Shadows – The Presidential Prayer Team

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

At least one time in your life, you have lifted your eyes at sunset to see bright shafts of light bursting through clouds in stark contrast to the gathering shadows of approaching night. You may only appreciate it for a couple of moments because it vanishes quickly. The earth’s rotation makes for beautiful and changing skies, but it also illustrates another truth. God does not cast a shadow because He is not moving, He is the stable, constant, and steady source of all illumination.

In likening God to an unchangeable source of light, James the half-brother to Jesus fills a book with practical aspects of living the life of faith. He has one main point; God’s people will reflect God’s light in the world. He draws distinctive lines asking you to consider the difference between what you say and what you do. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:22-23).

Does your life of faith reflect the unchanging goodness of God? Today, ask Him if there is a specific action you need to take to bring His light into a dark corner of the world. Be prepared for Him to aim you in a new direction! Pray for God’s people in America to be generous with the good gifts He has given them.

Today’s Verse: James 1:17

¹⁷Every 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.

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: 1 Timothy 6:17-21

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, ¹⁹thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Grace be with you.