Glory; November 13, 2026

Posted on November 15, 2026 by jgarrott

Romans 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Numbers of people over the past 2000 years have called Romans 8 the most glorious chapter in the whole Bible, and with good reason. Reading this section again just now, I almost chose to write on verse 31, which is outside of today’s reading, but sums up my response to the whole chapter: “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul gives such a litany of the wonderful things God has for us in Christ that, as this verse says, the suffering of this life fades into total insignificance in comparison. However, many of those things aren’t obvious to an unbeliever. They are revealed to us, sometimes gradually and sometimes in big events, and we can look forward to more and more of that. After all, God is infinite, so there is no limit to the glory He has prepared for His children. As I am writing right now, Space X is preparing to launch their Starship rocket again, to bring both the booster and the orbital Starship back to land them gently on the very launch tower from which they took off. For “space nerds” that is glorious indeed, but it is absolutely trivial compared to what is expected to come, even in the near future. Christian living is like that, only to the nth power. To continue the comparison, Space X very nearly went bankrupt in the early days, before they achieved their first orbital launch, but now they launch over 90% of the total orbital tonnage in the world, and Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, materially speaking. If they had given up, before they achieved their first orbit or before they got their first successful booster return or at any other point, they wouldn’t be where they are today. Christian living is exactly the same way, and we are never to be so discouraged as to give up. God’s glory, that He bestows on His children, absolutely puts Space X to shame!

It’s nice to be excited about a current event, particularly after the disappointment of the recent election, but I’ve got to keep everything in perspective. In my so-far 78 years I have experienced some real triumphs, and I have had some really low points as well. I too need to choose to fix my eyes on Jesus, not allowing anything to distract me from what God intends for me. And as sweet as my fellowship with my Lord is now, it is no more than a very minor prelude to what awaits me. There’s a Japanese expression that captures the idea: jo no kuchi, the entryway to the castle. My wife had a near death experience over 50 years ago, and as glorious as that was, she was aware that she was still outside of “heaven proper,” so to speak. Even what she has described to me makes me eager to go! I am not to let the little irritations – or even the seemingly big ones – distract me from obedient faithfulness to my Lord, because His reward is beyond words to express!

Father, thank You for this reminder. My schedule continues to be very full, with a wedding this afternoon and many things in the days to come. Help me take each thing in turn, not allowing the next thing on the schedule interfere with my participation in and enjoyment of the moment. May I be fully useful to You in whatever You want to do with me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Peace with God; November 12, 2026

Posted on November 14, 2026 by jgarrott

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

When the readings get to such meaningful and familiar passages as this, it’s hard to decide what to write on. These are verses that surface automatically in our thoughts and conversations on a wide variety of subjects. This verse brings to mind the reality that the majority of mankind has placed itself in conflict with our Creator, and most of them don’t even realize it. We go about our lives however seems right or convenient to us, not considering that we might be in violation of some of the fundamental laws of our existence. The other day I saw a short video on the Internet of a rather attractive young woman, 30s perhaps, who was talking about having had a date with an “older” man that progressed to physical intimacy, and then she discovered that man was the father of one of her close friends. It hadn’t occurred to her that there might be anything wrong with her activities until she discovered the connection, and even then, she was only worried about her relationship with her friend. She has no idea that she is at war with God! On the far end of that scale, there are people who are intentionally against God. That has got to be the most stupid thing possible, because how could finite man possibly win against infinite God? Actually, the same thing might be said about the devil himself, because his fate was sealed from the moment of his rebellion. The answer to all that is repentance and faith, which the devil will never pursue, and sadly, many people won’t either. God allows the devil’s activities at this point because our faith needs to be an active choice. Free will is meaningless if no negative choices are possible. God in His wisdom has prepared redemption for us through His Son, which He knew would be necessary from the moment of Creation. That’s why Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth.” (Revelation 13:8) God knows our wayward hearts, and He loves us anyway, even to the point of giving His Son to save us from our sins. Knowing that is what true peace is all about.

I have known the outlines of this for as long as I can remember, but it came home to me when God showed me how much I needed His salvation, how badly I had been putting myself in conflict with Him. The thing is, my human nature keeps pulling me in directions that are in conflict with my God, as much as I love and desire to serve Him. True peace with Him is dependent on consistent submission and obedience, and is only possible because of His grace and mercy. This verse is as important for me, a missionary pastor, as it is for anyone else. I am not to be anxious about my salvation, but at the same time I am never to take it for granted. I am to live it out in daily, consistent obedience, to gain all that God has intended for me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for getting us through the very long day yesterday. Thank You for my confusion in getting into the parking lot, to keep me from being proud. Thank You for the people who seemed to be blessed by our presence. Thank You for the woman who was so pleased to meet “Cathy Garrott, whom she had heard so much about.” You have certainly given me a magnificent partner! I do pray that everything You said through us yesterday, in various ways, would remain with those who received it and draw them to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faith; November 12, 2026

Posted on November 13, 2026 by jgarrott

Romans 4:17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

It makes all the difference what kind of God we believe in. We use the word, omnipotent, and we refer to Him as “the Almighty,” but do we really believe that’s who He is? We dilute those words all the time. I’ve seen ads that called detergents “almighty!” The simple fact of the matter is that we can’t really grasp the totally unlimited nature of God’s power and ability because we are finite, and He is infinite. However, we can get flashes of revelation, and they are blessed indeed. That is what faith is all about. As it says in Hebrews, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) That’s easily said and not so easily practiced! Abraham was faced with a very practical test of faith, as Paul goes on to point out after this verse, one that would make any logical human being give up. It’s hard to argue with basic biology! However, Abraham chose to believe in the God who spoke the universe out of nothing, and as a result, his “dead” body was restored to full function, as was that of his wife. We find it easier to believe for things that are far off from us, but you can’t get any closer or more intimate than what Abraham faced. Actually, eternal salvation is equally close to home, though it isn’t physical. We have to believe that Jesus died for me, not just the abstract, “for mankind.” There can be no salvation without the awareness and acknowledgement that it is necessary. However, we also have to believe that it is available, and that’s what evangelism is all about: telling people about the salvation that Jesus paid for on the cross. That said, we won’t do that unless we believe it ourselves. Saving faith is a gift from God, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but we have to choose to accept it.

I was raised in a household of faith, which was a blessing that can hardly be overstated, but I had to apply it in practical terms for myself. I distinctly remember going into my parents’ bedroom one night when I was seven, saying I wanted to be baptized as a believer in Jesus. That was real, but it quickly got sidetracked by pride. I had a couple of moments of real intimacy with God after that, but by the time I was 24, I was really deeply mired in spiritual pride. God, in His incredible grace and mercy, held a mirror up to me for just a moment, and I saw the blackness of my own soul and cried out to Him, “My Lord and my God!” That God could forgive such hubris as I has practiced was a huge lesson in faith! Right now I am faced with another challenge of faith, as I am aware of the limitations of my physical heart. I have a very busy schedule for the next few months, and yesterday I had to use a nitroglycerine tablet after just taking out the trash! I am not to be presumptive, but I am to rest in the assurance that God’s grace is all I need, (2 Corinthians 12:9) with or without any medical intervention. I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, just as He has told me to do, so that His purposes may be accomplished on His schedule by His strength, in and through me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for yesterday and all it held. Thank You that everything went so smoothly, though I was indeed exhausted, and went to sleep immediately after going to bed at 9. Today is a full day time-wise, and I don’t know all the appointments You have for me. May I not be anxious about any of it, but flow with Your Spirit on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Evangelism; November 11, 2026

Posted on November 12, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 28:24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

Even Paul’s “batting average” in evangelism wasn’t very high! We cannot control people’s response to the Gospel, we can only be faithful in presenting it in purity and love. I like the nuances in the Japanese translation here: “Some received what he had to say, but others didn’t attempt to believe.” Faith requires a choice on the part of the believer, and sadly, some people decline to make that choice. To put it a little more strongly than the NIV, they refuse to believe. The thing is, genuinely accepting the Gospel means letting go of all that we have held dear that contradicts the Gospel. In the case of the Jews here, that could have included centuries of tradition. It always includes pride! We don’t like to admit that we have things of which we need to repent, that we need a Savior. Helping us come to that awareness is a major reason why God allows trials into our lives. If everything is going smoothly, why would we seek salvation? That’s one of many reasons why the person sharing the Gospel must not be doing it in pride, as though they themselves had it all together. It has been said, quite accurately I think, that evangelism is one beggar telling another where to find bread. If the second beggar refuses to believe the bread is available, that’s on them. However, if the first beggar refuses to let people know there’s an unlimited supply of bread, that’s on them. We can’t govern people’s response to the Gospel, but we are accountable to God for how we share it.

I have never felt I was gifted as an evangelist, but in recent years I have discovered more joy in simply sharing, and leaving the results entirely up to God. Today we will be hosting a group of people, picking them up at the airport and bringing them to the church building for lunch. None of them are currently open Christians, but several of them have, in my eyes, been drawn by what they have seen and heard through Cathy and me. One of them has repeatedly thanked us for our love, and we try to make sure she, and all of the group, understand that it is God’s love expressed through us. It is a joy and privilege to be that sort of conduit, and we pray that God’s love would receive the reception it deserves, resulting in repentance and faith in many. These people are indeed dear to us, but not nearly as much to us as they are to God. We are to be faithful to love, and leave the results to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for this opportunity. May we indeed function as Your agents over the next three days, so that the lies of the enemy may be exposed and people be brought into Your family, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Body of Christ; November 10, 2026

Posted on November 11, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 26:15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.”

This speech shows Paul’s high level of oratorical skill, but more importantly, it shows the guidance and anointing of the Holy Spirit. This particular verse, where Paul reports what Jesus said to him directly, is of extreme importance, because it expresses a truth that Paul expanded on in several of his letters, but which would not have occurred to him by human logic. That is, that the Church is in reality the Body of Christ. In persecuting believers, Paul had been persecuting Jesus. We use the expression, “paradigm shift,” for all sorts of things that seldom warrant it, but this statement changed the meaning of religion itself, and with it, the way we should see ourselves and the world. The danger here is that we take the human organization that we call the church as being the Body of Christ, when human organizations quickly become corrupted by the boundless assortment of human weaknesses. Sadly, that’s what happened when Constantine declared the Roman Empire to be Christian, and quickly imposed an essentially political structure on the Church. Constantine’s conversion has been called both the best thing that happened to the Church and the worst thing that happened to the Church! Today, it takes conscious effort to remember that the Church is the believers themselves, filled and guided by the Holy Spirit, and not the organizations they create, much less the buildings they use. The reasons for this difficulty are fairly obvious, because when you have a group of people, some sort of organization quickly becomes necessary. The early Church in Jerusalem soon learned this, and the office of deacon was created in response. However, even among the first deacons, other anointings and functions quickly manifested, with Stephen becoming the first martyr as a result of his bold evangelism, and Philip likewise becoming known as an evangelist. We get into a lot of trouble with rigid job descriptions! That said, as Paul told the Ephesians, “From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:16) The point is to recognize that we are an organism, before and far more than, we are an organization. We are to seek God to know how He has called and equipped us to function in the Body, and commit ourselves to full obedience. Any body that doesn’t do what its head tells it is in serious trouble!

This is something I am continually learning more about. Don and Katie Fortune’s teaching on Motivational Gifts has been extremely helpful in this in understanding the various parts of the Body, and the Coaching studies I’ve more recently encountered, through Ben Wong and others, have been helpful in understanding how those parts are to relate to and support each other, rather than simply clash. It’s neither simple nor easy! What I’ve got to remember is that it is Christ’s Body, and though I belong to and am a part of it, it’s not my possession. The ultimate question is my/our connection to Jesus Christ our Head. My focus as a pastor must be first on my personal connection to Him, and then on the connection of this church as a whole to Him. I’m still learning how to do that! I am gifted and called to teach God’s truth, but “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” It’s all in application, because truth isn’t static, it’s active. I’ve got to follow through in doing all that God shows me, and lead the believers in doing likewise.

Father, thank You for this very clear Word. I had wondered what I was to preach on Sunday! Help me communicate this truth accurately and effectively, so that we, as part of the Body of Christ, may indeed be and do exactly what You desire and intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Disputes; November 9, 2026

Posted on November 10, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 24:15 “I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”

It has been true throughout history that some of the most violent, vindictive vendettas have been over seemingly minor differences. People who by rights should have been close friends have killed each other down through the centuries, and points of theology have been some of the biggest problems. Jesus’ worst enemies were the Pharisees, who prided themselves on their devotion to God and to His Law, which prophesied Jesus in detail. It was those same Pharisees who were accusing Paul here, but as he himself pointed out to them, he had been born and raised a Pharisee himself! (Acts 23:6) It’s not that we are to abandon truth that has been revealed to us, but that we are to see one another as equally human before God, and apply to each other the grace God has extended to us. As C. S. Lewis rightly observed, one thing we can be sure of is that when we get to heaven, every one of us will discover we were wrong somewhere. Taken to the extreme, this leads to Unitarianism, the teaching that all roads lead equally to God, and the Bible is very clear that’s not the case. This requires a basic humility, as well as the assurance that God does speak to us and lead us. Otherwise, we are left completely without mooring, “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14)

I have wrestled with this issue a great deal. This church is non-denominational because I am convinced there are far too many divisions in the Body of Christ. I disagree with various things taught by just about every denomination, but at the same time, I know that anyone who has received Jesus as their Lord, the Son of God and the only Savior, is my brother or sister in Him. That said, I take strong exception to some of the things taught by the Mormon Church, as well as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and some other groups. I believe there are probably individuals in each of those groups who are saved, who haven’t swallowed the over-all theology to the point of denying Christ, but that determination is up to God and not me. Again, I am convinced that Islam is fundamentally in conflict with Christianity and that they do not know the God of the Bible, whatever linguistic tricks get played in translating between Arabic and other languages. I am in complete agreement with the effort to ban the practice of Saria law anywhere in the United States, because the US was founded on Biblical principles, however much it has strayed from them. I am to see every human being as equally created by God and loved by Him, and indeed, pray that the same grace that has been poured out on me may be received by them, however much we might disagree in the moment.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You have me ministering in a non-Christian country, so this issue is perhaps easier for me to see than for some in the US. I pray that I would be a consistent vessel of Your grace and truth, not siding with Satan, “the Accuser,” but standing firm in Your Gospel, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Progressive Guidance; November 8, 2026

Posted on November 9, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 23:11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Paul had already planned to go to Rome, but he wasn’t planning to go the way God intended! Had Paul not been imprisoned in Caesarea, Luke would not have had the time to research and write his Gospel, and had Paul not been imprisoned in Rome, he would not have had the time or the focus to write all his letters. In this verse we have the record of God telling Paul one element of His plans for him, but he was not given the details that might have scared him off. It’s actually a good thing that God doesn’t reveal everything to us ahead of time! We can only absorb so much at once, and our courage is often limited. We speak of “bandwidth,” and it’s part of the human condition. God lets us know what we need to know when we can handle it, and we need to be at peace with that. People posit the thought question, “Would you want to know the moment and method of your death?” Whatever our answer to the question, it would not be a good idea. Recently, “death with dignity,” also called “Medical Assistance In Death,” has grown in popularity, to the point that a significant percentage of people in Canada die that way. That’s tragic. As long as we can think, we can pray. As long as we can smile, we can bless others. The fact that we are on this earth is proof our Creator has functions for us to fulfill, and trying to duck out of those is irresponsible. And every event in our lives up until the moment God calls us home has meaning. We need to so live that we can say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) We don’t need to know every detail of the fight ahead of time, we only need to know the next waypoint of the race. That violates our desire to be in control, but that’s what faith is all about. God’s plans for us are good, as I have been preaching about for the past several weeks!

I preach about this, but I’m not perfect in my own implementation. I too need to choose faith, trust, and obedience. I have experienced God’s grace in overflowing measure, in more ways than I could count, and I can indeed testify that it’s all I need. (2 Corinthians 12:9) I am to be listening carefully to know the next waypoint in my race, but I’m not to be anxious about it in the least. As He has told me, and keeps reminding me, I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. I will indeed see His glory, and when, where, and how are simply things to look forward to. I may well have suffering ahead of me, as Paul did, but that’s nothing compared to what God has prepared for me. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the message You’ve given me for this morning, on Guidance. Help me indeed recognize Your guidance and follow it, and not just talk about it to others! Thank You for the way You are laying out our church schedule for the end of the year. Help me trust You with every detail, so that Your plans may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Preaching; November 7, 2026

Posted on November 8, 2026 by jgarrott

Acts 2:32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it.

This was not a prepared sermon! That really hit me just now as I read it yet again. Peter, an uneducated fisherman, gave a logically connected, theologically accurate message in which he quoted multiple Scriptures and proclaimed the eternal plans of God. Sermon preparation is not a bad thing, certainly, but it is no substitute for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This was of course on the occasion when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers, but He has not changed in the 2000 years since then. Those to whom God gives the opportunity and responsibility to preach need to seek first for the guidance of the Spirit, and then apply whatever tools they have been given to the message they are given. Some people have a gift for oratory, but that is no guarantee they will speak God’s message in God’s words. Adolph Hitler was obviously gifted as an orator, and no one would say for a moment that he preached God’s Word! That’s not at all to say that preachers aren’t to hone their craft, as the saying goes. Failing to do so is presumptive. However, if the message isn’t God’s, and the motivation His Spirit, then the results will ultimately be empty. At the same time, the hearers bear responsibility as well. We aren’t to be completely uncritical of the sermons we hear, because few are completely pure. Most especially, when we hear a message that the Spirit within us confirms is from God, then we are accountable to apply it and put it into practice. And that applies to preachers as well. Jesus was the only preacher to ever do perfectly everything the Father said through Him. Every preacher needs to realize, in all humility, that they are the first target of every sermon they preach.

I have been a preacher for the majority of my life. I was ordained in 1979, but I was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1974, and at this point I’m liable to start preaching any time I start talking! That said, preaching class in seminary was quite frustrating. In the first place, quite a few people, both students and faculty, couldn’t understand why I was taking it, because I was a Religious Education major. In the second place, the focus was entirely on technique, and I was required to quote commentaries in every sermon I prepared. The “icing on the cake,” so to speak, was when the teaching assistant, a doctoral student, graded me down on my final sermon, from Isaiah 1, because I used exactly the terminology Isaiah did. The teaching assistant said my terminology was “too extreme!” Today, experience has made creating a coherent outline much easier, but I approach every sermon as an opportunity for God to speak through me, rather than for me to express my own ideas. In my observation, He’s been marvelously faithful to do that. I am periodically asked to record short messages for CGN, (Christian Global Network) a broadcasting company out of Korea, and I’ll be doing that again in about 9 days. The producer who called me this time said that they always look forward to coming here, because I preach real messages! Since I record three, back-to-back, I obviously reuse messages I’ve preached here, but I’m careful to let the Lord show me which ones, and He’s in charge of how they come out. I actually spend very little time in preparing messages, because the Lord speaks to me so consistently in my morning devotional times, and I just relay what He has said to me. I do have a sheet of paper on the wall beside me here that says, “Preaching to Change Lives,” that actually has done me more good than my seminary class, but I apply the points in it only after I hear what God wants me to say. I never want to preach beautifully crafted trash!

Father thank You for the incredible privilege of preaching Your Word, Your words. May I never be presumptive, but rather be a responsive vessel for Your use, so that Your Word may accomplish, in and through me, everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:10-11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Relationship; November 6, 2026

Posted on November 7, 2026 by jgarrott

John 5:45-47 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Jesus of course spoke this to the Jews of His day who refused to believe in Him, but it certainly applies to “Bible-believing” people of all stripes today, both Jews and “Christians.” The irony Jesus was pointing out is still operative! There are whole groups today who seem to believe in “Father, Son, and Holy Bible,” refusing to believe that God still speaks and works actively through His children today. Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, they worship the words instead of the Word. It’s not at all that the Bible is inaccurate, but that they decline to listen to the Author of the Bible. Such people range from those hung up on “textual criticism” to those who insist on “plenary inspiration,” but their defining characteristic is their lack of a personal relationship with the One of whom the Bible speaks. Their faith is in a religion rather than a relationship, and that is sad indeed. It’s not at all that God’s truth changes with the seasons, but rather that it is just as much alive today as when it was recorded, and we need to let it live in us. As Jesus was pointing out here, even Moses in the Torah spoke of the One to come after him. Jesus didn’t explicitly mention them here, but some of the prophets, most notably Isaiah, went into considerable detail about Him, so non-messianic Jews are indeed without excuse – but then, so is anyone who refuses to believe the Gospel, as Paul pointed out to the Romans. (Romans 1:20) Sometimes God has an easier time getting through to someone who has never heard the Gospel before than someone who has gone to church their whole life! Saving faith isn’t about formulas, it is about repentance and relationship – and that doesn’t make it any less miraculous.

I had the huge blessing of being raised in a home with a deep and abiding love for the Bible, with an even deeper love for the One who wrote it. (Or I should say, caused it to be written.) When I was living at home, my parents had very little of what we would call “Pentecostal” teaching, but my father had a very deep encounter with the Holy Spirit before he even married my mother, and he was certainly open to Him. As a consequence, when I was first introduced to the Charismatic Movement, back in 1973, I immediately recognized it as Biblical, not realizing that my own wife had been baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1972! She herself didn’t realize what had happened at the time, but just knew that she had a burning hunger for God and His Word, so in a number of ways, we learned together. That said, our roots are firmly in the Baptist tradition, considering the Bible to be the ultimate written guide for everything. You could call us “Bapticostals!” At the same time, I need to pay careful attention to what Jesus says here. I am never to place tradition ahead of my Lord. A major percentage, at least, of Church tradition is rooted in the Bible and what God has said and done, but if I place the tradition ahead of the roots, I’m in trouble. As I have said ever since I arrived in Omura in 1981, I didn’t come to teach a religion, I came to introduce people to the Lord Jesus Christ. (There’s a pun in that, when you say it in Japanese.) It is an unspeakable joy to have an active relationship with my Creator, and it is an incredible privilege to lead others into such a relationship themselves.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your overwhelming grace toward me, on every level. Thank You that my heart CT went smoothly yesterday, just as I had asked. It was a very interesting experience! I pray that the results will be interpreted accurately, so that when I go for the results on the 19th, the medical recommendations will be in line with Your healing and health for me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Recognizing Answers; November 5, 2026

Posted on November 6, 2026 by jgarrott

Luke 24:21 “But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.

Human beings are funny. We can hope for something intensely, and then not recognize it when it’s right in front of us. This story of the disciples walking to Emmaus is a perfect example of that. These disciples had hoped, with excellent reason, that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, and then when things hadn’t played out as they had imagined, they were so distraught that they not only couldn’t believe the report of the women, they couldn’t recognize Jesus Himself when He was physically present with them. It occurs to me that a similar thing may be happening right now. The recent US election certainly didn’t turn out as most genuine Christians had hoped, for the simple reason that not enough Christians went to the polls. However, this will be an opportunity for the whole country to see the evil in those who want to destroy the country, and repent. It is also a lesson, always appropriate, in depending on God and not on human beings. Politics will not save America, or the world; only God can do that. Those who know Him need to be praying and working for genuine spiritual revival. As Andrew Breitbart famously said, politics is downstream from culture, and America culture is certainly sick right now. Believers need to repent of their participation in the diseased parts of that culture and genuinely seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness. That two of the worst candidates in this election function as pastors, despite their extremely anti-Biblical positions, and were actually elected, is a condemnation of the spiritual atmosphere of the nation. Jesus very graciously taught the two men in this story and then revealed Himself to them, and I believe He is going to reveal His purposes in what has just happened to those who are seeking Him today. After all, countless things are pointing toward these being the Last Days, and Revelation makes it clear that things are going to get pretty rough before we see the Lord coming in the clouds.

Getting the election results yesterday was very much a gut punch for me, so this is a Word to me. I had looked forward to watching one of the conservative podcasts as they discussed the results coming in, but my personal schedule interfered, and when I tried, I felt a clear check, that I wasn’t to do that. This is a clear and strong lesson in the things God has been saying to me over the past several days. It just occurred to me that I haven’t even checked to see the results in Virginia, where I voted absentee. I say that I want God’s will to be done, regardless of my personal feelings, but I too tend to gravitate to my feelings rather than to faith. It is clear to me that we are in intense spiritual warfare. Some battles we lose, but the ultimate victory is guaranteed. I need to restore my focus on that glorious reality, and rest, relax, and rejoice in my victorious Lord.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank You that I’ll be having the CT scan of my heart this afternoon. I pray that it may be fully accurate, and the right decisions made as a result. I pray Your peace, for me and especially for Cathy, that we may trust that Your plans for us are good in every respect. I release the schedule to You, so that everything may happen when and how You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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