Dan Owens and the Eternity Minded Ministries' ministry team is returning from Iquitos Peru today. Regular devotions will resume next week.
This week we are sharing another excerpt from Dan Owens book, A Faith That Is Real.
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow
(James 1:16-18)
It is God's nature to give. In verse 17, James says, "Every good and perfect gift is rom above." God does not give us temptations. He gives us good and perfect gifts, and we receive those gifts every day.
One of the most encouraging things we can do is look at our day and try to identify all the gifts God has given us in it. Intead of going through the day complaining and being negative, we should go through our day looking at all the wonderful gifts he has bestowed upon us. We need to understand that God is benevolent and that every day he gives us gifts. He gives us the gift of laughter. Today, we can laugh, we can smile, we can have joy. Health is a gift. Family is a gift. We are able to enjoy the gift of nature all around us. Because of God's goodness to us, we have the gifts of love, friendship, and forgiveness. Here James is telling us, "Listen, God's not giving you a temptation. No, God is the benevolent Father who is giving you good and perfect gifts."
As the psalmist said of God, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters . . . my cup overflows" (Psalm 23:2, 5). Every good and perfect gift-love, laughter, family, nature, joy, friends, church, everything that we have-has come down from the Father who says, "I want to bless you with a gift."
I always enjoy reading in the Old Testament about the way God dealth with Israel. Through his servant Moses, God told his people:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 30:15-18)
As we read that passage, we would think that the choice would be obvious. Who wouldn't want to choose life and blessing? God warned the Israelites of what would happen to them if they disobeyed him, but they disobeyed anyway. And still, again and again, he allowed them to repent, and he blessed them. What a picture of the benevolence of God. But what a picture of the way we act toward his benevolence.
I love the story of the prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32). It is one of the greatest illustrations of God's love. Even though the son disobeyed and disrespected his father, when he finally returned, the father not only welcomed his son back, but he ran out to meet him. God our father is waiting with open arms for us. He is running toward us, and he wants us to run to him.
When our kids are young, we like to pick them up, hug them hold them, and kiss their chubby little cheeks. But do they want that? Of course not-they would rather be playing. I think God's the same way. He tries to hold on to us, but we get distracted by "fun stuff" that we think we would rather be doing. "Come on spend some time with me," he says.
But we are full of excuses. "God, I've got so much to do today and so many people to meet. Maybe tonight . . . or tomorrow." Our Father wants to be with us, but we have to make time for him.
Henri Nouwen said it best in his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son. "Here is the God I want to believe in: a Father who, from the beginning of creation, has stretched out his arms in merciful blessing, never forcing himself on anyone, but always waiting; never letting his arms drop down in despair, but always hoping that his children will return so that he can speak words of love to them . . . his only desire is to bless."
Be blessed,
Dan
Copyright 2008 Eternity Minded Ministries
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