Change; July 14, 2026

Posted on July 14, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 42:9 “See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

Sometimes God’s calling involves completely new things, or at least major changes. He doesn’t always give us advance notice, but he has done it a great deal, and we need to pay attention. We aren’t to be surprised at new things, and if we’re really familiar with the Bible, we won’t be. As I keep being reminded, God is outside of time, so He knows the end from the beginning of absolutely everything. One of the few things that is completely impossible for Him is surprise! That awareness should be a major comfort to us, as we live in a constantly changing world. For most of human history, change was very slow and incremental, but in the past century the pace has picked up exponentially, to the point that even young people have trouble keeping up with the latest technology. Just recently, China successfully caught a returning rocket booster. Not so long ago, that would have been a major accomplishment, but as it is, they’re just playing catch-up with SpaceX. Successful gene therapy treatments keep being announced, and the list of previously unimaginable changes keeps growing. For the believer, it is important to remember two things particularly: One, God doesn’t change, (Malachi 3:6) and two, we’ve already been told the end of the story, in the Revelation to John. Frankly, many things seem to be pointing toward that ending coming soon, even on the human scale, but believers in the 1st Century, even, had that same conviction. We need to live so that we will welcome Christ’s return even if it happens today, but plan, for ourselves and for our descendants, as though it is still a long way off. After all, we don’t know when our own personal appointment with our Lord will come. A major public figure in the US just died, after a very brief illness. I hope he was ready. After all, he was several years younger than I am! The Lord does let us know many things ahead of time (from our perspective, at least) but by no means everything, because we need to grow in faith and trust. We need to be at peace with not knowing everything, but rest assured that we know the One who holds everything in His hands.

One thing that indicates to me that I’ve been given the gift of faith is that I have very low anxiety about the future. Some people seem to think that’s irresponsible, but I know it’s not in my hands anyway. I am quite interested in technological advances, and have been a science fiction buff since middle school days, but I know that none of it can touch the capabilities my resurrection body will have, so why get uptight about it? Right now with the advances in computing technology, Artificial Intelligence is quite the buzzword. The huge danger there is in trusting machines, that have no moral judgement apart from whatever “rules” their programmers managed to include, rather than trusting the One who created everything. After all, the Bible wisely tells us not to trust human leaders, who at least have a conscience. (Psalm 118:9, 146:3) My interest in technology isn’t bad, but I must never let anything come ahead of knowledge of and trust in the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He alone genuinely knows the future!

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do pray for Senator Graham’s family, and for the many who are impacted by his passing. I pray that this would be a wakeup call for President Trump, particularly, so that he may more actively seek and depend on Your guidance, for however long he has left on this earth. May we all do that, so that Your will may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting God; July 12, 2026

Posted on July 13, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

God caused this sort of statement to be recorded in the Bible many times, because we tend to get scared. Actually, being scared is a pretty reasonable response, if we’re looking accurately at our own strength, wisdom, and resources. That’s why God tells us to look to Him, to be aware of His wisdom, strength, and resources – which are infinite – and relax. The more we know of Him, the better we understand His character, the less reason we have to be scared of anything at all. Sure, there will be bumps in the road. Jesus said very clearly, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) I have quoted that verse almost as much as I have quoted John 3:16! God doesn’t want us to live in fear, but rather to walk in obedient trust and faithfulness, which is the surest path to joy. The last thing the devil wants is for us to trust God enough to be fully obedient to Him. I’m speaking this morning on Responding to God, from Isaiah 6, and I’m somewhat hyped about it, because it’s a powerful message. Fear of anything apart from God Himself is a waste of our emotional and spiritual energy, and it can certainly lead to physical exhaustion as well. From the world’s perspective, trusting God can seem foolish, but that’s because they don’t know Him. The more, the better, we know God, the more totally we will trust Him. The danger can be in presumption. Everything God does for us is grace, because we don’t deserve it, so humility is essential. We need to be like Daniel’s three friends, who stated their confidence in God but declared their faithfulness to Him even if He didn’t rescue them from their immediate situation. (Daniel 3:16-18) That’s what truly trusting God looks like!

I’ve been in a few tight spots, but God has always come through. He hasn’t delivered me from difficulties so much as He’s delivered me through them. It’s been many years since He told me personally to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. I’m still learning how to do that fully, but it’s a path that I can, and do, recommend wholeheartedly. As the hymn says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” And of course, there’s no greater happiness than what is to be found in Jesus. Happiness is something of a side effect of peace and joy, and those are without question found in Christ Jesus my Lord. I am never to hesitate to follow Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the message You’ve given me for this morning, and for the Taiwanese missionaries who are to be here as well. I ask for Your will to be done today on every level, so that the Body of Christ may be built up and Your kingdom advanced, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Omnipotence; July 11, 2026

Posted on July 12, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

This is a rightly famous verse, and was our verse for the year for 2025. The chapter as a whole is a powerful reminder of what it means that God is God. We throw the word around, not really meditating on what it means that the One we claim to acknowledge is infinite and omnipotent and all the other superlatives that language can cook up. And we further fail to appreciate and meditate on the reality that He can do absolutely anything He likes, even in and through such puny, finite beings as we are. Such meditation is a vital part of a phrase the Bible uses repeatedly: “wait on the Lord.” I find it unfortunate that no English translation I have found uses a phrase that is common in Japanese: “wait in hope.” Some English translations do say “hope in the Lord,” so I don’t know why they don’t combine the two ideas the way the Japanese does. Waiting can sometimes be like the famous play, Waiting for Godot, where Godot never shows up, and hope can all too often devolve into wishful thinking, so both the waiting and the hoping need to be anchored in the reality of who God is. The Bible tells us we are made in God’s image, but all too often we imagine Him in our image, just as atheists accuse us of doing. He is so far more than we could imagine! Paul reminds us that He is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20) We need to think about that. God’s infinite power is at work in us. It’s not just some abstract, external thing, it is not only all around us, it is in us. That’s why Isaiah could truthfully write this verse. When our hearts, our minds, our lives are filled with God, there are absolutely no limits. I’m reminded of when Elijah, an older gentleman at the time, outran the king’s horse-drawn chariot! (1 Kings 18:46) We throw around words like omnipotent and omniscient, but we don’t really think about what they mean. God has absolutely no limits, period, and that includes working in and through us. We must never think the power is ours personally, but we must always remember that it is there, and so indeed wait in hope, so that we will do all that God intends, on His schedule and for His glory.

This is a powerful, timely reminder of something the devil wants me to forget. As I have said before, I feel the Lord has given me a spiritual gift of faith, as in 1 Corinthians 12, but I doubt I exercise it sufficiently. I’m never to be presumptive, but at the same time I’m never to think, even for a moment, “God couldn’t do that.” He won’t spoil me, but sometimes I feel He likes to pamper me! He has blessed me incredibly, so I am to be honest in how I respond to all He has done. Tomorrow I’m preaching on responding to God, and I’m not to assume I myself do it correctly! When He says “Jump,” I’m not even to say, “How high,” but rather just jump, and let Him take care of the height! God seems to be presenting us with various doors of opportunity in various areas. I can’t even imagine all they could lead to, but that’s not my job. I am to wait expectantly on Him, in full trust and obedience, knowing that His plans are indeed more than I could ask or imagine.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder. Thank You for getting us through the day yesterday so successfully. Thank You for Your plans for today. Help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You throughout the day, just as You have told me to do, so that Your plans may be materialized on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Zeal; July 10, 2026

Posted on July 12, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 9:7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

This passage is usually quoted at Christmas, but it’s far too wonderful to limit it to that! As familiar as it is in English, for me it clicks even more strongly in Japanese because of the specific turns of phrase that are used. Because our theme is God’s Calling, I’ll focus right now just on the last line. The Japanese term for “zeal” is written as “hot heart.” That’s a very descriptive term. God gets all hot over this issue! Getting all anthropomorphic about God can be dangerous, but we do need to remember that Genesis says that mankind was made to be like Him. (Genesis 1:27) That means that a lot of things we experience are echoes of Him, and interestingly, that includes getting worked up over things. Frankly, when God is outside of time and knows the end from the beginning, I’m not sure just how that works, but the Bible attributes emotions to God in many, many places. The thing to remember here is that when God gives us a calling, a motivating purpose in our life, He cares about it even more than we do. He’s not just a disinterested observer. That is a vitally important fact: He cares. Again, with the whole outside-of-time thing, I can’t tell you exactly how that works, but the fact that He sent His Son to die for us is the ultimate proof of that. We are prone to ask, as the song does, “If I falter, Lord, who cares?” The answer is, God does! As Peter famously tells us, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) That’s the “hot heart” Isaiah is talking about. I couldn’t tell you how many times or in how many ways the Bible tells us not to be anxious, and the key to that is right here. God gets worked up over us! Again, I can’t explain how it all works, because frankly, quantum mechanics is simple by comparison, but it’s manifestly true. When God gives us a calling, He’s more desirous of our fulfilling it than we are! We need to rest in that assurance and go forth boldly, knowing that He enables us to do everything He requires of us.

Of course, this applies as much to me as it does to anyone. I’m not by personality a particularly anxious person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get uptight about things sometimes. Every situation I encounter, I need to ask first what God wants me personally to do about it, and then be faithful to do exactly as He directs me, on His schedule. Sometimes my flesh rebels at that! I’m all too prone to throw in a lot of “buts!” I need to remember what He’s reminded me of just now, that He cares about the issue, whatever it is, even more than I do. When He is totally involved, I’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about. That’s not at all to say that I’m to be irresponsible. He doesn’t want any privileged brats! However, it does mean that if I’m committed and submitted, the outcome is totally in His hands, and it’s going to be good. The better I get that through my thick skull, the more peace and joy I will have, and that’s what He wants.

Father, thank You for Your absolutely incredible love and grace! We can only grasp a portion of it all in this life, but it’s who You are. (1 John 4:8) Help me not only rejoice in that reality myself, but communicate and share it with as many others as possible, so that together we may become the children that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Responding to God’s Call; July 9, 2026

Posted on July 10, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Of all the people in the Old Testament, the one I would most like to be, or have been, is Isaiah. He was close enough to the Lord in faith that he was given one of the most magnificent visions of God recorded in the whole Bible, right up there with John’s in Revelation, and he responded to God in perfect humility and dedication. And on top of that, he seems to have been happily married, and he involved his children in his ministry. Last Sunday I talked about hearing God, and this is a magnificent example of that. Isaiah not only heard what God said, he offered himself in response to it. His first response was, rightly enough, that he was totally unworthy to receive such a vision. Thinking that you are the perfect person for God to use is pretty well a guarantee that you are NOT that person, at least yet. Our qualifications to be used by God are all granted from His side, not anything we work up on our own. Paul points out that it is God Himself who qualifies us to receive and do all that He has planned. (Colossians 1:12) Isaiah lamented his own lack of purity, and God responded in a way that he could understand. (verses 6-7) God then issued His famous challenge, and Isaiah responded in the way that countless saints have down through the ages: “Here am I. Send me!” That sending might indeed be to the other side of the planet, as it was for my parents, or it might be to that person in the neighborhood, as it was for Cathy’s parents, but the point is to listen with a humble, obedient heart, doing whatever God indicates. If we do that, He takes care of everything else.

My own track record in this area is all over the place. I started out feeling like I was over-qualified! God had to strike that down pretty thoroughly. Then there was the question of whether I was hearing God, or simply wanted to go home, since I was born and raised in Japan. Then there was the issue of my trying to make things happen the way I thought they should, and that of course didn’t work. It was only when I submitted my sense of calling to God, since He had given it to me in the first place, that I abruptly found myself here in Omura, and I’ve been here ever since. I could never have worked it out that way! I wish I could say that I have stayed on track from 1981 on, but that would be an exaggeration. My focus has varied widely, sometime clearly on God and His purposes for me, and sometimes just living in this town that I love. Over time, things have changed in other ways as well. I am currently retired from the school teaching that enabled me, legally and financially, to be here in the first place, but I now have permanent residency, and I collect both American Social Security and Japanese national pension, so the financial end is covered as well. I don’t know what the future holds, but I have the conviction that God isn’t through with me, and I look forward to His plans.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the joy that welled up in me when I saw that this passage was coming up! Guide me in preparing and delivering what You want me to say from it on Sunday, so that all who hear may be challenged and encouraged, responding as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Being Holy; July 8, 2026

Posted on July 9, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 4:3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,

To be honest, I’m not sure why I included this passage when making a list of passages dealing with God’s calling. However, this verse does indicate that we are called to be holy. This brings to mind a song that ran through my mind yesterday, Amy Grant’s “I Have Decided.” The line about “I’m gonna live like a believer, turn my back on the deceiver,” is excellent, but the part that says, “Being good is just a fable. I just can’t, cause I’m not able,” has always bothered me. It is entirely true that we can’t live to please the Lord in our own strength, but as Paul noted, we can do everything God calls us to do through His strength. (Philippians 4:13) Reading the chapter ahead of this, the time leading up to the blessedness mentioned here will be horrendous, and we need to pay attention to the fact that it mentions “remnant.” In other words, many people won’t make it this far. Both the Old Testament and Revelation indicate that the culmination of history won’t be all “sweetness and light!” After all, Jesus went through indescribable suffering to bring us salvation, and we are called to follow Him. That said, I keep coming back to what Paul said: “For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) God’s calling for us may lead us through hell on earth, but the end result will be more than worth it all. Just yesterday we got news that a Japan missionary who has gone through incredible suffering with cancer over the past few years has been liberated into glory. I’m sure he feels it was entirely worth it! We need faith both to recognize God’s calling for us, and to follow through to the glory that awaits us, whatever lies along the way.

God has been incredibly gracious to me, enabling me to enjoy my life on this earth, all the while being sharply aware that what lies ahead is so much better. I certainly have moments of pain, both physical and emotional, but they indeed seem light and momentary when I manage to get the heavenly perspective. I often snap my fingers when I’m talking about how long our time on earth is compared to eternity, and that’s entirely appropriate. Yesterday I read an article by Sarah Holliday about how we never give every bit of ourselves to God in this life, and that’s true, but as she said, it’s certainly the goal, just as Paul recognized. (Philippians 3:8-14) God has called me to be holy, as He is holy, (1 Peter 1:15-16) I can’t do it on my own, but He can do it in and through me, for His Spirit is Holy.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me be holy indeed, by manifesting Yourself in and through me by Your Spirit, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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More Wisdom; July 7, 2026

Posted on July 8, 2026 by jgarrott

Proverbs 8:1 Does not wisdom call?
    Does not understanding raise her voice?

Going back to yesterday’s reading, wisdom is a verbal stand-in for God. However, there is a huge caveat here: wisdom is not the same as intellect. There have been plenty of very intelligent, horrible criminals throughout history. The minute we start trusting our own intellect more than we trust the God who gave it to us, we are in deep trouble. This is a point I have seen made repeatedly: without a Creator, there is no basis for morality. There are atheists who insist otherwise, but their position does not stand logically. As I quoted from the very next chapter just yesterday, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) The path to wisdom is open to all who will acknowledge their Creator, and the more we know of Him, the better we understand everything else. Proverbs fits into the category of Wisdom Literature, and as such, it points us in very practical ways to the One who made all the rules. If we ignore Him, we won’t understand that the rules are for our good, and so will spend our lives trying to flout them. That’s tragic. We need to start from the awareness that we are created beings, not simply biological accidents, and then go from there. There are many things we will never understand fully in this life, but for those who know God, we have the assurance that “We will understand it better bye and bye.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

I was born with a high IQ, so I know the dangers of trusting your own intellect. It would have been all too possible for me to become a sociopath, even a mass murderer, and I am deeply grateful God protected me from that. If I get caught in the trap of “I am right,” essentially saying that I am the standard of rightness, I am in Jeffrey Dahmer territory, and that is horrific. I need the wisdom that is from God, that is, Jesus Christ Himself. (1 Corinthians 1:30) Genuine wisdom is humble and at the same time assured, because it rests in the One who created everything. I am right only when I agree with God, but if I genuinely agree with God, I needn’t hesitate, even when everyone around me disagrees. It has taken me a long time, but I finally know two things: God’s smart and I’m not, and there are countless things that are totally beyond my mental horsepower, whatever my IQ. That assurance has given me peace that I didn’t have before, because I know, on the deepest level, that I’m not in control, and that’s OK. The more I know God, the more I will trust and obey Him, and that is without question the best path.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for guiding in every way in terms of my confrontation with that brother yesterday, that I had been nervous about. Thank You for guiding both the circumstances and the words that were said. I pray that we would continue to grow as a church body, so that we may fulfill Your plans on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Wisdom; July 6, 2026

Posted on July 7, 2026 by jgarrott

Proverbs 1:23 If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
    I will make my words known to you. (ESV)

The specific terminology in this chapter refers to “wisdom,” (verse 20) but the implication is very much that it’s talking about God. After all, God is the ultimate source of all wisdom. Verse 29 specifically references “the fear of the Lord” as something those who hate wisdom reject. Several passages in the Bible link wisdom and the fear of the Lord, the most famous perhaps being Proverbs 9:10. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” With that awareness, the dire statements in this chapter of the fate of those who hate wisdom make perfect sense. We cannot reject our Creator with impunity! God is incredibly gracious and forgiving, if we will only repent of our rebellion. In this verse He promises His Spirit to those who will turn to Him. Yesterday I spoke on Hearing God, and here He says He will make His words known to those who turn to Him. What a beautiful promise! The problem is, some people don’t want to hear His words. They are so fixated on doing their own thing that they reject any instruction, and so invite destruction on themselves. That’s tragic! Sadly, it’s not in the least unusual. I just heard from a friend that her younger brother died recently in full rebellion against God, and she has to live with the awareness that her brother is in hell for eternity. On top of that, she said that he raised his own sons to have the same attitude he had. That in itself isn’t unusual, and in the case of God-fearing people it results in generational blessing, but in a case like this, it compounds tragedy. We can’t change anyone’s heart but our own, but we can speak the truth in love, and we can pray God’s mercy on them. After all, that mercy was necessary for us as well!

I had the blessing of being raised by strong, faithful believers, but the man I just mentioned was as well. Everyone’s salvation depends on their own choices. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, which is a gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but free will is real, and we can reject that gift. For myself, I need to be vigilant that I don’t reject anything God says to me, but always respond in grateful obedience. For those around me, I need to remember that they are at least as worthy of God’s love as I am, and so seek to be a channel of that love to them, in word and deed. Sometimes that love can call for strong words, but I am not to draw back. We had a situation just yesterday that will require that I speak very firmly to someone. I am not to let a fear of the rupture of a relationship get in the way of expressing God’s love to them. Human beings are complicated and difficult, but God loves us anyway, and I’m to let His love flow through me as He intends, and not just as my human emotions might prefer.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me operate always in Your wisdom and not my own, because my own isn’t worthy of the name. Help me fear You alone, not in terror but in total respect, so that I will be fully obedient to everything You say to me, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Fear of the Lord; July 5, 2026

Posted on July 6, 2026 by jgarrott

Psalm 147:10-11 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
the Lord delights in those who fear him,
    who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Recast into modern terms, verse 10 would come out something like, “His pleasure is not in the strength of the Starship rocket, nor his delight in the capabilities of a massive AI system.” Those things are given simply as examples of things people might delight or trust in, in order to point out that God’s perspective is different. It’s not that those things are bad, it’s that they are temporal and so temporary, automatically limited in scope and significance. We have great difficulty grasping that everything on this earth is limited, that God is indeed the omniscient, omnipotent Creator, and everything physical exists only because He allows it. That realization, to whatever degree we achieve it, is indeed “the fear of the Lord.” We have no mental or emotional framework for understanding that in its totality, but God in His grace and love will reveal Himself to us if that is where our heart is. That is why the Bible so often pairs the fear of the Lord with hope in His unfailing love. Incidentally, the Japanese says “grace,” where the English says “unfailing love.” We don’t deserve it, but it’s there, if we can believe it. Some people sadly refuse to believe it, and that’s a tragedy indeed. However, it we repent of our pride and accept the faith that He offers to us, the blessings are literally out of this world.

In my youth I tended to trust in myself, not physically so much as intellectually, in being able to figure things out. Even apart from dramatic encounters, such as I’ve mentioned many times before, the Lord has taught me over the years that there’s absolutely nothing that is trustworthy like He is. He will never let me down, even when His answer to my situation isn’t what I would have preferred. He very literally knows how things will turn out in the long run, and He’s taught me to trust in that. That applies to minor things, such as weather and being able to pull weeds and cut grass, as well as to major things, such as the direction and future of this church. I am to be faithful in listening to and obeying Him, and leave the consequences up to Him. As a pastor, that’s something I want to impart to the flock, but some of them are as stubborn as I once was, and that’s saying something! I am to be patient with them, as God has been with me, and continue speaking the truth in love to them, so that the truth may set them free indeed. (John 8:32)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the garden weeding I was able to do Thursday, and for the grass cutting I was able to do Friday and again yesterday. Thank You that the forecast indicates I’ll be able to complete it on Tuesday. Thank You for the healing Cathy is experiencing from her bronchitis. I ask Your strength for us both today, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. May we allow Your Spirit to flow through us and carry us along, accomplishing Your purposes for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Depending on God; July 4, 2026

Posted on July 5, 2026 by jgarrott

Psalm 50:14-15 “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call on me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

In this Psalm God makes it very clear that He doesn’t need us, in any sense that we fulfill some lack on His part. However, He does want us to recognize that we need Him. To the degree that we recognize that, we will give Him the gratitude and obedience that He deserves. I have long been convinced that the reason the Lord allows trials in our lives is to teach us to turn to Him and depend on Him. Otherwise, we are all too prone to stupidly think we are self-sufficient and don’t need Him. Nothing could possibly be more wrong! The simple fact of the matter is that God created the universe, and specifically, mankind, because He wanted children. He is by nature Father, and the perfect one at that. Children aren’t pets, nor are they robots, and that opens the door to all sorts of problems. Pets can be adorable, and sometimes amazingly intelligent, but they do not grow to be human. Robots can be useful, as we are beginning to see as that whole category is developed, but again, they aren’t human. Sin and gratitude aren’t issues with them. However, children are messy in every sense of the word, and not just physically. Children have free will, and can choose to obey or not. Giving us free will, in order to make us children, cost God everything, because His Son had to die in order to atone for the sins of mankind. We know that as theory, but until it really penetrates, so that we understand that Jesus died for my sins, we don’t have the gratitude and obedience that are called for. It is when we call on God in our times of trouble and discover that He is really there that He becomes more than theory to us, and that is valuable beyond words to express it.

I have had moments when I was more sure that God was real than that I was. When I have told some people that, they couldn’t even grasp what I was saying! I grew up in a home where God was a given, so to speak. My parents were missionaries, and not just by title or job description, and that was evident in every part of their lives. Growing up in such an environment was an incredibly huge blessing, but it was so familiar that I took it for granted, and even after my baptism at age seven, which was by my own decision and choice, I descended into pride that went into conceit that extended to hubris. It wasn’t until I was 24, and a married father, that the Lord very kindly and graciously allowed me to see, just for an instant, what I had become, and I collapsed in tears of repentance. In the 50+ years since then, I have grown, more slowly than I might have, to know that every breath I take is a gift from my Lord, and every moment of my life on this earth is to be returned to Him in gratitude and obedience. When bad things happen, and they do, I don’t say, “Why me?” Rather, I say, “Why not me?” I am sharply aware of my imperfections, and realize that I am totally dependent on God’s grace.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There are things potentially in my future that the devil tries to use to tear me down, but I know that Your grace will always be sufficient for me, just as You told Paul. (2 Corinthians 12:9) May I indeed look forward to heaven, but not to a degree that distracts me from what You have for me to do here and now. May I indeed call on You in every difficulty, with the peace and assurance that come from knowing Your love and grace, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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