Divine Charity

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
– James 1:17

Have you ever thought much on the idea of prayer? We’re here meditating on the Lord’s Prayer – the model He used to teach His followers how to pray. It starts off with a heavenly focus, and we join with the angels in praising God for being God. But here we turn back to earth – to the interim time we live in: to the Kingdom of Grace. And here, I think, is where “things get real,” so to speak, where we finally acknowledge our neediness, our smallness, our weakness and inability.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed by your Name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done
On earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fan of being needy, weak, unable. I have too much pride. But if I’m honest (or at least biblical), I have to look at anything good I’ve accomplished and say to myself those infamous words: “you didn’t build that.”

No, it wasn’t the government. Government is just a system of weak, needy people like me. At its root, every good thing I have is all from God.

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
– Deut. 8:11-18 (emphasis mine)

Whether your “wealth” is in material things or in non-material (like a healthy, happy family, for example, or a meaningful life), you didn’t earn that. While you may have made wise choices, how did you learn the difference between wise and foolish choices in the first place?

And, of course, the most foundational of all of these things: if you’ve been saved and given entry into the very throne room of God – why you and not someone else?  God does not save people because they are smarter, wiser, or harder workers. He saves those who acknowledge their need for His grace, for His forgiveness. He saves the needy, the weak.  Who does Jesus work miracles among during His 3-year ministry? Almost without exception, it’s the people who came to Him desperate, with nowhere else to turn.  We are called to live by faith in His ongoing work in us, dependent on Him as a branch is dependent on its root (John 15:1-11).

You and I need God to provide the most basic things for us today. He alone is our provider. He alone will feed us in the wilderness, will bring us to the Promised Land, where He will prosper us in whatever way He sees fit.

So today, think about what it means that “all good things” come from God. What are the good things in your life that He has provided? How did He get you where you are? Sunday, Pastor Phil asked us to get outside our comfort zones and publicly acknowledge God’s goodness and provision. That may be on the Pin Oaks Facebook page, or it may be simply in a conversation with a neighbor. Either way, don’t keep it to yourself. Life is very hard, and it often feels very lonely. There are people all around you who need to see that God really does keep His promises.

Who will you encourage today?  Who will you tell about God’s provision and goodness?

Gracious heavenly Father – You hold all things together, and all good things come from You. Help us to acknowledge our desperate need for you, and forgive us for the pride that keeps us from doing that. Teach us to see Your provision, so that we may learn to trust You more today.  Amen.