James 1:17-18

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. ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

In the midst of the problems James reminds us in verses 17-18 to focus on the first of 3 powerful promises starting first with:

1. The promise of God’s perfect provision—God is always giving. (17a)

Verse 17 says “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father.” God promises His perfect provision. I think most of us like to get presents, don’t we? But the problem with most presents is that they don’t last. They wear out and break, or we grow tired of them because they weren’t as much fun as we originally thought they would be. But what do the gifts that last all have in common? They all mean something. They many not mean much to anybody else, but they mean something to you. And more often than not they mean something because of who gave them to you.  Your kids can take a crayon and scribble something on a piece of scrap paper but when they give it to you, it means the world. I will never forget a gift my son gave me when he was a little boy. It was a gold wrapper folded up into a square with the words “Best Dad Ever” written on it. To you it would probably looks like trash but to me it’s a treasure. It sits on a stand on my desk as a reminder that I mean something to someone. The treasure is not because of what it is, but because of who gave it to me. That’s why we need to treasure God’s promises they are not only special because of the gift but more importantly because of the Giver. You are either going to find Joy in the promises or junk in the problems. Now we need to remember the context of this verse because if we are not careful, we will pluck it out of context and make it say something it doesn’t. This verse is in the context of the tests God gives us. James has spent the previous 15 verses talking about testing and how we are to have joy in the testing. And now he calls those tests gifts from God. The tests in your life are not mistakes, while they may surprise us, they don’t catch God off guard. God either places them in our path or He allows them to happen to you, and then He calls them a gift. God gives us the gift of trials and testing, but most of us see them as a problem not a provision. Does that mean we have to understand it all, or enjoy it all? No, we are not called to find joy in the process but in the product. Our joy is not in the junk or even the journey it’s in become more like Jesus. Tests refine us, and smooth out the rough edges. Tests are like tweezers that remove the splinters from our life. Those things that have pierced and not just gotten stuck in our soul but stunk up our soul, like a splinter that infects and puffs us up with puss. God’s provisions are perfect, He is in control. No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, if you are a Christian then they have passed through Christ’s crucified hands. Not for evil purposes, but for God’s good to accomplishment His perfect will in your life. I will never forget talking to a pastor who had been wounded by some people in His church. As a result, he found himself thinking, “fine I will just quit and they can see how much I’m needed around here, this church will fall apart without me” He was willing to sacrifice the church to satisfy his hurt. And can I remind all of God’s pastors this is a privilege not a position, God doesn’t need us He wants us. Pastors sometimes we need to be wounded by God’s people so we can see the puss in our hearts, poisonous pride that points to me instead of praise that points to the Messiah. God thank you for the gift of being hurt by those you call me to lovingly lead because it exposes the health of my heart. People sometimes pain is God’s perfect provision. Sometimes we need to be wounded to see how far of base we are from God’s Word. Look some of God’s gifts are hard and at first, they hurt, and often growing your faith doesn’t always feel good. Because God is in the business of cultivate your faith not coddle your feelings. He loves us enough to provide what we need instead of what we want in a way that only an all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful Father can. The first promise that can give us joyful hope in times of testing is that God promises us His perfect provision. What about you are you embracing the gift of God’s perfect provision even when it comes through trials and testing?

James 1:17-18

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. ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

As we continue in our series “The Litmus Test for Life” James continues to call us to focus on the Father and His Promises in Times of Testing and not the problems. Because as we walk through the problems of life it is critical that we have a proper perspective. The only way to do that is to view our problems from God’s perspective so that we discover His purpose and live out His plan. Are you going to look at life through the lenses of the Lords promises, or the lens of life’s problems? Because when we focus on the promises we focus on God and His glory, but when we focus on the problems we focus on the garbage and the groaning. Last time as James talked about the problems in times of testing he started with the promise and the price, that for those who patiently endure testing they will receive the crown of life. We need to notice that after James talks about the problems he then continues to talk about the promises in times of testing. What we need to see here is that the problems of life are Sandwiched between the promises of the Lord. This helps me not only to put my problems into perspective, but to start practicing this principle of sandwiching life’s problems between the Lord’s promises in my own life. That means to stop focusing on the buts and start focusing on the blessings. We need to remember that problems are not the food they’re the filler. When you focus on promises they feed your faith where focusing on the problems feeds your fears. Your focus we either feed your worry or your worship? We need to stop protesting the problems and start promoting the promises. So why don’t we focus on the promises? Why are we caught up in the protests instead of the praise? Because we are a people of broken promises. Let me share short story: Two brothers were home alone one day when the older brother pulled an egg carton out of the refrigerator and told his little brother, “I’ll give you $20 if you let me break three of these eggs over your head.” The little brother said, “You promise?” And the older brother said, “I promise.” Then he pulled out an egg and broke it over his brother’s head. It oozed down through his hair and ran down his face. Then he pulled out the second egg and broke it over his brother’s head. This one slid down the back of his neck and inside his shirt collar. After the second one, the little brother really braced himself. He knew the third egg was going to be really nasty. And he waited. And waited, but the third egg never came. Finally, he spoke up. “Hey, when’s the third egg coming?” To which the older brother said, “It’s not—if I broke that one over your head, it would cost $20.” I can’t even imagine what happened next. This story reminds us of a powerful point, that when we are young, we are innocent enough to believe the promises we heard. When someone promises us something, we believe it. Some people call that naïve. I call it trusting. But what happens to that innocent child like faith when that trust gets broken by people who go back on their promises? It starts to go away, as trust gets trashed our faith in people and promises gets flushed. It leads to calloused hearts and cynical heads. We start saying things like, I will never fall for that again.” But the very mechanism we used to protect our hearts actually poisons our hearts. It’s a lot like the castles that people built for protect back in medieval times. They were great until the army that surrounded them chose to stay and lay siege. The very mechanism they build to protect them became their problem. Sure, it kept out the pain, but it also kept out the provisions, the food and water they needed to do life. Soon famine set in followed by disease and death. The very thing they had built to save them from pain actually sentenced them to death. Like them when we rely on our manmade mechanisms, they imprison our hearts instead of protecting our hearts. Our way of protecting our hearts from broken promises is what is ruining our relationships. Are you being poisoned and imprisoned by our own protection? Trust is the root of relationships, and if you kill the root you kill the tree. How many of us are killing our kids today because instead of cultivating the root we are trashing trust. Dads keep your promises to your kids, because the pattern you set will not only be the pattern they pass on, but the picture that they projected onto God. So how do you break out of the prison of mistrust and put your trust in God’s promises. Recognize that while we live in a world where people break their promises, God doesn’t. We need to stop projecting peoples broken promises onto God. From the first page of scripture to the last God not only makes promises but has the power to back them up and bring them to fruition. Many of us instead of promoting the promises feel like we need to protect ourselves from the promises, and the best way to protect your heart from the pain of broken promises is to dismiss them. Which is exactly what satan wants you to do. But my prayer is that as His people we would not only hear God’s promises but would head them and hold onto them. Is there a promise you need to start believing and proclaiming?