Loving Jesus; April 14, 2023

Posted on April 15, 2023 by jgarrott

John 21:16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

As much as I think Jesus enjoyed the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension, He still had some very important work to do in that period, and one of them was establishing succession. Peter was a natural leader, but he needed to lead on the right basis. Much has been made of Jesus asking Peter three times if he loved Him, with discussion of the use of agape and phileo, but the point is, love engenders obedience, (John 14:15) and Jesus wanted it to be perfectly clear to Peter that his love for Jesus needed to be expressed in loving service to Jesus’ flock. It’s interesting that the Japanese for this verse has Jesus telling Peter explicitly, “Pastor my sheep.” We might not think of pastoral ministry as love for Jesus, but we should. As John pointed out in his first letter, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:20-21) And remember, John was the one hearing and recording this interchange between Jesus and Peter. I think all of Jesus’ disciples learned that love that doesn’t act is meaningless. After all, they lived with Jesus for over three years and then they saw Him give the ultimate expression of love by going to the cross for them. Not everyone is called to specifically pastoral ministry, but everyone is called to love God and love their neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-39) How that will be expressed is different for each individual, but it is inescapable for us all.

Of course this applies to me as much as it does to anyone, but the specific terminology in this verse gives me a real twinge. I first served as a pastor in a rural church in Virginia, not long after I graduated from seminary. I was moved to accept their call by a cassette tape “letter” I received from the Baptist pastor in Sasebo, where we had lived for two years before going to seminary. He knew that my grasp of written Japanese was not sufficient for all he wanted to say to me, and I’m grateful the Lord showed him how to do it verbally. (This was in 1978, before the Internet.) He talked about his trials in ministry, and some of the blessings, and I realized that if I was going to minister to Japanese pastors (which I felt was my calling) I needed to understand the whole business of pastoring a small church. Seminary, sadly enough, had seemed to be focused on ministering in big churches. Actually, that “small rural church” would have counted as a large church in Japan! When the Lord brought us to Omura I still didn’t see myself as ministering to one local congregation, but then the Lord started bringing people into His family through the English Bible class I taught, and in short order I had a flock, whether I wanted one or not. It has frankly been a struggle. I don’t feel I am gifted as a pastor, but I love to teach the Word. What I have had to learn has been that if I love God and love His Word, then I’ve got to love His sheep as well. Like Peter, I’ve got to “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) And that includes my sins as well!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your patience in teaching me to love You and love my neighbor. May I do that more and more effectively, so that more and more people may be drawn to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Spiritual Growth; April 13, 2023

Posted on April 14, 2023 by jgarrott

John 21:4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

We’re back to Jesus having fun with His disciples after His resurrection. Jesus had some serious business here, but I still think He got a kick out of appearing to His disciples this way. I like the poetic way the Japanese expresses the time of day: “As dawn was starting to color the night.” It’s really no wonder they couldn’t tell who it was standing on the shore, because it was still pretty dark. Peter’s reaction to John recognizing that it was Jesus is rather touching to me. In contrast to his going out and weeping bitterly after denying he knew Jesus, now, after having had a personal encounter with the risen Jesus, he can’t wait to get close to him again. He probably could have swum the 100 meters to shore more easily in the loin cloth he was wearing in the boat, but in honor and respect for Jesus, he put on his outer garment anyway. I’m sure it warmed Jesus’ heart to see his response. Not all of the tests God gives us are painful. I think Peter passed this one pretty well, and he only had to get wet! The thing is, God enjoys growing His children, stretching and maturing them for their good, and we should decide to enjoy the process as well. I’m often reminded of the wisdom expressed in Hebrews: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11)

I’m in the middle of another training exercise at the moment myself, confronted with the decision of when to retire from my school teaching. It was triggered by something the school did, but not requested by them. At this point they have no idea how I responded to the incident, but I’ll be going to teach this morning, and I need to discuss it with them. Most of the staff I’ll be seeing are former students of mine, so there are likely to be a lot of thoughts and emotions involved. That said, this is a lot easier and better than if I were being fired, or than if I had a major health issue making me unable to continue. I just found out that my younger daughter is also in a very intense training experience, though it is quite different from mine. I need to support and encourage her, and others around me, as we all continue to grow through our trials, to be more and more of what God designed us to be in the first place.

Father, thank You indeed for all that You are doing. My daughter’s situation, being health-related, is perhaps more traumatic than mine. I ask for a fresh infusion of faith for her, that she may be able to stand against the lies of the enemy and have peace and joy regardless of what is going on in the moment. We indeed all have our issues, but You are not only far bigger than them all, Your grace is certainly sufficient for us all. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Thank You. Praise God!

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Faith and Sight; April 12, 2023

Posted on April 13, 2023 by jgarrott

John 20:29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

This chapter presents problems when it comes to writing on it devotionally, because there is so much here. I have literally written a book on verse 21! This verse hits me at the moment because it is so strongly echoed in the passage on which I spoke for our Easter service: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9) Peter was in that room when Jesus said this, and he had seen it play out in many people’s hearts and lives. We are indeed visual beings, with a strong tendency to trust our eyes. Stage magic is entrancing precisely because it plays games with our visual perception. However, modern technology is really attacking that, with “deep fake” videos that look entirely real but are actually computer generated. It used to be said that “the camera doesn’t lie,” but there are now all sorts of ways to make it do so. Paul couldn’t have imagined this sort of thing, but he spoke the solution to it nonetheless: “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7) In this era of digital illusions, that’s all the more vital!

Having been taking pictures since I was in elementary school, this is very close to home. I’ve worked as a photo lab technician, back in the analog days, and tricks that required a lot of skill and practice at that point are now accomplished with a couple of clicks in the computer. In the Army I was asked to do a special “portrait” of a rather disliked senior officer who was being transferred, transplanting a monkey’s face onto his official portrait. The result was beautifully framed and presented to that officer by his commanding General at his farewell dinner! It was a grand success, from the standpoint of those who had asked me to do it, but it took several tries and a good bit of time, when today it can literally be done with three or four mouse clicks. Knowing that, I have all the more reason to depend on faith and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rather than on anything my senses tell me. After all, I have had moments of fellowship with the Lord in which I was more sure of His reality than I was of my own! Just yesterday something happened that seems to indicate a major change in my direction, but I am not to rely on my senses or on my emotions. I am to fix the eyes of my heart on my Lord and not be distracted by the world, visually or otherwise. God has plans for me, but I will not fulfill them by depending on myself in any way. He alone is faithful and powerful, and will bring His will to pass.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Yesterday’s events really stirred me up. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that I may hear You accurately and follow You faithfully and fully, to accomplish Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Being Like Jesus; April 11, 2023

Posted on April 12, 2023 by jgarrott

Luke 24:44-45 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

It strikes me that Jesus had a really good time during the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension. The cross was behind Him, He no longer had physical constraints on His activities, and He got to spend time with these people He really, genuinely loved. He’d lived with them 24/7 for over three years, and now they had been through enough that they could begin to absorb some of what He had been pouring into them. I’ve always been a bit amused at His having to ask for something to eat in order to prove He wasn’t a ghost, and I imagine He was, too. He and the Father had deliberately left the wounds in His hands, feet, and side as further evidence He wasn’t some sort of “body double,” but I don’t think those wounds gave Him any pain at all at this point. I personally think He enjoyed His ministry all along, but now that the cross was taken care of, everything left was enjoyable. I was greatly blessed several years ago to watch Matthew from The Visual Bible, that takes the straight text and has people act it out. (We have it on VHS tape, which indicates the age!) One thing I especially like about it is that the actor playing Jesus was a dedicated, Spirit-filled believer, and he prayed earnestly for how he should play the role. As a result, it comes across that Jesus is delighted to be who He is, doing what He is doing. When a leper is healed, you can’t tell whether the leper or Jesus is happier about it! I think sometimes we get the wrong idea about what it means “to be like Jesus.” We sing those words in various songs, but much of the time I don’t think we have any idea what that means. Jesus was serious, certainly, because he had a lot of very important work to do, but I don’t think for a minute He went around with a long face all the time. As I’ve mentioned before, Josephus recorded that Jesus had some pretty wide mood swings, weeping over Jerusalem one minute and rejoicing over someone’s faith the next. To be like Jesus, we too need to face evil unflinchingly, but at the same time rejoice in God’s grace, His victory in which He has given us a part.

One of the many statements by Dennis Prager that have blessed me is that we have a responsibility to be happy. It’s not that he ignores evil or that he wants us to, but as a devout Jew, he says that belief in a loving Creator essentially requires optimism. My title for both of the messages I preached at Easter this year was Joy, and I really do believe God desires that for us. Paul famously told us in more than one of his letters to “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) I think that’s precisely what Jesus did, and I indeed want to be like Him! I am not to be flippant, or make people think their suffering is unimportant, but I am to “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) If I will do that, then people will be drawn to Christ through me, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There’s a lot here I believe You want me to communicate to the believers. I ask for clear guidance so that it may be Your Word indeed, accomplishing that for which You send it, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Simon Peter; April 10, 2023

Posted on April 11, 2023 by jgarrott

Luke 24:33-34 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”

It was probably Don Francisco’s musical description of Peter’s encounter with the risen Jesus that implanted this most firmly in my mind, but at any rate, I have loved this story for a long time. That Jesus would meet personally with the one disciple who most vocally and publicly denied that he knew Him so expresses Jesus’ character! The first person He appeared to was Mary Magdalene, (John 20:10-18) who was not only a woman, she had been infested previously with seven demonic spirits. (Luke 8:2) It would seem that Peter was the second, and then these largely anonymous disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is always interested in the little person, the downtrodden, those to whom the world wouldn’t give a second thought. That shouldn’t be surprising, when He told us that the Father even keeps track of how many hairs we have on our head! How neurotic would a person be to be caught up in that sort of thing about themselves? We have great difficulty grasping just how individually God cares about us. It seems to me to be analogous to naming all the ants in an anthill! Only God is big enough, powerful enough, loving enough to do that. As I have commented numbers of times before, He sees and accepts us as we are, but He doesn’t leave us as we are. He knows how we need to repent and change and grow, and He is always urging us in that direction. Peter was certainly transformed by his encounter with the risen Christ, but he still wasn’t perfected, and Paul had to call him down for hypocrisy at one point. (Galatians 2:11-14) That’s just one of many ways that Peter should be an example and an encouragement to us. God is always ready for us to make the course corrections we need to get back on track with Him, to manifest His power in and through our weakness, for our blessing and His glory.

This certainly applies to me! I feel like my experience of the Lord in November, 1972, though brief, was just about as dramatic as Peter’s mentioned here. Like Peter, I was transformed but not perfected. In the years since then the Lord has been incredibly patient with me, teaching me some lessons again and again until they were worked into me. Like Paul, I am very aware that perfection will only come when I am through with this body and fully present before my Lord. (1 Corinthians 13:12) He knows what He is working on, and what He has for me to do along the way. I am not to dismiss anyone as useless to God – including myself! I need to keep remembering the example of Peter, and act accordingly.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for yesterday and all it held, for speaking through me both at the sunrise service and here. Thank You for all the children who came for the Easter egg hunt, and for the many parents as well. I pray that what they heard and experienced would stay with them and bear rich fruit, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Preconceptions; April 9, 2023

Posted on April 10, 2023 by jgarrott

Luke 24:11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.

As I tell people frequently, one thing I like about the Bible is that it doesn’t dress people up, but rather presents them honestly. These were the Apostles of Jesus Christ, but they couldn’t bring themselves to understand and believe it when the women were telling them the best news since Creation! Part of that was the general societal attitude that women were far inferior to men, essentially incapable of rational thought. Jesus’ attitude toward women, allowing them to sit and listen to His teaching, was downright revolutionary for the time. One of the revolutionary things about the early Church was the way they treated women as “heirs with you of the gracious gift of life,” (1 Peter 3:7) but the message doesn’t seem to have penetrated sufficiently at this point. The other factor in their lack of understanding was that the news didn’t fit their preconceptions, regardless of the messenger. This is an issue for us all the time. We set up scenarios in our mind, and when events don’t match them, we tend to cling to the scenarios rather than the facts. We claim to believe in a supernatural God, but at the same time we forget what the definition of “supernatural” actually is! We fall for scams and other deceptions and fail to believe and trust the almighty Creator of the universe! Easter is the best news that could ever be, because Jesus’ resurrection proves that those who are in Him by faith have overcome sin, death, and hell. We need to let the Holy Spirit break the boxes we tend to put Him into, opening our minds and hearts to the magnificence of God’s plan of salvation, for us and for all mankind.

I will confess to being dulled myself to the glory of Easter. Not as severely as Christmas, but still it has tended to feel like not entirely welcome busyness. What a sad loss! Thankfully, God in His mercy has brought me out of that this year, at least to some extent. I’m the speaker at the Sunrise Service, and of course we have our regular Sunday service. At both, my title is Joy, though the messages are far from identical. I think the message has started to penetrate my own heart, and I expect it to do so even more as I deliver it. I want others to receive the Gospel in faith and joy, so my own response needs to be the same! Around 30 years ago the Lord spoke through me, in a little 2-person prayer meeting, “Don’t be amazed at what amazes others, but expect great things of Me.” I need to remember that! I have long felt that James 1:22 was written expressly for me, but it gets even more pointed when I myself am the messenger! Today on Easter morning, but not just today, I need to keep my heart open for everything my Lord wants to say to me, however and through whomever He wants to say it, and apply myself to follow through in faith and joy.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in and around me, and even in spite of me. Help me not be in the way, but rather flow with Your Spirit according to Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Completion; April 8, 2023

Posted on April 9, 2023 by jgarrott

John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

This was the final demonstration of Jesus’ faithfulness. He wouldn’t escape His body until He had fulfilled every prophecy about the death of the Messiah. The NIV very understandably uses the expression familiar from just about all English translations, “It is finished.” However, the Japanese uses an expression that I think puts a finer point on it: “It is completed.” Jesus had been given a job to do, actually from the point He arrived in Mary’s womb but then explicitly from the point of His baptism by John, and here He wraps it up. Going through what for most of us is unimaginable pain, not fleeing even though He could have, He fulfilled His role as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) As the following verses make clear, further prophecies were fulfilled after this, but Jesus had no direct input into them, so His role was indeed completed. We don’t know all the details of God’s plan for us, in contrast to Jesus’ level of awareness, so we have to operate in faith that we are indeed taking care of everything asked of us. However, we do have two statements by Paul to encourage us: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) And, “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) Paul spoke from personal experience, because as he approached his own martyrdom he was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8) We need to learn from Jesus, and even from Paul, to follow through with all that we are given to do, but we aren’t to be anxious about it, but know that God who gave us the task will enable us to indeed complete it.

I am personally very aware that this isn’t an easy thing for us to figure out. At the time my father woke up in heaven after heart surgery, he was exactly halfway through a project translating the New Testament into contemporary Japanese. About 30 years later the part completed was indeed published, but that doesn’t fit our usual human definitions of completion. In more general terms, very few people leave this life without dangling loose ends. The picture of Einstein’s desk taken the day after he died is justly famous. Having already outlived my father by over 10 years, this is something I think about! My task, as I see it, is to ask the Lord for His plans for each day and then apply myself fully to follow them. The temptation is always there to cook up my own plans, but that has never ended well. However, I have experienced God doing things through me that amazed me, and I am very aware that I can’t take the credit. I am to accept whatever assignments I am given, and let the Lord define “completion” and “success.” My goal is very simply to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am very aware of my own weakness, in faithfulness as in everything else. Help me let Your strength flow through me, so that Your purposes for me may be completed indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Salvation; April 7, 2023

Posted on April 8, 2023 by jgarrott

Luke 23:42-43 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

I couldn’t begin to say how many times I’ve referenced this story in telling people the simplicity of salvation. We tend to systematize things and try to reduce them to formulas, when God knows each person’s heart. This man had just acknowledged his own sin, saying that he deserved the punishment he was getting. He then declares his faith in Jesus in a rather remarkable way. Why would a sane man speak to someone who was nailed to a cross about coming into his kingdom? This man obviously believed Jesus was indeed who He said He was, so little details like physical death couldn’t be more than bumps in the road. The other criminal had used Jesus’ claim as an accusation – “Aren’t you the Christ?” – wanting to “cash in,” so to speak, if Jesus really did have power, but this man spoke in humility and faith. That is all that has ever been required for salvation. We’ve got to acknowledge that we need it, that our actions and attitudes have earned eternal destruction for us, and then trust that God has provided that salvation through His Son. That’s the only “doctrinal test” required.

As I said, I’ve talked with people about this countless times. I have friends who define themselves by their denomination, and I find that very sad. All such labels will be totally meaningless before the Throne in heaven! I personally believe that we will find a lot of people in heaven whom we exclude here on earth. They may be few, but I expect to run into some ex JWs and ex Mormons who managed to cling to the essence of the Gospel and not be pulled aside by the junk. For that matter, once we get to heaven, we’ll all be “ex” something, be it Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, or whatever. I have always liked C. S. Lewis’ statement in The Great Divorce that once we get to heaven, we can be sure we’ll all discover we had been wrong somewhere. I am currently non-denominational, but I’m not to wear that as a point of pride, or I will place myself in exactly the same position as the people I criticize. I’ve got to remember that my own salvation is on exactly the same basis as that of anyone else, including this criminal on the cross next to Jesus. On this Good Friday I am to rejoice that the Son of God loved me enough to go through hell for me, so that by faith I may live in Heaven with Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s not easy to focus on Good Friday when society around me ignores it and I have such details as physical therapy and an entrance ceremony to attend. May I fulfill the various obligations I have today, all the while allowing Your Spirit to work the reality of the cross ever deeper into my heart and mind, so that I may be transformed as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Authority; April 6, 2023

Posted on April 7, 2023 by jgarrott

John 19:11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

I feel sorry for Pilate. We know from history that he was on somewhat shaky terms with Rome at this point, which was why it was so effective that the Jews said, “If you let this man go you are no friend of Caesar.” (verse 12) He was certainly no angel, but rather than being a uniquely evil individual, as some have tried to portray him, he was just a weak politician, just like so many we see today who will do almost anything for what they see as personal advantage. He was used to the trappings of power, and he liked them. That’s why Jesus’ statement here was precisely on target. However, all of that is not to say that Pilate was innocent. He didn’t have as much authority as he thought he did, but he was still responsible and accountable for his use of what he did have. We may think we have no power against the evil that surrounds us, but especially in a country like America, no one is without power. Even in less democratically organized societies every individual has the power of influence, even it that might be toward only a very few people. Just as Pilate’s power came from above, so God has given every human being a degree of power. If we had no power we would have no responsibility. That’s why free will is such a huge issue. “I couldn’t help it” is never a valid excuse! Particularly everyone who has encountered Jesus as Lord and Savior needs to recognize the power they have been given in the name of Jesus, and exercise that power in full submission to Him to do His will for His glory. Anything less is sin. (James 4:17)

Ouch! I have the feeling I’ve got a lot more sins of omission on my slate than sins of commission! I have tended to draw back from exercising authority, and that is wrong. As the same time, I’ve got to remember that every bit of authority I have is given to me from above, and not something I have intrinsically. I am easily critical of politicians, but I’m really no better. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to show me what authority I have been given and how the Father wants me to exercise it, and then I need to be obedient. It does no good to know truth if I don’t act on it! (James 1:22) My school classes for the Spring term have started, and there I am indeed seen as someone with authority, for simple longevity if for no other reason! I need to exercise that for blessing, not just for my students but for the other staff as well. In this city I have the greatest seniority of anyone in ministry, but again that is not something to be waved around. I need to be faithful in prayer and faithful to speak whatever, and only, what the Lord desires of me, because I have the strong impression He’s got great plans, but they’re certainly not anything I could accomplish on my own.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the Easter events coming up. May every one of those draw people to the Risen Lord, bringing repentance and faith for salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Truth; April 5, 2023

Posted on April 6, 2023 by jgarrott

Matthew 26:64 “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

When adjured under oath by the high priest, Jesus could not remain silent even to save His own life. This was in sharp contrast to Peter, who, two of the three times he falsely denied knowing Jesus, swore against himself. (verses 72, 74) To be honest, I’m really looking forward to the fulfillment of what Jesus said! Thinking about it, it’s rather remarkable that Jesus’ statement didn’t give the priests and scribes pause, because it is perfectly in line with prophecies in Ezekiel and Daniel. Jesus never had to worry about what He said because He always spoke truth. When we lie, we have to worry about what we’ve said before and how it lines up, but that’s not an issue when you only speak truth all the time. The more we are in line with Jesus, the more we will speak truth on all levels. Sometimes it seems like the world operates on lies, even in areas like medicine in which we would expect objective fact. It is emotionally painful, but it’s actually a good thing that so many lies are being exposed these days. They would still be lies even if they weren’t exposed, so shining light on them gives the truth a chance. When we claim to follow the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life,” (John 14:5) falsehood should be as far from us as it was from Him.

I had the huge blessing of being raised by a man who, as a single missionary, had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in which he was challenged to various “absolutes,” specifically including absolute honesty. To my knowledge he lived by that faithfully, and all around him benefited. I don’t recall him using the phrase, absolute honesty, with me before one of the last conversations we had before he left for the trip to the US from which he returned as a box of ashes, but I do remember that conversation very clearly. I wasn’t in the least surprised to hear the expression, because I knew that was the sort of man my father was. I have tried to keep that as part of my own foundation, and I think it’s pretty well established. I’m grateful! To me, the most important thing is that when I talk about Jesus, people would accept my words as truth because that’s the reputation I’ve built up. It doesn’t matter much whether they believe me personally, but it matters for their eternal salvation whether they believe the words of God I share with them. My goal is to bring as many as possible with me into God’s truth, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that my school classes have restarted. This week it’s all students I have had before, so they know what they’re getting, so to speak. Next week I have one class of new students. May my interactions with all my students, and with everyone else, for that matter, accurately reflect Your character, Your truth in me, so that people may indeed know Your truth and be set free, for Your glory. (John 8:32) Thank You. Hallelujah!

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