Do Not Be Deceived

James 1:16-18 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

The enemy loves to make us think that God doesn't love us. He wants to make us think that God is the One who is at the root of, and the One to blame for, the pain we experience during difficult times. We are often convinced that God is punishing us for something, or that God somehow stopped caring for us and stopped loving us because of something we did. How quickly we forget that Jesus demonstrated His love for us by dying for us. His love is everlasting and will never change. He even tells us in Romans 8 that NOTHING can separate us from His love. In today's verses we are reminded of some very important truths. They start with one very important charge...do not be deceived. We must not let the enemy convince us of the lie that God is the cause of our troubles. He is the Author of every good and perfect gift in our life. In other words, even when He allows trying times, He allows them as blessings. The devils want to cause us pain, and want to destroy us and our faith. However, God allows it in order to make us more patient, strengthen our faith, and learn to trust Him more. His desire is that we recognize that in all of the turmoil He is ever present and wants us to draw near, and walk closer to Him. We are reminded that the best and most perfect gift He gave us was eternal life. A gift that did not come as a result of anything we did or deserve; and not out of His necessity, but simply because He willed it. It was out of His goodness and love for us that we were begotten unto Him, in Christ Jesus. This is the God that we can count on in the midst of life's painful moments. Just as when our wicked lusts and desires give in to temptation and give birth to killer sins; so God brings forth a new birth in Christ, when we believe, trust in the finished work of Jesus, and call upon His Name with repentance and faith. The next time the enemy tries to convince us that God doesn't love us, we need to simply stop and remember that God already proved His love for us on Calvary; and not allow ourselves to be deceived.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).