James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
I remember this verse being quoted once many years ago during a small group meeting. We were discussing the many good deeds of people who do not follow Christ. All good comes from God. Sometimes we are aware of the good we are doing, sometimes we are not. Sometimes we remember who we serve, and sometimes in the moment, we forget. All good, and all good deeds, come from God.
Holy One, you are in control. Use me for your good. I am forever thankful. Amen
Becky, transforming
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
But Satan is alive and well, always waiting and scheming to cause trouble. But it is true (spoiler alert) Satan doesn't stand a chance with God. Satan knows his intentions are evil, God‘s intentions are nothing but good. No good and pleasant thing comes from any place other than God. Even when we work hard for something, we should always thank God for the fruit of our labors, just as the harder things of our labor should be Treated the same. God is indeed a giver of every good deed. James has strong…
James 1:17 So often, these verses remind me of some of our beautiful hymns. This verse must have inspired the composer of “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” Almost every line of this hymn speaks to this verse. I won’t repeat each line, but I hope you will Google the lyrics and I think you will agree with me that this is a hymn of Thanksgiving if there ever was one. Prayer: gracious God thank you for your faithfulness….. as thou hast been, thou forever will be. Amen
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father . . .
I believe this to be true, however, not every gift is good and perfect. Early deaths, drive by shootings, war, etc., are not good and perfect. If we believe God has a plan for the world then these facts are difficult to understand. I have found a silver lining in many of the poor gifts that I have received and maybe that makes them good and perfect. I can only keep praying for the ones that happen to others.
James 1: 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
We get everything that is good from God. Everything that we have is a gift from God. Every situation, no matter how difficult, is a gift from God. Sometimes people don’t understand this. They see God as one who is not consistent and loving and gives us these challenges out of anger. We should thank God for every blessing and yes, every hardship that we are given. It makes us stronger and builds our faith. God does not change. God is good all the time.
Dearest Lord, sometimes you send us challenges that…
James 1:17
James uses beautiful imagery to convey an attribute of God that we can always count on; immutability. Anything but shifting shadows, God is unchangeable. Perfect goodness all the time is what we can lean on and be ever thankful for. We have such a fickle tendency to carelessly place our trust in human systems, institutions and causes only to be consistently let down at some point, even to the point of feeling betrayed. While there are dark times when we may feel as if God has let us down, faith tells us God is with us and not against us in these trials as God’s love, like God, never changes.
Prayer - I trust You, Lord, in…