After spending some of the Christmas season (although not as much as I wanted to) just thinking about the beauty of our Lord and His creation, I wanted to share a scripture that I think paints such a vivid picture of how GLORIOUS God is!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17 NIV

The “Father of the Heavenly Lights”…. such an awesome description because when we ponder how BIG and how MAJESTIC and how UNTHINKABLE are the heights and depths of our universe, it gives us just a glimpse of the MAGNIFICENCE of our God!  I saw on a video the other day at church that there are an estimated 70 Sextillion stars in the universe.  This, of course, is a very loose estimate.  But just think about this number…. 70 thousand million million million.  That’s a 7 followed by 22 zeros.  70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

What an uncomprehendable  number…. What an uncomprehendable God!  BUT… He makes himself known to US!  We are so not worthy but so blessed!

I really love the language of the Message for this verse – “Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.”

And to put a little more perspective on this verse, here is the New Century Version – “Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars, who does not change like their shifting shadows.”

or as The Amplified Bible states – “Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].”

The Amplified can be a little confusing, but what I believe James is saying is that even though God created “all that gives light,” He (God) does not change.  He does not cast a shadow (like an eclipse) or rise or set like the sun.  He is always constant, always right, always perfect.

James says this following his command to “Not be deceived, my dear brothers”.  He is reassuring us that God does not change and He does not deceive or tempt us.  It is our own “evil desires” that can lead us astray into the shadows of sin.

God does sometimes give us trials, which are not the same as temptations.  God does not tempt us and He does not cause us to sin.  Trials test our faith.  It may be a little discouraging to consider having to face trials, but remember the good news of James 1:12 (NIV):  “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”