doing things my way. Forgive me, Lord, for sins. I ask for your mercy. Show me what to do. Father, as you show me, I will obey you. I will be a doer of your Word. Father, I ask you to teach me your Word. Help me out of this. Now when He does, you say a prayer like that, He will help you up and out. But you've got to do it His way and that's not the way you think. Amen. Our ways are not like His ways. His ways are higher than our ways. We have to trust Him and obey Him. But don't do a prayer like that and then as soon as you get out of the situation, boom, go right back to what you were doing. Reject Him. You'll be right back where you are and in a worse situation if you do things like that. Amen.

But you must fight. You must fight the good fight of faith. First Timothy 6 12 says, Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. You must be a fighter. Amen. You must take it by faith. Luis is constantly engaging in the contest of faith. See, God gives mercy but we must possess it. Lay hold of it. Take it by faith. Amen. Don't be a wimp. Don't lay around doing nothing just crying. Take it by faith. Fight. You may have to humble yourself and repent first to receive the goodness of God. Get right with Him. Amen. Well, glory to God. I believe that God is ministering to people showing them how to come up and how to come out. How to finish your race just like Paul did in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 where he says, I have finished my race. I have kept the faith. I am now finally ready for a crown of righteousness that was laid up for me and he was ready to go take that by faith, take his crown, receive it, go to eternity. Glory to God. Well, this is Mike Kennedy with Living in Victory. I call you blessed in the name of Jesus. We still have more to cover in this series, more to cover in the Beatitudes. So come back, learn more about the Beatitudes. Remember 1st John 5 4 says, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Have a blessed day.