James 1:17-18

Testing of Your Faith

¹⁷ _z Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from _a the Father of lights _b with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ₁ ¹⁸ _c Of his own will he _d brought us forth by the word of truth, _e that we should be a kind of _f firstfruits of his creatures.

1. Cross References
   Psalms 85:12
   Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
   John 3:27
   John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.
   1 Corinthians 4:7
   For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
   
2. Cross References
   1 John 1:5
   This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
   
3. Cross References
   Malachi 3:6
   For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
   
4. Cross References
   John 1:13
   Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
   
5. Cross References
   Galatians 4:19
   My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
   1 Peter 1:3
   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
   1 Peter 1:23
   Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.
   
6. Cross References
   Ephesians 1:12
   So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
   
7. Cross References
   Jeremiah 2:3
   Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.
   Revelation 14:4
   It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
   Romans 8:19 - 23
   For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.