James 1:16-17 - Sovereign Over Good

James 1:16-17
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Message: Sovereign Over Good

Time: James is thought to be the brother of Jesus. He did not follow Jesus while he was on the earth, but became a follower and leader of the church at Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection. It is written about AD 45-48. It is practical application of living a holy life. Faith produces a real change in a person.

What the Lord is Saying:

I have definitely slowed down this month in doing these devotionals on a daily basis. I think it is partly the subject matter: the sovereignty of God which says that God controls everything in life. While I have studied about man having free will it still remains difficult to see at times how they fit together. My conclusion is that man chooses and God works everything out for His good purpose based upon those choices. Yet there are physical laws that make things fall into place based upon those laws. And at times God has used miracles as well. Thus, to expand on this idea, God is first cause and He works through secondary causes. But, even as a sit here and describe this, it is hard to put it all together.

As I use this study and read these words from Tabletalk it continues to catch me off guard. Today's lesson starts with, "In affirming God's sovereign providence, we are careful to not that He is in full control of all that happens." Those words continue to make me stumble with the idea that there is free will. It says, "directing everything according to His purposes." Thus, is he directing our free will? This is supported from this verse in Ephesians 1:11 - we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will which I commented on in the previous study. My conclusion was this idea that "he is in full control of all that happens" means he has created man's position, namely the will of man to choose.

This is further clarified by asking the question - Can God do what is evil? Since he is in control of all things, does he then do what is evil which seems to be what people often think of God in statements such as - Why does God allow so much evil to occur in this world? My sense is that question can be further clarified to mean - Why does God allow so much human suffering if He is Love and He is Good? It seems that the world has concluded then that there is no God and also there is no good and evil. Good is only present because we have the contrast between good and evil. If there was no evil, then there would be no good.

I've never really struggled with this issue of good and evil because they must most be present in life. You can't have one without the other. The Bible supports continually the idea that God is good. It also supports that man is a sinner. Sinners are in need of God because sin separates man from God. This is supported by today's passage from James 1 - Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above. 

Now I am always amazed at how the Bible speaks often to present day issues. James 1:16 starts with Do not be deceived. Deception is the crux of the differences that people hold. Most people fall victim to this deceit, believing to be defined by human will rather than seeing that God designed human will and is the first cause. We read the words of God and sometimes they make sense to us, but when they do not we look to other solutions from man and in so doing, if we believe those words, we then can be deceived.

James 1 provides us warnings about the events that occur in life. He starts with trials and reminds us that those trials can be approached with joy because our faith is often tested in those trials. As we have faith through those trials it produces a good in us and every good thing is from above.

Contrary to the sun and the way it moves throughout the earth produces sunlight at times and shadows at others, thus variation and shifting shadow, the Father of lights has no variation or shifting shadow. John 3:19 records This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. Darkness is evil. Men gravitate towards what is dark, our selfishness, our pleasing of self. Therefore, God is not evil and evil is not done by God. But our testing, our trials, our sufferings God can still use for good outcomes.

Promise: God only does what is good. He is the author only of good.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for thinking that you author evil and that evil comes from you. Thank you for reminding me and showing me that you are only the author of good. Yes, evil exists but it is the outcome of man's free will choices to please self. We are sinners and imperfect and sin results from this as does suffering. Keep reminding me that you are good and only good.


Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.