The Father of Lights!

As I was about to fall asleep last night this piece of Scripture flashed through my mind

James 1:16-17
16Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17Every 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.
You may want to read this passage of Scripture in other translations.

When a person is making a statement and he starts out by saying 'Make no mistake about it...', you know that he or she is quite serious about what they are about to say. They want you to believe them and to hold their words as true.

This is exactly what James, Christ's Apostle, does here as he starts out to tell his audience a fundamental truth about God's nature and work among men. You see, every good gift and every perfect gift is from God. Think about these points:

1. God is good - no good exists without Him and His very essence exudes goodness. If He were your Friend, He would be your Best Friend, because each time He visits, or you visit Him, you come away feeling the best you've ever felt in your life. He is good!
2. God is a giver - You always come away from His house with a good gift; and if you stayed with Him long enough, you find out that in fact, it is the perfect gift that you could ever need. Notice, He gives gifts. You don't have to earn them or deserve them. He gives them to you anyway because that's who He is - a great Giver!
3. God's gifts come from above, and they come down. In today's world, human beings are preoccupied with the things around them. We compare ourselves with ourselves. Even worse, we are consumed with what's within us - as if we had all the answers. People are constantly encouraged not to care for what anyone's opinion of them is (good advice) as long as they feel good about what they are doing within themselves (bad advice). No, friends, the answers are not around us, neither are they within us. The answers that we so desperately need and long for are above us. They come down from God, who is only too willing to shower His gifts on us if we just ask Him!
4. God is the Father of lights! Enlightenment, vision, progress, truth originate in Him. He is the FATHER of lights! Any claim of being a purveyor of truth therefore, which does not reference, acknowledge or glorify God, is in fact, darkness. And the way we recognize God's 'lights' is that it does not vary, change or get modified with time or fashion. God says I AM WHO I AM and thus forever defines Himself. No matter when, where or how you meet Him, He is I AM - ever existent, self-sustaining, holy, righteous, loving and just God. Any other 'lights' that do not conform to this are fake and deceitful and evil.

Today, I invite you to meet my God who loves you and gives you good gifts every day. He is the Best Friend that you perhaps have not yet met. He is waiting.