If It’s Good...It Comes From God!

James 1:17 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. 

Who do we credit for the good, positive and beneficial things in our lives?  Is it the government?  Certainly many people get a great amount of benefits from governmental programs.  Is it our upbringing?  Yes, some folks are more blessed in this area than others.  Or, are we responsible for our own good fortune in life?  Have we simply worked tirelessly to create our own positive circumstances?

Absolutely all of things can have a positive effect on our lives, but they are not responsible for the good things in our lives.  James tells us that EVERY good gift comes from above...God is ultimately responsible.  And for that reason we need to grateful for what he has done.

To be grateful, we must first recognize the real source of our blessings instead of giving credit to another.

But secondly, we must truly recognize the good gifts in our lives.  In this economic downturn it is easy to focus on all of the burdensome things taking place in our respective lives:  the loss of a job, the loss of a home, illness that is expensive, etc.  However, as real as those things are, and as difficult as they can be, God is still blessing us....because God is in Control!

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 

The secret is to take a step back from our problems and to see the big picture so that we might be able to recognize all of the positive things in our lives.  We have God’s word that gives us hope, promises of help and examples of where our loving Father has helped the faithful in the past.  We have a loving Savior that sacrificed so much by giving his life to have the opportunity to have our sins taken away.  We have the hope of spending an eternity with our Creator.  And we have the power of prayer to petition our loving Father.

God has blessed all of us so much!  We just have to learn how to recognize all that God has done!

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.