James

James 1: God gives every good gift

Begin in prayer

Before you read James 1, please ask God for the wisdom that James says He gives to those who ask in faith. Ask Him to show your family that every good gift comes from Him, and to help you see Christ in every verse.

Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all! In your hand is power and might! It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all!

1 Chronicles 29:12

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that every good gift comes from You, and that You gave Your children new birth by the word of truth. Help us to see Jesus and to be more like Him. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

James writes as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. These believers meet trials that test faith and produce endurance, and James directs them to God for wisdom. Poverty and wealth must be seen in light of the life God promises to those who love Him. He never tempts anyone to sin, for sinful desire grows within a person and produces death. From this warning James turns to the unchanging Father, who gives good gifts and new birth through His word. Those who receive that word must obey it, restraining anger and speech, caring for the fatherless and widows, and refusing the world's stain.

As you read James 1, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God gives good gifts and new life through His word, which His people must hear and obey.

Hardship can test faith, yet the pull toward sin comes from a person's own desire. James follows that desire to its end, where sin produces death. Then he describes another birth, as the Father gives life through the word of truth. This life begins in God's will, so obedience grows from His gift. The Father of lights made the sun, moon and stars, whose light and shadows change. His goodness remains steady when trials shake His children. They must therefore receive His word with humility, like people looking into a mirror who act on what they see. The good news of Jesus gives life that reaches the tongue, the needy and the conduct of each day.

How does James 1 show us that God gives good gifts and new life through His word, which His people must hear and obey?

God gives wisdom to everyone who asks Him in faith.

Wisdom here helps believers face the trials that test their faith. God gives generously and never scolds a person for asking. Yet the doubter is like a sea wave, driven about because his heart is divided. Jesus is the Lord James serves, and faith rests on Him while asking for what is lacking. The divided asker must not expect to receive anything from the Lord (verses 7 and 8).

God tempts no one. Sin grows out of our own desire.

God cannot be tempted by evil, and He tempts no one (verse 13). Each person is drawn away by his own desire (verse 14). Desire grows into sin, and full-grown sin produces death (verse 15). So no one can blame God for sin.

Every good gift comes from the Father, who never changes.

The Father made the heavenly lights, whose movement brings changing shadows. His own goodness never shifts, so His children can trust Him in trial. Riches fade like a flower, while He promises the crown of life to those who love Him.

God gave His children new birth by His word.

Sin brings forth death, while the Father brings forth children through the word of truth. James places God's will before their response, because new birth is His gift. The good news of Jesus is therefore received with humility and obeyed. Hearing without doing deceives a person, and care for the fatherless and widows shows the word reaching daily life. James also calls religion worthless when a person leaves his tongue unbridled (verse 26).

Memorise

Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

James 1:18

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what wrong desire in me shows that I need Jesus to make me new?

Look at what James says about sin. A man is drawn away by his own desire, the desire conceives, and the sin, when it is full grown, “produces death.” No one can blame God for that. The fault is ours, and death is what sin earns.

But James turns to the Father of lights, who never changes. Every good gift comes down from Him, and the greatest gift is His Son. Jesus Christ never sinned, yet on the cross He carried the sin of His people and paid for it. That payment is enough, and nothing is left unpaid. On the third day He was raised to life. The word of truth that gives new birth is the good news of this Son.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Ask the Father to do what only He can do, which is to give new birth by the word of truth. Everyone who comes to Jesus in this way is forgiven, and the Father of lights never changes toward them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that every good gift comes from the Father, and that Jesus carried His people's sin. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Please also ask God for wisdom with them, and let them hear you ask.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for His good gifts and for the word of truth, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

1 Peter 1:23

Father, thank You that every good gift comes from You. Thank You for Jesus, who carried the sin of His people. Please change our hearts, and lead us to turn from sin and trust Him. Give us wisdom this week. Amen.