Personal Evangelism; July 9, 2022

Posted on July 14, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Peter 3:15-16 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

I quote this with considerable frequency, and with good reason. This expresses the attitude, the method, and the result of the most effective form of personal evangelism. It all starts with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If He isn’t genuinely your Lord, then your faith is self-centered – what will I get out of it – and actually in question. However, if you are indeed living under the Lordship of Christ, you will have a hope that will buoy you up in any situation, and people will take notice. The world can be a pretty hopeless place at times, and people can’t live without hope. The more your life demonstrates the hope that you have, the more people are going to desire it for themselves. Ideally, they will ask you about it, and that is your big opportunity. However, your presentation of the Gospel must not be proud or holier-than-thou. You’ve got to remember that you too are hopeless without Christ. If you will do that, then your righteousness will be evident, and those who indulged in name-calling (which certainly happens) will be embarrassed. And of course, the big benefit is that those who heard your Gospel presentation are very likely to receive it for themselves, and be born again as your brother or sister in Christ.

I have experienced all of this, but that last step not nearly as frequently as I would have liked. The devil has convinced the majority of Japanese that all religions are the same, so if they are more earnest in Buddhism, for example, they will get the results they see me getting. Also, they are very hesitant to ask personal questions, so I don’t get many specific requests to explain my faith and hope. I can see they want to know, however, and I seek God’s wisdom for how to present it to people. Just yesterday we were talking with two ladies who admire Cathy and me greatly, but they can’t seem to grasp that our religion is fundamentally different from theirs. I think they ended up closer to faith than when the day began, but they aren’t to the point of commitment yet, so we keep praying. Much the same may be said of many of the people with whom I interact on a regular basis. I don’t know what the specific barrier is, and I don’t know what will be the trigger to tear that down, but I do know that when it happens, there will be a massive harvest in the Kingdom!

Father, I do thank You for all You did yesterday in the hearts of those ladies, even using Cathy and me in the process. I do pray that You would expose and dissolve the barriers that remain, so that they would receive Your gracious salvation and go on to share it with others, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Marriage; July 8, 2022

Posted on July 14, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

This verse was completely uncontroversial and was indeed dearly loved by many women up until the “Women’s Liberation Movement,” when some women chose to be greatly offended at being called “weaker.” However, the very recent phenomenon of “trans­gender” men competing in athletics against women is driving home the accuracy of that part of this verse. It’s hard to argue against basic biology in terms of skeletal structure and muscle mass. Men and women are simply designed for different tasks. However, those differences don’t in any way mean different value. We need to pay more attention to what Peter says about respect and “heirs with you.” Peter is the one Apostle we know for sure was married, since Jesus healed his mother-in-law, (Matthew 8:14-15) so we know he was speaking from experience. That makes the last part of this verse all the more pointed. Marriage is the most intimate relationship we can have on this earth, and numbers of places in the Bible use it as a picture of our relationship with God. When that closest human relationship is disturbed, it stands to reason that our relationship with God is also disturbed. If we want to be on right terms with our Creator, we need to be on right terms with our spouse! I really don’t know how John Wesley did all he did, because he had a marvelous mother but an extremely difficult wife. It is said, reasonably enough, that that was why he spent so much time away from home! Such cases aside, it’s important to remember that men and women were never intended to be identical, even apart from biology, but rather complementary. (And don’t confuse that with complimentary.) Each is designed to do different tasks more easily. It is no insult that there are more men than women in the STEM fields, even though there have been outstanding women scientists and mathematicians. Likewise, women are generally better at dealing with children, though some single fathers have raised really good kids. Men and women need each other on many, many levels. We need to recognize, respect, and thank God for that.

Like Peter, I speak from experience, having been married for over 53 years now. I have personally experienced having difficulty praying when I was at odds with my wife! I am grateful for the opportunity to counsel couples before I perform their weddings, and as I say in every ceremony, I like doing weddings because I consider marriage to be God’s 2nd greatest blessing, after salvation itself. I married early, at 20, because I had seen how marvelous marriage was for my parents. Early on I had gained the perspective that marriage would be the biggest job of my life, but it would carry the greatest rewards. I was right! Marriage is very much under attack in society today, with many couples not bothering to “tie the knot,” and with the absurdity of same-sex “marriage” that denies the very principles on which the institution is founded. My wife and I are to be examples to all who know us of what God intends marriage to be, for their blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You indeed for the wife, the marriage, You have given me. May I be the husband to her that You desire and she deserves, supporting and completing her as she supports and completes me, as an example to many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Holiness; July 7, 2022

Posted on July 9, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter is so packed with important truth! I could probably preach for weeks on this chapter alone. This verse emphasizes a vital truth, that our minds, our wills, are fully involved in our life of faith. When we choose to follow Christ we need to expect to be fully involved; there is little if anything that is passive. The power is all from God, but we are actively involved. If we don’t choose God, His power and His holiness, then they won’t be manifested in our lives. We can’t make them happen, but God in His grace allows us to choose them. As we do that, we need to remember that everything is not going to be set right until Christ returns, so we aren’t to be bummed out when scenarios we create in our minds don’t materialize. God certainly acts, and miracles are to be expected, but evil is still rampant, and we have to live with that reality. As 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) As Peter says, we are to set our hopes and expectations on Christ’s return, whether that happens in our physical lifetime or not. The mess in the world is never an excuse not to live as a child of God, instead of a child of the world, as Peter makes clear in the following verses.

I will never forget the time, over 20 years ago now, that I was lying in bed thinking, “There are so many things I wish were different.” That wasn’t a conscious prayer, but the Lord spoke to me so clearly that I was almost surprised my wife didn’t hear Him too: “How do you think I feel?” That gave me total assurance of two things: first, that God doesn’t create or desire evil, and second, that God’s got a plan that will clear it all up in the end. This points up the reality of human free will. That free will has got to be one of the most valuable things in the universe, because it was worth the Son of God dying a horrible death in order to deal with sin. If we didn’t have free will, we would never sin! We’re back to where we started with this verse. I’ve got to expect spiritual attack and stand against it, on the basis of my obedience to God, (James 4:7) and I need to teach others to do likewise. We can’t do it in our own strength, but we can choose to appropriate the strength God offers us to enable us to do it. The world is always saying, “It’s only natural,” but those who are in Christ are supernatural, and we need to live like it.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder, and for this clear message to communicate to the flock on Sunday. I pray that I would communicate exactly what You are saying, and I pray that I would apply it fully in my own life as well. Keep me from deceiving myself! (James 1:22) May this flock be the holy, loving children You desire, drawing many to repentance and faith for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Living Hope; July 6, 2022

Posted on July 8, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Peter 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you.

I’m thankful that the Japanese translation of this passage didn’t try to preserve the Greek sentence structure, but broke it up into several shorter sentences. Long sentences weren’t just a characteristic of Paul! Regardless, the content here is indeed rich. Jesus found Peter when he was an ignorant, headstrong fisherman, but he was massively transformed by his experiences and by the work of the Holy Spirit in him. He starts this section by praising God. It is the practice of many Japanese Christians to start any letter, on paper or electronic, with an expression of praise. Americans, myself included, tend more to “get to the point” immediately, but we would actually do well to remember that our very existence is dependent on God’s mercy and grace. Peter is here writing to people who were being persecuted for their faith. Very few Americans have tasted genuine persecution, and we sometimes take our own faith lightly as a result. An untested faith isn’t likely to be strong! Peter here writes of our “living hope,” that comes to us because we serve a living Savior. Peter was certainly transformed by his experience of watching Jesus die and then encountering Him after the resurrection. It is said that when he was forced to watch his wife being crucified, immediately before he himself was crucified upside down, he cried out to her, “Remember Jesus!” Peter had seen personally that death no longer had dominion, and it galvanized him for the rest of his life. We haven’t seen Jesus with our physical eyes, just as Peter writes in verses 8 and 9 of this same chapter, but we have experienced His touch in our heart, and we can have the assurance Peter speaks of here. Our physical bodies won’t live forever but our spirits will, and that is the inheritance that is prepared for us. We need to let the Holy Spirit work that know­ledge, that conviction, into the depths of our being, so that nothing in this world can shake us.

This of course applies to me. Yesterday I participated in an online “short-term missions trip” of a group from Taiwan. We already sponsor, legally speaking, a Taiwanese missionary family (we don’t provide their finances, but rather the legal framework for them to be here) and this was a group of six people who are considering coming to Japan as missionaries. I told them that Japan is not unreasonably called “the graveyard of missionaries,” and if they come it should be with the attitude that they are surrendering their lives to serve Christ here. I’m not sure how firm my own grasp of that was 41 years ago when I came to Omura, but I did know that my life was to be spent in obedience to my Lord, wherever He wanted me to be and whatever He wanted me doing. That’s not always an easy thing to maintain! Like everyone else, I have my own preferences and desires, and actively submitting them to Christ can be a real stretch at times. I don’t have so much trouble with the big questions, but the little details can really trip me up all too often. Several years ago God very graciously told me to rest, relax, and rejoice. I’m still learning to do that! However, I do know that what is laid up for me in heaven, as Peter says here, will be more than worth it all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I feel like I’m under spiritual assault after all that went on yesterday. Thank You for speaking to the Taiwanese through me. I do pray that they, and I, would surrender everything to You in order to hear You accurately and follow You completely, so that Your purposes may be accomplished through us for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Creation; July 5, 2022

Posted on July 8, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

This is a verse that some astrophysicists choke on, and some say, “Of course.” Today the prevailing theory of the origin of the universe is the “Big Bang” theory, but there is no cogent explanation for where the Big Bang came from. This one verse completely solves that issue! Materialists are at a complete loss when trying to explain where matter came from in the first place, and here we have the answer. The problem for the materialists is that this requires a Creator. They aren’t willing to concede that, because a Creator implies accountability, and that’s precisely what they don’t want. For several centuries some philosophers have tried to deal with that issue with the idea of a “divine watchmaker,” who essentially set the universe into motion but then has nothing to do with it. That fails simple logic, because what being would create something so complex and then have no interest in it? The Greek word here is literally “apprehend,” but where the English says “understand,” the Japanese says “satoru,” a verb form of the famous Buddhist concept of satori, a deep knowing that is above and beyond intellect. When we grasp something that way it is beyond question in our heart, and that is inseparable from faith.

I couldn’t define my intellectual journey from childhood to the present, but I do know that I was taught about Creation and our Creator from the time I was very small. My parents certainly didn’t limit my education to the Bible, however. We had back issues of National Geographic Magazine going to the 1930s, and I devoured them. For that matter, by the time I was in the 4th grade I was reading our Encyclopedia Britannica for fun. I think I understood most of the concepts that were presented, but I realized early on that those concepts changed as more information was gathered, and I weighed it all in relation to the Bible. Bible translations may change, but Biblical truth does not! The irony of all that is that I was totally convinced that we are created beings, and that God loved us enough to send His Son to take the penalty for our sins, but I didn’t live consistently with our accountability to our Creator in mind. My life has certainly been a demonstration of human fallibility! Now, I seek to help others grasp that they too were created by One who loves them intensely, so that they may open their hearts to His Lordship and so discover and walk in the purpose for which they were created.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There are so many different ways to describe sharing the Gospel! Help me be increasingly effective at it, drawing more and more to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Evangelism; July 4, 2022

Posted on July 7, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Reading this chapter I’m always tempted to dwell on verse 31, because that, in the mouth of Jonathan Edwards, was used to spark the Great Awakening revival that prepared the American colonies for the Revolutionary War. (Perhaps a fitting subject for the 4th of July.) However, this verse is also powerful and is applicable to every believer, and not just those who have drawn away from God. The English and the Japanese are obviously translations of the same Greek, but the nuance is different. The Japanese says, “Since the One who promised is faithful, let us not waver, but firmly profess hope.” The English stresses the holding onto hope, and the Japanese stresses professing hope. I take that as being evangelism, expressing the hope that is available in Christ alone to others, just as Peter talked about in 1 Peter 3:15. American society has always stressed the individual, to a degree that is perhaps unique in the world, but that can easily bleed over into self-centeredness, which benefits no one. We are individually accountable to God, but we are not to be satisfied with just our own salvation; we are to be sharing that with those around us. When we discover the incredible salvation that is available in Christ by grace through faith, it is the worst of ironies if we keep that good news to ourselves. God’s truth is to be shared! Just as Jonathan Edwards helped transform the colonies into a nation, our words too can lead people from darkness to light, from death to life. If we are indeed convinced that our God is faithful, just as this verse says, then nothing should hold us back from sharing the Good News of salvation.

As I have written multiple times, the thing that showed me that God had indeed baptized me with His Spirit was the awareness that for the first time in my life, I was talking about Jesus with a total stranger. Jesus’ statement in Acts 1:8 about being witnesses wasn’t coincidental, much less unimportant, it was the definition of walking in the Spirit. If we want the Holy Spirit to flow through us, and we certainly should, then we need to be active in sharing Christ. This isn’t limited to speaking, but it certainly includes it. Francis of Assisi’s famous admonition, “Preach constantly. When necessary, use words,” is valid enough, but as Peter pointed out, words are going to be called for to give people the details. Personality plays a part here, but we aren’t to let personality be an excuse not to share Christ. Despite being a teacher, unafraid to speak to groups, I am an introvert, happy to be by myself and uncomfortable at parties. That’s no excuse not to share Christ! I am to be active in seeking God’s appointments with those whose hearts He has prepared, because, as Paul pointed out, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14) (Don’t overthink “preaching” here. This is simply sharing the Gospel.) As a pastor, a major part of my ministry is to be in helping all the believers understand this is their privilege and task.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s something I’ve known for a long time, but I’ve got a lot of room to grow in communicating it to the believers. I pray that they would all profess boldly the hope that we have in Christ, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Jesus’ Intercession; July 3, 2022

Posted on July 6, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 7:24-25 Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews presents the legal basis for our salvation from the standpoint of the Mosaic Law. That might mean very little to Gentiles, but it is important in the grand scheme of things. The various covenants between God and man, from Adam on, respectively precede and supersede each other, coming to a grand culmination in Christ. As He Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17) That’s why it’s important to have Hebrews in the Bible. This particular statement is enormously comforting if you allow it to permeate your being. It says that salvation in Christ is complete, with nothing left to be done. We are forever trying to add to our salvation in some way, when that is an impossibility. What we should be doing is living in grateful obedience for the salvation that has already been accomplished and granted. That is possible because Jesus is eternal. He existed before Creation and He cannot “not exist.” And what is He doing with His eternity? He is interceding to God for all who seek to draw near to God through Christ. It is futile to try to draw near to God apart from Christ, though many try. People don’t like it that there is no room for pride in God’s plan of salvation! It requires repentance and faith, but nothing else. (Mark 1:15, Ephesians 2:8-9) In our weakness we slip and fall many times, in more ways than we generally realize, but as it says here, Jesus is always there to say, “Put that on my bill.” That is marvelous news indeed!

Of course this applies as much to me as it does to anyone. The Lord has had to point my sins out to me many times, and not just that one earth-shaking experience in 1972, but repentance has been possible and forgiveness has been real. I have the privilege of sharing the good news of God’s salvation with others, and I must let nothing interfere with that. I preach again this morning, and the subject is God’s grace. I am to proclaim it with great joy, allowing God to speak His heart through me by His Spirit, so that those present and those hearing electronically alike may be transformed by His Word to them, for His glory alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Lord Jesus, thank You indeed for interceding for me, and for all God’s children. Holy Spirit, use me freely, flow through me to break the lies that have bound so many, so that there may be a great harvest in the Family of God. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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A Firm Hope; July 2, 2022

Posted on July 6, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

There are two distinct metaphors in this verse, and many people don’t have a reference for either one. Boating is fairly common and we are all familiar with the idea of ships and anchors, but unless we have personal experience, this image isn’t likely to grab us. The thing is, in heavy seas or strong winds, anchors can and often do drag along the floor of the body of water in question. It is only when they dig into the sand or catch onto fixed rocks that they really fulfill their purpose. That’s why this verse specifies “firm and secure.” The second metaphor is even less familiar, because it speaks of the temple in Jerusalem that hasn’t existed for almost 2000 years. There was a curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple. The Ark of the Covenant was there, signifying the very presence of God. Matthew records that when Jesus died on the cross, that curtain split from the top to the bottom, signifying that Jesus had opened the way to God’s presence. (Matthew 27:51) What the writer is saying here is that our hope is firm and secure in the very presence of God. All of us have times when our hope doesn’t seem very strong, when our “anchor is dragging,” so to speak. When that is the case, it shows that our hope has shifted off of what God has done for us in Christ and onto some lesser thing, generally circumstantial. The thing is, circumstances are temporal, temporary, and so can’t be a firm and secure anchor for us. Storms certainly come in life, as even Jesus assured us, (John 16:33) so we need to confirm that our anchor is properly set, and take our focus off of the wind and waves.

I’m in a very minor training session in this at the moment. A number of essentially minor things, coupled with the heat and humidity, have added up to make me feel unsettled. How silly! Lifting my eyes to Jesus is without question the answer. You’d think I’d have that down pat by now, but even at 73 I still need reminders. I need to focus on Christ to have the anticipation of all that has been promised us in Him. That’s the hope that is spoken of here, and I need to walk in it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me tackle each thing I face with the assurance that You will get me through it, and not let the devil distract me with negative scenarios. That only produces procrastination that benefits nothing! Help me flow with Your Spirit on Your schedule each moment of today, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Focus on Jesus; July 1, 2022

Posted on July 4, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

The writer of Hebrews was certainly Christ-centered. 12:2 is the more famous verse to say what he says here. (I personally think the writer was Apollos, but that is largely irrelevant.) The book as a whole is a commentary on how Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law as our Great High Priest, as he mentions here. The advice to fix our thoughts on Him is good for every person in every age. Christ is timeless, and the truth about Him never goes out of date. It is through Him that we have the “heavenly calling” mentioned here, and only through Him that we are truly holy. That said, in Him we are indeed holy, whatever the devil, or even our own slip-ups, say about us. As Paul said, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The biggest battleground is in our minds and hearts, so the more we think about Jesus, the easier it is to be yielded to the work of His Spirit in us, transforming us to be like Him.

The Bible is so marvelously connected! My sermons often use too many Scriptures, because it’s all just so interrelated. I am very familiar with the Bible, but I am not immune to distraction and temptation. I would do well to think more about Jesus! When I am meditating on all that He has done for me, the wiles of the devil will have no power over me. I am reminded of a very perceptive cartoon I saw several years ago, from the series, Rose is Rose. A little boy is one of the main characters, and he can see his guardian angel. In the episode I’m thinking of, the angel was talking about the huge amount of things he had to get done in a previous 24 hour period, and in the climactic frame he says, “So I had to pray for 23 hours, and then got it all done.” That’s the way it is. If I am properly focused on Jesus, everything in my life will fall into place, but if not, there will be all sorts of misalignments. Going back to the cartoon, just because I’m praying doesn’t mean I’m not doing other things at the same time. I can and often do pray in the process of doing other things. That’s a major reason I’m thankful for the gift of Tongues. However, my will is always involved; I’ve got to choose to pray. That said, if I do choose to focus on Jesus, which is essentially what prayer is, then He will be totally faithful.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for yesterday and all it held. Thank You for the new tooth. It was shocking on Wednes­day to have a tooth essentially crumble in my mouth, and almost more shocking to have the dentist create a new tooth and get it firmly attached to the original root. I’m grateful for such technology, and I know it comes from You. Help me indeed stay focused on You in every area today, as I do the sermon notes and take care of other things this morning and go to Takeo this afternoon, and then have a Zoom meeting this evening. I pray that in everything I would be Your agent, doing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Paul’s Ministry; June 30, 2022

Posted on July 3, 2022 by jgarrott

Titus 3:3-7 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

You could say that this is the long-form version of Ephesians 2:8-10. One thing that shows that Paul’s letters are trustworthy is their internal consistency; he doesn’t contradict himself. That’s because he wasn’t saying one thing to one group and something different to another. That reflects both honesty and integrity. The Japanese term for integrity uses characters that are very clear: “unity of words and actions.” We sometimes forget that’s what “integrity” means. Paul didn’t try to manipulate people, he simply spoke the truth in love, just as he told others to do. (Ephesians 4:15) That characteristic can be found in a number of great teachers down through the centuries, and when someone deviates from that pattern, we need to pay close attention and be on our guard. For example, Mohammed started his ministry in Mecca, and the part of the Quran that was written then is very accepting of Jews and Christians, “people of the Book.” However, once he moved to Medina and started functioning more as a warlord than a spiritual teacher, his writing in the Quran becomes very aggressive toward Christians and especially Jews. When those who follow him want to seem peaceful, they quote the first half of the Quran, but the official position is that “the later writings are more authoritative,” and that can justify great violence. There is no integrity there! Some people accuse the Bible of the same thing, with the Old Testament being the “violent” part, but they are actually cherry-picking a very few passages that are easily explained by the holiness of God. We need to absorb as much as we can of the whole Word of God in the Bible, so that we may walk in growing faith and personal integrity, just as Paul did.

I have had several people say things about my similarity to Paul, but I don’t know if that’s a compliment. After all, his preaching put people to sleep! (Acts 20:9) However, I do seek to have the sort of integrity Paul displayed, speaking not what is convenient or would please my immediate hearers, but what God is speaking to and through me. I am very aware that my own imagination doesn’t produce God’s results! There are many, many differences between my ministry and that of Paul, but I do seek to please the same Lord he did, and like him, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) Everything else is secondary.

Father, thank You for the incredible privilege of serving You. Help me do it with integrity indeed, not in my own strength, because that isn’t up to the task, but with Yours, because just as Paul said, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Thank You. Praise God!

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