Every Good Gift
James 1:17 (NIV) says, “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 do not always understand why God gives or withholds what he will. There have been plenty of times in my life where I had to continually ask God why something was happening because the situation was more than I could bear.
It is okay when we do not understand, and it is okay to put that before God. We can still have faith in the goodness and faithfulness of God when we do not understand our circumstances. We can come to a place where we learn to accept the gifts that God gives us based not on the gifts themselves but on the goodness of the gift-giver.
Gratitude
When I think of a posture of gratitude, I think of arms open at our sides and eyes looking upward to receive. This position is a genuine posture of acceptance of the gifts of God. This verse reminds me to position myself in that place of thankfulness.
God does not change. He does not shift from one place to the next based on what benefits him the most. He stays the same. He does not cast shifting shadows, but he is the radiant light shining over all things.
It is good to remind ourselves of that today.
Abiding In God's Grace
There are so many influencing factors on how our day goes and the general state of our life. If the enemy can convince you that God is the one responsible for the trial, failures, pain, or loss, he can get you to turn away from God.
God can handle your rejection (that was the point of sending Jesus), but when we reject him, we push away his gifts. We run from the provisional grace coming down from an unchanging God and revert to striving in our own strength.
Amid our confusion, we can still look upward in the posture of gratitude and confess that God is the unchanging Father of heavenly lights. Allow him to reorient your vision to look at his face and not on your circumstances. Ask him to show you where he is already providing, and ask him to reveal the new ways he will provide as you surrender to him.
Abiding happens daily in his presence. Abiding Daily is a simple and practical reminder to stay connected to the vine. Each prompt is inspired from the scriptures and designed to point you toward prayer and encounter. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram. To get the Daily Invitation sent to you every day click this link or text “Daily” to +1 (779) 237-3914.
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