Challenged Champion For Christ Bible Blog 3

                   A Good And Perfect Gift From A Heavenly Father.

Every Good and perfect gift is from above. And comes down from the father of lights who does not change like the shifting shadows. James 1:17

Think about the most wonderful perfect gift you have ever received in your life from the father who raised you. Growing up I can recall many great gifts my father gave to me. Sometimes he gave me a gift because it was my birthday, Christmas, or because he just simply loved me. However when I think about the best gifts my father have given to me over the years they were not gifts bought with money they were gifts given out of his love for me. Gifts like his time, meaningful conversations, a love for family and friends, a strong faith in the Lord and a passion to serve the Lord through ministry by the playing of music and preaching God’s word.

Over the past several weeks I have been going through a study of the book of James, the half brother of Jesus Christ. In chapter one James spends a great deal of time talking about how every good and perfect gift comes from God the father, or as James put it from the “father of lights”.  Now let me just say that whether or not you have been a child of God for many years or if you have just come to faith in Jesus Christ recently - it does not matter. If you are a child of God you have been given at least one special and perfect gift.  God has given you this gift for two main reasons. First, just as our earthly fathers choose to give us gifts out of love so our heavenly father chooses to give us spiritual gifts out of love. These kinds of spiritual gifts would include thing like the gift of service, the gift of encouraging, the gift of giving hope to others the gift of teaching and the gift of prophecy proclaiming Gods truth to others.  No matter what spiritual gift God has given to you whether it be one or many, God has given you these spiritual gifts because first and foremost because he loves you. The second reason God gives his Children gifts is because they are always good and perfect in fulfilling the purpose that God has for the lives of those who belong to him. As Beth Moore so rightly put it’, Gods gifts are always perfect because they are always perfecting. God’s gifts always make the lives of those he gives them to.

However when it comes to God giving gifts to his children we must always remember not to rush God with the delivery date. I can remember so many times when I was growing up I wanted to rip open a gift my parents had for me before the delivery date. This desire mostly arose during the holidays. When I would ask my parents why I could not have the gift when I wanted it they would always tell me it wasn’t time yet.  My parents always knew when the time was right for me to receive a gift they had for me. That way when I received it,  the gift would be much more precious to me. I think sometimes we take this attitude with God when we discover that he has many wonderful surprises in store for us. Instead of waiting for God’s timing to give them to us we often want to find out what they are so we can rip them open before the proper delivery date.  Many times when we attempt to do this we take away the joy God receives from watching us receive the gifts he has for us and our lives.

There are two things I believe we can do to avoid making this kind of spiritual mistake. First we must be patient. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3:10 that God makes all things beautiful in his time. We must be patient.  God will allow us to receive the gifts he has for us in his own time. That way when we do receive the gifts God has for us we will be in the right place and the right time to use them for the glory of his kingdom. Secondly,  we must never fail to remember the gifts he has given to us already. Whenever we become impatient in waiting for God to open doors or bless us with spiritual or physical gifts, we should always remember the fact that he already given us the greatest gift imaginable which is the giving of his son Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says “For God so love the world that he gave his only son that who so ever believes in his will not perish but have eternal life. Wow I don’t know about you but I would say that’s a great gift from our heavenly father -wouldn’t you. God gave the gift of his son so that those who believe in him would receive an even greater gift -the gift of eternal life. May we never take the good and perfect gifts from our heavenly father for granted again. All the gifts God gives to his children are gifts of his love for us. And they all begin with his greatest gift to us - the gift of eternal life through the death of his son on a cross. I know I won’t take the gifts God has given to me for granted and my prayer is that you won’t either.

A Challenge from the Challenged champion.

What are some of the good and perfect gifts God the father has given to you throughout your life for the glory of his kingdom? Are they one or are they many? My challenge to you this week is to take the time to remember and thank God for all the wonderful gifts he places into your life. Not just the physical gifts, but  the spiritual ones as well. Take some time this week to realize these gifts came not only from a father of power, but more importantly from a father of love.