#DailyDevotion God The Father Gave Birth To Us

James 1:16-18 ¹⁶Don’t make a mistake, my dear Christian friends. ¹⁷Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. ¹⁸As He wanted it, He gave birth to us by the Word of truth so we would be the first and best of His creatures.

So James had been talking about various trials and tribulations we may experience in life because we are Christians. These trials are from God who by them will purify our faith. He also talked about not doubting. If you doubt God will hear you and answer your prayers, well you should know, with such doubt you will not receive anything from God. God answers prayers not wishes. He isn’t your genie in a bottle. He’s your Heavenly Father who loves you and will do for you what is good and right for you. He will not give you a stone if you ask for bread, or a scorpion if you ask for an egg or a serpent if you ask for a fish. But if you ask him, he will give you the Holy Spirit. Then James speaks about temptations (which happens to be the same word in the Greek as trials). Temptations to sin do not come from God (so much for the God made me this way excuse for sinning). They come from our sinful hearts being a seed there, germinating in our minds and then giving full bloom to sin in our lives.

To that then, James reminds us to not be mistaken. Every good and perfect gift come down from above, from the Father of lights. That would be God the Father, the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, the person we pray to in the LORD’s Prayer. Everything God the Father has promised to do for us, give to us, and deliver to us in the Scriptures when he speaks to all people, you can be most assured of when you pray for them. There is no variation or shifting shadows with God the Father. He is Light. He does not change. He keeps his promises.

Then there is this beauty in the 18^th verse, “As He wanted it, He gave birth to us by the Word of truth so we would be the first and best of His creatures.” Now there is some awesome Gospel in the book of James. Who gave birth to us? God gave birth to us, without our permission, without our acceptance of Jesus, without our decision for Jesus, without any merit or worthiness in us. This is something God the Father wanted to do. This Word of Truth is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is as John says in his Gospel, 1, “¹³They have been born, not of the blood of parents, nor of a sexual desire, nor of a man’s desire, but of God.” Being born of God through the Good News of Jesus Christ, that he reconciled us to the Father through his blood and opened the kingdom of heaven to us, we believe this Good News and have the right be called the children of God, because that is what we are.

Since the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, became one of us, redeemed us and made himself one with us, we are “the first and best of His creatures.” Crazy people who follow the wicked one think we are just one animal among the rest. They think there is nothing special about us. Jesus didn’t become an angel, or a dog, a cat, a dolphin or any other creature. He became a human being, a man, and redeemed all humanity so they could be one with him and the Father. Not even the angels have this privilege, though they are greater than us at the moment. At the resurrection, our identity as the sons of God will be revealed. Rejoice then and boldly and confidently come to the throne of God’s grace and present your petitions to him.

Heavenly Father, as you are the giver of all good gifts, give us first faith and the forgiveness of sins, and then provide for us what we need daily to live and to persevere in this faith. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.