Being Still; March 5, 2023

Posted on March 6, 2023 by jgarrott

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

I can’t read this verse without thinking of the musical setting Evie Karlsson put it to, which I have translated into Japanese. It is a very simple and powerful message. Sometimes the Lord does ask considerable activity from us; this is no excuse to be lazy. However, it is a reminder that the solutions and power come from God. Sometimes His victories come through our sacrifices. Revelation famously tells us, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:11) From a worldly standpoint martyrdom is defeat, but from the viewpoint of eternity in heaven, it is a glorious victory. It’s all a matter of perspective. When we are focused on the here and now, on our physical comfort and pleasure, we miss out on what is really important. It is interesting that where the English says “be still” in this verse, the Japanese says, “be silent.” Both, I think, are important. We’re to stop thrashing around in our own strength, and we are also to stop yelling about it. We can be very proficient at complaining! The same thing may be said of worship. Sometimes dancing before the Lord, praising Him with loud voices, is entirely appropriate, but sometimes the silence of deep reverence is called for, even being prostrate before Him. Revelation tells us both exist in heaven! The point is, when our voices are raised it should be in praise and thanksgiving, and not in complaining and fear.

All of this fits perfectly with two times the Lord has spoken to me, once in what seemed to be an audible voice and once in a strong impression in my heart and mind. As I have shared before, the audible voice experience was when I had been beseeching him nonstop to speak to me, to tell me what I should do, and when I paused for breath He told me, “Well then, shut up.” I indeed did, in great shock, but then I had to laugh at myself. I had been too busy asking for something to be able to receive it. The second experience didn’t seem like an audible voice, but it was no less clear. As is most common for me, my morning devotions developed into a Sunday message, and the message was, “Rest. Relax. Rejoice.” I don’t remember what Scripture was involved, but that’s another way of expressing what this verse says. I’m not to be lazy, but I’m never to think that I’ve got to make anything happen. My job is to cooperate with what God is doing, and often that just means getting out of His way. My strength and wisdom are totally insignificant compared to His, and I should be very glad of that! He has given us a humanly impossible vision of this city again being the foremost Christian city in the nation. Since I can’t make it happen, I’m to rest, relax, and rejoice as He makes it happen, perhaps even using me in the process.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all of Your marvelous plans, and for including me in some of them. May I cooperate fully, not getting in Your way, so that Your will may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faith vs. Sight; March 4, 2023

Posted on March 5, 2023 by jgarrott

Exodus 4:30-31 He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed.

God knows our weakness and meets us where we are. As I mentioned a few days ago, Abram had no theological foundation for his faith, and his descendants at this point weren’t much better. God gave Moses supernatural signs to show the people and stimulate their faith, and it worked. However, Jesus’ statement to Thomas comes to mind: “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) And as Paul said a few years after that, “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) We are to rejoice when God gives us visible signs of His reality, His presence, but we aren’t to demand them or depend on them. As it famously says in Hebrews, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Stage magicians make a living with illusions. Depending on what our senses tell us results in the same end as all the physical things we’re looking at, which is destruction. Like the father of the epileptic boy, we cry out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) However, God does give faith to those who seek Him, above and beyond any “signs and wonders.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Accepting and walking in that faith is the path of salvation, peace, and joy.

I was raised in an environment of faith, and I am deeply grateful. Personally, I have seen some pretty remarkable things, including instantaneous healings, and I have had some times of intense fellowship with my Lord in which I was more sure that He was real than that I was. That said, as grateful as I am for those things, I am not to let my faith depend on them. God is still real even in what has been called “the dark night of the soul,” when everything seems bleak and God nowhere around. If I weren’t convinced of that, I would have far less reason to try to convince anyone else to trust Him. He has shown Himself faithful to me so many times that I would be totally ungrateful if I were not to share Him with those around me. And I have found that the more I share, the more I articulate my faith, the stronger and deeper it grows. As came up two days ago, in that way faith is very much like love. And just as love is delightful, so faith in our absolutely worthy Lord and Savior is the most delightful thing this side of heaven, at which point, as the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul puts it, our faith becomes sight.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the incredible gift of faith. May I receive it ever more fully, sharing and exercising it so that it will continue to grow, fulfilling all of Your purposes for me for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting God; March 3, 3032

Posted on March 4, 2023 by jgarrott

Exodus 4:11-12 The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

God has said this sort of thing to many people down through the centuries, and many have reacted as Moses did. Moses was worried about whether the people would believe him, but the bigger issue was whether he believed God, and at this point his faith was quite shallow. It’s interesting that this degree of weakness in Moses is recorded, since he was the one who wrote it! There were later editors, certainly, but modern computer analysis shows that yes, the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible) were written by one person, and there’s no better candidate than Moses himself. Raised in the court of Pharoah, he would have been one of the very few literate people in the whole group of Israelites. That said, the fact that he did record it shows that he got past what his problem was right here: being focused on himself and his own abilities, or lack thereof. We all struggle with that at times. That really is what faith is all about. Of course, the flip side of that, conceit, is also an issue. We need to do as Paul said: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3) The answer to both issues is looking to our Creator and trusting that He can do anything at all through us, but we can do nothing without Him, just as Jesus reminded us. (John 15:5) I’ve completely lost track of how many people I’ve heard say, “God could never use me to do that.” That is cutting yourself out of the flow of God’s grace and power. God expressly told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Like Paul, then, we should rejoice in our weaknesses so that God’s power may be demonstrated through us. Moses hadn’t learned that lesson yet! God’s promise to help him speak and teach him what to say should have given him great joy and boldness, but his heart, his faith, was still stiff and small. We can identify with that! However, just as God “fixed” Moses’ faith, He can deal with ours as well, if we will allow Him to do so.

As I have written many times before, the conceit side of this equation has been the bigger problem for me. I was blessed to be raised by parents who never said, or even implied, that anything was beyond me if I would apply myself, but I ended up being able to do so many things that I thought it was me, rather than God working through me in grace. I felt entitled to success! Failing two courses my freshman year in college was a much-needed wakeup call. However, it wasn’t until the Lord gave me an unvarnished look at myself, at 24, that my perspective really started to straighten out. Even at 74 I can’t say that I see things with full accuracy, but as Paul said, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) I’m never to give up on myself, but that has got to be because I’m trusting in God’s grace, not on my own ability. As I tell people frequently, we can’t draw a single breath apart from the gracious support of our Creator. However, if I am properly in tune with Him, He will indeed put words in my mouth just as He did with Moses.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me rejoice in my dependence on You and not go running off or spouting off on my own, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Faith; March 2, 2023

Posted on March 3, 2023 by jgarrott

Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

As Paul realized, this is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament. Long before the Law was given through Moses, the Lord sought faith, and found it in Abram. Abram’s “theology” could hardly have been very developed, but he trusted that this Being who spoke to him through his mind, his imagination if you will, was real and not just a hallucination, and that He was to be trusted. These days we’d be likely just to doubt our own sanity! I wonder just who Abram thought God was when He first told him to leave his father’s home and “go to the land I will show you?” (Genesis 12:1) We have no record of what might have happened before that to generate such trust, but the point is that Abram had it, and he was obedient. The thing is, genuine faith will always result in action, as James stressed in his letter over a thousand years after Abram. (James 4:14-25) We have no mention of action as such in this verse, but Abram had already uprooted himself and his family to travel to a place he knew next to nothing about. Because Abram had nothing else to go on, no “holy book” to refer to. God had to speak to him directly and specifically. We might think we want Him to do that for us, but the question is whether we have the faith to handle it. As Jesus said to the Pharisees, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5:46-47) God speaks to different people in different ways, and the issue is always whether we are listening in the first place, and then whether we really believe what we hear. Rather than wish for specific instructions, we need to examine whether we have followed the instructions we have already received. The New testament talks a lot about loving God. Jesus even said that loving God was the greatest of all the commandments in the Old Testament. (Matthew 22:38) However, He also said that love was displayed in obedience. (John 14:15 and more) Exactly the same thing may be said of faith. If we are convinced that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and loving, then we will do absolutely everything we recognize Him as saying to us. Anything less would be stupid hubris.

Of course this applies to me. As I have written before, I grew up in a home where God was a given, where prayer was as natural as breathing, and I professed my love for Jesus from a very young age. However, familiarity indeed bred contempt, and I descended into that “stupid hubris” I just mentioned. I was an adult, a married father, when God finally tapped me on the shoulder, figuratively speaking, and when I turned, He had a mirror to show me, for a brief moment, the state of my soul. I collapsed in abject repentance. It was such a dramatic experience that I requested, and received, water baptism a second time (though I’m not at this point sure that was necessary). That marked the beginning of a life of obedience, still with many stumbles along the way. The only time the Lord has spoken to me very clearly in a command, it was to tell me to shut up! However, He speaks to me daily through His Word. That’s an area in which I have a huge advantage over Abram! That said, I have no excuse whatsoever for failing to obey what I hear from Him, because it’s right there in black and white, and I have His Spirit to interpret it to me. It is my prayer that I will lead others into really listening to Him through His Word, and it is my highest joy when that happens.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for Your amazing faithfulness to speak to me. I was all set to prepare a different message for Sunday, so thank You that I hadn’t started before You spoke this to me. I do pray that everyone who hears what You say through me would be inspired to trust You, resulting in loving You, resulting in obeying You, so that Your will may be done in and through us for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Spiritual Warfare; March 1, 2023

Posted on March 2, 2023 by jgarrott

Revelation 19:10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

One thing that jumps out at me from this is that even John, the “beloved disciple,” started to worship the angel. After all, the angel had just said, “These are the true words of God.” It’s OK to be impressed with things, to be in awe of them even, but as the angel says here, worship is for God alone. Every human being has an innate impulse to worship, but when we worship anything less than our Creator we are instantly led astray. We don’t want that and neither does God. Angels are certainly impressive as my wife testifies, having seen a few. However, any angel that accepts worship is instantly shown to be a fallen angel, one who followed Satan in his rebellion, because a holy angel will always respond as this one did to John. It is very encouraging, comforting even, that such an angel would describe himself as “a fellow servant” with us. Our team has the best players! The thing that he says at the end almost seems out of place until you understand that Biblical prophecy is speaking God’s words after Him. He was telling John that by speaking “the true words of God” he was just prophesying, just as John or any child of God will do at times. Every believer needs to understand that they have entered God’s army, right alongside the angels and the saints who have gone before us, and we have been given armor and weapons accordingly. (Ephesians 6:13-18) We have no power or authority in ourselves, but the One who has called, equipped, and commissioned us has all authority and power, and He can and will speak and act through us to accomplish His works for His glory. We aren’t to worship angels, much less any human being, but rather come alongside them in the battle against evil, for the glory of God.

Well! I didn’t expect that! I feel like I’m being called to active duty, which shouldn’t be surprising, since the Holy Spirit is obviously on the move, at Asbury and elsewhere. I see so many people saying, “If it isn’t this way it isn’t a genuine move of God.” How narrow! How parochial! God has moved many different ways down through the centuries, but we are always tempted to try to put Him into one box or another. I am not to limit God, but keeping my eyes on Jesus I am to listen to whatever His Spirit tells me, willing to move however He directs. I have seen many encouraging things recently, in my own life, in this church, and even at a distance, such as in Kentucky. I am to rejoice that God not only has a plan, He is executing it even as I watch, and He may even use me in it! I’m not to run ahead but rather follow faithfully, exercising authority because I’m fully submitted to His authority, so that His will may be done in and through me for His glory.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank you that it in no way conflicts with what You told me years ago, to rest, relax, and rejoice in You. I can’t accomplish anything in my own strength, but I can delight to see You do things through me. May Your name indeed be recognized as holy and Your rule and reign be established as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Trials; February 28, 2023

Posted on March 1, 2023 by jgarrott

Revelation 12:12 “Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”

The Bible never promises us that things will be easy, but at least it tells us why they will be hard! The thing to notice, though is that there is always an element of real hope. In Jesus’ famous statement that “In this world you will have trouble,” He also told us to take heart, because He has already overcome the world. (John 16:33) Here, we are told that the devil/dragon is filled with fury, which is a fearsome image indeed, but we are also told that “his time is short.” Of course, we need to remember that “short” is a relative term. As I have written repeatedly, God is outside of time so His frame of reference isn’t the same as ours. That said, we are going to spend eternity with Him, so from that perspective we will be able to see how short the devil’s time really was. God has a purpose for every hard thing He allows in our lives, but we aren’t too likely to perceive it in the heat of the moment. However, when we release each thing to Him in faith, it’s generally not long before we realize the truth of Romans 8:28: “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.” Paul, who wrote that, went through all sorts of hardships and was eventually martyred, but he had the assurance that “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) Peter also told us not to be surprised at “fiery trials,” but rather to rejoice. (1 Peter 4:12-13) I think that for the definitive word on this we go back to Paul: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) When we have that perspective, the devil’s fury will be no more than an inconvenience.

I have had various experiences that weren’t much fun at the time, but from my current viewpoint they don’t seem like such a big deal. However, when I tell people about them they seem awed by my faith and endurance. I didn’t feel so strong in the middle of it all! I know that my trials are small potatoes compared to what many of my brothers and sisters in Christ have endured, but none of it can compare to what awaits us in eternity with the Lord of Glory. Right now I’m still recovering from a broken wrist, but I had good medical treatment and my progress is surprisingly fast to many people. I have no room to complain. At this point I can type, with only a few more mistakes than usual, and I am aware of and grateful for my progress. I expect to recover full use of that wrist, and even if I don’t, I won’t need it for more than about 25 more years at the most! It is a reminder of my humanity and of the need to let others participate in what I have thought of as “my” ministry. God is good!

Father, thank You indeed for this reminder. Help me be on my guard against the devil, (1 Peter 5:8) but at the same time not be paranoid, but rather rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Praying in the Spirit; February 27, 2023

Posted on February 28, 2023 by jgarrott

Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

I was tempted to go on to include verse 21, since the Japanese combines the two verses in one sentence, but recent events have made this verse seem particularly timely. Early in my introduction to the Charismatic Movement I was taught that this reference to “pray in the Holy Spirit” was talking about exercising the gift of tongues. I see no particular reason to counter that, particularly since Paul used that sort of terminology in writing to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 14:15) However, Paul also wrote to the Ephesians, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18) That would indicate to me that over-defining “praying in the Spirit” would be unwise at the very least. The reason this seems timely to me is that yesterday I encountered a social media post that was inquiring about the events at Asbury University. The original poster doesn’t have a Pentecostal/Charismatic background, so many things seemed strange to him, but he is very much a sincere disciple of Jesus Christ. I wish I could say the same about all his commenters! I haven’t seen such verbal violence against a Christian practice since I wrote a paper on “The Use of Tongues in Ministry” for a Systematic Theology class in a Southern Baptist seminary! We are indeed to be discerning, not “swallowing everything whole,” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) but that same passage tells us not to “put out the Spirit’s fire.” The fire in some of those comments was certainly not that of the Holy Spirit!

To be honest, I don’t come from a Pentecostal/Charismatic background either, since my parents were Southern Baptist missionaries. However, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, my father visited the Shantung Revival in China as a new missionary, and that made him open to the idea that the Holy Spirit could work in ways outside of his previous experience. Returning to Japan, he did have a dramatic experience that I think was the baptism in the Holy Spirit, but to my knowledge he never had the gift of tongues (though he was an accomplished linguist). It was only about a year before my father’s death that I was introduced to the Charismatic Movement, but I immediately recognized it as something Biblical. I don’t need to go into the whole saga here, but I am convinced that all of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, and more, are valid and operative today, but none are “necessary proof” of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I think of one dear saint who thought she had never been baptized in the Holy Spirit because she didn’t “exercise spiritual gifts,” but she absolutely radiated the love of God to a degree that was astounding, and that can only come from the Holy Spirit. As I experienced myself, the only definitive “sign” of the Holy Spirit is that expressed in Acts 1:8: the power to be a witness for Christ.

Father, thank You for all You have brought me through. Thank You for the depth and breadth of love that was expressed here yesterday, particularly after the service. I do pray for those involved in that social media post yesterday. May they open their hearts to allow You to wash them clean, pouring Your gracious, loving Spirit into them, so that the lies of the devil may be exposed and dispelled, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Children; February 26, 2023

Posted on February 27, 2023 by jgarrott

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

I think anyone who has been in ministry for several years can identify strongly with this statement. We have no indication that John ever married, but he doubtless had countless spiritual children and grandchildren. Frankly, not all were of the same quality. Diotrephes, mentioned in this letter, seems to have been a real bad actor, but John had people like Gaius and Demetrius to balance that, just like Paul had people like Timothy and Titus to balance some of his disappointments. The thing is, none of us can control anyone else in any real way. All we can do is be faithful with the opportunities and resources that are presented to us, and leave the rest in God’s hands. The Bible speaks many times of personal responsibility, but it doesn’t hold us accountable for the actions of others. As God told Ezekiel, our responsibility is to relay the message we have been given. If we fail to do that it’s on us, but if we are faithful, then it’s entirely up to those receiving the message. (Ezekiel 33:7-9) The joy that John speaks of here is two-fold: joy that his children are walking with God, and joy that his own efforts weren’t in vain. For someone in ministry, that really does take the cake.

Of course, since I’ve been in ministry for over 40 years, this applies fully to me. I have had spiritual children who were a real disappointment – you could almost say they were stillborn – and I have had children who warm my heart just to think of them. I have had rebellious children who later repented, and I have had children who just seemed to drift off. I am thankful to say that I have grown as a spiritual father over the years, but even so I can take little if any personal credit for the successes. At the same time, even some of the more painful failures aren’t necessarily on me. I’ve got to yield myself and my children to the Lord, not just occasionally but consistently, so that He may be free to do in and through each of us what He desires, for our blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for my failure yesterday as a photographer. That was certainly painful, but it was a lesson in confirming performance of equipment, particularly when that equipment hasn’t been used for a while. I do pray that things would go smoothly in refunding those who ordered pictures on the spot. Thank You that the event itself went smoothly, and was a blessing to all involved. Thank You for Your plans for today. I know what I want to happen, but I can’t force Your schedule. May Your will be done as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Heresy; February 25, 2023

Posted on February 26, 2023 by jgarrott

2 John 1:9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

We don’t often think about how spiritually dangerous it was in the time before the canon of the New Testament was settled. People were going around teaching all sorts of weird things. That’s why the apostles had to write so many letters. A comparable situation exists today in China and perhaps some other countries that experience persecution, because a lack of Bibles forces people to depend on word-of-mouth, and that is obviously not always reliable. Heresies in the West, in contrast, exist in spite of the Bible, often directly denying its validity. A heresy of ignorance seems much more excusable! Current “rewrites” of the Bible, seeking to make it “gender neutral,” are an example in point. The thing is, the devil is a liar who hates the truth, (John 8:44) because he knows that God’s truth sets people free, (John 8:32) and he wants to keep people enslaved to sin. We aren’t saved through theology but through faith, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but what we believe makes a huge difference. America, for example, has an abundant supply of Bibles, but the average person on the street is woefully ignorant of what the Bible actually says. They think that various pious-sounding proverbs, like “God helps those who help themselves,” are in the Bible when they aren’t, and they fail to realize that the Bible speaks directly to some of their personal issues they think God doesn’t care about. That has been a problem throughout history, all the way back when any Scriptures were hand-copied, and most people were illiterate anyway. That’s why the Psalmist said, very wisely, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11) It is when God’s truth becomes embedded in us that we are protected against the devil’s lies.

Having had the huge blessing of being raised in a home that knew and loved the Bible, when I was introduced to the Charismatic Movement I recognized immediately that it was Biblical. I’m also thankful to say that I have had little difficulty recognizing various aberrations that have circulated. Human pride and greed will always generate heresies. That said, it would be conceit indeed to think that I have total truth, that all mysteries are open before me. I’ve got to be humbly learning all the time, however and through whomever the Lord wants to teach me. Going back to my father’s catch-phrase, “Give all you know of yourself to all you know of Christ,” I need to keep learning more of my Lord, even as I discover more about myself, and I need to keep my commitment current and complete. I have been gifted and privileged to teach, but I’ve got to remember that just because I say something doesn’t make it so. It is what God says that is Truth. I am to seek to let Him speak through me, without distortion, and I am to be obedient to what He says, even if He says it through me.

Father, thank You for Your truth that indeed sets us free. Help me walk in Your truth, Your light, consistently so that it may flow through me unhindered, lighting the way for others and defeating the plans of darkness, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Sharing Christ; February 24, 2023

Posted on February 25, 2023 by jgarrott

1 John 1:3-4 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

The absolute glory of the first part of John’s first letter defies words to express it, in my opinion. John, as the Beloved Disciple (John 21:20), had indeed seen and heart as much or more of Jesus as the Messiah than anyone, and he was later granted the vision of Him in His glory that is recorded in Revelation. However, just having seen and heard wasn’t sufficient for him; he wanted to communicate it in order to “make his joy complete.” No one on the earth today has experienced as much of Jesus as John did, but we have one thing in common with him: sharing however much we know of Christ is the way to true joy. Thinking about it, I just realized an interesting truth. It is widely recognized that “Love isn’t love until you give it away.” That is, love requires an object in order to be expressed. Well, God is love, (1 John 4:8) so expressing Him to others makes Him real to us. One of the fascinating things about the Kingdom of God is that faith is strengthened whenever it is expressed, in either word or action, and likewise our experience of God is deepened when we share Him with others. That’s one reason corporate worship is important, and why the devil tries to shut it down, as we recently experienced in the pandemic. Individual, private fellowship with the Lord is also essential, but Jesus expressly said that “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) When we share Christ so that someone repents and believes, in that moment we become “two gathered in His name,” and He Himself is with us in a special way. If you want more of Jesus, more of His joy, then share Him more!

I’m talking to myself here. As I frequently lament, I’m not very gifted as an Evangelist. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t share Christ! I was recently talking with someone who does seem to have evangelistic gifting, who was lamenting their inability to train and nurture new believers much past the point of initial commitment. I told them, “You get them born and I’ll raise them.” We were both delighted at the prospect! Sharing Christ, sharing the truth that He has poured into me, indeed gives me joy that I can have no other way. I am not to regret being a Teacher, rather than something else, but must make full use of all that God has poured into me, in order to have the joy that He intends for me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for that sister whom You are calling to move here with her husband. I do pray that we would be an effective team to raise up many disciples for You, in this city and this nation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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