Time and Eternity; July 18, 2026

Posted on July 19, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
    my salvation is on the way,
    and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
    and wait in hope for my arm.

The chapter as a whole stresses the impermanence of the material world, but in the middle of that, God’s salvation is manifested. We tend to put our whole attention on what we perceive with our five senses, but God is far greater than that, and the temporal is indeed temporary. Those who know God need to look to Him, their Creator, knowing they came from Him and will go to Him. In verse 1 God tells the Jews to “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and the quarry from which you were dug,” specifically referencing Abraham and Sarah, but for those without Jewish heritage it’s even more direct than that, because God is the Source of everything. We need to walk in the awareness that God created everything, and everything depends on Him, and live accordingly. As this verse says, we are to wait in hope on Him, and anchor our expectations in Him. The world is a mess because of the sinfulness of mankind, but none of that can stand before God. We would have no hope at all, except that God provided a way of salvation, erasing our sins with the blood of His Son. We need to keep our focus on Him, as Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to do, so that we may walk in His salvation, both now and through eternity.

The closer I get to my “Use by” date, whenever that is, the more I am aware of, and grateful for, this reality. The man I visited in the hospital the day before yesterday probably has less time left here than I do, but now he has eternity to look forward to, instead of dread. I am daily aware of my inadequacies, and I too look forward to the day I will stand perfect before God’s throne. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy life here. God is more than gracious! However, the assorted stresses do pile up at times. I do need to be intentional in submitting and yielding it all to my Lord, and specifically my own weaknesses and failures. Things are happening constantly, and I get tired of trying to keep up. I need to remember that God never tires out, and I am in Him and He in me. I can’t do it all, but He can, and He can even use me in the process. It is a deep joy to realize that I have been useful to Him, as I was in the hospital the other day, and I want to stay available to Him for as long as He has use for me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the good fellowship I had with a brother yesterday afternoon, even though I failed to make two phone calls after that that I had intended to make. Guide me in the timing of those calls, and help me follow through with them. There are assorted things on the schedule for today, and You alone know their actual importance. Help me follow Your schedule in every detail, so that Your purposes may be accomplished as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Way of a Disciple; July 17, 2026

Posted on July 18, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 50:4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
    to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
    wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

There are some who would say this passage is Messianic, but to me it is the magnificent testimony of Isaiah himself. Isaiah consistently responded to God the way Eli told the boy Samuel to do: “Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10) I preached on that just recently. English translations generally render this verse with some variation of “being taught,” or “instructed,” but the Japanese says plainly, “disciple.” We tend to forget that a disciple is a learner, and think of that word as a status or title. A genuine disciple is constantly learning from their master. Isaiah could deliver his magnificent prophecies because he was constantly learning from God. As we read in Isaiah 6:10, his response to God was, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.” That is the attitude of a genuine disciple, a true servant of God. One reason some people try to say this passage is Messianic is that the insults Isaiah mentions, the spitting and pulling out the beard, were indeed done to Jesus, but Jesus Himself said that what was done to Him would be done to His disciples. (John 15:18-20) The way of a disciple of Jesus Christ is not easy, but the rewards are literally out of this world. We need to come to that awareness, that conviction, to be Jesus’ disciples indeed.

This is all part of why I admire Isaiah so much. I consider him a sterling example of how I am to live on this earth. He indeed wakens me morning by morning, and my day is not right if I don’t have a time of hearing Him and responding to Him first thing. Often, I will literally wake up with a song of praise or worship running through my mind and heart. Last night, every time I woke up in the night I prayed for the man I baptized in his hospital bed yesterday. It was a beautiful privilege, and he was touchingly glad to have me come. His wife and daughter are already Christians, and after saying through tears how glad he was that I had come, he said he wanted to be a Christian, and when I expressed the Gospel to him, he said, on his own, “I believe.” (He said it in English; he was an English teacher for many years.) I felt I was being obedient to God in offering to baptize him on the spot, and I did just that, drawing a cross on his forehead with wet fingers, since immersion was out of the question under the circumstances. Medically, recovery isn’t out of the question, but highly unlikely. However, I do have confidence that I will see him in heaven! I knew I had high anticipation of that hospital visit, and once I got there, I understood why. I haven’t had the persecution that Isaiah and Jesus experienced, but if I did, it would certainly be more than worth it. As Paul said, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, thank You for the privilege of ushering that man into Your family yesterday. Thank You for the witness of his wife and daughter that gave him the hunger that he had for it. Thank You for the assurance we can all have of his eternal destination. I do ask for his total healing, and thank You for it, whether that is manifested on this earth or not until heaven. May his wife and his daughter rest in the assurance of Your love and grace, and allow You to pour through them to him, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Individual Plans; July 16, 2026

Posted on July 17, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands;
    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
    from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

There are several things worthy of our attention and meditation in this verse. The first is of minor significance to most people, but of major interest to me, and that is the reference to islands. Several translations render that as “coastlands,” but the Japanese naturally uses “islands,” since this is an island nation. Isaiah’s repeated use of this terminology is one of the many reasons I like the book so much! Of much more significance to Americans is the statement that God’s purposes and calling are active even in the womb. This totally destroys any moral justification for abortion. Whereas this chapter is obviously talking about the Messiah, the principle is still valid that God’s plans for us don’t start when we start breathing air. Right now in America alone, over a million babies a year are aborted. We will never know what plans God had for them, what artists and musicians and doctors and inventors and good, loving people never got the chance to fulfill God’s plans for them. The incredible selfishness and short-sighted disregard for our Creator that are expressed in the act of deliberate abortion are staggering. We should rejoice that God actually cares about each one of us, that He doesn’t overlook anyone, even from the womb. This is one of the biggest demonstrations of God’s omnipotence and omniscience, because we can’t conceive of not only such knowledge, but active concern. We should be glad that God really is God! With that awareness, the logical course of action is to seek to discover and follow the plans He has for us, because only He knows the end from the beginning, and His plans are always good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

This is something I think about from time to time. I often say that I know God has a sense of humor, because He made me! Like everyone else, I have a unique combination of genetics and experiences that have molded me into what I am, and the verdict is still out as to what I will be eventually, on the earthly scale. I do know that my ultimate destination is eternity with my Lord, so I have great peace on that front, but I don’t want to miss anything God has planned along the way. Today I will be doing hospital visitation for the first time in several years, since hospitals put in severe rules about such things with the Covid pandemic. That frankly is exciting! The person in question isn’t someone I’ve met before, but his wife and daughter visited the church because of his hospitalization, and he has asked to meet me. I am honored, and I look forward to whatever God wants to do with this occasion. Before that, I’ll be seeing a man who has been on the brink of commitment to Christ for a while now, and today might be the day when he makes that step. That prospect is exciting indeed! Like everyone else, God planned for me from the moment of fertilization, or even before, and I want to fulfill every one of those plans, for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your plans, for me and for the whole world. May Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be established as Your will is done, right here and throughout the earth, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Plans for Us; July 15, 2026

Posted on July 16, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 48:18 If only you had paid attention to my commands,
    your peace would have been like a river,
    your well-being like the waves of the sea.

Here, God is speaking through Isaiah to His people, and they are not at all in the situation described. This is what God desires for His people, and is the reason for His commands, but all too often we stubbornly refuse to listen. This is reminiscent of passages like 2 Chronicles 7:14, Jeremiah 29:11, and many more that talk about God’s intentions for His people. We don’t receive these blessings because we stubbornly choose to go our own way, feeling that we know better than God! He does not delight to punish us, much less watch us go to eternal destruction, so He allows things in our lives that should remind us of our dependence on Him. Sometimes that works, but all too often it doesn’t. Like Einstein said, there were two things that were infinite, the universe and human stupidity, but he wasn’t so sure about the universe. If we will let go of our stupid, stubborn pride and turn to Him in grateful repentance, there is no end to the good that He will pour out on us. We just have to choose to be humble before Him.

As I have shared countless times now, pride has been a major stumbling block for me. I am eternally grateful that when I was 24, just for an instant the Lord showed me the condition of my soul, and I collapsed in repentance. I hate to think of where I would be right now had He not been so gracious. As it is, He has led me through trials, yes, but He has given me an assurance of His power and love that, by His grace, is unshakable. As Paul said, if God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) I don’t know what the rest of my life will hold, though Jesus has assured me it will include trouble, (John 16:33) but I know the character of my Lord, and that gives me eternal security. On my own, in my own strength, I am hopeless, but in Christ I have an eternal hope that is worth more than everything in the universe.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You brought us through yesterday. The devil tried to interfere, but You gave us victory! Thank You that the MRI showed that, though Cathy almost certainly had a TIA (mini-stroke) the blood vessels in her brain are clear. I ask for peace for us both, even as this verse says, so that we may hear and obey You in every detail, for as long as You keep us here, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Purpose of Leaders; July 14, 2026

Posted on July 15, 2026 by jgarrott

Isaiah 45:8 “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;
    let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
    let salvation spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
    I, the Lord, have created it.”

Many people have drawn parallels between Cyrus the Persian, whom this chapter talks about, and Donald Trump, as someone who did not know God but did His work anyway. I frankly think there is a good bit of validity to that, and this verse expresses God’s purpose in choosing and using Cyrus as He did. Frankly, righteousness is an increasingly rare commodity in the US at this point, and I think God is using Donald Trump to make it an easier lifestyle to choose. It is entirely true that you can’t legislate morality, but laws and regulations do have a considerable impact on how society functions. The devil has worked overtime to promote immorality of all kinds – not that we’ve needed much encouragement. The current legal structure actively discourages intact families, and they are the foundation of society as God created it. It is too easy for a fatherless child to grow to physical maturity with no moral, emotional, or spiritual maturity. The legal structure is slowly changing, and believers need to be active in that change, both in prayer and in social action of various sorts. None of this is to say that all of President Trump’s decisions and actions – much less words – are God’s perfect will, but believers need to take Paul’s words to Timothy to heart: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) We finally have a president who seems to be pointed in the right direction, at any rate, and we need to do spiritual warfare on his behalf.

I certainly would not want to idolize Donald Trump, but I have seen him take numbers of actions that I welcome greatly. Likewise, America hasn’t always been right in its 250 year history, but it has been massively used by God for good in a number of ways, including being the greatest missionary-sending nation. The world is a complicated mess, and always has been, so I need to keep my eyes on our Father God, and His Son whom He sent as the perfect human being. I am to seek to be God’s agent on every level, in every detail of my personal life, in my interactions with the world around me, and in my prayers for things that are a distance from me. There is literally no limit to the things that need prayer! I am to be informed and engaged politically, since I am a citizen of a republic that was founded on Biblical principles, but my hope is not to be in politics or political leaders. The Bible talks a good bit about the stupidity of that! I am to pray consistently as Jesus taught us, that God’s rule and authority would be established as His will is done, as perfectly on this earth as it is in heaven. That won’t be fully realized until Christ’s return, so I’ve got plenty to pray about!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the leaders in every country who do seek Your will, and thank You that You can and do use leaders, like Cyrus, who don’t know You personally. I ask Your grace and mercy on this Your world, so that as many as will may repent and believe for their salvation, while there is still time. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Change; July 13, 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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