Faithbase

We're back with stewardship today. Yesterday we did Advent and we've got our mini series each Sunday surrounding it Saturday or Monday and we'll continue that little mini series up past Christmas. But today I want to talk about one of the verses that was the first to kind of plant the seed of this idea of stewardship in me. This is in James 1 16 through 17. You can read it below. It says, The first part of this verse is referencing the preceding verses. James is talking about God's relationship to temptation. He says you can't put these things in the same category. Don't be deceived about this. But this is the way God operates. Every good and perfect gift is from Him. When was the last time you really considered everything that you have that is good, that you would say this is a good thing, is actually a gift from God? We just went through the month of November, which is typically a time where we're thinking about the things we're thankful for. In that list, did you thank God for each and every one of those things? I love that James puts this in the context of the God who doesn't change, whether it's the God of creation and all that He made, to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Moses and David and Solomon, all of these incredible characters in the Bible, the rise and fall of kingdoms, and this whole season it's about His Son Jesus Christ who He sent to us. All the way up to the present day, God doesn't change. Just like the stars in the sky, the heavenly lights that have twinkled for millennia, God doesn't change. And He continues to give you good gifts. We'll look more at this tomorrow as we talk about Jesus and all of the things that He says about stewardship. But today, friends, take a minute, take a few minutes, to write down all of the good things in your life and thank God for each of them. I know there's a lot of nuance here, but we trust the Holy Spirit to guide you and bless you as you sit with this in the Lord.