His Everlasting Love

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

I remember singing the song "Father of Lights," which is based on the above verse, at a large gathering in Columbus, OH. The circumstances weren't extraordinary, but as we sang the chorus over and over -- "Every good and perfect gift comes from You" -- I made the conscious decision to ask God to give me a "good and perfect gift". Almost like a revelatory shot in the arm, I was overwhelmed with a sense of the magnitude of God's everlasting love for me. More than a big bear hug, more than any human allusion to love in all its forms, this was an opening to the very heart of God and His great compassionate love for me at that moment in space and time. I'm afraid that if He had expanded the scope of the revelation beyond that moment, I would have exploded. As it stood, I was a basket case.

But look at the end of that verse...

It says, "who (referring to the Father) does not change like shifting shadows." God doesn't ever have a "kick the dog" sort of day. The Father doesn't get fed up with our regular misses, lapses, willful slaps, etc. Jeremiah 31:3 says it this way... The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." He's always loved us and always will.

What a blessing to be the recipients of God's everlasting love!

Thank you, Father, for giving us good and perfect gifts. Why don't you take a moment to thank Him, too.