Returning to God; September 4, 2025

Posted on September 5, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 9:12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

This chapter is most famous for verse 9, which was fulfilled on Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem, but I have always liked this verse as well. Different translations render this as “prisoners of hope” or “prisoners who have hope.” Not being a Hebrew scholar I can’t say which is more accurate, but it would seem strange for hope to be the imprisoning agent. Regardless of that point, we are being told to “return to our fortress.” The Bible speaks many times of God being our fortress, and I am very comfortable with that being the meaning here. The promise of a double restoration is a good one, but we have to return to our fortress for it to happen. When we get in trouble of various sorts we are quick to search for remedies, but the ultimate answer is always to turn to God. That doesn’t mean to be passive, because God often has specific things He wants us to do, but it does mean acknowledging that He is our Source, our Supply, and in Him we have everything we need. Sometimes that doesn’t look like everything our flesh wants, as in Paul’s famous entreaty about his “thorn in the flesh,” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) but as God told him, His grace is really all we need. This verse also brings to mind Jesus’ promise to His disciples that anything they gave up for Him would be multiplied to them. (Matthew 19:29) There, it doesn’t just say “double,” it says “100 times as much”! God is never at a loss for anything we need, but we have to return to Him to get it. We often fail to recognize when and how we are drifting from God, and sometimes He has to put us in a tight spot to get us to realize it. However, that’s never out of spite, but always out of love. After all, He delights to give us His Kingdom! (Luke 12:32)

This is something God has had to teach me repeatedly, but I think I’ve got a fairly good hold on it now. God has every resource in the universe at His disposal, and He’s my Daddy! That doesn’t mean I’m to presume on Him like some spoiled brat, but it does mean I’m never to be anxious about anything. There are a LOT of scriptures that say that! He has told me personally to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, so my only concern is to be careful not to drift from Him, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. He is indeed my Fortress, and when I am resting in Him, absolutely nothing can get to me! My biggest issue is the little things, ironically enough, that get under my skin in one way or another. I’ve got to be on my guard against such things, and walk in consistent humility.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I let little things irritate me all too often! May I be so grounded in You that those things bounce off without penetrating, so that I may consistently show the face of Christ to all around me, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Truth; September 3, 2025

Posted on September 4, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 8:16-17 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord.

These are some pretty clear instructions, and they seem to me to be very applicable to America right now. They apply both to personal interactions and to public life, specifically, the judicial system. America’s judicial system seems to me to be pretty messed up right now, but that may be because I’m not that familiar with what is going on in other countries. I’ve heard some pretty horrific tales from other countries, too. The over-all emphasis seems to me to be on truth. Things are coming out in the US right now that boggle the mind, with the details of “The Russia Hoax” coming out, with top government officials having committed perjury for political purposes and the like. And that applies on the personal level as well, just as it says here. God is Truth, and that instantly eliminates all the “my truth” and “your truth” nonsense. Whereas it is valid to say that truth isn’t necessarily the same thing as facts, they have a very intimate relationship! The ultimate truth is that God exists, and everything else comes from that truth. The minute we try to say that God doesn’t exist, or simply to ignore Him, then we get into all sorts of problems. Since our existence depends on Him, we need to seek out His character and will and act accordingly. He’s giving us a sample of that here, and we need to pay attention.

I had the huge advantage of being raised by a father who held absolute honesty as one of his core principles. That has made me very uncomfortable with lies, and I’m grateful. Literary fiction is a different matter, but I’m talking about things presented as truth. I have been very disgusted by noble-sounding fiction presented on the Internet as fact. There are plenty of genuinely true stories that could be told, and we should not be trying to manipulate people, even with good goals, by presenting fiction as fact. When I speak or write, I want people to have the assurance that my words are true, regardless of the subject. When I find I was mistaken about something, I need to make corrections as quickly and effectively as possible. When I follow the One who is the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) I want His character to be reflected through me, for the blessing of those around me and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You indeed for the parents You gave me, and for their example. May I be an accurate representation of Christ to all who see me, imperfect though I am, just as my parents were, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Rejoice!; September 2, 2025

Posted on September 3, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 2:11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”

You couldn’t ask for a more definitive statement that God doesn’t limit His love and acceptance to the Jews. This verse and the one before it have been nicely set to music in Japanese, and I naturally have translated that into English. (In a case like this, of which there are several, it’s not so much a matter of translation as of rearranging the words so they fit the meter.) It’s a catchy, rhythmic tune, and it’s not unusual for me to find myself singing it in my heart as I’m out walking. God is here telling us to rejoice, and we should delight to obey! It’s important to notice why we are to rejoice: God is going to come to us and live, that is, make His home and remain, with us. Actually, He has now done that in Christ Jesus our Lord, so we have no excuse not to rejoice! This is why, and how, people have sung to the Lord even as they have been martyred. There was an instance of that just recently in Nigeria, which has had a horrific number of martyrs in recent years. A woman was horribly abused and then hacked to death, and the reports are that she sang to the Lord until she died. That sort of thing is possible only by a supernatural awareness of the presence of God, but we have records of such in the Bible as well. If you think about it, this leaves us no excuse for pity parties! As Jesus told us so clearly, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Coming back to this verse, I would guess that the vast majority of the people who read what I am writing are Gentiles, which means we are among the “many nations” mentioned here. That gives us all the more reason to rejoice, because we have been included by faith in the family of Abraham, and that’s amazing!

Of course, I have committed my life to adding the nation of Japan to the list, so this certainly applies to me. Interestingly, over the past 41 years I have baptized not only Japanese, but people from America, Canada, Korea, Jamaica, and Honduras. At one point I even resented, foolishly enough, having so many non-Japanese active in this church! Frankly, drawing Japanese into the Kingdom remains a real challenge, but there are signs that we may have several in the near future, and that’s exciting. Whether that happens or not, I’m still to rejoice, because God certainly dwells among us, and that is worth celebrating indeed.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. Thank You for Your Spirit, who indeed indwells us and causes Christ to be formed in us. (Galatians 4:19) May I rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all who see me may know that You are with me, and desire to welcome You into their own hearts. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Dependence on God; September 1, 2025

Posted on September 2, 2025 by jgarrott

Zephaniah 3:12, 15 But I will leave within you
    the meek and humble.
The remnant of Israel
    will trust in the name of the Lord.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
    never again will you fear any harm.

It struck me that the same terminology is used in referring to humble and lowly people and to the Lord, the King of Israel. The same thing is said in different ways in other places, but it is clear that God is with the humble, not with the proud. In fact, pride is perhaps the single greatest hinderance to salvation. I keep coming back to this truth, but salvation requires acknowledging that you need it, and that you can’t save yourself. There are literally countless stories that illustrate this, but a famous one is that of John Newton, the author of the lyrics of Amazing Grace. He went from being the captain of a slave ship, one of the most despicable occupations, to being a pastor, and penned the words to perhaps the best-loved hymn in the world. If he had not humbled himself before God as his ship was in danger of sinking in a storm, he would indeed not have been saved, on any level, and would today have been rotting in hell. This is why Jesus so famously said that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) Materially wealthy people are very likely to trust in their wealth, not realizing how ephemeral it really is. It is much easier for someone who has nothing in this world to depend fully on God. If you want to be with God for eternity, you need to realize that you have nothing valuable apart from Him even now.

I didn’t grow up in poverty, exactly, but it certainly wasn’t “the lap of luxury.” That said, many of my Japanese friends as a child thought we were rich, because compared to them, we were! We were supported by the mission board on an American framework, when Japan was recovering from the devastation of WWII. As an adult, I have had times of fairly major “pinch,” financially speaking, but God has always come through. At this point, various things have combined to the point that we have fewer financial worries that ever before. I am grateful, and at the same time I am aware that we are no less dependent on the grace of God than when we didn’t know how we were going to get the next meal on the table. I want to be one of those who are with my Lord and King even now, before I get to heaven!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your abundant supply of everything we need, whether we see it with our physical eyes or not. Help me walk in constant awareness of my dependence on You, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You, just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting Faith; August 31, 2025

Posted on September 1, 2025 by jgarrott

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

This is rightly one of the most famous declarations of faith in the face of circumstances in the whole Bible. A musical setting for verses 17-19 echoes in my heart and mind, which is appropriate enough, since the last line indicates that from the beginning it was intended to be sung. Verse 17 lists absolutely calamitous circumstances for an agrarian society, and then we have this verse: “Yet will I rejoice in the Lord.” That boggles the mind! Habakkuk was facing a foreign invasion leading to potential death by starvation, even if not by direct enemy action, and yet he chooses to rejoice in the Lord. This passage should be required reading and meditation for every believer tempted into a victim mentality, indulging in a pity party. We don’t have it this bad! There is a great deal going on in the world, both good and bad, and with this Information Age we live in, we are bombarded with news about it all. We aren’t to be passive or indifferent, but we’ve got to keep it all in perspective, remembering that God hasn’t changed, nor has He abandoned us. We are to act to remediate circumstances as the Lord directs, but remember that the temporal is never the final answer. As Jake Hess sang, even “death ain’t no big deal.” If we can maintain that perspective, we can join with Habakkuk in rejoicing in the Lord regardless of what is going on, in the world or in our own personal lives.

This is a perspective I have come around to more and more, the longer I have lived with the Lord. As Bill Gaither wrote, “The longer I Serve Him, the Sweeter He Grows.” For an infant with no perspective, a dropped cookie is a tragedy. I think I’ve gone far beyond that! That said, I’m not to make light of other people’s problems, but as Paul said, “mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15) I’m not to encourage pity parties, but I’m not to put people down for having them. God is absolutely faithful, and as He told Jeremiah, His plans for us are good. (Jeremiah 29:11) Immediate circumstances may be genuinely horrible, all the way to and including martyrdom, but I’ve got to remember, and remind others, that God’s plans for us are for eternity, and any difficulties we have in this life are no more than minor bumps in the road.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You again for all You did on Friday with the concert. Thank You that today is a service of praise and testimonies. Thank You that my call yesterday got me an appointment with a dermatologist for tomorrow, to check out what I suspect is another skin cancer lesion. I was shocked that it was so soon! Thank You that I don’t have to be anxious about anything at all, but just rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, as an example for all who know me and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Salvation; August 30, 2025

Posted on August 31, 2025 by jgarrott

Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
    there will be deliverance,
    as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
    whom the Lord calls.

I almost chose to write on verse 25, because that also feels very meaningful right now, but this verse won out. The statement, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved,” is immensely powerful, and is quoted by both Peter and Paul. (Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13) Our human minds think that’s too simple, but there are a few conditions built into it. In the first place, the person who calls has to know they need to be saved. Sadly, far too many people don’t fit into that category – and that includes a lot of nominal Christians. The second point is that they have to know the Lord exists, and to some extent at least, who He is. I have read quite a few testimonies of people who called out to Allah, and he didn’t answer, but when they called out to Jesus, He did. This is where we come in, because it is our privilege and responsibility to tell others about Jesus so that they can call out to Him. The third thing is that there has to be enough humility to ask for help. And many people stumble on this point as well. Often we have to come to the end of our own resources before we’ll reach out the One who holds everything in His hands. All that said, those three points are hardly insurmountable! As Paul said, God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) God opens the door as wide as possible, but it is our own stubbornness and pride that make it narrow. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Over the years there have been many people to whom I’ve ministered who died without making a public profession of faith in Christ, but I hold onto the hope that in their dying moments, they cried out to the Jesus they had heard about from me. However, that’s hardly what we would call effective evangelism! Public profession and baptism are almost infinitely better, and that’s what I’m to work for. Last night we had a concert here, and I was absolutely thrilled that three people I have been working with personally, as well as others who are not yet believers, came to it. I’m still somewhat in “shock and awe!” We didn’t promote this as evangelistic, but simply as a concert, and that was non-threatening enough that people came. The couple who performed gave personal testimonies, not “sermons,” that clearly and gently showed the way to salvation, and I believe they were received. The anointed music certainly didn’t hurt! I need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit from this point as well, not failing to follow through, but not applying pressure that’s not needed. I believe we’re going to need our baptistry a lot in the coming months! I need to keep praying for these people, that the devil will be unable to steal the seed that has been planted, and that it will bear abundant fruit, not just for these people’s salvation but for further expansion of the Kingdom of God.

Father, I’m still blown away by what You did last night. Thank You that it’s so clear that it wasn’t my doing! Help me be more and more yielded and available to You, so that You may do through me whatever You like, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Knowledge; August 29, 2025

Posted on August 30, 2025 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

This is an absolutely amazing offer from our omniscient Creator. Expressed a little differently, He’s saying, “You want to know something wild? Just ask me.” Today we tend to look back on people of past generations and think, “They were so ignorant.” The thing is, we are still so ignorant! Some items of information have made a major difference, such as the awareness of germs causing disease, but there is still far more that we don’t know than we do know. God never has that problem! The question becomes, what do we need to know? On the eternal scale, what is most important is that we have a Creator who is perfectly holy and so cannot abide sin, but who is perfectly loving, and so sent His Son to take the penalty for our sin and enable salvation by grace through faith. Everything else is strictly icing on the cake, but some of it is important to our quality of life on this planet – the awareness of germs being a good example. As the following verses make clear, what God was referring to here was future events that Jeremiah couldn’t have imagined on his own. That was important, because Jeremiah’s writings were what gave the Jews hope during their time in Babylon, preparing them to return to the land when God used Cyrus the Persian to accomplish it. At this point, God has given us knowledge of future events through Ezekiel and Daniel in the Old Testament and John in the New, but we tend to get confused by it all, trying to draw timelines and such. The far wiser course is to ask God to show us whatever we need to know, and not worry about the rest. Daily faithfulness is the key. The devil is quite an expert at distracting us with all sorts of things that might be true in themselves, but they are strictly temporal and don’t mean anything in the long run. Our focus needs to be on our Lord, listening to Him and following through with whatever He tells us. It’s important to remember that God sometimes shows us “hidden, unsearchable” things. The Japanese expresses that as “things beyond human understanding.” We may sometimes have no idea what to do with what He has shown us, but we have James’ reassurance: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5) Wisdom is ultimately more important than knowledge.

I have always been something of a knowledge junkie, delighting to collect information, so learning to value wisdom over knowledge hasn’t been an easy road for me. As has been said, knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. That’s a silly, humorous example, but I need to keep my focus on my Lord, and not on all the information that so delights me. The Internet is a blessing and a curse to me, because it certainly feeds my knowledge addiction, while at the same time distracting me from what God is saying to me. I’m not to reject information, but always keep it in perspective. Virtually all of it will be totally insignificant when I stand before God’s throne! I need to keep remembering that God’s smart and I’m not, and be at peace with that.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the intelligence You’ve given me. May I always use it in submission and obedience to You, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Fear and Happiness; August 28, 2025

Posted on August 29, 2025 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 32:39-40 “I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.  I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.”

This promise of God combines two things that we tend to think of as antithetical to each other: fear and happiness. Actually, English translations don’t use “happiness,” but that is the most common translation for the word used in the Japanese. It carries strong overtones of blessing and good, and those words are used in English for this passage. This shows one of the chief benefits of reading the Bible in multiple languages, because translation is very seldom  a matter of direct equivalence, and I doubt that anyone today understands perfectly the nuances of all the words used when the Bible was written, in whatever language. Whatever language we’re using, we need to remember that God’s Word is deeper and higher than any merely human language, or even human thought. (Isaiah 55:8-9) It’s one of His many miracles that He expresses His thoughts to us in ways we can grasp. To get back to this passage, it actually expresses something that is repeated in various ways throughout the Bible: God’s plans for us are for our good. We tend to doubt that and rebel any time His plans differ from ours, but that’s just human stupidity. It we fail to fear Him, we aren’t likely to obey Him! I’m reminded of something Dennis Prager has said. In his many years of being a radio talk show host, he asked countless people who had never used drugs, why they hadn’t. The answer was consistent: “My mother would have killed me.” That’s precisely the kind of fear we’re talking about here. If children don’t fear their parents’ discipline, they’re very likely to go astray, and bear the consequences of that. This is no excuse for child abuse, but these days, almost any kind of discipline is labeled as abuse, and that’s a lie of the devil. It sounds contradictory, but we need to fear our parents, and God, in order to love them and receive the good they desire for us.

My parents weren’t perfect, but they did a pretty good job. Neither I nor any of my siblings got into drugs, though we did stray in some other ways. My wife and I likewise didn’t do a perfect job by any means, but our daughters turned out OK. Human parenting pales in comparison to Father God, naturally enough. I was taught about God from infancy, but I don’t think I feared Him enough. However, God has been faithful to guide as well as guard me over the years, and I think I fear Him far more now than I ever did in my youth. The interesting thing is, I also love Him far more than I did! I have learned that you can’t separate love and devotion for Him from deep respect and awe. My awareness of Him should scare the sin out of me! When I fear Him properly, there is absolutely nothing else I need to fear, and I’m grateful.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your continuing, overflowing grace toward me. It’s a very minor thing, but thank You for arranging my schedule so that I was able to watch the 10th Starship test launch live yesterday. That really blessed me! Thank You for all the big and small things You do for and through me. May I be fully yielded to You in active obedience, so that Your plans may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Prophecy; August 27, 2025

Posted on August 28, 2025 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 31:14 “I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
    and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah is known as a prophet of “doom and gloom,” to the point that “jeremiad” refers to a very negative rant about something. However, he also prophesied some very encouraging things indeed. This chapter is glorious, and deeply comforting. After all, it was Jeremiah’s prophecies that enabled the exiles in Babylon to know that after 70 years they would be returned to the land of Israel. Various parts of this chapter have been set to music, and are running through my mind and heart even now. Honest prophecy may seem severe in the moment, but it will always reflect the character of God. He is indeed holy and righteous and just, and He is also kind and loving and gracious. Some people focus on the severe stuff, and they are scared witless of Him, and some people imagine Him as a soft, fluffy Santa Claus, indulgent in the extreme. Both of those are terrible misconceptions, fostered and encouraged by the devil. God is indeed 100% righteous and holy, so our sins and rebellions have consequences, but He is also love itself, as John so famously pointed out. (1 John 4:8) Prophecy that is from Him will reflect both of those poles, as opposite as they might seem. Going back to yesterday’s reading, if Jeremiah had only prophesied doom and gloom, hearing God speak would hardly have been a joy to him! When God nudges our heart to indicate He wants to say something through us, we should not fear, but rejoice to be fully available to Him for whatever He wants to say.

I have been used in prophecy, and I have heard various prophecies. I certainly like this one! Since I would fit in the category of “priests,” it certainly sounds good to me! It is interesting that where English translations say “bounty,” or “goodness,” in the last part of the verse, the Japanese says “grace.” That term in Japanese indeed means more than we usually mean by grace, having a strong feeling of blessings. However, God told Paul that His grace was sufficient for him, at a point when that wasn’t really what Paul wanted to hear. I need to remember to feast my soul of God’s abundance, and know that His grace is sufficient for me, regardless of whatever I’m going through.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the youth missions team that came yesterday, and for the yard work they did for us. Thank You even more for the privilege of sharing Your heart with them. May they, may we, open up to You more and more, to be more and more effective as Your agents, in word and in deed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Jeremiah; August 26, 2025

Posted on August 27, 2025 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 15:16 When your words came, I ate them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name,
    Lord God Almighty.

Being called and used by God can be a mixed bag! Jeremiah is recognized as one of the great prophets of history, but his personal life was very far from being a picnic. In verse 10 he laments having been born, because his obedience to God stirs up society, and he suffers the consequences. On that score, in the last part of this chapter God assures him that his enemies will be unable to conquer him, so he needs to be at peace with that. He finally was stoned to death in Egypt by his own people, who had fled to Egypt in direct violation of what Jeremiah had told them from God, but by that point, I’m sure he was more than ready to leave this life. The pain of the rocks was no fun, but the glory of what came after than more than compensated! All that said, this verse tells us what sustained Jeremiah throughout his ministry. He loved hearing from God, and his relationship with God was more personal than most people can dream of. The turn of phrase here is interesting: eating God’s Word. That seems odd to us, but when we eat something we take it in, absorb the nutrients in it, and it becomes part of us. That was Jeremiah’s experience with what God said to him, either through the Torah or directly to his heart. We can have the same experience, actually, because we have much more Bible than Jeremiah had available to him. And even today, God isn’t limited to speaking through the printed Word, but speaks to us in many ways. If we recognize His voice and take in His words, as Jeremiah did, then it will be a joy and pleasure to us just as it was to Jeremiah. However, there is a precondition to that: we have to be committed to do whatever God says to us, just as Jeremiah did. If we aren’t going to obey God, why would He speak to us? The world’s reaction to us probably won’t be as severe as it was to Jeremiah, but it could be. We need to be decided ahead of time that intimacy with God is more than worth it, and be as committed to Him as Jeremiah was.

I haven’t been involved in as much turmoil as Jeremiah was, but I can certainly identify with this verse! What is most exciting is that the sister who spoke this past Sunday obviously feels the same way. She has my spiritual DNA! Every believer needs to fall more and more in love with God, and that includes taking in what He says to us, digesting it, and making it part of us. I am to be a man of the Word, just as I am a man of words, and I need to be an open channel for God to speak through. I’m no Jeremiah, but if my speaking God’s words causes conflict, so be it. I can’t claim to love Jesus if I don’t do what He says to me! (John 14:15) However, I have tasted the joy Jeremiah spoke of, and I am totally addicted. It is a blessed addiction indeed!

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the joy of taking in Your Word. May I recognize what You are saying whenever You speak to me, however You do it, so that I may be fully useful in Your hands, accomplishing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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