Product of My Raising

I am a product or I should say a recovering product of well meaning but so often damaging Southern Bible belt of the 1960’s-1970’s. I was born on the last day of the year in 1955. I am privileged to have been born into the heritage of Jesus loving, Bible believing parents and grandparents. They however could not protect me from what I call “being a Church kid” which simply means, as many of you are, one who was at church every time the door was open. One who knew all the right things to say and prayers to pray in order to “appear” to be “all right with my eternal destiny, in other words NOT going to hell.”

The legalism of the Church that distorts truth has always been around. I believe the first distortion presented itself almost immediately after The Church begin. (that will be another subject but is well documented in the book of Acts).

Forwarding my life to about the age of thirty I found that my “sight” and “belief” of GOODNESS was incorrect and empty. My definition of goodness was a distorted view. I thought of goodness in terms of “being” good. Goodness was nice kind people who never got into trouble or had angry or evil thoughts. I thought Goodness was people who didn’t sin a lot, at least not the BIG sins! I did not know after all that time of being a Christian and loving Jesus that his goodness was and is supernatural. His goodness is intimate. HIs goodness is a “way” that He is. It is not just his character it is God’s being.

I saw with the help of my husband, Bob and mentor, Dr. Hud McWilliams, and my best friend Dr. Denise Gilliam that God is good because of His “rightness” His “righteous Holiness” and because of His goodness then HE can NOT be against me. He cannot be fear based, in the way that I had come to believe.

I finally saw that God is good in his being, he is good in his Word, he is good in his knowledge, he is good in his judgement, he is good in his works, actions and deeds. He is severely good in mercy and kind in grace. I finally know that only His goodness can satisfy my soul.

For any out there who do not know God fully in his goodness I pray today that the Spirit of God will give you eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to be intimate with Him…as for this girl…

girl upon Mercy
riding away
girl upon mercy singing

girl upon mercy
safe from all lies
riding to live
a new day
singing…

a merciful hallelujah
singing good are you my Lord
sining mercy, hallelujah
riding on
to sing evermore.