He's a "Good Gifts" God

Exodus 16:31, NIV

The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

Deuteronomy 8:7-9, NIV

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

Psalm 23:2, NIV

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

Matthew 7:11, NIV

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

John 10:10b, ESV

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly

The abundant life isn’t just about quantity, it’s about quality. It's about God bringing you into things that will provide deep pleasure and fullness of joy.

The manna wasn’t just a wafer, it was a wafer that tasted sweet.

The promised land wasn’t just any old land, it was a good land. There were brooks and streams and deep springs. It had an abundance of good things—things which provided not only necessities, but also pleasure. Things which tasted good. It was a land which satisfied not only need, but also desire.

The pastures our Shepherd leads us into aren’t just any pastures, they are green pastures—soft, and supple to the touch. The waters aren’t just any waters, they are still and quiet and refreshing.

That’s the God we serve.

He doesn’t just provide the wafer, He provides a wafer that tastes good.

He doesn’t just provide bread, He provides honey for the bread. 

He doesn’t just provide water, He provides deep springs.

He doesn’t just provide land, He provides land full of good things.

So don’t let the enemy fool you into thinking otherwise—or fool you into feeling guilty for the pleasurable things your God has provided for you. He cares about providing for His children that which tastes good and that which feels good.

Eat the bread.

Savor the honey.

Enjoy the soft grass and refreshing waters.

And always remember to give thanks—because it all came from Him.

God isn’t only a “need-meeting” kind of God, He’s a “good gifts” kind of God.