The Bible tells us that God is gracious, and that He pours His riches out upon the righteous. The picture that I have in my mind of this is when in the middle of a very hot summer and you want some rain to cool you down suddenly there a shower of rain that comesover. It’s not a measly little dribble, but a full on skin drenching rain. It soaks you to the skin in a matter of nano seconds. All the parched ground around you suddenly has more water than it can hold; this is how God pours His blessings on His people. Since there is so much blessing that falls on God’s people there is a huge amount that spills over onto the unrighteous as well. The difference between the summer shower and God’s blessings is that God’s blessings are being poured out every moment of every day.

The vast majority of choices any person has to make are not between good and bad choices but between good and good, or between good and better. By good I mean those choices that are either morally good, like going out of your way to be kind to someone, or morally neutral, like shall I have an ice-cream cone or not?

Bad choices are either stupid decisions or evil decisions.No one has to choose these ones, but we do because we have a predisposition todo so. Ever since Adam and Eve made the decision to trust the serpent rather than God, the human race has made bad choices. Yet this has not stopped people from trying to blame God for bad choices made by them or others.

The book of James reminds us:

“When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by hisown evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don'tbe deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change likeshifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that wemight be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Mydear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about therighteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and theevil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which cansave you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into theperfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting whathe has heard, but doing it --he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue,he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. (James 1:13-26)