"Thankful for Good Gifts"

As we prepare the Thanksgiving table at home, let's start with recognizing where every good and perfect gift comes from - God.

Thankful for Good Gifts

(James 1:16-18)

Introduction:

A.  I love Thanksgiving.  It is a the official start of the “everybody is supposed to be happy and nice” season.  For the next five weeks or so people are supposed to say nice things to one another, sing songs about gift giving, share lots of food and sweets, and simply be in a good mood.  It is really good if everyone does their part.  The problem is, black Friday comes and puts every early morning shopper in a foul mood while Christmas music plays.

B.  Thanksgiving is more than the official start of the Christmas season.  It is more than lots of food on Thursday.  It is more than football.  It is about being thankful for a reason.  For what are you thankful?  We often say the right answers:  God, our salvation, our spouse and kids, family in general, a job, a house or other blessings.  But my challenge to you is to ask yourself if you really believe those words you quickly say.

C.  How would God or your family and friends know you are thankful for them?  I don’t mean by going out and buying them gifts.  I mean if your life is examined, your mind, your actions, everything about you, would someone seeing those things know that what you are most thankful for is your spiritual life and your family?

I.  Thanksgiving – The Reason

A.  Dr. Dale Robbins writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.” Complaining makes us miserable.  Psalm 77:3 says, “I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.”
B. Phil. 2:13 “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”  1 Thess. 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

C.  A positive, thankful person is a great witness in this dark world. We shine when we are thankful.  Instead of looking at the negatives in our lives and complaining, we must look at and for the positives and give thanks.
D.  The other day I said to one of the kids that I only had a half a glass of pop.  The quick reply was, “Well, is it half full or half empty?”  Don’t you hate it when you kids preach better than you do?

E.  Here is the point; we need to learn to be thankful for every good and perfect gift because of where those gifts really come from.

II. Gifts From Above

A.  James bridges the statements about temptation that we talked about last week and the gifts from God this week with the phrase, “Do not be deceived.”  Isn’t that a strange phrase to put in this passage?  Do not be deceived about what?

B.  One thing is for sure, it is not evil or Satan that gives good gifts.  The things we receive from the evil one bring only death.  They may feel good for the moment, but soon that instant self gratification wears off and we realize that our sin was not fun.

C.  But it is probably better to read this passage by hearing James say, “Make no mistake about what I going to tell you brothers.  Every good and perfect gift comes from above.”  We need to offer more prayers of thanksgiving to God.  We need to see the blessings he has given to us and name them one by one.  We need to look at the next garage sale and see how much stuff God has given to us.  Brethren we are blessed people, we are rich people and many times we forget that it by the grace and love of God we have all things.

III.  Three Things About God

A.  James tells us two things about God in these verses.  The first is that God does not vary.  The God who gives to us is the creator God of the universe.  He is the God who puts the stars up at night and the sun during the day.  He is the same God who blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; brought his people up from Egypt and into a promised land; knocked down walls with the sound of trumpets; and defeated thousands with a scared man who hid in a winepress and 300 other men.  Our God raised the dead, caused the lame to walk and the blind to see.  This is the God James talks about.

B.  The God who does not change.  Brethren, that is the father of light who wants to bless his children with every good and perfect gift.  We have God this Thanksgiving who is touching you and me in ways we often do not see.  I am thankful for my God.

C.  The second thing James tells me is that this wonderful God who does not change and is from above chose me to have a new life.  I thank God for the people and physical blessings he has given to me, but more than anything else, I thank God for my salvation.  Verse 18 says, “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

D.  Those first Christians were simply the beginning of God’s redemption of mankind.  James was excited that he was part of the firstfruits, but he knew that more spiritual fruit was coming.

E.  God has brought you here – take the hint.  You are not here by accident.  You didn’t just walk through these doors, God called you.  It may have been through the voice of friend, through the Holy Spirit prompting you, or through the reading of the Bible, but it was God calling.  The greatest gift that God gives to you and me is the blood of Jesus and the empty tomb.  God chose to give us birth through the word of truth.  It is only through the pages of God’s Word, the Bible, can you know the truth that will set you free.  God has given that to you.

Conclusion:

A.  A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, “I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand.”

B.  Do not be deceived.  Ever good and perfect gift comes from above.  Maybe you think you don’t have much to be thankful for this year, but you are wrong.  You have an unchanging God who can change the worst of us into saints.  Reach out and touch His hand today as we stand and sing.