Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming
WEEK 20
THANKING GOD FOR A SPIRITUAL
BANQUET
JAMES 1:17-27
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. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and
Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
PRECIOUS FATHER IN HEAVEN, we gratefully
acknowledge that every perfect gift and every good thing
we have ever received is from You, the Father of heavenly lights. We confess that we do not deserve any good thing at all from You,
so we can only stand in humble gratitude
that You have given us so precious a gift
as eternal life in Christ. In the exercise of Your sovereign will
and in accord with Your eternal good pleasure, You brought us forth out of spiritual death through Your Word,
that imperishable seed by which we are born again
to a living hope.1
Human language does not contain words
sufficient to express our thankfulness
for the salvation You have wrought in us. When we think of the magnitude of Your mercy
and the immensity of the grace You have bestowed on us, we earnestly desire to be doers of the Word, living emblems of the perfect righteousness
and overflowing grace to which we owe everything.
And yet, Lord, we sorrowfully acknowledge our stubborn sinfulness
and the desperate wickedness that remains in our hearts
and continually causes us to sin against that inexhaustible grace
to which we owe everything. Endow us with the power and the will
to lay aside what remains of our sin
and humbly receive the engrafted Word
that is able to save us.
Graciously equip us to cleanse our hands,
purify our hearts,2
mortify the deeds of our flesh,3
cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light.4
Those are all things that are pleasing in Your sight,
and therefore we know You will grant the request. In fact, Your beauty is on display for all to see
in Your goodness and graciousness to us as unworthy sinners. We are awed by the promise to all who trust in You through Christ
that all things are ours5 and that Your divine power
has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.6
Because You are for us, we know that no one can be against us. Because You justify us, no accuser can condemn us. Your own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—
having died for our sin, risen from the grave, and ascended into heaven— secures us and is even now at the right hand of Your throne, interceding for us.7
We praise You, Lord, for these precious promises
that nourish and gladden our souls with infinite comfort. We fall back on such words of hope in times of need and sorrow,
humbly acknowledging Your faithfulness
with profound gratitude.
Meanwhile, it is to our own deep shame
that we are fickle and untrustworthy. We know that even when we are faithless, You abide faithful.8
Your mercies are new every morning.9
But help us to lay hold of Your promises not merely for comfort and hope
but also as motivation, encouragement, edification,
and an example to follow
as we seek more earnestly to be faithful.
We thank You that nothing can ever separate us from Your love—
revealed in Christ, your Son, and shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.10
You have spread before us an abundant table full of good things—
more blessings than we could ever know or imagine! Cleanse us before we feast at Your banquet,
so that nothing may hinder the worship
we offer You now in prayer. We ask these things in the name
of Him who was delivered up for our sins, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. 1 Peter 1:23 2. James 4:8 3. Romans 8:13 4. Romans 13:12 5. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 6. 2 Peter 1:3-4 7. Romans 8:31-34 8. 2 Timothy 2:13 9. Lamentations 3:21 10. Romans 8:35; 5:5