Focus; April 19, 2023

Posted on April 20, 2023 by jgarrott

Psalm 40:5 Many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.

Much of the time David really got it right. We know from the last half of this Psalm that it was written at a point when he was really in a bind, with people out to kill him. However, he starts out by reminding himself of all the times God has rescued him, and here he declares that they are too many to count. That’s actually true for everyone on earth, if we have the spiritual perception to recognize it. God is indeed a God of mercy and grace, and the more we focus on that reality, the better able we are to endure the trial of the moment, whatever that might be. The hymn, Count Your Blessings, is one of my wife’s very favorites, and that’s saying something, considering how many hymns she knows. Right know she’s going through a lot, health-wise, but she is very aware of how much God has blessed her over the years. The devil tries to get her attention off of that, but he doesn’t succeed very often or very long. That makes her an example and an inspiration to all who know her. None of us is exempt from problems, just as Jesus warned us. (John 16:33) However, it we keep our focus on our almighty, loving Creator, we can get through anything, as Paul said many times in many ways, (2 Corinthians 4:17) and other writers did as well. (Hebrews 12:2)

Living with the wife I have, my conscience quickly rebukes me if I try to get into a pity party! I certainly agree with this verse, and I need to let it be reflected in every one of my interactions. This morning I get to share the Word with an interdenominational prayer meeting that meets here, and I am grateful. At the same time, I’m a bit stiff and sore from the gardening work I did yesterday. That said, I made real progress in getting things planted, and I can look forward to the harvest. I have negatives and positives all the time, and I need to choose to keep my focus on the positives, and most especially on the reality that my Creator loves me so much that He sent His Son to die for me and His Spirit to live in me. That in itself is too wonderful to express fully in human words! When I let myself be distracted by aches and pains, physical or figurative, I reduce my availability to my Lord for Him to use me in blessing others, and I don’t want that. I indeed need to “fix [my] eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that [I] will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3)

Father, thank You for this reminder. May I live this day and every day in gratitude and praise, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Righteous; April 18, 2023

Posted on April 19, 2023 by jgarrott

Psalms 37:30-31 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.

Several times in the Bible, particularly in Psalms and Proverbs, there are descriptions of “the righteous.” Here, David starts by what a righteous person says, but then he gives the secret, the foundation of it all: the law of his God is in his heart. This of course agrees with that very famous verse from the longest chapter in the Bible, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11) Without God’s Word, we have no reliable standard to know what is right and just and good. Dennis Prager has put out a video about how unreliable our consciences are, saying that generally, even mass murderers sleep well at night. He’s something of an expert on that, having studied Communism for most of his life. Human reasoning and intellect will always tend toward the self-centered; only God sees and cares about the whole universe. Our very limited perspective is a major reason why we have to rely on God to have any hope of getting things right. However, the benefits of relying on God are without number. David here says, “his feet do not slip,” and that covers a wide range of our life experiences. One thing to remember is that God’s law needs to be in our heart, not just our head. In our head, we compartmentalize and think, “this applies here but not there,” but in our heart it gets to who we really are and works itself out in every area of our lives. That is when we start to become genuinely righteous, and our words and actions reflect the God we serve.

Of course this applies to me. God is the judge of whatever degree of righteousness I might have, but looking at myself I can see plenty of areas for improvement. As I am reminded frequently, James 1:22 certainly applies to me: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” I have been steeped in the Bible from childhood, but I have quite a track record of leaving it in my head and not letting it govern my heart. That’s not being righteous! Of course, legalism is simple and easy, but not very smart. That’s when we let our minds rule, instead of letting God’s heart be in charge. I’m not to let my emotions be in charge either; God is absolutely holy, and how I “feel” about something doesn’t change anything. If I want to be righteous, and I do, I’ve got to stay focused on my Lord (Hebrews 12:2) and speak and act always in full agreement with Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I’ll be speaking in class this morning, with a friend this afternoon, and then tomorrow morning I have the message at an interdenominational prayer meeting. And of course, I’ll be interacting with my wife and various other people throughout each day. Help me do every bit of that on the basis of Your Word, Your Spirit in me, and not just out of my own thoughts and reasoning. May I draw people to You by demonstrating You to them, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Promises; April 17, 2023

Posted on April 18, 2023 by jgarrott

Psalm 37:3-4 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Verse four here is quite famous, but it needs to be taken in the context of verse three. Verse three essentially describes the life of a righteous person. Where the NIV says, “enjoy safe pasture,” the Japanese says, “nourish sincerity,” in other words, be a person of your word. If we’re scheming how to bring about the results we want, we are not really trusting God and we’re probably not doing good. It is in this context that David can say boldly, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Actually, if we’re not trusting God and doing good, we aren’t delighting in Him either. It’s hard to delight in something you can’t trust. That’s a major issue in many marriages. I’ve read recently that dishonesty in relation to finances is as destructive as sexual infidelity, and I can believe it. That would certainly violate the “nourish sincerity” part of this passage! We are very good at pulling “promises” out of the Bible and completely ignoring the context, the conditions that are laid down for those promises to be fulfilled. God’s love is unconditional, but hardly anything else is. It tears Him up, but God can and will reject people He loves if they reject Him and refuse to walk in the obedience of love. David tasted both sides of this. This Psalm is a pean to the good things that accrue to those who are faithful to the Lord, but David himself experienced great heartache because of his own failures. We are very aware of the incident with Bathsheba, but he was also largely a failure at parenting. It’s very hard to relate rightly to your children if you don’t relate rightly to your spouse. David is both a good example for us in a number of ways and a very cautionary example for us in others. We need to put verse three here into practice before we try to rejoice in verse four.

Of course this applies to me as much as it does to anyone else. I have been enormously blessed, but every bit of it has been grace. I have a spiritual heritage that I think is unsurpassed, but I haven’t been consistently true to it. My needs have been met, but I haven’t always been the best steward of God’s provision. I have been used by God, but at times I have held back or chosen other things. I have a broad and fairly deep knowledge of the Bible, but my track record is spotty when it comes to putting it into practice. As I have said many times, James 1:22 wasn’t written just for me, but it certainly was written for me. I need to open my heart ever more to the whole truth of God, allowing it to work both in and through me as I am obedient to what My Lord says to me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed “nourish sincerity,” being totally honest with others and with myself because I am totally honest with You. May I indeed trust You totally and do the good that You desire of me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Christ in Me; April 16, 2023

Posted on April 17, 2023 by jgarrott

Acts 1:1-2 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

It’s been quite a few years now since I was first struck with one little word in this passage: began. Luke never saw Jesus with his natural eyes. He researched the facts of his Gospel and the first part of Acts while Paul was in prison in Caesarea, (Acts 24:27) and he was with Paul for the rest of Acts, from Acts 16 on. That said, he was absolutely convinced that Jesus continued to act and to teach, even though He was not physically visible. That’s an awareness we all need to have! We give lip service to “Jesus in me,” but we seldom act like we really believe it. Paul put it this way: “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) When you think about it, if Christ is in us, then we can have the hope that He will do anything at all in and through us, and that is glorious indeed. Luke was emphasizing that what he had recorded in his Gospel was just the beginning, that Jesus was alive and active in and through each of the people who had accepted His Lordship by faith.

This is extremely applicable to this morning’s message, which is on being like Jesus. Since He is in me, the way to be more like Him is to get me more out of the way! I have that “treasure” in an “earthen vessel,” (2 Corinthians 4:7) so the way to show people more of Jesus is for me to become more transparent. A common theme in fantasy fiction, as well as some mythology, is the “cloak of invisibility,” or power, or wisdom, or whatever. I don’t remember how old I was when I read a particular science fiction book that used that trope, but I did a lot of fantasizing about it, imagining myself as an “agent of justice,” or something of the sort. That’s a little silly, when I’ve got the real thing! I’ve got to remember that at this point it’s neither constant nor automatic, but it is still very real. I have experienced Christ speaking and acting through me numbers of times, and I certainly want that to continue and increase. However, I’m never to think for a moment it’s because of me, or that I am special. He is the Lord of Glory, and I am to be grateful any time I am useful to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. If I’m to include it in this morning’s message, show me where and how. May I be available and useful to You all the time, so that Your purposes may be accomplished in and through me for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Disciples; April 15, 2023

Posted on April 16, 2023 by jgarrott

Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Growing up in a missionary family, the Great Commission has been in my awareness for as long as I can remember. I have heard it quoted countless times, but I still think the majority of Christians fail to understand it. Thankfully there are some teachers who indeed stress what I think is the half of this that gets largely ignored, and that is the matter of making disciples. The average American doesn’t seem to even know what the word means! I like that the Japanese here says “the people of all nations,” because we are prone to think of nations in terms of geography, when historically the term applied more to people groups. The thing is, everything and everyone belongs to God by right of creation, but our misuse of free will has put the majority of mankind in rebellion against our Creator. It is only by becoming His disciples that we enter into right relationship with Him. That’s not just a matter of saying a few words, though words are important. My grandfather Carver had an expression for how he felt many people thought of salvation: “Into bliss and out of blister.” In other words, “Say the secret words to escape hell.” Today, people don’t even believe hell exists! The thing is, the Kingdom of God is a matter of acknowledging and obeying the King, and that is what discipleship is all about. Lots of Christians want to leave out the word, obey, in verse 20! We want to be spoiled children, never corrected for anything. However, the Bible very bluntly says that such a child is not a true child at all. (Hebrews 12:5-6, quoting Proverbs 3:11-12) These days parental discipline is attacked, precisely because the devil wants us to reject the discipline offered by our heavenly Father. In Canada, you can be jailed for spanking your child! That’s not to excuse abuse, but it is to say that the devil intentionally conflates discipline with abuse. Discipleship involves commitment both to learn and to obey. We are called to be disciples and to make disciples for Jesus Christ.

It’s been quite a few years now since I discovered that my name, Jack, means “apprentice,” or “disciple.” That’s why it appears so often in nursery rhymes, as in Jack be Nimble and the like. I was actually rather pleased with the discovery, particularly since my full name is Jackson, in other words, “the son of a disciple.” I believe my father was a very genuine disciple of Jesus Christ, not to mention my mother and all four of my grandparents, and some of their ancestors as well. I have a remarkable heritage! However, all of that can fall apart at any point. If I am not a disciple, making more disciples, my ancestry doesn’t benefit me. In recent years I’ve been involved in studying Coaching, as opposed to top-down teaching, and it has been changing my perspective on discipling. Coaching was never modeled to me, so I haven’t known how to do it. Many people have spoken into my life, for which I am grateful, but I haven’t been very effective in coming alongside others and coaching them as disciples of Jesus Christ. I’ve just finished another book on the subject, and I pray that I will continue to grow as a disciple and a discipler, coaching people into the kind of relationship with Jesus that He desires, for His glory.

Father, thank You for all You’ve brought me through, and that You aren’t through with me yet. Thank You for bringing me to announce my retirement from school teaching. Help me move into the ministry that You have planned for me so that many true disciples may be raised up in this nation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Loving Jesus; April 14, 2023

Posted on April 15, 2023 by jgarrott

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

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

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

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

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Spiritual Growth; April 13, 2023

Posted on April 14, 2023 by jgarrott

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

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

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

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

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Faith and Sight; April 12, 2023

Posted on April 13, 2023 by jgarrott

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

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

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

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

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Being Like Jesus; April 11, 2023

Posted on April 12, 2023 by jgarrott

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

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

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

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

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Simon Peter; April 10, 2023

Posted on April 11, 2023 by jgarrott

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

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

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

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

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