Focus: James 1:17 - KJV
17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 3:13-18
Whenever something is good or perfect, it has God in it. Usually, believers look on this verse of scripture about good gifts and prefect gifts in relation to material acquisitions and wealth. Nonetheless, beyond that, the Lord is directing our minds to the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit as against ephemeral things. Many claim to be believers in Christ and possess the gift of wisdom but are full of bitter envying and strife which engender confusion and every evil work. By their gift which is earthly, they are not able to do things without partiality and hypocrisy. The wisdom gift that is from above is pure, gentle, peaceable and easy to be intreated, loving and caring for the interest of others. When it becomes right in the sight of someone that another may be condemned at all, not to talk of without giving him the opportunity to defend himself, such wisdom is earthly, sensuous and wicked.
When Simon Bar Jonas identified Jesus as the Christ, the comment of Jesus was very interesting. He said flesh and blood did not reveal that to him. It was wisdom from above which is good and perfect recognizing spiritual things and placing it where it belongs. But there was a man who was a ruler of the Jews called Nicodemus. He saw and recognized that Jesus was from God but could not declare it because of his exalted position among the Jews. Though he knew and may have believed who Christ was, he kept mum about his understanding all through Christ’s ministry, trials and crucifixion brought about by the institution he represented. But then, after His death, the same Nicodemus went to collect His body for burial. This was crass hypocrisy. The known followers could not step forward to collect the body as we know what happened to them all when they saw the fate of Christ, forgetting what He had told them would happen to Him. But Nicodemus, being a ruler of the Jews could approach to ask for His body as his gang would not suspect he was also a ‘disciple’.
God’s word to us today is to check the gifts showing forth in us whether they are tended to bringing forth good fruits or not. If they do not bring forth good fruit, then they are earthly and not approved of God; but if they are as pure and loving to bring forth good and pleasant fruits, then they are from above. Those who bear good and perfect gifts are in the company of God and He sees to their well-being and life as His representatives on earth. Whether it be wisdom, word of knowledge, prophesy or what have you, let it be gifts that depict love in purity else it becomes adulterated, and evil. Mind the gift you carry.
SOLUTION: God is good and all that He does are good and perfect. Anything we do that is not good is ungodly. Let us desist from using the name of the Lord to hurt people we are called to succor for the Lord.
Please pray:
· Give thanks to God for endowing you with gifts from above
· Pray God to help you to overcome every lie of the devil aimed at adulterating the gift of God that you carry with a view to turning it to earthly gift
· Ask God to help you to manifest and utilize His gifts and endowment in your life for the purposes for which they are endowed
· Ask God to please order your life in a manner that it will yield only good fruits borne out of good and perfect gifts going forward
· Ask for your daily bread for today
If you are blessed by this post, kindly share with your contacts, as well as others, that they may be blessed also. Thank you and may God bless you abundantly as you do so, in Jesus’ name.
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