Happiness; May 30, 2023

Posted on May 31, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 26:12 Lord, you establish peace for us;
all that we have accomplished you have done for us.

The awareness of this truth is the secret to genuine success. We do all sorts of things, but it is actually God who accomplishes them through us. Grasping this truth is the ultimate antidote to personal pride; it converts it all to gratitude. It’s not at all that we are to be passive. The Verse for the Year makes that quite clear: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) The Japanese for this verse in Isaiah uses much the same language: “You prepare/provide peace for us.” We all are deficient in gratitude, I think, because we don’t grasp how utterly powerless we are without God, and how much He does for and through us. We forget that we are created beings, and everything that gets created is created for a purpose, however trivial that might be. Anytime we do something right we are simply fulfilling, in some small way, the purpose for which we were created. The glory should all go to our Creator. I’m reminded of another thing God said through Isaiah: “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?” (Isaiah 45:9) The devil is constantly striving to keep us from fulfilling our purpose, (John 10:10) so every time we manage to do things right we have every reason to be grateful. And actually, numbers of studies have shown that gratitude is an essential key to happiness. Everyone would like to be happy, so we need to seek the purposes for which we were created and thank God when we fulfill them, in even a small way.

As I have written numerous times, I have had real struggles with pride. That has certainly taught me the futility of personal pride. The Lord has also done a number of things through me, and I have learned that being grateful that He has done them has brought me happiness to a degree that makes some people envious. I actually had someone of a different religion bring a friend to meet me, because he wanted his friend to “know someone who really enjoys living.” That is a testimony to how blessed I am! I certainly have my frustrations, and I don’t always respond properly to my blessings, but I have learned the reality of this verse from Isaiah, and I am deeply grateful.

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace toward me. Thank You for the book You have provided to draw me to a higher level of intimacy with You by Your Spirit. As I read it, help me remember that You relate to each person individually, so that I won’t try to copy specific things in the book, but rather learn better how to open myself to You in full adoration and obedience. I ask for clear guidance in how to pass some of these truths on to others, so that they too may discover the incredible privilege of walking with You consistently, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Waiting on God; May 29, 2023

Posted on May 30, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 25:9 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

In reading this chapter I was first struck by the fact that verses 7 and 8 explicitly prophesy that God will destroy death. In my awareness this is the earliest mention of such a thing in the whole Bible, though I may be wrong. This verse seems like a positively tame response to such a reality-shattering thing as that! However, several details are worth noting. In the first place, it starts with “people will say.” This isn’t a prophecy for the immediate hearers, but one for a far future date. It’s also worth noting that both places where the NIV says “trusted,” the Japanese says, “waited in hope.” Our “faith” can get very impatient! We want God’s promises fulfilled NOW! However, the Bible speaks of waiting on God many, many times. We need to remember Peter’s insight: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) He was perhaps remembering a line from the only Psalm credited to Moses: “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4) The point is, God’s time frame is manifestly different from ours, but He is totally faithful. When we are waiting on Him to act, we aren’t like the play, Waiting for Godot, where Godot never shows up. That’s why we wait in hope. As Hebrews points out, sometimes the fulfillment of God’s promises comes outside of the context of our current physical life, (Hebrews 11:39-40) but that doesn’t make that fulfillment any less certain. That’s what faith is all about. It is when we abandon the boxes into which we have tried to push God and our circumstances that we discover the peace that indeed exceeds human understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

I have a family history of this. My parents arrived in Japan as missionaries in 1934 and 1935, respectively, and labored until the Lord called them home, but they never saw the great harvest of souls that they sought. I have taken up the task, but I too have only seen sparse results. That doesn’t mean that God has been less than faithful! I am not just waiting on God, I am doing so in hope and assurance, and in the meantime He has stuff for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10) I am to keep my focus on Him, even while I am being faithful at the task at hand, whatever that might be. At the very least, it will be glorious when I leave this body!

Father, thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You for speaking through me yesterday, and for all the people who came to our special event. I pray that the impressions they received would be indelible, drawing them steadily toward You, toward repentance and faith for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Salvation; May 28, 2023

Posted on May 29, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 12:2 “Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”

This brief chapter is one of many reasons I like Isaiah so much. It is pure praise and adoration, and several parts of it have been put to music in multiple settings. This particular verse is a declaration of faith, a statement of who God is to the speaker, and as such should be joyfully trumpeted by every believer. It is worth noting that it doesn’t say, “God is my Savior,” it says, “God is my salvation.” That puts a little different slant on it. It isn’t focused on what He does for me, it is focused on who He is. When that is our focus, we can indeed “trust and not be afraid,” just as Isaiah wrote. Many English translations cover over the way the next line specifies the covenant name of God. The Japanese expresses it as, “Yah, the Lord.” It is a specification that this is Yahweh Isaiah is talking about, not Baal or Ashtoreth or any other god. Nothing besides our Creator is worthy of our total trust. Sadly, we need to keep being reminded of that. It is when we remember it fully that He is our strength and our song of praise, and indeed becomes our salvation.

I’m reminded of a chorus I’ve known for many years. “You are the words and the music; You are the song that I sing. You are the melody, You are the harmony; praises to You I will bring. You are the Mighty God, You are the Prince of Peace, You are the King of all kings. Now I return to You the song that You gave to me; You are the song that I sing.” I have long claimed that chorus as my motivation for singing. I teach it to my Speech Therapy students, since singing is an excellent tool for speech therapy, and I tell them that it indeed expresses my motivation. I encounter many things in life, and some are more difficult than others. Today we are expecting a full house, which is a good thing, but part of the motivation for that is that we will be having a program and barbecue in the afternoon and evening, which is a high stress thing for me. I don’t mind speaking in front of large groups, but being in charge of functions and needing to interact with many different people all together is not my cup of tea. I’m sure the end result will be excellent, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting to run away. I need to keep letting this verse run through my mind and heart throughout today, so that every visitor, and particularly everyone who doesn’t yet know the Lord, may be drawn and not repulsed, attracted by Christ manifested through me and this congregation, leading them to repentance and faith for their salvation.

Father, thank You for this extremely timely Word. Help me apply it fully, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You throughout today, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fear; May 27, 2023

Posted on May 28, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 8:12 “Do not call conspiracy
everything that these people call conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and do not dread it.

This verse really jumped out as I was reading just now. The world seems so governed by fear, and it’s certainly not the fear of the Lord. The most glaring recent example is all that was done in relation to the pandemic, but there are virtually countless other “fear triggers” that are in play. The next verse here says clearly that we are to fear God, but all other controlling fears are demonic, and not appropriate for the believer at all. Fear itself isn’t bad. Various fears give us discretion in our daily living and protect us from all sorts of real dangers. If we were totally fearless, we indeed wouldn’t fear the wrath of our Creator, and that’s the most dangerous attitude of all. Sadly, many people seem to lack that fear, even while they fear various other things. It is only when we recognize God for Who He is, that is, our almighty Creator, without whose grace we would dissolve into atoms, that we can likewise recognize His love for us, and love Him in return. As John wrote, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) Proverbs 29:25 came up in our readings just a few days ago: “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” However, we fear all sorts of other things as well, and unscrupulous men manipulate those fears to control us, because control is what they lust after. We need to be secure in the love of God and stand firmly against all the fear that is thrown our way. For the believer, death is graduation, birth into eternity, and something to be anticipated rather than feared. When that is ingrained in our spirit, all other fears fade into insignificance.

This is something that I have felt more and more strongly over the years. I have no love of pain and disease, but I don’t particularly fear them because I know they are entirely temporary. At the moment my left side is sore because of having tripped and fallen a few days ago, but that doesn’t make me fear walking. I caught COVID back in March and the high fever wasn’t enjoyable, but I knew it was temporary, just as my current soreness is. For that matter, living in this world has all sorts of unpleasant details, just as Jesus said, (John 16:33) but none of them are forever. Why should I fear? My current biggest fear is of losing my wife to one of her assorted diseases, but I have great assurance that even then, God’s grace will be sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9) The blessings, the glory, that are in Christ are more than enough to counter any fear I might dream up. That is a blessed situation indeed, and I want to share it with as many as possible.

Father, thank You indeed for Your love that casts out all fear. Help me share that love with everyone I encounter, making full use of every opportunity, so that as many as will may repent and believe for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trials of Faith; May 26, 2023

Posted on May 27, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 7:9 “If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.'”

For once I prefer the NIV to the Japanese! The Japanese simply says, “If you do not believe, you will not stand for long.” The NIV manages to catch a rather deep truth. We are used to verses 8-14 being used at Christmas, because even Matthew quoted verse 14 to talk about Immanuel, but the whole section is about faith and our exercise of it. The section just ahead of this, talking about the leaders who were conspiring against Judah, would seem like today’s news if you replaced those names with Xi and Putin. Threats aren’t to be ignored, but the bigger issue is faith. We are all too prone to ignore God except in times of crisis. Guess what? That just guarantees more crises! America is indeed at a dangerous place, not so much because of external enemies but because of internal rot, to the point that it seems like there’s a crisis everywhere you turn. Those who know God have got to stand in faith, just as this verse says. There are plenty of horrible manifestations of evil all around us, and one of those is that the media seems to have forgotten the very word, evil. More than one place in the Bible talks about the horrible sin of calling good evil and evil good. These days, parents standing up for their children is being denounced as bad! And then we have the external threats of Xi and Putin. Close examination shows that both the Russian government and the CCP are houses of cards, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of real destruction, before or even as they collapse. We’re back to this verse. Trials of faith come so that we may examine our faith, both who and what we believe and how we believe, and come out with our faith purified and strengthened. That is certainly desirable, so we should fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and thank Him for this abundance of trials!

It’s been quite a few years since I started saying that if I didn’t have faith I would already have given up. That certainly hasn’t changed, but my faith has grown! I have always liked Andrae Crouch’s song, Through It All. As that song says, “If I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that He could solve them; I wouldn’t know what faith in God can do.” Having read Revelation, I have no expectation that “everything is going to be sweetness and light,” but I also have no fear, because I am totally convinced that God is the Creator, and not just some figment of our imagination. I know that He loved the world so much as to send His Son to die for us, and I know from experience that He loves me individually, as improbable and illogical as that might sound. I know that I am accountable to Him, above and before anything or anyone else, and my goal is to hear Him say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21, 23) As long as I stand in that faith He has given me, what do I have to worry about?

Father, thank You indeed for the faith You have given me, and for the various ways You have tested it and caused me to exercise it. I can take no credit for it myself, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but I am deeply grateful. Help me share that faith by the power of Your Spirit with others, starting with the people in this church and extending to many more, so that we may rise up as Your disciples indeed, for Your glory Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Prophets; May 25, 2023

Posted on May 26, 2023 by jgarrott

Isaiah 2:22 Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?

The life of a prophet can be really rough. The contrast between the different things they perceive would tend to make them bipolar at least! This chapter is a good example. Verses 2-5 are dearly loved for being so comforting and encouraging, and have been set to music numerous times. However, from verse 6 on is a condemnation of the idolatry of Israel and a frightening warning of how it will be in the Day of the Lord. Today, Isaiah would be considered mentally imbalanced at best, and probably institutionalized. God, which is to say reality itself, is far bigger and more complex than we can grasp. As Bill Whittle likes to say, we don’t have the “mental horsepower” for the task. The only logical course is to walk in humility and obedience, trusting that God’s plans are indeed good, whatever our immediate circumstances might look like. (Jeremiah 29:11) The Bible doesn’t give us much detail of the life of Isaiah, but we have considerably more about Jeremiah, and Hosea’s personal life is laid out in painful detail. From what I’ve heard, modern prophets don’t have it much better! Speaking God’s words is a very high honor, but it can come at a huge cost. Reliable tradition tells us that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt and Isaiah was sawed in two. Elijah famously suffered from suicidal depression. However, as I am fond of quoting, Paul has the last answer on that: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) When God shows us things we are to be faithful to share His truth as He directs, and we are indeed to be grateful for the privilege, but we are never to let such experiences puff us up. He is so much greater and higher than we are that any thought of personal pride is absurd. When we receive seemingly conflicting impressions, as even this chapter illustrates, we are to submit it to God and allow Him to show us how it all fits together. Prophets are a valuable and important gift to the Body of Christ, but they are not greater or higher than the other gifts listed in Ephesians 3:11, and all are given to serve, and not lord it over anyone or anything.

For many years I have said that Isaiah was the Old Testament character I would most like to emulate, because of his many visions of the coming Messiah. However, that’s a pretty risky goal! I have been used in prophecy, and I certainly desire and seek that all of my messages would be what the Lord is saying, but my major gifting is Teacher, and not Prophet. In a way that’s a relief! At the same time, my life is to be prophetic, in the sense that it should illustrate the character and faithfulness of God. My wife receives dreams from God and a friend has had waking visions, but I’m OK with having neither. My task is simply to be faithfully obedient, just as it is for every believer, whatever course God has mapped out for us.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As I continue to do various things for the last time, since I am retiring from secular teaching at the end of this school year, I am increasingly aware that You aren’t through with me, though I don’t know what the road will look like from next April. Help me not draw back from anything, or in any way be controlled by anxiety or fear, but rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faith; May 24, 2023

Posted on May 25, 2023 by jgarrott

Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

There are several verses in this chapter that seem very applicable to the world as we see it today, showing once again that though technology certainly changes, human nature doesn’t. That’s why the Bible, though thousands of years old, is still fully applicable today. And of course, as the Lord Himself says, “I the Lord do not change.” (Malachi 3:6)That’s why this verse is as true today as it was the day it was written. We see people all around us who are snared because they fail to stand on their convictions – or maybe they don’t have any real convictions! It is when we are fully committed to our Creator, knowing that He loved us so much as to send His Son to die in our place, enabling us to live eternally with Him, that we are indeed kept safe. The theme for the readings at this point is Faith, which of course manifests as trust, as this verse says. The writer of Hebrews rightly commented that “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) If we don’t believe God exists and is knowable, then we will indeed fear man because that will be our only frame of reference. The thing is, fear makes logic go out the window. In the recent pandemic, governments and media deliberately stoked fear as a way to control people, ignoring scientific facts all the while trumpeting, “Follow the science!” The facts are now coming out, too late for the tens of thousands of people with “vaccine” injuries, not to mention those who went to an early death. Just yesterday I read a study that showed that COVID deaths could have been cut in half by something as simple as aspirin, but that wouldn’t have fit the desired narrative. Sadly, the stock of “experts” has been greatly diminished, and that applies to those who are honestly saying what they really do know, as well as those who are actively deceiving. The benefit of all that is that those who think are now more likely to seek and trust God, because He alone is fully reliable. As an old hymn puts it, “My faith, it is an oaken staff that leads me on my way.”

I have as much natural desire to be liked and accepted by the people around me as anyone, but I had a major obstacle or two. In the first place, I was a Caucasian in Japan, which instantly put up various barriers. In the second place, I was a missionary kid in a school for military dependents, which made me a different kind of outsider. For a child and teenager, that was at times traumatic. God in His incredible grace gave me a woman who accepted and loved me as I was, and 54 years ago today we were married. That helped immensely, because as long as she loved me I didn’t particularly fear the opinions of other people. That is a huge strength even now. Likewise, over the years I have proved again and again that the Lord is perfectly trustworthy. I still get into trouble because of my own foolishness (as I did again yesterday by failing to notice an obstacle, tripping on it, and falling rather painfully) but that’s on me, not Him. I am to trust Him enough to let Him show me the obstacles in my way and avoid them, or else get over or through them, so that all of His purposes in allowing those obstacles to exist may be fulfilled, for my blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for protecting me yesterday, that my glasses didn’t break and my injuries weren’t severe. Thank You particularly that I didn’t land on my left hand that I broke in January! Help me not yield to “short cuts” to fit my plans, the way I did yesterday, but rather follow You faithfully, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trust; May 23, 2023

Posted on May 24, 2023 by jgarrott

Proverbs 28:25-26 A greedy man stirs up dissension,
but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper.
He who trusts in himself is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

These two verses contrast two kinds of trust. The first is of course trust in the Lord, the only entity in the universe that is totally trustworthy, and the stated result is abundance. The NIV expresses the second as “trusts in himself,” but the Japanese says, “trusts his own heart.” That agrees perfectly with something Dennis Prager has expressed at length, which is the unreliability of conscience. The follow-up to that is “walking in wisdom,” which in context is trusting the Lord rather than anything else, even yourself. There are of course varying degrees of trust. We trust that the light will come on when we hit the switch, for example, though it might not for a number of reasons. We trust that the car will stop when we step on the brake, but there are plenty of horror stories of when that didn’t happen. We cannot live life being distrustful of everything, but we’ve got to remember that the Lord is the only thing totally worthy of trust. The beginning of verse 25 is worth noting as well. In contrast to trusting the Lord, it mentions “a greedy man.” The Japanese expresses that as, “a man of deep appetites/lusts.” Failure to trust the Lord results in our prioritizing our flesh, our “animal instincts,” as it were. At the very least that will not make for smooth relationships with those around us, and that is certainly foolish. It is trusting the Lord that results in all our genuine needs being met, as Jesus famously taught us in Matthew 6:25-34. In other words, trusting the Lord is wise!

I have an ample supply of “the lusts of the flesh,” (1 John 2:16) so trusting the Lord is a choice. Thankfully it is one I have had plenty of training in making, and I had the excellent example of my parents before me. I can say without hesitation that the Lord is absolutely trustworthy, and He has met and continues to meet all my needs. There have been times when I wanted something material so badly that I did foolish things, but God very gently turned that around into firm, and sometimes painful, training. People comment on my faith at this point, but it hasn’t come that simply! I am very grateful to say that I have no anxiety about the rest of my life on this earth, though I know it will include unpleasant things. Advancing age isn’t for wimps! However, as the hymn says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” I trust the Creator of the universe, who loved me enough to send His Son to be my Savior, and that covers absolutely everything.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As retirement from school teaching looms, I find I am indeed uptight about it. Thank You that all such anxiety is totally unnecessary. Help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that I will yield none of my peace and joy to the enemy but rather be an encouragement to those around me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tomorrow; May 22, 2023

Posted on May 23, 2023 by jgarrott

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

On one level this goes without saying, but much of the time we act like it’s not true. Making plans isn’t bad, but the more we are invested in those plans, the more likely we are to be disappointed. Several places throughout the Bible touch on this, because it’s such a universal human trait. The wisest attitude is to always be looking forward to whatever God has in store. That might be easily recognizable blessings or it might be a hard lesson that will bear fruit further down the line, but when we are committed to Jesus as Lord, the end result will always be good. As Paul famously said, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Our focus isn’t to be on what tomorrow might hold, but on our Lord who loved us so much that He gave Himself for us. When Jesus went through Gethsemane, arrest, trial, scourging, and crucifixion for us, we have absolutely no reason to be worried that His plans for us aren’t good. As I quoted in yesterday’s message, “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) Just because we live in a fallen world doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have good plans for us that He will bring to fruition. We aren’t to boast about tomorrow because our plans are never as good as God’s, whatever things might look like to us in the moment. We may well run into rough situations, and probably will, but the end result will be glorious. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Yesterday’s message was on Security, and that is closely related to this verse from Proverbs. I am as prone as anyone to want to know what is going to happen, but God has told me to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. When I am upset about how things haven’t turned out as I planned or expected, I’m not going to see the blessings God has prepared for me in the middle of whatever is going on. I have never been much of a planner, and that’s made for some real problems at times, but it does put me on the correct side of this verse, at least. I am often distressed to hear people I care about verbally being anxious about things that might happen. Jesus and Paul both said explicitly not to do that! (Luke 12:22-31, Philippians 4:6-7) Bad things do happen, as Jesus said and as I have experienced, but anticipating bad things just multiplies my suffering! As the Southern Gospel song puts it, even “death ain’t no big deal!” What God said to Jeremiah is just as true today as it was 2500 years ago: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Now that is security!

Father, thank You for what You spoke through me yesterday, and for this strong confirmation today. Help me indeed refuse all anxiety, but rather rejoice in anticipation of whatever You have planned, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reliance; May 21, 2023

Posted on May 22, 2023 by jgarrott

Proverbs 22:19 So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I teach you today, even you.

We seem to have gotten past the part of Proverbs that was written specifically by Solomon, but that can be hard to determine definitively. Regardless, this verse gives the reason for assembling any collection of “wise sayings,” and that is to teach people to rely on God. The Japanese here makes it clear that is the meaning of “trust.” We may say we trust God, but at the same time look for a “plan B” in case He doesn’t come through. How foolish! It’s not bad to lay out possible courses of action for various contingencies, but we’ve got to remember that God has the final say, and His plans are good and right and just. God will always enable us to do anything He has told us to do. As I quote frequently, Paul stressed this in his letters. “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) In the Old Testament, Asaph very rightly noted, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26) The whole Bible talks about how transitory the physical things of this world are, and we need to remember that. Nothing but God is worthy of our total reliance and trust.

This is something I’ve always got to remember. My father’s physical heart failed him, but God never did. I’ve failed myself and others more times than I can remember, but God has never failed me. When things look black, in almost every case the problem lies in me. I am a Teacher by gifting, and teach both in secular schools and in the Church. I need to be careful that my teaching always points people to God, to rely on Him. I am to teach people to be good stewards of all they have been given, but always to remember where those abilities and resources came from. Many people and even whole ministries have failed because they forgot that everything came from God in the first place. I must never let that happen to me, and I am to seek to keep others from that pitfall as well.

Father, thank You for the privilege of teaching. It is a joy to exercise the gifts You have given me. May I do so always in obedience to You and not for my own gratification, pointing and drawing people to You for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment