Touré Roberts - He's Still Good

I want to draw your attention to Habakkuk, the 3rd chapter, beginning at the 17th verse. Habakkuk chapter 3, starting at verse 17, and we’re going to read verses 17 through 19. I’m going old-school today; I’m going to do this passage from the King James Version. It says, «Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me to walk upon my high places.» This is the word of the Lord. I want to speak from these words today: He’s still good. Do me a favor and just turn to the person next to you and boldly declare, «He is still good!» Come on, «He is still good!» He’s Southern God; He is still good; He’s still good! Come on, turn to your other neighbor and put it in the atmosphere: «He is still good!» Come on, «He is still good!» Somebody needs to say it; even just saying it might break something off of your life. Come on, say, «He’s still good!» Now I want you to shout it out; come on with me. Pray with me: «God, if You are nothing else, You are good, and Your mercy endures forever.» Now God, we thank You for Your word. We don’t live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of Your mouth. Hallelujah! We are grateful to be here today. You said in Psalm 23 that You prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies; in the presence of our difficulties, You spread out a table and say, «Come and eat from My table, and you will be satisfied.» That’s why we’re here. All of the worship, all of the prayer, all of the music, the lights—everything is all about You preparing a table for those You love so much, and that would be us. So, Father, today I thank You for the spirit of wisdom and revelation and insight and knowledge and prophecy and full use of all of heaven’s resources to touch every person in here who has souls in adoration, every single one. You know every strand of hair on the heads of all who are here and those watching via live stream—those in California and those abroad. So, God, move in our service today. We want You to renew our minds; we want to be changed. We want there to be a shift in our perspective about You, a shift in our perspective about You so much so that it will elevate us and we will walk out of here higher, more elevated than we were when we walked in. We thank You; we love You; we claim it in Jesus' name. Amen, amen! Just be real kind to somebody on your way to take your seat. One of the things that I think is the key thing that sets God apart from anything and everything else is His goodness. There’s a passage where Paul writes, «It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance.» It’s a very powerful thought when you consider that sometimes we try to scare people into faith; sometimes we try to condemn or judge people in the faith, thinking, «If you don’t do this, this is going to happen to you.» But Paul, who was a man full of revelation, gives us insight into how people truly come to embrace God. It is not because they are afraid; what really leads people to repentance is not fear. You can be religious and not repentant. Fear will make you religious; the goodness of God is what will bring about change. Are you tracking with me? The gospel itself is good news; it is the goodness of God. If you’re here and you’re only here because God has been good to you, holla at me! Come on, LA, holla at me! If you know you’re not here because you are afraid, but you’re here because you have tasted and you have seen that God is good, it becomes your reasonable service to respond by entering into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. There is something about experiencing the goodness of God that is so overwhelming that it causes you to change. I don’t change because I’m afraid; I change because I’ve seen something. Speaking of seeing something, I want to show you something in Exodus chapter 33. It’s really interesting because Moses, as he tries to come to a place of trusting God in a way that would be critical for him to walk out his purpose and calling, asks God, «Show me Your glory.» God responds in a really interesting way. It says in Exodus 33:19: Moses says, «Please show me Your glory,» and then God responds. Very interestingly, He says, «I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; I will be gracious.» He goes on, but it’s interesting that Moses says, «God, show me Your glory; show me the essence of who You are; just show me what is absolutely incredible and amazing about You.» You know God says about His glory that He will not give it to another, so His glory is His unique and distinct attribute.