The Object of Our Faith; September 16, 2023

Posted on September 17, 2023 by jgarrott

Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?”

This is a superb example of giving all the glory to God, but there is one difference in translation that just caught my eye. Where the NIV says “godliness,” the Japanese says “depth of faith.” These days we call people who operate in the Gift of Healing “faith healers,” and run around comparing one person’s level of faith to that of another. Peter is saying very clearly that the question is Who you believe in. God does give faith, (Ephesians 2:8-9) and faith that is exercised does grow, but the question is always the object of our faith. Some people seem to have faith in faith! It is true that “without faith it is impossible to please God,” (Hebrews 11:6) but too often we try to attach our faith to things that are less than God. There is a Japanese proverb that says, “Even a sardine’s head can be an object of faith,” but no one has ever been saved by faith in a sardine’s head! Peter couldn’t have been more clear that this was all because of Jesus, and he and John were no more than incidental instruments. I think the reason Jesus repeatedly used expressions like “faith as small as a mustard seed” (Luke 17:6) is because it isn’t a matter of the quantity of our faith, but rather the object of our faith. We’ve got to be very clear that whereas we can’t do anything right on our own, Jesus can and does do everything right, even using us.

This is an area where I am continuing to grow. Various people have commented on my level of faith, but I certainly haven’t been a “miracle worker” to this point. However, I do have full assurance that if He wanted to, Jesus could heal every person I touched, starting today. At the same time, I certainly know I can’t do that on my own. I need to be like Peter, walking in such assurance of my risen Lord that He is able to do anything at all through me. I have long desired that the Lord would confirm His word through me by signs and wonders, (Mark 16:20) but the danger of that swelling my head is immense. I am to walk in daily, humble faithfulness, knowing that God’s plans are perfect, and that He is big enough and strong enough to use even me in fulfilling them.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your plans, and that You include me in them. Thank You that my birthday is past, and all the emotional baggage of entering “the latter period of old age.” May I indeed keep my eyes on Jesus and so be fully available at all times for You to use me or not use me as You please, whatever that might mean, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Repentance; September 15, 2023

Posted on September 16, 2023 by jgarrott

Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off–for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

This is the invitation culminating the first sermon in the newly born Church, and as such it deserves every bit of the attention it’s gotten over the centuries. We need to remember what sort of a sermon it followed. This definitely wasn’t a “Your Best Life Now” sermon! Peter, and by extension Holy Spirit, pulled no punches, but boldly proclaimed that the people’s sins had sent the Son of God to the cross. Many churches today seem to have forgotten that when Jesus started His ministry His message was, “Repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15) It’s fitting that Mark’s Gospel is the record of Peter’s experiences, for the most part. Peter not only remembered that Jesus had said that, he said it himself here. Today, even people who recognize they need to be saved often don’t believe, or at least acknowledge, that they got themselves into that situation. I have heard so many people say that they can’t believe a loving God would send people to hell. He doesn’t. We earn our own tickets to hell! We want God to pour all His blessings out on us without clearing out the junk we have accumulated in our hearts by ignoring and/or disobeying Him. That doesn’t work! The good news is that repentance is always available to us, if we will only do it. Materially affluent societies seem to have the most trouble with this, because we become satisfied with our lives and lose sight of where we’re headed. The vast majority of people in the world just try to ignore the terror of being on the precipice of death without a right relationship with their Creator. That might make for fun in the short term, but it never pans out. Like Peter, we need to trumpet the need and the invitation to repent, to turn as many as will accept the invitation away from the gates of hell and to the path to life. Some preachers make a big deal of Peter having said, “and be baptized” here. Baptism isn’t necessary for salvation, as witness the thief on the cross next to Jesus, (Luke 23:39-43) but repentance and obedience are. As James pointed out strongly, faith without obedience can’t really be called faith. We are to call people to repentance and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, and be sure we’re following that road ourselves.

Since I am a pastor in Japan, this is absolutely central to my existence. I have no hope for myself apart from the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and my commission is to call people to receive that grace for themselves. I haven’t been terribly effective in doing that to this point, but God isn’t through with me, despite this being my 75th birthday. I am to ask God for the words and the anointing to get His message through to all who will hear, and I am to make full use of every opportunity He gives me to proclaim it, because He “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)

Father, thank You for this reminder and renewal of my commission. Help me fulfill it in Your wisdom and power, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Miracles of Pentecost; September 14, 2023

Posted on September 15, 2023 by jgarrott

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.”

Various miracles happened on Pentecost. In the first place, God’s Spirit was poured out on the assembled believers. This is the one we all associate with the occasion. They spoke as the Holy Spirit enabled them to do so, (verse 4) but verse 6 says that each outsider heard the believers speaking in their (the outsider’s) language. As my Garrott grandfather (also a pastor) wrote in the margin of a commentary he owned that was passed down to me, was this not a miracle of hearing, rather than speaking? There are countless verified testimonies of people speaking in languages they had not learned, but at the same time, every pastor has experienced people in the congregation speaking of what they got from the message, when it wasn’t anything the pastor remembered saying at all. God can control both sides of that transaction! Another miracle was the way that Peter got up and addressed the crowd. He had been totally devastated by his own failure in denying three times that he even knew Jesus, but here he gets up and projects his voice to the point that over 3000 people can hear him and proclaims the divinity and Lordship of Jesus. (I personally find that impressive because I’ve taught vocal production to speech therapists for over 30 years, and I know what is involved.) And the last miracle is that Peter, an ignorant fisherman and not some rabbinical scholar, quoted quantities of very applicable Scripture in his remarks. To me, all of this points up the fact that God can do anything and use anyone He pleases. That’s why there’s no room for personal pride on the part of anyone who is involved, only gratitude that God would include them.

Of course this applies to me. I’ve been ministering in Omura for 42 years now, and God has done various things through me in that interval. There are other things I wish He would do, but that’s not mine to dictate. I am by no means a robot, but I do desire to be an available, willing vessel for Him to use any way He would like. At the moment that seems to include writing my autobiography, but it’s certainly not limited to that. Turning 75 tomorrow, my perspective has certainly changed as to what I expect God to do through me, but actually, nothing whatsoever has changed as to what He could do through me. The point is, it’s not me, but Him. Being in the position of Peter would get me a lot of attention, but being an anonymous member of the group of believers would be just as glorious. I am to strive to keep my eyes off of myself and fix them on Jesus, (Hebrews 12:2) because only then will I be fully available and not hold back from whatever He wants to do through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. For whatever reasons, 75 is looming very big in my awareness. I’ve chosen to retire from secular teaching at this age, and I have the strong feeling that You have plans for me that I currently can’t see. Help me keep growing as Your child so that I may be fully useful to You for whatever You desire to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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People Being Restored; September 13, 2023

Posted on September 14, 2023 by jgarrott

Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

This is in a way a very comforting verse to me, because it marks the point from which Jesus’ whole physical family was included among the believers. It had to be a pretty rough paradigm shift for them, because they felt they were too familiar with His humanity to believe His divinity. They had famously come to fetch Him from His ministry, thinking He had flipped out, (Luke 8:19-21) but now they were among those willing to risk arrest or even execution for associating themselves with Him. None of us view anyone with complete accuracy the way God does, but by His grace we do come to see each other more and more fully and accurately. I think that comes from a growing awareness of God’s grace toward us, which causes us to extend grace toward others. That’s why we aren’t to write anyone off. Paul is an excellent example of that, having been a stalwart persecutor of the believers but then being transformed by his encounter with Christ, as is recorded in Acts 9. The Church as a whole took quite a while before they could accept his changed status! We too need to understand that if God could save us, He can save anybody! That’s one reason Jesus famously told us in the Sermon on the Mount to love our enemies and pray for our persecutors; He might very well turn them into brothers and sisters in faith!

I haven’t been very big on making enemies, but I will confess to having essentially written some people off. That’s not to say that I’m to keep thinking about them and what they have done, but it is to say I should pray for them any time they come to mind, and believe that God might indeed transform them into a close brother or sister, what­ever our relationship might have been in the past. After all, He’s far bigger and more powerful than all their mistakes, or mine. Paul speaks of “having nothing to do with” people who make problems in the Church, (2 Timothy 3:5, Titus 3:10) but he also spoke of forgiving someone who was repentant. (2 Corinthians 2:10) I am not to write people off, but I am to submit them to God and refuse to carry unforgiveness in my own heart. That’s too heavy a burden to bear, whether I realize it or not.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your overwhelming grace toward me. Help me be a joyful channel of that grace toward others, remembering that if You could save and use me, You can certainly save and use them. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sharing Christ; September 12, 2023

Posted on September 13, 2023 by jgarrott

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

I dearly love verse 21, and have even written a short book on it, but right now I feel the Lord is speaking this verse to me more strongly. Because God is infinite, there are literally infinite things that can be said or written about Him. Every believer has a trove of things they have learned through their encounters with Him. However, we need to have restraint, and not overload people with more than they can take in. As I wrote about just a few days ago, even Jesus said, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (John 16:12) What we say and what we write needs to have the same motive John had in recording his Gospel. It is the highest of privileges to share Christ in such a way that people believe and receive eternal life through Him. We can’t control whether someone will believe and receive life, but it’s for sure they won’t believe if they don’t have the information necessary. We aren’t to try to “cram it down their throat,” as I have seen people accuse others of doing, but we are to make the truth available in love. The irony of such accusations is that those who are actively against Biblical standards and morality often do all they can to cram their positions down everyone’s throat! The good news is that more and more people are getting tired of that and rejecting what has been pushed on them. When we try to “convert people to Christianity” we can generate the same sort of response. However, when we share the truth in love of the Savior we have encountered personally, then the response is much better. People don’t need a religion, they need a Savior.

This feels very timely to me for a number of reasons. In the first place, I’m a pastor in Japan, where the vast majority of the people around me have not encountered Christ and for the most part know very little about Him. Sharing Him is a constant, daily activity. In the second place, I’ve started writing my autobiography, and my motive there needs to be exactly what John expresses here. People tell me my story is interesting, but if telling it doesn’t draw people to Christ, there’s no reason to write. I don’t want people to read the book and think I’m wonderful, I want them to read it and know that Christ is absolutely amazing, and He loves them enough to die for them. I have been the recipient of uncountable levels of grace, and I want to share that so that others may believe that the same level of grace is available to them as well.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the fresh impetus to write. I haven’t written anything on the book the past couple of days, and that’s not good. Help me actively avoid the many distractions and do what You want me to do when You want me to do it, for the blessing of others and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Faith and Understanding; September 11, 2023

Posted on September 12, 2023 by jgarrott

John 20:8-9 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

It’s recorded here that John, seeing the empty tomb, believed, but neither he nor Peter yet understood from Scripture that this was what had been prophesied from long before. Faith is essential, but it’s not the same as understanding, and we need both. This takes us back to the message I preached yesterday, which came from what I wrote on the 5th. The disciples didn’t yet have the Holy Spirit to teach and explain all these things to them. We need to be as familiar as possible with the Bible, and we also need the Holy Spirit to explain to us what it means, so that we will have real understanding. Faith without understanding is blind. Sometimes we can’t understand what’s going on, and in that case blind faith is indeed necessary, but such situations are mercifully few and far between. Faith without sight is a blessing, as Jesus told Thomas, (John 20:29) but sight doesn’t guarantee understanding, as it says here. We need to ask Holy Spirit to help us understand things, but we are to keep trusting even when we don’t yet understand. I keep coming back to something it says in Hebrews: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40) When we have that understanding, faith actually becomes much easier. We need to both believe and understand that God is both omnipotent and loving, that He is both perfectly holy and graciously merciful, and so walk in obedient trust no matter what our circumstances.

I have always liked the Southern Gospel song with the repeated line, “We will understand it better by and by.” There are some who deride that song, considering it “anti-intellectual,” but such an attitude fails to understand the limits of human mental capacity. God has given us minds and expects us to use them, but there are things that are simply beyond our grasp. That has been hard for me to accept, since my IQ is somewhere north of 150, but I have had far more peace since coming to that understanding. There’s an interesting irony there! I am to seek to understand as much as I can, with the help of Holy Spirit, but I am not to falter from the obedience prompted by faith even when I don’t understand. There are many things that are totally beyond my human understanding, and I’ve got to be OK with that, because I know that God is God and that He loves me so much He sent His Sone to die to save me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do pray for faith and understanding for the many who are suffering in various ways right now. You know who is particularly on my mind, but there are multiplied thousands more that I don’t even know about. I ask Your grace and mercy on us all, and I pray that indeed, Your rule and reign would be established as Your will is done, even here on earth, as perfectly as it is in heaven. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Completion; September 10, 2023

Posted on September 11, 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.

I quoted this verse just yesterday, but the meaning is still fresh today. Everything Jesus did was intentional, and He did it for us. He did it to fulfill the plan that He, His Father, and Holy Spirit had come up with before Creation, because they knew that mankind, given free will, would use it to sin, and that would interfere with the whole purpose of Creation. This wasn’t suicide on Jesus’ part, it was releasing everything into the Father’s hands. The verses after this record the surprise of the soldiers that Jesus had died so quickly, and one of them famously used his spear just to be sure, in the process inadvertently fulfilling another Scripture. (verses 33-37) It has always been interesting that with the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, this specific execution method was followed, with the martyrs tied to their crosses and then, at the signal, they were run through with two spears, one from each side, that crossed in the middle of their chest. That was actually merciful, because it was certainly a quick death. Their persecutors had evidently read this part of the Bible! They too glorified God by their faithfulness, just as Jesus did, though to a much lesser degree. The example is clear for us all: follow through with what God has laid out for us, whatever that involves, for His glory. As Paul said shortly before his own martyrdom, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 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 4:6-8) We don’t do all this for nothing, but with the assurance that God will reward us to a degree that will make all our suffering fade into insignificance. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

I continue to maintain that I have had a relatively easy life, particularly compared to what I know that many brothers and sisters in Christ have undergone, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had moments that felt like real trials and/or suffering. When the time comes, I want to have something similar to the sense of satisfaction – and perhaps relief – that Jesus had when He spoke the words in this verse. I certainly haven’t been as faithful as He was, but God has used me from time to time, and He still does. Just yesterday I ran into a woman whom I didn’t remember at all, but she obviously remembered me and how God had impacted her through me. I am grateful! I want my days to be spent doing God’s will, and leave the results up to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for waking me in the night to pray for some people who need Your touch and the assurance of Your presence right now. May they be filled with Your peace as they trust You to work out Your perfect plans for them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Unity; September 9, 2023

Posted on September 10, 2023 by jgarrott

John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

This High Priestly Prayer of Jesus always blows my mind every time I read it, though I have read it countless times. That Jesus would pray like this for His disciples, at that time and down through the ages, just before He knew He would be arrested, horribly scourged, and then crucified, is absolutely incredible. Though the Blues Brothers made a joke of it, He was indeed on a mission from God, and He fulfilled that mission down to the slightest detail. That’s why He could say, “It is finished,” as His final words. (John 19:30) Since He was still fully human at this point I’m sure He wasn’t thinking of me individually, but even in the collective we should all be moved that He prayed for us, if we are indeed believers. And the more we think about what He prayed, the more blown out of the water we should be, because He prayed that we would be in the Godhead! This isn’t the “Borg hive mind,” but you could say that idea is a rip-off of what Jesus is praying here. Just as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are separate entities but are one God, we are to retain our individual identity but at the same time be so united with our Creator that separating us would simply be a way of speaking. Perfect agreement, perfect communication. We frankly can’t get our minds around it because we haven’t experienced it yet. What a thing to look forward to!

This strikes very close to home for me, because acceptance and understanding, and their converse of rejection and misunderstanding, have been major issues in my life. Growing up as a Caucasian in Japan, and then a Missionary Kid in a military dependents school, I was always a part but not a part of everything. I realize that just about everyone has that sort of angst to some degree, but I certainly had clear-cut circumstances for it. In college in the US I changed my major from Chemistry to Speech/English for the express purpose of improving my communication skills, since I was painfully aware of their importance. At this point in my life, I pray that God will take the words that come from my mouth and fingers and cause them to be received as He desires and intends. I have demonstrated countless times that on my own I don’t really get through, but He can do it even using me. There are some people with whom I experience real unity as brothers and sisters in Christ, and it gives me a taste of what heaven will be like. I can have assurance that it will be that way, because Jesus prayed for it!

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace. Thank You for having Jesus pray this prayer, and for enabling John to remember and record it. May it indeed be fulfilled to an increasing degree now, even before it comes to complete fruition before Your throne, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Giving God Glory; September 8, 2023

Posted on September 9, 2023 by jgarrott

John 17:4 “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”

How do we glorify God? By doing what He has created and sent us to do. In Charismatic circles we think of glorifying God by singing His praises, which is true enough, but that doesn’t mean much if we aren’t doing what He wants us to do. As Jesus Himself said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46) We are created for fellowship with God, but it’s hard to get along with someone who won’t really listen to you. Here Jesus is saying that His absolute obedience to His Father gave God glory, and our obedience does the same. The salvation formula that Paul gave us, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” (Romans 10:9) falls apart if we don’t demonstrate Jesus’ Lordship by doing what He says. And that includes persistence. After all, Jesus says here, “completing,” not just “taking a stab at.” We don’t know God’s tasks for us as perfectly as Jesus did, but we are to be faithful in all that we do know, not making excuses.

This feels very timely for me, because today I have the first class of my last semester of teaching in the nursing school where I have taught for the past 42 years. I can’t say, “This is the last time. Chuck it.” My performance to this point certainly hasn’t been perfect, but at least I’ve hung in there. I must not let the sense of melancholy that so easily comes over me at this point dull the enthusiasm and vigor with which I teach. These students deserve as good as I’ve given to all that came before them. It is in following through that I give glory to God. I am reminded of the inscription on my father’s gravestone: “To do the will of Him who sent me.” (John 4:34) I have the heritage of being raised by someone who was focused on obedience to God, and I can do no less. My ultimate goal is to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” It is only by His grace and power that can happen, but that is my goal.

Father, thank You for the heritage of generations of people who served You wholeheartedly. May I indeed do no less, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Peace in Trouble; September 7, 2023

Posted on September 8, 2023 by jgarrott

John 16:33 “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.”

As much as I quote this verse, there’s still something fresh to get from it. I just had a little difficulty typing it in Japanese because Microsoft didn’t want to give me the characters used for “trouble” when I typed it in phonetically. The characters used in this translation start with the one meaning “a patient,” as in a sick person. God is our healer, but disease and injury are part of the human condition. As I typed that I thought of Joni Tada, who broke her neck at 16 but went on to become a magnificent Christian example and teacher. I ran into a video of her just the other day, and she is still inspiring. She believes in divine healing, and indeed has prayed for others and they have been healed, but that has not been the road the Lord has laid out for her. It took her a while to get around to it, but she has discovered the truth of the first part of this verse as well: she has divine peace. There are many who have good health but no peace. I’d say she got the better end of the bargain! As I have pointed out numerous times, Jesus said this before He was arrested, scourged, and crucified. Even so, He states as accomplished fact, “I have overcome the world.” Overcoming doesn’t necessarily look like what we think it does! At the very least, we need to remember what Jesus overcame for us, and not complain.

This is something the Lord has been working into me for quite a few years now. There was a period in which I quoted this verse in just about every sermon! The only thing new this morning is the specific inclusion of disease and injury in “trouble.” I guess that’s why I responded so calmly to breaking my wrist back in January. I’ve seen all that my wife has gone through medically speaking, and compared to that, surgery for a broken wrist was no big deal! We have close family members that are going through a lot medically right now, and this verse is applicable for them as well. I need not only to keep my own faith fixed on my Lord but to help them do so as well. Even the gift of faith isn’t just for me! I need to be the steward God wants me to be of all He provides, tangible and intangible, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I didn’t expect it to be so timely! You know who needs Your touch right now, and how. I do pray that all of Your purposes for allowing this situation would be fulfilled, for the blessing of each person involved and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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