Goodness

JUNE 15, 1979, 4:50 AM

“I have showed thee, o man, what is good… but what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with Thy God.” Goodness, o son, is, simply, this. It is doing what is right and proper and deserved, but also being touched by forgiveness… “surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life.” But, most importantly, goodness is walking quietly and humbly with Me, in whatever way I choose for you.

So goodness is what you do, what you love, and whom you walk with… and how. Each is important. Each is part of the rhythm. You tend to look for some rank order, or which is most important. That “isn’t the way it is.” Each contributes to the concept… to actual goodness. And note, surely, that these are positive: what I am interested in is actual doing, loving, and walking. And yes, you are right when you gently ask: are there different rhythms of goodness? Most assuredly.

All of My servants are good, but that goodness is measured in different proportions. And it is not so much that a servant is deficient in doing, but that she or he is more than sufficient in walking with Me. I am not enamored of the golden mean, even though it is a way of being good. I tend not to be a God of the mean, but one who also loves extremes. My Scriptures tell of My extremes.

I delivered Israel out of Egypt. I stilled lions’ mouths. I let Samson’s strength be taken away and then to return to bring destruction. In My form as Jesus I was born in a stable, lived as a wanderer, and died on a cross because I would not testify except as I chose to. Extremes. But goodness.

Yours is a unique goodness… something that I am designing. You love mercy more than you do justice. And you walk with Me, inordinately. (I like extreme words like that.) I want you to do justice, but not at the expense of loving mercy and walking with Me. Be who you are, o son, not what somebody else has been, however good you see him to be. Jesus is your example, but, finally, you are not to be Jesus, you are to be Bob.

I like unique goodness. I am not concerned that all be alike in their qualities of good. Just as all of your sons are different, so are all of Mine. I want goodness of My Sons (that’s better… that means both male and female), but I value diversity and, as I said, I have a certain partiality to the extreme. Paul was rather extreme, and he was one of My favorites… still is. You have said, in the past, that Paul led you to Me, and that is true, to an extent. Paul has led people to Me, and probably some way. That’s why goodness must come in many shapes and forms.

Matthew must find that manifestation of goodness which exceeds the weed. It shall be an interesting trail. (See I tempt you. You shy away from prophesying, but you would like to know how Matthew will turn out. But no, you shall not a prophet be, now.)