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

It was a typical Wednesday morning. My (Melissa) 7-year-old was desperately trying to convince me that he was too sick for school, (but not too sick for a day of video games on the couch) so he was moving at a snail’s pace when it came to dressing and assembling his backpack. And, quite honestly, I wasn’t moving much quicker. All of this compounded made us late getting out the door. Which meant I would have to fight even more traffic in the school drop off line. 

There was only one thing to do after a morning that started like this. So I pulled into the drive through lane at Starbucks. Surely a hot, steamy vanilla latte would make everything better! Apparently every other person in town had the same idea that morning as I inched forward in the lane for minutes that carried on for hours. My frustration grew. My patience waned. And my day was quickly spiraling from bad to worse.

Finally arriving at the window, I took my coffee from the barista and offered her my debit card for payment. She shook her head. 

“No charge today. The lady in front of you paid for you coffee. Have a great day.” 

And she waved me on my way.

Wait. What? Someone bought a cup of coffee? For me? But why? And what had I done to deserve this generosity?

Not a thing. Simply pulled into the drive through lane to buy a latte. What a wonderful gift! And on a day when I could really use it! My mood lightened immediately and I couldn’t wait to share this wonderful turn in my day with everyone!

Then I heard a faint stirring in my heart accompanied by a loving whisper. 

“Never forget. My gifts, too, are always offered to you – gifts of grace, of forgiveness, of peace, and of salvation.  You don’t need to do anything to deserve them. You don’t even need to pay for them. That’s already been taken care of. You only need to accept them.”

Wow. What a powerful reminder. 

In my heart I know that all of God’s gifts are given to me – and given freely. But, oh, how infrequently it is that I take the time to relish those gifts, to let those gifts be the catalyst for my day, to share these wonderful – these life-changing – gifts with everyone. 

Even when we are at our worst, God’s gifts are still ours. Even when our mornings start on those paths that we feel we will never be able to redirect (with our without coffee), His gifts are there to lift us up and carry us through. 

This week, will you join me in praising and thanking God for these gifts? For these good and perfect gifts? For these gifts that we don’t deserve, but have been given to us so generously?

Let us always be reminded:

John 1:16 (NIV) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.

You and over 115 million of your closest football friends probably tuned in to watch the Super Bowl last night. Official viewership numbers are expected later today, but the viewership is expected to set a record for the most people watching ever! And that's not the only record that the Super Bowl last night may have set. The Super Bowl is purported to be the largest venue for human trafficking of the planet. With a huge influx of tourists, the message boards to arrange meeting and ads for sex online were hopping to keep up with demand.

And disturbingly enough, most of the demand is for underage girls.

Often prostitution was viewed as a voluntary profession, but attitudes have been evolving to recognize that many women are raped and physically and psychologically assaulted as a way to be forced into prostitution.  They are trafficked for sex.  Several studies suggest that between 60-80% of women enter into prostitution in America before the age of 18.

It's our daughters and their friends, our next door neighbor girl with the bad home life, and the rebellious runaway teen who is just looking for some fun. It's happening everywhere around the world, and often times right under our noses.

Sex trafficking at the Super Bowl and in your town. Biblically, should we do something about it or care? Yes and yes.

The Psalms and Proverbs, and New Testament are full of instances that should inspire us to act.

Psalm 82:3-4 says, "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." (NIV)

Proverbs 24:11-12 says, "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?"  (NIV)

And if those verses aren't challenging enough to move us to rescue the oppressed and those being led away to death, and that we will be held accountable for our actions... 

Jesus himself even interacted with a few loose woman of his day. The woman at the well in John 4 (read it!) was very likely a loose woman in town. She had five husbands and was currently living with a man who wasn't her husband.  If she wasn't the town prostitute, she was certainly considered a sinful woman by everyone in town. Jesus met her right where she was at and spoke truth into her life. He revealed himself to her. He loved her when many didn't. And she in turn told everyone about Jesus!

And the woman who was caught in the act of adultery in John 8 (read this one too!) who was about to be stoned? Yep, Jesus talked to her as well. He rescued her from death, forgave her, and told her to go and leave her life of sin.

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us to see him everywhere. He says that whatever we do for the least of these, we do for him. And whatever we don't do for the least of these, we don't do for him.

Prostitutes and pimps just may well be considered the least of these in our modern world. What are you doing for the least of these?

Read the challenging verses in our devotional this week, and let them speak to you. Consider the problem of sex trafficking in your world. What would God have you do? 

~Alayna

Matthew 25
John 8
John 4
Psalm 82:3-4
Proverbs 24:11-12