Companions; September 26, 2022

Posted on October 1, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 119:79 May those who fear you turn to me,
those who understand your statutes.

I chose this verse from reading it in the NIV, but then I read it in Japanese and noticed an interesting distinction: where the NIV says “turn to me,” the Japanese says, “return to me.” In either case, the Psalmist is desiring likeminded companions. Frankly, it can be exhausting to be surrounded by people who don’t seek God, much less know Him and His Word. We frequently hear the term, echo chamber, used in a negative way for people who never want to hear anything with which they disagree. In principle that’s true enough, but the fundamental attitude is the issue. Problems come when we mistake peripheral issues for core principles. That has probably caused the majority of Church splits down through the centuries. We aren’t to refuse to associate with people with whom we disagree, but we need to set boundaries. Jesus was famous for associating with “sinners,” but He also insisted on repentance. (Matthew 18:15-17) Our close relationships need to be with people who will draw us closer to God, not pull us away from Him. That said, we need to be available to draw others closer to God, and not drive them away with a holier-than-thou attitude. None of us knows God perfectly, and our grasp of Him is uneven, to put it mildly. Even someone who seems to be a “so-so Christian” might have a piercing insight on one particular point. We need to be humble enough to learn from anyone.

This is a good point for me to ponder. I have been familiar with the Bible from childhood, but I have run into countless people who have challenged me on various points, moving me from head knowledge to application. I tend to be a “dispenser of knowledge,” but I want to be someone who will walk with others, drawing them closer to God as I learn more of Him through them. It’s taken me a long time to learn that I really need other people! As someone who majored in Drama in college, I tend to be “an introvert who acts like an extrovert.” I learned early on that I can act in ways that I don’t feel, and I need to be extra careful about hypocrisy. I want to be the kind of person people gravitate to when they want to walk with God.

Father, thank You for this Word, and for all You did in the day yesterday. Thank You that the service went well, despite the lack of a pianist. Thank You that the engagement ceremony for the neighboring pastor went well. I was very touched when he said that I am a father figure to him. The situation with Cathy’s pain is very intense, but You have carried us along to this point. I pray that we would be able to get in touch with her doctor early this morning, and that everything from there on would be exactly as You know is right and necessary, not only for Cathy’s and my sake but as a testimony to all who know of us and our situation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Growth; September 25, 2022

Posted on October 1, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 119:5-6 Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying your decrees!
Then I would not be put to shame
when I consider all your commands.

I’m not sure I had noticed before that the Psalmist is confessing that his ways are not steadfast, at least at the point he is writing. Many of his prayers throughout this longest Psalm are to enable him to keep the Law that he loves so much. For example, verse 34 says, “Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.” Like every true saint, he recognizes that he is a work in progress. Paul of course wrote famously about that to the Philippians. (Philippians 3:12-14) As Paul said, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:16) It does no good to confess your weakness if you aren’t seeking and striving to do better. We are constantly confronted with the reality that we can’t do it on our own, but our will is most definitely involved. We aren’t to keep accusing ourselves over our failures, if they have been confessed and repented of, but we are never to excuse them either. The devil uses modern psychology to teach people to excuse themselves for everything, and all sorts of deviant behavior is striving to become mainstream. That’s something every believer must stand against firmly. Anything less makes a mockery of the grace of God. We are imperfect indeed, but by the grace and power of God we are being transformed into the likeness of His Son, in Whom there is no sin at all, and we must never forget that.

This is a struggle for every believer, I think. My father had a saying that was primarily used in evangelism, bringing people to initial commitment, but I think it needs to be applied daily by every believer: “Give all you know of yourself to all you know of Christ.” We learn more about ourselves all the time, and we should be learning more of Christ all the time as well. Keeping that commitment up-to-date is the key to being transformed into His likeness, and that should be our goal.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the rather intense training period Cathy and I are having with her health situation. Help us keep remembering that we aren’t simply physical beings that have spirits, we are spiritual beings who inhabit bodies. Help us nourish our spirits by Your Spirit, whatever is going on with our bodies, so that we may indeed grow as You intend, being and doing what You have planned, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Inner Peace; September 24, 2022

Posted on September 30, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 118:17 I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

I think that probably countless saints down through the centuries have been encouraged by this verse, and probably will be until the Lord’s return. No one is on this earth indefinitely, but while we are here, our purpose is to fellowship with God and proclaim Him so that others too may know Him. We may or may not know the reason for our immediate troubles, but in a way that is beside the point. We aren’t to be focused on the troubles, but on the Lord who is far greater than any trouble, and who will take us to Himself when it is all over. The point is not to be anxious about any of it. That’s why Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) If we refuse His peace, we are handing the devil something that doesn’t rightly belong to him. Life on this earth often isn’t easy, and the devil uses that to try to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) We need to remember this verse as we resist him to the point that he flees. (James 4:7)

We are in the middle of another practicum on this truth. Cathy’s pain is at times so severe that she would prefer to just go straight to heaven, particularly since she’s been there once and knows how wonderful it is. However, between those times there are moments of blessing and moments of accomplishment, showing her that God has His reasons for keeping her here. When we decide that death is preferable to life, we set ourselves up against God, rejecting the thought that He has a good purpose in all that we are going through. When Cathy needs so much help at this point, that definitely impacts me. I too am not to complain, but rather thank God that I have this opportunity to show His love to my wife, and for others to see that love flowing through me to her. Schedules are indeed awkward, but God has the right answers for each of those issues as well. He told me years ago to rest, relax, and rejoice. Sometimes that’s easier than at other times! I need to be careful not to accuse Cathy, even when her actions seem illogical to my masculine brain, because I’m not the one experiencing the pain. I am to be an extension of God’s hands to her, so that she may come through this and proclaim God’s marvelous acts, just as this verse says.

Father, thank You for this timely reminder. Thank You for already speaking to Cathy that this wasn’t going to kill her, regardless of what it might feel like in a given moment. I pray especially that Your peace for her, that indeed surpasses our limited human understanding, may guard her heart and mind, for Your glory. (Philippians 4:7) Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Deep Grace; September 23, 2022

Posted on September 30, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 109:21 But you, O Sovereign Lord,
deal well with me for your name’s sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.

Reading the last third of this Psalm I was sure it was by David, even before checking the attribution at the beginning. David went through a lot, but God allowed it to teach David more about Himself. I like the Japanese here. Just yesterday I discussed why Japanese translations of the Bible seldom use “love” in the Old Testament, but here the reading really touches me. Where the NIV says, “the goodness of Your love,” the Japanese says, “because Your grace is truly deep.” In English we don’t often speak of “deep grace,” but the Japanese Old Testament uses that construction in standard descriptions of God. What is different about what David says here is the word, truly. David is saying, “This isn’t just a conventional expression. Your grace/love is the real deal.” People who have been raised in a Christian culture in particular need to learn that all the nice things we say about God aren’t just truisms and polite expressions, they are based on absolute truth. This is closely linked to James’ famous admonition: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) If we never go through trials, our faith is about as deep as the paper the Bible is printed on, essentially 2-dimensional. It is when we experience the depth of God’s grace that our faith in turn takes on depth.

Cathy and I are on a real “deepening exercise” right now. She came home from the hospital yesterday, but the procedure she underwent on Wednesday didn’t really help, and her pain level is extreme, though thankfully not constant. Because of the design of the combined church/pastorium building, our living quarters are on the 2nd floor but the kitchen is on the 1st. Mobility is a major issue at this point. Cathy managed somehow to make it upstairs after we got home, but at this point even getting in and out of bed is a major issue because of the pain. I am faced with the conflict of her very real needs and my external obligations. We are in need of a miracle! I have a wedding to perform tomorrow, the church service on Sunday, and immediately following that, I need to go to another church to perform the engagement ceremony of the pastor and his fiancée. Monday I’m supposed to go to another town for a meeting, and the list goes on. In all of this, we know that God has not changed, and we need to be open to how He wants to change us. That can be a hard one! We are indeed praying with David, “Deliver us!”

Father, thank You for this experience. I certainly can’t say it’s pleasant, but I know that You will use it for our good. Thank You for the very strong awareness that Cathy and I are one and not two; her pain impacts me deeply. Help us both focus on You more than on our circumstances, or even our own bodies. May all of Your purposes for allowing this, and no other, be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Love; September 22, 2022

Posted on September 29, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 107:43 Whoever is wise, let him heed these things
and consider the great love of the Lord.

Once again where the NIV says “love,” the Japanese says, “grace.” The Japanese term is also used for blessings in general, so that puts a rather different slant on this verse. Americans throw around the word, love, very freely, saying things like, “I love hamburgers.” If you’re going by the Greek eros, a self-centered love for your own satisfaction, that’s not strange, but you would never say that in Japanese. Actually, Japanese use the word very seldom, not even in a romantic context, which is one reason Christianity seems foreign to them. The flip side of that is that they say things like “beloved dog,” or even “beloved car,” which certainly shows a different slant to the very idea. In the New Testament, the Greek demands “love” as the translation for agape or even phileo. (Eros isn’t used in the Bible at all.) However, I can understand why the Japanese translators generally used “grace” rather than “love” in the Old Testament. And all of that begs the question of what this verse says, which is that we need to know God before we can be wise. When John goes so far as to say that God is love, (1 John 4:8) knowing God is certainly a matter of knowing His love. Americans are handicapped by taking love too lightly, and Japanese are unfamiliar with love at all. There is probably no culture that easily grasps the character of God, so we need to turn to Him and ask Him to reveal Himself to us.

I’ve been experiencing the culture clash on this issue the past few days, as well as gaining an even deeper appreciation for what love is. When I took my wife to the hospital on Tuesday, after the paperwork was done and we had gone up to her floor, the nurse was about to wheel her into the ward (where I couldn’t go because of current COVID regulations) when she called a halt, and I went over, we both pulled down our masks, and we kissed. The nurse was actually shocked! Then on Wednesday, the doctor (who is Japanese but his wife is from Peru) had specified that we were to be given a moment before she was wheeled off to surgery, and the two nurses were more than excited over how we each said “I love you” to each other. That was the cultural part, but the forced separation has brought home once again that we are not two but one, just as Jesus said. (Matthew 19:6) It is no trivial thing that Paul so closely connects marriage to the relationship of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5 – which is very interesting, since he wasn’t married! I do know that over 53 years of being married to my wife has taught me a great deal about God, on very many levels. I want to keep growing in my knowledge and love of the Lord, to be an ever-more-effective channel of His love to others, for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your love, and for allowing me to participate in it, both toward my wife and toward others. The expressions are certainly diverse! Help me also love myself accurately, so that I may love others accurately as well, (Matthew 22:39) drawing them to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Word; September 21, 2022

Posted on September 29, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 107:20 He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.

Like Psalm 106, this Psalm is a recounting of Israel’s history, but rather than tying in specific events, it describes generic situations that happened many times to many people. Thus, it is less limited to Jews and more applicable to all mankind. This particular verse has been widely quoted, particularly since the Pentecostal Movement brought attention back to divine healing from the beginning of the 20th Century. However, each one of the scenarios mentioned in this Psalm, though not using the word, focuses on repentance as the way out of difficulty. The particular terminology used is “crying out to the Lord.” If we are going to do that, we need to acknowledge not only our own inability, but also our own unworthiness. After all, most of the time we really deserve the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into! There are exceptions, of course. The whole book of Job was written to deal with that issue. Even so, God is to be approached with humility and gratitude for His mercy and grace. And all of that brings us back to this verse. We know that God spoke the universe into existence, as it describes in Genesis 1, but we lose sight of just what that means. The Centurion with the sick servant got it right: “Say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Luke 7:7) The Lord also brought that out to Isaiah: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) When God speaks something, it is done. We can’t dictate His timing, but we can be totally assured of His faithfulness.

This is very appropriate for us at this point, with Cathy in the hospital. The procedure that will be done on her this morning is by no means guaranteed from the human perspective, but there is no question from God’s perspective. We need to rest, relax, and rejoice in God’s good plans, even before we see them materialize in our time frame. This is a training exercise in faith! In Christ, Cathy is already healed, (Isaiah 53:5) and we need to be grateful. That’s far easier for me than for her, when she is experiencing the physical pain, but it is a truth that is above and beyond our human perception.

Father, thank You for this timely reminder. Thank You for the prayer meeting that will be held here in less than an hour. May all of Your plans for today be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Memory; September 20, 2022

Posted on September 28, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 106:12-13 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.

This Psalm is one of several condensed histories of Israel found in Psalms, and all of them, in my recollection, touch on this particular point: the Jews had short memories when it came to the most important things. Memory is a fascinating study: what we remember, how we remember, and equally, what and how we forget. When we have encounters with God we are often overwhelmed and think we are forever transformed, but amazingly, after a while it can seem like those experiences never happened. It was long thought, and taught, that goldfish only had a 3-minute memory capacity, but that has been disproved, with goldfish trained to guide a robotic fish tank to take them where they wanted to go. (That’s a fascinating video!) Human memory is quite complicated, but there is clearly a difference between short-term memory and long-term memory. Yesterday I watched another video of a man, 97 at the time of the recording, talking about his experiences in WWII, and his memory was clear and sharp, leaving no reason to suspect inaccuracies. In contrast, it has also been demonstrated that we are quite capable of creating false memories, “remembering” things that never happened. There’s a whole field of study of that sort of thing, along with the fact that in a group experience, each individual will remember things somewhat differently. That’s why the question of our perception and memory of God is so important. It is arguably the most important thing in our whole life, but it’s not very reliable! That’s why we need to keep our relationship with God up-to-date, reading His Word and talking with Him daily. Failure to do that will not only allow our memories of our encounters with Him to fade, it will actually alter them, making them less impressive and important to us. That’s a terrible loss!

The whole issue of memory is very big in my awareness because of my wife’s brain surgery a few years ago. She had a large benign tumor removed, and it impacted her memory considerably. Long-term memory was largely intact, but names of people and things seemed to have been removed with the tumor. That was particularly distressing for someone as people-oriented as my wife. That has improved a great deal from the time right after the surgery, but she still has issues, and it’s depressing to her. Thankfully, she never lost her memory of me, or of her relationship with God. Being unable to string words together for her devotional writing for several weeks after the surgery was a trial to her precisely because she knew how important it was. Today, her writing is a real blessing to me as we share each morning. I’ve never had brain trauma like she has, but I too am all too capable of forgetting what is truly important. Forgetting where I put something or forgetting something I needed to get is frustrating but not ultimately vital. Remembering what the Lord has shown, told, and taught me is essential!

Father, thank You for this reminder (!). Thank You for being so faithful to remind me of what is really important. Help me indeed live it out, just like James said, (James 1:22) and grow as You intend, not retreating into pride and self-deception, so that Your plans for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Coming Through; September 19, 2022

Posted on September 28, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 105:43 He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.

I can’t read this section of this Psalm without singing a song made from the KJV translation that I learned about 43 years ago. Music is certainly a powerful memory aid! That said, we don’t need to just remember words, but what those words mean. This whole Psalm is a recitation of God’s mighty works on behalf of Israel, but we must not forget that they had been in pretty rough circumstances. Slavery in Egypt was no walk in the park! One reason God allows us to go through rough places is to give us an appreciation for the smooth places. A Japanese proverb says, “Only the sick understand health.” We have a strong tendency to take things for granted, and indeed, familiarity does breed contempt. American leftists today think as they do because they are spoiled by the good circumstances brought by American capitalistic initiative. (Actually, even the word, Capitalism, was invented by Karl Marx in an attempt at negative branding, but history has shown that allowing people to keep what they work for is the only way to genuine widespread prosperity.) When we experience rough patches, we need to thank God for His grace and blessings in the past and for His good plans for the future, thanking Him even for the present as a counterpoint to help us appreciate the rest. As this verse says, coming out of a rough place is indeed a joyful thing!

This is very timely, considering what we’ve been going through with Cathy’s nerve pain. For that matter, at this moment we’re still in a typhoon, though the center has passed over us in the night. I’m very grateful for a secure dwelling, and for good infrastructure that has kept the power on and the Internet connected. And, I’m looking forward to not hearing the gale-force winds blowing around the building. This storm is supposed to drop temperatures and usher in autumn, and I’m certainly looking forward to that! Tomorrow we will be going to Sasebo to check Cathy in at the hospital, and we have high expectations of that in terms of pain relief. However, we need to keep our focus on the Great Physician, rather than on human staff. We are to express appreciation to them, but remember where genuine wisdom and healing come from. Even if the result of the treatment is the worst possible, we need to remember that God’s love is unchanging, and He will indeed bring us forth with joy, in His time and His way, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for how things went yesterday, typhoon and all. I pray that we would recognize Your schedule for today and follow it, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You, so that Your purposes may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Seeking God; September 18, 2022

Posted on September 24, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 105:2-4 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.

When we don’t have a grasp of who God is, of His infinite power and grace, then we aren’t likely to seek Him. That’s one of many reasons to read the Bible, to learn of His interactions with mankind down through the centuries. We can have a theoretical concept of Him as Creator, but until we know of how he has been personal with individuals and nations we aren’t likely to seek Him on a personal level ourselves. There’s a Japanese expression in the second half of verse two that says a lot to me. Where the NIV says “tell of all His wonderful acts,” the Japanese says, “let your thoughts be dyed (colored) with His wonderful acts.” The image of letting what God has done set the tone for our thoughts seems very appropriate to me. We think about all sorts of things, naturally enough, but if we focus on God and all He has done, that awareness is going to impact our every other thought. However, that isn’t likely to happen unless we choose it. Some thoughts are involuntary, certainly, but most are not. We choose where we let our minds wander! I’m reminded of D. L. Moody’s response to the young man who protested to him that it was impossible to keep from having “impure” thoughts. “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.” The “nests” we want are thoughts of God in all His purity, goodness and love. Immediate circumstances can definitely distract us from that, so we need to choose consistently to keep that our focus, so that it will indeed color all our other thoughts. When that happens, we can indeed rejoice in all circumstances!

I’m preaching to myself here! All sorts of thoughts assail my mind and heart. With my wife’s health issues, it’s easy to get off on a trail of “what ifs,” but that benefits no one and nothing. God has been incredibly gracious and faithful to us over the years, and He will continue to be so, so I am to reject every thought otherwise. Regardless of the immediate circumstances, God’s plans are good, to give us hope and a future, not only for this life but for eternity. (Jeremiah 29:11) I have commented numbers of times in the past that if I didn’t have faith, I would simply despair. That hasn’t changed! However, I do have faith, I do have a personal relationship with my Creator, I have committed myself to Jesus Christ my Lord, so I can rejoice whatever is going on. A Psychology professor who teaches with me has commented that I’m “a happy person.” I’d say he’s right, and it’s all by the grace of God.

Father, thank You indeed for Your amazing grace. May my thoughts be ever more colored by Your thoughts, Your Spirit, so that every part of my life may reflect You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Singing; September 17, 2022

Posted on September 24, 2022 by jgarrott

Psalm 104:33-34 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the Lord.

The thoughts expressed here aren’t unique to this Psalm, but this is certainly a beautiful expression of them. Considering that the whole book is a collection of poems/lyrics, it’s hardly surprising that there are many references to singing to God. Also, since the focus is on God, there are multiple references to our thoughts being in line with His, most notably in Psalm 19:14, by David. Truth this important certainly bears repeating! Thinking of God should be a joyful thing, and it easily is for those who have a right relationship with Him, but the flip side of that should be true as well: when we are happy, we should think of God and give Him thanks. When we let that percolate through our mind and heart, that is indeed meditation that is pleasing to God!

I could well say that this is the theme of my life. I can’t imagine a life without music and I look forward to heaven, where everything sings to God, as reported by my wife and others who have been and come back. Allowing the songs of the Kingdom to run through my heart and mind is a powerful shield against temptation and an equally powerful antidote to depression. It’s an excellent way to keep my thoughts in line with God, because the world and the devil, not to mention my own appetites, work to pull me away. Just yesterday my wife sent me a link to a quote from John Calvin, of all people. “The music must not turn the church into an audience enjoying the music but into a congregation singing the Lord’s praises in His presence.” I am very grateful that “church music” has been participatory for me all my life. I have heard musically “perfect” performances by people who did not walk with God, but singing or playing from the heart is a very different proposition. As I am reminded with increasing frequency, my voice is not what it was when I was younger, but I pray that my heart is more in tune with the One to whom I sing. I’m sure that songs to God will continue to be part of me as long as I am in this body, and then throughout eternity!

Father, thank You indeed for the privilege of singing to You. I pray that I would never be limited to performance, whether I’m singing by myself or before a large group, but would be worshiping indeed, leading all who hear to worship as well, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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