House of Hope Online

June 16, 2024

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Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, and to everyone as we honor our fathers on this important day.  We pray for those with deceased fathers and for those whose relationship with their father is strained or cut off.  Lord comfort them on this day and help them to know You are their Father who loves them.

For this Father’s Day 2024, the Lord spoke into my spirit the phrase: “Father of lights” from James 1:17.

James 1:

 17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.

The Greek word for “lights” in that passage means to shine or make manifest.  Make manifest means to make evident or certain by showing or displaying.  When the Holy Spirit manifests in our presence, He shows Himself to us.  He becomes evident.  We are certain of His presence.

That’s what our Heavenly Father does – He makes manifest His love for us.  He displays His love for us.  The Father of lights makes us certain of His love, not just by what He says, but also by what He does.  His love becomes evident to us in the way He blesses us, protects us, and ministers to us. 

John 3:

 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.

He gave us His only begotten Son that we should not perish.  That should end any question about whether the Father of lights loves us.  The gift of eternal life makes us certain that He loves us.

The Father of lights sets the standard for fatherly love.  Today, I want to take a closer look at the four characteristics that James 1:17 describes about the Father of lights:  1) Every good thing bestowed on us comes down from Him, 2) Every perfect gift comes from Him, 3)  There is no variation in Him and 4) There is no shifting shadow from Him.

1 Every Good Thing Bestowed

James is telling us that every good thing bestowed upon us comes from above.  It comes down from the Father of lights.  The word “bestowed” means to convey as a gift.  Every good thing in our life comes from Him.  Another way to say that is there is no good thing in our lives that does not come from Him. 

Take stock of the good things in your life and know that the Father of lights conveyed them to you as a gift.  Your parents, your spouse, your children, your health, your joy, your peace, your means of living, your deliverance from all evil – all of it has been bestowed upon you, conveyed to you, by the Father of lights. 

On this Father’s Day, honor the Father of lights by giving thanks for all these things.  And all of you fathers, know that the standard is set for you.  Everything you bestow upon your children, everything you convey to them needs to be a good thing.  Don’t convey anger, or disappointment, or hatred or unforgiveness.  Instead, display and make manifest mercy, comfort, and compassion toward your children.

2^nd Corinthians 1:

 3 ¶ Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;

 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Psalms 103:

 13 Just as a father has compassion on [his] children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

Our Father of lights is a Father of mercies, a God of all comfort, and a compassionate Father.  None of us can be perfect in this regard, but make sure that your love is made manifest.  Make sure your love is evident.  Don’t keep it hidden.  Give your time, which is among the most valuable gifts an earthly father can give his child. 

Make sure that what you convey to them is a good thing, including your attitude toward others.  Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Teach them how to treat others by the way you treat others. 

Withhold from them anything that is not a good thing, just as the Father of lights has withheld from you those things that are not good.  Teach your child about the Father of lights, and how His love for them is an agape love, a perfect love.

Do not withhold discipline, because it is a good thing.

Hebrews 12:

 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline?

 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?

 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, that we may share His holiness.

 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Discipline is a good thing because afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Every good thing bestowed is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.

2 Every Perfect Gift

The second characteristic of the Father of Lights is that He gives perfect gifts and every perfect gift we get comes from Him.  We know John 3:16 defines the perfect gift as eternal salvation through Jesus, and there is no denying that.  But James 1:17 refers to “every perfect gift,” meaning all gifts from God are perfect for us, perfect for our edification, our building up, and our instruction.

The Greek word for perfect means “complete.”  Every gift from God is complete.  It does not need to be augmented.  We do not need more or less of it.  It is a perfect and complete gift.  1^st Corinthians 12 lists the gifts of the Spirit as: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. 

Do not despise the gifts of the Spirit or the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Church.  These are perfect gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes to us just as He wills, in the proper proportion.  The scripture says: “… to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  God knows what He is doing when He gives gifts.

Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.

3 No Variation

The old saying goes: “Variety is the spice of life,” but James writes there is no variation in the Father of lights.  He is consistent, immoveable from His throne of righteousness.  He does not vary with the winds of change, as the world does, and as earthly leaders do.

Malachi 3:

 6 “For I, the LORD, do not change…”

Hebrews 13:

 8 Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday and today, [yes] and forever.

1^st Samuel 15:

 29 “And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

The Father of lights does not change His mind about what is right or wrong, and He does not change His mind about how much He loves you.  You are the favored one.

4 No Shifting Shadow

The final characteristic of the Father of lights discussed in James 1:17 is that there is no shifting shadow with Him, meaning no deception, no darkness, no shady dealings, no secrets.

Numbers 23:

 19 “God is not a man, that He should lie…”

As fathers, we must teach our children the value of honesty and integrity, because the world will certainly not teach it.  Our words must be honest and without deception.  Our truthfulness, or lack thereof when no one is looking, defines our integrity.

Psalms 15:

 1 ¶ (A Psalm of David.) O LORD, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill?

 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

Closing

So, in closing, remember that the Father of lights makes manifest His love for us not only in words but in His actions, so we can be certain that we are children of God.  Paul writes we know this by the Spirit of God.

Romans 8:

 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Enjoy Father’s Day, and know you are loved with an agape love by the Father of lights.  The Father of lights wants to manifest Himself in your life.  Spend time with Him and allow Him to make you certain of His love.

We can become effective, loving fathers by allowing the Father of lights to manifest in us.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for being the Father of lights and for manifesting Your love for us every day.  We praise You that all good things bestowed upon us, and all perfect gifts come from You.  Thank You for our earthly fathers and help us Lord to be the best fathers we can be for our children.  Help us to train them in the way they should go and let us teach them honesty and integrity.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.