Blogs
Focus on God’s Goodness-Victory in Jesus
john : February 27, 2024 11:04 am : John Shirk, Staff PagesJOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in John 16:33.
Jesus told His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!”
These were some of the last words that Jesus shared with His disciples before His arrest. Jesus was preparing His followers for His death, resurrection, and eventual departure from this world. He was leaving final words of instruction and comfort for them.
The reason He told them these things is the reason that these things are recorded for us-so that in Christ we may have peace. Life in this world can be filled with peer pressure, stress, and conflict. But there is also a greater reality than our problems. We can be encouraged by the proclamation of Jesus to overcome the world. Because He wins, so will His followers. First Corinthians 15:57 says, “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The victory of Jesus over sin and death reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in Isaiah 1, verses 16 to 18.
The LORD said to a nation in need of repentance: “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Come now, let us settle the matter. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
The message of the Gospel urges us to turn from our sins and follow Jesus. God reasons with us on the basis of conviction. He points out where we are wrong, shows the right way, and urges us to change direction. The Gospel is also a message of forgiveness. Through Jesus, we are cleansed of sin and have a fresh start in God’s grace.
The cleansing effect of God’s grace reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
| Song Title | Artist | Album | Year |
| 6AM | |||
| An Anthem of Invitation | Judah & the Lion | First Fruits – EP | 2012 |
| Gratitude (Live) | Brandon Lake | House of Miracles (Live) | 2021 |
| Psalm 118 (This Is The Day) | Shane & Shane | Psalms | 2002 |
| I Will Sing | Martin Smith | Exalt – EP | 2020 |
| Faithful and True (ft. Dee Wilson) | New Life Worship | Single | 2024 |
| My Hallelujah | Bryan & Katie Torwalt | Praise Before My Breakthrough – EP | 2018 |
| I Believe (Live) | Jonathan David Helser & Melissa Helser | The Land I’m Livin’ In (Live) | 2022 |
| Another One (feat. Chris Brown) | Elevation Worship | Another One (feat. Chris Brown) – Single | 2024 |
| O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (feat. Shane & Shane) | The Worship Initiative | Single | 2024 |
| Light a Fire / Great Are You Lord (Live) | David Leonard | Single | 2022 |
| 7AM | |||
| Forever | Kari Jobe | Majestic | 2014 |
| Holy Forever | Jenn Johnson | Bethel: Come Up Here | |
| This Is The Day | Phil Wickham | Response | 2012 |
| Its Time To Worship | Chris McClarney | Speak To The Mountains – EP | 2021 |
| Magnify | Mack Brock | Magnify – Single | 2024 |
| Bless God | Brooke Ligertwood | EIGHT | 2023 |
| Let Everything That Has Breath | Matt Redman | The Heart of Worship | 1999 |
| Who Else (Live) | Gateway Worship & Abbie Gamboa | Who Else – Single | 2024 |
| Holy Ground / Holy, Holy, Holy (feat. Kari Jobe) | The Belonging Co | See The Light (Live) | 2021 |
| Forever YHWH (feat. Tiffany Hudson) | Elevation Worship | LION | 2022 |
| Defender | Rita Springer | Battles | 2017 |
| 8AM | |||
| Praise Before My Breakthrough | Bryan & Katie Torwalt | Praise Before My Breakthrough – EP | 2018 |
| Thats The Thing About Praise (feat. Blessing Offor) | Benjamin William Hastings | Benjamin William Hastings | 2022 |
| Praise (feat. Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore) | Elevation Worship | CAN YOU IMAGINE? | 2023 |
| Theres No Way (Song Session) | Red Rocks Worship & Essential Worship | Single | 2024 |
| Nobody Like Jesus (Studio Sessions) | Reach City Worship & John Wesley | Nobody Like Jesus – Single | 2024 |
| Everything That Has Breath (Praise) [Live] | Jesus Culture & Bryan & Katie Torwalt | Why Not Right Now? (Live) | 2023 |
| This Is the Day (Live) | Pat Barrett | Canvas and Clay (Live) | 2019 |
| Same God (feat. Jonsal Barrientes) | Elevation Worship | LION | 2022 |
| Crowns Down (Live) | Gateway Worship & Josh Baldwin | Crowns Down (Live) | 2023 |
| Forever & Amen (Live) | Cody Carnes & Kari Jobe | God Is Good! (Live) | 2022 |
| 9AM | |||
| O Praise The Name (An√°stasis) [Live At Sound Emporium] | Benjamin William Hastings | Songs You Maybe Didnt Know I Wrote And Some You Maybe Did | 2023 |
| King Of Kings | Brooke Ligertwood | EIGHT | 2023 |
| Honest Offering / I Surrender All (Live) | CAIN | Honest Offering (Live) | 2023 |
| Plead The Blood (feat. Brandon Lake & Cody Carnes) | Chris Davenport | TIME | 2023 |
| How Great a King (Live) | Bethel Music, Paul McClure & Hannah McClure | Victory (Live) | 2019 |
| Now Here | Red Rocks Worship | Things of Heaven (Where We Come From) | 2021 |
| The King Is On The Way | Jonathan Traylor | Closer Than You Think – EP | 2023 |
| In The Room (ft. Chris Brown of Elevation Worship) | Matt Maher | The Stories I Tell Myself | 2023 |
| Song For His Presence (Live) | Hillsong Young & Free | Out Here On A Friday Where It Began (Live) | 2021 |
| Holy Spirit | Bryan & Katie Torwalt | Here On Earth | 2011 |
| Endless Alleluia (Live) | Bethel Music & Cory Asbury | Victory (Live) | 2019 |
| Holy (Song Of The Ages) (feat. Andrew Holt) | The Belonging Co | Single | 2020 |
JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s Goodness is found in Romans 8:28.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
We are instructed to give thanks in all circumstances. That is because God is at work in the circumstances of those who love Jesus. He is able to weave together the good, bad, and ugly experiences of our lives to bring about God’s good purpose in us. And what is that purpose? The next verse gives us the answer: For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
God’s priority in our lives is to make us more like Jesus. God’s love gives us a healthy and heavenly perspective through life’s experiences. His power helps us to overcome evil with good-like He did for us at the cross and empty grave.
God’s work in His followers reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dgJWRLJHSExEbjL2kX5gF?si=77d5afed5b374be8
Focus On God’s Goodness-Depth of God’s Love
john : February 22, 2024 6:10 pm : John Shirk, Staff PagesJOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s Goodness is found in Micah 7:18.
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
The depth of God’s love reveals His ability to bury our sins where they are remembered no more. The blood of Jesus, shed on the cross, has the power to cover our sins so that they are no longer held against us on Judgment day. Confessing our sins to God opens the way for His purifying grace to cleanse our corrupted hearts.
Dwight Moody once said, “God has cast our confessed sins into the depths of the sea, and He’s even put a ‘No Fishing’ sign over the spot.
The depth of God’s love reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
Focus on God’s Goodness-Height of God’s Love
john : February 20, 2024 4:35 pm : John Shirk, Staff PagesJOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in Psalm 36:5.
“Your love, LORD reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”
This verse highlights the height of God’s love for us. Jesus came from heaven to earth so that we might ascend from earth to heaven. After accomplishing His mission on earth, Jesus returned to heaven.
Oswald Chambers noted the ascension of Jesus this way: “At his ascension our Lord entered heaven, and he keeps the door open for humanity to enter.”
The door is still open for us today to accept the invitation of Gospel. Now is the time of God’s favor. Now is the day of salvation.
Heaven is the destiny for all who belong to Jesus. It is a place where there is no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
The height of God’s love reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6wCEBUPZPYwCTYyl12544v?si=27b37f86716a46c2
Focus on God’s Goodness-Length of God’s Love
john : February 16, 2024 10:47 am : John Shirk, Staff PagesJOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in Isaiah 59:1.
“Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.”
God’s love is long enough to reach us and rescue us from our sin. Verse 2 tells us that our iniquities have separated us from God. That is why we need redemption. Jesus stretched out His arms at the cross to extend forgiveness to us. Our barrier of sin is removed when we open up to God’s grace.
Jesus went to great lengths from heaven to earth to save us. With His long arm of salvation, He embraces us with His love, brings us into His family of believers, and gives us eternal life. Eternity is a long time. His grace lasts forever.
The length of God’s love reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
Focus on God’s Goodness-Width of God’s Love
john : February 15, 2024 9:41 am : John Shirk, Staff PagesJOHN SHIRK – Today’s Focus on God’s goodness is found in Psalm 103, verse 12,
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
God’s love is wide, extending to people of all nations, ethnic groups, and languages around the world. His love is full of mercy, extending forgiveness and salvation to those who put their faith in Jesus. According to the Bible, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Psalm 103 instructs us to remember all of God’s benefits, and then identifies some of them. Mercy stands out as one of those benefits. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. He is able to separate us from sin so that nothing in all creation can separate us from His love.
The width of God’s love reveals the goodness of God and is a reason to give thanks in the Year of Gratitude.
John Shirk
john@wjtl.com
