JAMES 1:16-18

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

TO PONDER:

It used to be a phrase that you would often hear in worship. "God is good, all the time." And the people would respond: "All the time, God is good." It's a great reminder to us of the unchanging character of our God; whose mercy never fails us, whose grace always saves us and whose goodness is always running after us, as the wonderful worship song proclaims to us.

We need that reminding because the evil one is constantly trying to undermine the character of God. He has from the very beginning, "Did God really say...: James sees what is happening among God's people; how quickly they forget his goodness when change, transition and struggles abound. He sees them wrestling with how to practically live out their faith in God in a confusing and messy world. Struggles will come. Trials are a given. Yet James points us to God whose grace and generosity and goodness are at work in change and transitions to produce a maturity and steadfastness in our life that will prepare us for even tougher roads ahead.

So he says “Do not be deceived.” Literally, "Stop being deceived." "Don't wander away from truth or safety. The picture is of a person who is on a journey who is being led astray so they fail to reach their destination. Or of a sheep that wanders off from the Shepherd and the flock and finds themselves lost. It's a ship that drifts off course and becomes lost at sea.

You are a recipient of God’s good and perfect gift, his amazing grace that flows over you in a never-ending stream. You are someone who has been brought to new life through his Word. You are a first fruit of his love; one who belongs to God, is claimed by God and wanted by God. So when Satan attacks the character of God to you, don't wander from the truth. The truth is that the Father of the heavenly lights, the one who created the sun and moon and starts, who created you is good to you.

PRAYER:

God, you are good, all the time. All the time, you are good. Let my life bear testimony to that truth today as a reminder to myself and an encouragement to others. Amen.