Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Synopsis of 12/10/23 Sermon

James 1:17 NKJV
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.

      I.          INTRODUCTION 

1. God is a giver. In doing so, God often gives to people who are ungrateful, but He doesn’t stop giving to the ungrateful, because that is who He is.
2. God gives with intentionality. He gives us gifts to solve problems.
3. One example of this is, God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives us what we need, and as a result, a problem is solved. Another example is God sent His son to us, so that we might be reconciled back to God. He solved a problem.
4. Whether you know it or not, you are carrying a gift that will bless the world. When you realize this, you know that everything that happens is related to that gift. You are designed to solve problems. Even your life is a gift from God and you can’t be selfish with yourself or your gift. God blessed you to be a blessing!
5. There is a way to receive. When you are spiritual, you don’t just take anything. Anything given to you needs to be analyzed by examining the intention behind it. Why was it given and is there a motive? Everything that is given to you is not from God. Proverbs 10:22 KJV says 22 The blessings of the Lord maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it. – If it brings you sorrow, then it can’t be from God.
6. We are not thirsty or pitiful. If we have to wait, we will wait, because we want it to come out like God wants it to. If God didn’t send it, we don’t want it!
7. James was the brother of Jesus. Jesus had other siblings and they all struggled with His divinity.
8. James becomes the first Bishop in the New Testament. He is noted for speaking to the Jerusalem Council. James speaks to God’s providence in wisdom and At one time, James spoke to the scattered Jews where he spoke words like,…” count it all joy when you fall into divers temptation…” and “If any of you lack wisdom, ask God for it..”.
   1. He is referred as James the lessor and he was righteous before God.
   2. James explains to us today that every good and perfect gift comes from God.

     II.          RECOGNIZE GOD AS THE SOURCE OF YOUR PROVISION 

• God is the creator. God provides for his creation. He is not only the distributor, but also the In other words, He is the source!

A.    God Is Who I Need Who Has What I Need 

1. God doesn’t just have joy and peace; He is joy and peace!
2. In order to receive what I need from God; I need to be in relationship with Him. Some people look for stuff, because they don’t realize that they have it in God.
3. Relationship matters to God!

B.    What God Gives Aligns with His Word 

1. God cannot be separated from His word. Every gift He gives is in sync with His word. So, you should pray His word. God doesn’t permit some stuff because it doesn’t line up with His word.
2. The word produces revelation. When you pray, this creates manifestation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. His word doesn’t return unto him void.
   1. The Word is a menu. I can only speak what is on the menu. I can’t order ribs at Chick-Fil-A, because ribs are not on the menu. When you ask God for something according to his menu, God will do it for you!

   III.          THE REVELATION THAT HE SENDS WILL BE POSITIVE 

• Everything God sends will be positive. It should not drain you, diminish you, or depress you.
• Why doesn’t it always feel good, if it is good? The answer is, some things may be assigned for your development. It is good even though it doesn’t feel good.
  • For example, how about Joseph and the pit. It doesn’t appear good, but when Joseph gets his revelation, he realizes that it is good. When you come to maturity, you realize that all things were meant for your good. Romans 8:28 NKJV says 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. –  Everything God sends is good.

A.    God Knows What’s Best for Me 

1. God is not giving gifts to you based on your right now. He is giving gifts to you based on where He is taking you. God determines what is good!
2. God doesn’t give us what we want, He gives us what we need.
3. Giving categories:
   1. The Gift of “NO”– This prevents something from happening to you. God, like a good parent, will let you be upset and wait for you to come to your senses, because he knows you will thank Him later.
   2. The Gift of “Not Yet”– This is the gift of preparation. It’s not that He is not going to give it to you. He has to prepare you for it first. You have to be in a position, however, to receive it!
   3. The Gift of “Now” – This is the gift of the present. God says it’s now and he needs you to walk into it! There is a window of time where you must move in the time at which God says move! In due season, you will reap if you faint not!

B.    What He Gives Adds Value and Does Not Devalue 

1. Every gift God gives makes you better. ]\John 10:10 NKJV says10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
2. Our gifts should make us better. Even in relationships, we should be better because of being part of it.
3. Much of the loss in our lives, is because of what the enemy has taken. Many times, we thought it would be Little house on the Prairie, but it ended up being Nightmare on Elm Street! If God sent it, it should get better, not worse!

  IV.          HE WILL NOT RELEASE IT IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED 

• The word Perfect, in perfect gift, means mature. As a result of the gift, God prepares the gift for you and you for the gift. If he didn’t, we could actually go into a situation that we really weren’t ready to receive or operate in.
• God takes us through tests. Tests are a measurement to prepare us for the next dimension. You are promoted based on your ability to pass tests. We are not promoted based on tenure.
• Have you considered the truest measure of giving gifts? It is as follows.

A.    He Prepares It for You and You for It 

1. Would It Change You Spiritually? You went to church believing God for a mate, but when you got your Bae, you quit coming to church. You prayed for the job and when you got it, you became too busy for God. If it changes you spiritually, you aren’t ready for it.
2. Would You Be a Good Steward? Would you use what God gave you for the benefit or service of others or would it be all about you? If you were selfish before the blessing, the gift will highlight it more. Can you tithe off the big check like you did with the little check?
3. Would You Recognize the Source? If you got blessed, would you tell everyone that God got you where you are or would you take all the credit?

B.    Trust His Timing 

1. God will not send it according to our time Cronos. He will send it according to Kairos time. Cronos is man’s time. God operates in Kairos. Kairos is the appointed time in the purpose of God and it supersedes man’s time. We try to bring God into Cronos time, because we think it needs to be done by a certain time according to our standards. We don’t realize that God can make it show up early or late and it will still be on time. This is Kairos time.
2. God knows when the right time is. We have to learn to wait for what God has for our lives! You have to trust God and know that whenever God sends it, it will be at the right time!

    V.          REJOICE THAT HE IS STEADFAST IN HIS PROMISES 

1. James talks about not being double minded. He also talks about God being unchanging in todays scripture where he says, “…with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning…” When God makes a promise, you have to be steadfast in it, because God’s promise is certain.
2. God’s word is a promise like a promissory note. A check is a promissory note for example. It is a piece of paper with a promise written on it. You cash it, because you believe the giver has the powers to back up what is on the promissory note. We cash and deposit the check, because we believe in the weight and the power of the one that gave us the check.
3. When you have confidence in the gift, when you receive the check, you write bills based on the history of knowing it has been good before. When you know God, you need to live knowing that God’s promises don’t bounce.

A.    He Will Show You What You Shouldn’t Have 

1. The scripture says that every good and perfect gift comes from above from the Father of lights. What does light do? It illuminates. It also is associated with knowledge (i.e. the light bulb came on).
2. God reveals things to you, and you might not get it. You can be blinded by your own dysfunction and not see what the Light showed you. Once people show you who they are, believe them. You need to trust what God is trying to show you.
3. The Father of lights will always show it to you. If he shows it to you, act like you got it!

B.    If He Said it, Act Like You’ve Got It 

1. You got to know that it is done, based on the promise. You need to act like it is already done! You need to act like it in your language, in your expectations, in your posture, and in your whole being.

Story:

Bishop was staying in a hotel and wanted to go to Starbucks to study, like he usually does. He decided to do something different this time. Instead of calling for an Uber, he called for an Uber Black.

While he was waiting, Bishop was seeing others jump in random cars and leave before him. Some of them were people headed to the same place he was going. Some even called their rides after he did. Bishop was tempted to jump in one of these cars, cancel his Uber Black, and head on to where he was trying to go.

Bishop decided to wait. Know that the enemy will always send you options, the very moment you ask God to send you something. While waiting, Bishop kept seeing people leave before he was able to leave. When his Uber Black finally came, he told the driver that he almost got into one of the cars he had been seeing, because his Uber Black was taking so long. The driver told him that he was glad Bishop didn’t take one of those rides with the other cars, because most of them were gypsy cars. This meant they had no legal papers, and they were full of drivers that were scammers. Some of them would take you out of the way, so you would have to pay more. Others might simply take you somewhere and rob you.

Make sure you wait on the gift that God sent you. We’ve been in this thing long enough to know that if God didn’t send it, we don’t want it!!