Every Good Gift

It’s been the custom through the centuries to blame God for such things as tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods (“acts of God”). But good gifts also came from Him. Count your many blessings today: The sunshine, the rain, the cloudy day, the bright day, the green grass, the water you drink, and the air you breathe. We really don’t understand how good He is.

It’s God’s will that every person is born again—that’s how good He is. It’s our choice whether we are or not. When God’s will joins with our will, we will be born again. When you willingly come to Him, believe His Word, and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will be born again.

And that’s just the beginning. After we’re saved, we need to be quick to hear the Word of God. That’s how you grow in your Christian life.

God is pleased when we leave the “filthiness” of the flesh behind us and instead receive with a humble spirit the Word of God rooted in our hearts. This is the Word that introduced you to Jesus, your Savior, and the same Word that will keep you from sin. The Word has already brought salvation to you; now, it shows you how to live as a Christian.

James really likes to get practical with faith issues. Prove yourself to be a “doer of the word,” he says. Obey the Word, don’t just listen to it without really pondering what it means. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re following God if you ignore what He says.

God doesn’t ask anything of you until you become His child. God just asks the unsaved person to believe. But to those of us who have become children of God, He says, do the Word. God intends the Word to produce creative action in us and to make for practical application, exciting living, and a thrilling experience. If we are motivated by an inner desire and enjoy Spirit-filled living, we can enjoy life and all its thrills and then enjoy Bible study equally as well- it will be thrilling to us.

James says that if you don’t do the Word, it’s like you see a reflection of yourself in a mirror—you as you really are—and yet do nothing about the big glob of ketchup on your cheek.

James says, in effect, Take time in front of the mirror. Give it your attention, and be alert to the Word of God. Don’t treat it casually. Instead, let God’s Word remind you of Him and call you back into a relationship with Him.

If we are to live for God, then we need to know His Word. As a healthy, growing child of God, you keep learning what pleases Him.

James says that living a pure life before God means living out the Word. That’s the kind of religion that pleases the Lord. Christianity certainly ought to produce this kind of compassion and mercy. We need to practice a “religion of the street” where we are in contact with the world personally, with tenderness, kindness, and helpfulness.

But contact with the world doesn’t mean we should act like the world or let its ugly mark rub off on us. As believers, we are in this world, but we are not of this world. Go ahead and touch those around you with love, kindness, and grace, but be careful not to be sucked into its mold. You belong to Jesus.

Next: What genuine faith looks like in the life of a believer.