Giving; March 2, 2022

Posted on March 5, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Chronicles 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

As was common for kings of the era, David was fabulously wealthy, but he managed to maintain the perspective that it all came from God and thus belonged to Him. Here, he is rejoicing that he is able to give so much toward the building of the temple. It really does feel good to be able to give. Paul quoted Jesus as having said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Our flesh doesn’t want to acknowledge that, but it is certainly true. However, until we get a real understanding that everything is based on grace, we have trouble believing it. There is immensely more satisfaction in being able to bless others out of the fruit of your own labors than in “sucking on the government teat,” as the saying goes. That definitely applies to giving back to God as well. It’s amazing to me how many people think they are being “noble” in putting $10 (or the equivalent of ￥1000) in the plate at church whenever they show up, when the Bible tells us a tenth of all our income is an appropriate sign that we know where it all comes from. This isn’t compulsion. That would be a tax, not an offering. As Paul also noted, “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) That applies whether we are giving to God or to our neighbor. Like David, we should rejoice that God has so provided as to enable us to give.

I was taught to tithe as a small child. My allowance was 100 yen a week, back when it was 360 yen to the dollar, and I was taught to give 10 yen every Sunday. Also, at Christmas nothing was “from Santa,” but rather from specific people, and we opened gifts one at a time. I still remember getting a bigger thrill out of watching the mem­bers of my family open the gifts I had chosen for them, than in opening what had been given to me. As a young adult I got away from tithing, but around the time our second daughter was born we felt strongly we were to get back to tithing, even though we were actually quite poor, and God responded by multiplying our finances. Now, though we still don’t have enough income to have to pay taxes on it, it gives us great satisfaction to be able to give 15%. God is indeed our supply, and there is great joy and blessing both in giving back to Him and in giving to others.

Father, thank You for Your grace on so many levels. Thank You not only for meeting our needs, but also for teaching us the joy of giving. I do ask for wisdom in giving, that everything You place in my hands may accomplish what You intend for it, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Hope; March 1, 2022

Posted on March 5, 2022 by jgarrott

2 Kings 4:28 “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”

Hope can be a strange thing. Not everything we hope for is fulfilled, and that failure can be emotionally devastating. We have the expression in English, “My hopes were dashed” to refer to that. However, there are major hopes and minor ones, and the bigger the hope, the greater the tragedy if it isn’t fulfilled. Those in relation to our children are some of our biggest, strongest hopes. This woman had been unable to have children, and in that society a woman’s status was governed by her children far more than it is today. That said, the emotional connection of a mother with her children hasn’t changed since Eve. Any modern mother, and especially one who has lost a child or who has had difficulty bearing children, can identify fully with this woman. Whereas it is very true that in the case of loss we need to focus on what God has given us, rather than on what we have lost, we also need to remember that God isn’t mean. I’m reminded of a song sung by The Imperials about 50 years ago. I’m not sure of the exact title, but the song starts with, “He didn’t bring us this far to leave us.” In this particular instance God had a resurrection planned, just as He did with Lazarus of Bethany (John 11) God showed Himself faithful, and I’m sure neither the woman nor Elisha nor his servant Gehazi ever forgot it. As a matter of fact, this woman’s story is continued in 1 Kings 8:1-6, where Gehazi recounting the story of the resurrection to the king resulted in further blessing for the woman. It is when we place our hope in God Himself, and not in any of the things He does for us, that we are never disappointed.

I have had various hopes in my life, some being fulfilled and some not. A few years ago I had a strong hope of being able to acquire the land next to this church building and build a senior care home, and that was not fulfilled. It was painful at the time, but I learned and grew in the process. Thinking about it now, I realize the administrative burden of that would probably have been overwhelming for me, and I can be grateful God had other plans. I need to live by the words of the old hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Temporal hopes may or may not be fulfilled, but I have an eternal hope that is absolute and certain, and I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in that assurance.

Father, thank You indeed for the hope You have supplied in Christ Jesus. Help me not just enjoy that for myself, but share it with as many as will receive it, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Commitment; February 28, 2022

Posted on March 3, 2022 by jgarrott

It is perhaps important to note that from here, the theme of the readings is Hope, changing from the previous theme of Gratitude.

Ruth 1:16-17 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

I have known of this Scripture being used in weddings, but that’s not the direct context. Marriage was certainly involved, but this was mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. That was a pretty exceptional relationship! Reading this makes me wonder what sort of home Ruth had to return to, and specifically if it had been abusive. In any case, the women had experienced the shared grief of their husbands’ deaths, and that can create a powerful bond. We forget that in the days before antibiotics, and even a basic understanding of germs, people often died much younger than they do today. Average life expectancy has literally doubled in just the past 150 years or so. For that reason people married young, to have children while they still had the chance! Even Mary the mother of Jesus was probably about 15. That leaves Ruth, at the time of this story, in her 20s, just when women today would be thinking of marriage. That she would be so committed to Naomi at that age speaks all the more strongly of her loyalty. The Bible story in Children’s Church just two Sundays ago was about Ruth, and that author was of the opinion that Ruth’s decision was because she was convinced that Yahweh was the true God. I’m not sure the Bible text supports that, but His name is certainly mentioned. In any case, this remains a beautiful example of commitment without hope of gain, and we know that God beautifully rewarded Ruth – and Naomi, for that matter!

This does remind me of my wife’s commitment to me. We had the same God, and her family was certainly not abusive, but she has literally followed me to the other side of the world, and has every expectation of being buried here in Japan. (Of course, the Lord had called her to missions in Japan long before she met me, but that doesn’t change the logistics of the situation.) I know that my mother considered Cathy as much her daughter as those she actually birthed, and both my wife and my mother were blessed by that. Like Ruth, my wife is a “keeper!” It is strictly a coincidence, from our viewpoint, that we named our first daughter Ruth. As a pastor I seek to lead believers into full, practical commitment to Christ, and as a marriage counselor I seek to lead couples into such commitment to each other. On both counts, it’s much easier when Cathy and I are living that out ourselves.

Father, thank You for using Ruth, and for ensuring that her story was recorded. There’s a lot of meaning to her being David’s great-grandmother, and thus in the line of Jesus. Help me be ever more committed to You and to lead others into that commitment as well, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Lordship of Christ; February 27, 2022

Posted on March 3, 2022 by jgarrott

Revelation 11:15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”

This is one of many passages that are easy to remember because of Handel’s masterpiece, The Messiah. That work makes it easy to believe that heaven is filled with music! That said, we need to understand the meaning of this verse. It is quite literally the fulfillment of what Jesus told us to pray: “Thy kingdom come.” The English is better than the Japanese at this point, because the Japanese just says “country.” In Western cultures too, countries were defined by their rulers, but it’s good that the distinction is clear here; this isn’t talking about a geographic area, but about Lordship. This distinction should be very clear to us right now, as Russia is in the process of invading Ukraine, because Vladimir Putin wants to extend his kingdom. He is in effect as much of a dictator as ancient kings were, and he is wanting to expand his rule and reign. This verse, and indeed the whole Bible, makes it very clear that anything he might accomplish will be strictly temporary. We need to remember that as we pray the Lord’s Prayer that we are praying for God’s authority to be established in the earth, resulting in His will, and His alone, being done everywhere. That fact, properly understood, would make a lot of people not really want to pray the Lord’s Prayer, because they want their will to be done! The thing is, even salvation is all about Lordship. It is hardly trivial that Paul stated clearly, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) He didn’t say, “live in total obedience to Jesus,” because that would be absolute legalism, and that would be a violation of salvation by grace through faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9) However, the acknowledgement, the commitment, must be there, even though our follow-through is imperfect on this earth. Coming back to this verse, it is significant that it isn’t at the very end of the book. Lots of stuff happens after this, but it’s all totally decided from this moment. We need to remember that God is outside of time, so from His perspective this has already happened. We experience lots of negative stuff, but it’s all totally temporary, so we need to rest, relax, and rejoice in our Lord, whatever is going on.

This is certainly timely in view of world events. It’s not often that I’m as caught up in intercession as I am in relation to Ukraine right now. It’s actually a blessing to me to spend such a high proportion of my waking hours in conscious prayer. It has made me aware how comparatively little I have prayed up until now, even though prayer comes easily and naturally to me. I need to be both personally committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and actively seeking that Lordship to be extended throughout the earth. I certainly look forward to the day the whole power structure of the earth is transformed into that of Jesus Christ my Lord! However, I must remember that starts with me, in every detail of my life.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder. Thank You for Handel and others who have transmitted Your truth effectively down through the centuries. Help me also both transmit and live by Your truth, so that You may be pleased with and glorified by me. Thank You. Praise God!

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Tribulation; February 26, 2022

Posted on March 2, 2022 by jgarrott

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

It’s been over 20 years since I learned the song made from verse 10 and verse 12, so I can’t read this without that going through my head and heart. It’s a glorious song! However, it’s verse nine that is most resonating with me at the moment. This one verse refutes both those who say the number of people in heaven is limited, as well as those who feel any particular group of people is more fit for heaven than any other. This explicitly negates racial prejudice. It’s interesting to me that though it specifies these people are from “every language,” they are evidently speaking the same language as they praise God. Obviously, language barriers don’t exist in heaven! It is also significant to me that this totally egalitarian group is, according to verse 14, “they who have come out of the great tribulation.” In other words, no group or locality will be exempt from that great tribulation. Again, there are some who dream up scenarios whereby their group, whatever it might be, is exempt from that tribulation. The point isn’t what we go through so much as it is where we end up once we have gone through it. Avoiding trouble is a natural impulse, and we aren’t to seek out suffering, but Jesus made it clear that we are going to have our share of it, (John 16:33) so we aren’t to focus on the tribulation but on the glory that is to follow. As I write this, Russia is invading Ukraine. That certainly counts as tribulation for the Ukrainians, even though it isn’t persecution for religious reasons. We never know what we will encounter, but God is greater than it all, and as Paul said, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

I have always felt that “pre-trib rapture” theology was escapist, even as I have been increasingly convinced that the final outcome of our faith is going to be glorious beyond words. We all experience “junk” that is less than enjoyable, but that is part of living in a fallen world, just as Jesus said. I need to be like Jesus, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2) I expect to go through more stuff before I leave this earth, but God’s presence is more than sufficient to get me through anything.

Father, thank You for Your totally amazing grace. Thank You that I don’t have to be anxious about anything. I do pray for my brothers and sisters in Ukraine, that You would keep them from any unnecessary suffering, and I pray that Your purposes in allowing this to happen would all be fulfilled. Thank You for the many Russians who are protesting this action on the part of their leader. I pray for those in the Russian military who are not on board with what they are being ordered to do. Thank You that what is visible is only a fraction of all that is actually going on. May Your name indeed be acknowledged as holy and Your rule and reign be manifested as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Creator; February 25, 2022

Posted on March 2, 2022 by jgarrott

Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

I keep coming back to the awareness that we generally operate in too small a concept of God. He is the Creator, as this verse stresses, and that means that He is everything, because He existed before time even existed, since time is dependent on the material universe. That’s why scientists speak of “the space-time continuum.” I wrote on this issue on the 18th, because of Paul’s doxology written to Timothy: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17) We very quickly run out of words when it comes to talking about God, naturally enough because He is infinite. The Revelation to John contains imagery that he was hard-pressed to describe, just as Ezekiel and Daniel had trouble describing what they saw. Now days scientists speak of multiple dimensions beyond the four we normally perceive. They can describe them with mathematics, but words fail! It’s no wonder we can hardly talk logically about the One who created it all. This gap between the Creator and the created was a major reason He sent His Son to be born as a physical human being, because otherwise the words we use to describe Him would indeed be no more than words. It’s kind of like trying to describe a painter simply from the paints, brushes, and brush strokes he used to create a particular painting. Then someone else, working from a different painting, might describe him differently! God has indeed given us many indications of Himself in the created universe, as Paul noted, (Romans 1:20) but deeper knowledge of Him has to come with the help of the Holy Spirit, by His revelation to our mind and heart. In all of this, however, we need to remember that He is absolutely holy and He is absolutely worthy of everything good and honorable, as this verse quotes the elders as singing. As a matter of fact, I think music was given as a method of expression that transcends words, as a powerful tool for communication in general and worship in particular. Be that as it may, we need to remember that God is always greater and more wonderful than however much we might grasp at any given moment.

I have mentioned before that I once had an experience of God so strong that I felt that one more drop, metaphorically speaking, would cause my physical body to give up and I would go straight to heaven. That was in a small group, singing and praying together. I have also experienced times of being more sure that God was real than that I was real, which is actually only logical, since He existed infinitely before I ever did, and He cannot “not exist.” Even with such experiences, however, I spend a portion of my life, probably every day, when I’m not consciously aware of Him at all. As Paul said, quoting a Greek poet, “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) It’s kind of like fish not being aware of water. Even as I desire this for others, I need to be more consciously aware of God so as to be listening and responsive to Him, to do what He desires and nothing else, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the many reminders You give me in so many different ways. Help me indeed be fully responsive to You, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Fear of the Lord; February 24, 2022

Posted on February 27, 2022 by jgarrott

Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

This is not common sermon material these days! However, this was the sort of passage that fueled the revival known as The Great Awakening, that prepared the North American colonists for the Revolutionary War. Very few people seem to have any real fear of the Lord, and the very idea of hell is laughed off as mythology. An awful lot of people are in for a truly devastating shock! Reading all of this, it would not be unreasonable to despair and give up, but verse 28 is actually encouraging. The NIV says, “let us worship…” but the Japanese says, “we are able to serve….” We can’t really serve God acceptably on our own, in human wisdom and strength, because they aren’t up to the task. However, God never tells us to do anything that He doesn’t enable us to do. That little nugget of truth really makes the difference between night and day, when we grasp it fully. Without it, there’s nothing attractive about the fear of the Lord. With it, there is hope and joy coming from the assurance that, as Paul wrote to the Philippians, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) As we see the world falling apart around us, we need to remember that, as it says here, “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.” Human systems are all temporary, and their dissolution can bring lots of distress, but those who are in Christ have nothing to worry about. That said, we aren’t to abandon life in the here and now, because the fact that we are here means that God has work for us to do. Serving Him is indeed the source of genuine accomplishment, because anything that isn’t serving Him is a mirage and a lie.

I could go on and on about this, obviously, because I have tasted it in my own life. I have nearly been destroyed by pride, thinking I could do things on my own, and I have been washed over by waves of God’s amazing grace. God is indeed “a consuming fire,” but in my experience He is a remarkably selective, and even gentle, fire. He burns up only what is not of Him, and so purifies and perfects even as He burns. Raging against the fire is exactly the wrong response. As John the Baptist said, Jesus came to “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Jesus’ baptisms are blessings, whatever they feel like in the process. I have been through a lot in the past 73 years, and I don’t know what I have yet to go through, but I have full confidence that my Lord will enable me to get through it all, and that He has indescribable joy and glory waiting for me on the other side.

Father, I didn’t expect this this morning! Thank You. Recently I have been very aware of Your grace and blessings, and I am grateful not only for them but for the awareness of them. Help me indeed walk in gratitude and obedience, depending on You and nothing else – particularly not on myself – so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Belonging to Christ; February 23, 2022

Posted on February 25, 2022 by jgarrott

Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus.

I haven’t studied Greek, but I do know that Greek prepositions can be reasonably translated various ways. Even between Japanese and English, propositions can be very “slippery,” shifting nuance and even meaning at times. (Actually, Japanese is very limited in prepositions, which is one of many reasons English is difficult for native Japanese speakers.) That said, there are various implications to this expression Paul used fairly frequently. Even in this letter he repeats it in verse nine. Paul was manifestly a prisoner of the Romans. He was in their jail, guarded by Roman soldiers. Even so, he doesn’t label himself that way, but rather as a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I’m sure that distinction had a massive impact on how he dealt with his imprisonment. This brings to mind his statement to slaves that it was actually Christ they were serving, rather than their human owners. (Ephesians 6:7) For that matter, the Japanese preposition used here could reasonably be rendered as “belonging to.” Paul indeed belonged to Christ Jesus, just as we do, by virtue not only of creation but redemption. The better we grasp that, as Paul did, the better we will be able to handle everything in life, knowing that it’s His business even more than it is ours. Paul submitted himself fully to Christ Jesus his Lord. The more we do that, the more our results will resemble Paul’s.

This is of particular interest to me because my father’s doctoral dissertation was on the uses of in Christ and similar constructions in the New Testament. I’m not sure at the moment, but I think this was included among those. The thing is, he told me many years later that despite his academic study he didn’t really grasp what it was to be in Christ until later, after he was already a missionary, when he had a profound encounter with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself used the expression freely in the Upper Room Discourse, talking about how we were to be in Him and in the Father as He and the Father were in each other. (John 17:21) I cannot abide in Christ (John 15:4) simply by decision, though that is involved; I’ve got to be committed to Him and allow Him to be Lord in every area. I’ve not been called on to go to prison for Him yet, much less be physically martyred, but I’m not to hold back even from that sort of thing. People are being faced with that all over the world, from Finnish politicians to Canadian truckers, and I am no better than they are. Right now I am a pastor belonging to Christ and a school teacher belonging to Christ. Everything about my life is to be submitted to and in agreement with Him. Only then will I fulfill the purposes He has for me, for my ultimate fulfillment and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in and even through me. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, as an accurate representation of Your Son, drawing many to repentance and faith for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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People in the Last Days; February 22, 2022

Posted on February 25, 2022 by jgarrott

2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

To be honest, I chose this verse because I didn’t want to type in all of verses 2-5! The description Paul gives of people in the Last Days sounds entirely too familiar. In every era there are some people like that, but the current situation, with the sheer number of people who fit the description perfectly, is distressing to say the least. The question then becomes, as Francis Shaeffer so aptly put it, “How shall we then live?” I’ve never read his book by that title, but I’m very aware of that existential question. One way to answer it would be to go through the description here and reverse each descriptive term and set that as a personal goal. I think we would end up pretty pleasing to God if we did so! There are several risks here. The first is to become judgmental, condemning people in our minds and hearts and so unwittingly becoming like them. The second is to compromise and excuse, confusing accepting people as human beings with accepting their behavior as normal. That is actually what they are demanding these days, not to be tolerated but to be admired, when to do so would be to spit in the face of God. The third is to allow ourselves to be colored by the filth around us, unconsciously conforming to the world, as Paul explicitly warned us not to do. (Romans 12:2) We’ve got to remember that we are in the world but not of it. (John 17:14-16) It is entirely reasonable to be distressed by the sort of behavior described here, but we’ve got to remember that’s exactly the sort of thing God saved us out of. (1 Corinthians 6:11) If God could save us, then He can save even those who seem so despicable now. Pride and self-righteousness are never the answer, but neither is compromise. We’ve got to walk in personal humility and holiness.

This applies to me in spades. It is easy to check the Internet each day, be disgusted or even horrified by what I read and see, and then go on my own self-satisfied way, not praying God’s mercy and repentance on individuals and nations but rather slowly accepting the things around me as normal. That’s what the devil wants! I need to let the Holy Spirit generate Christ’s attitude in me, accepting people as they are but not leaving them that way, not being satisfied with how they currently are. After all, that’s how He treats me! It has become a truism, but I indeed need to love the sinner but hate the sin. At the same time I’ve got to do the same toward myself, loving myself because God loves me, but hating each sin I commit, repenting as soon as I become aware of it. I can’t do that consistently in my own strength, but again as Paul said, I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

Father, thank You for this reminder. My appetite for information can be pretty depressing at times! Help me take in what You are saying to me far more than I take in current events, so that I may indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, allowing You to change people and circumstances through me, if that is Your pleasure, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Fear; February 21, 2022

Posted on February 23, 2022 by jgarrott

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

As with many other verses in the Bible, I can’t read this without singing it, at least in my head. The particular version I’m familiar with (there may be several) not only uses “spirit of fear,” it also uses Ephesians 6:10 for the lead to the second verse, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might,” and as a whole, I think it would be an extremely helpful song for the Church today. The devil and those on his side have used COVID to project fear on the world, to devastating effect. It’s not that it isn’t a deadly virus for some people, but rather that the risks involved were much less than proclaimed, and effective treatments were actually forbidden in some places for political reasons. The actions that were taken “because of the virus” shifted economic and even military balances around the world, and the tool used was fear. Christians have no business yielding to that. As risk factors have become known, data has shown that, according to the CDC, 80% of fatalities were in people with “at least four co-morbidities,” in other words, other medical problems that could have killed them. And the kicker is, the prime co-morbidity was obesity! Considering current American society, it’s no wonder the fatalities were so high, but no one in government talked about the need for a healthy weight and lifestyle in relation to the virus. Fear is a natural human reaction, and it can be a lifesaver at times, but if we let it be the dominating factor in our lives it will destroy us. We need to let Paul’s words to Timothy echo in our hearts and minds and live accordingly.

This verse is particularly close to me because I also have a “Timothy” who has been injured by a spirit of fear. He is coming out of it, but the effects linger. I can identify with many of the fears that have attacked him, having experienced them myself: fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, fear of failure. I have had to learn that rejection, ridicule, and failure may all happen – and probably will – but they are never the final answer. The same may be said of more tangible fears, such as disease or disaster, but regardless, I must not be governed by the fear of anything, except the fear of the Lord. When I am in right relationship with Him, fear leaves the picture, because as John said, He is love, (1 John 4:8) and perfect love drives out all fear. (1 John 4:18) I have the privilege and responsibility of communicating that marvelous truth in this fearful and fearsome age, for the salvation of all who will receive it.

Father, thank You for this encouraging Word. Help me walk in it indeed, today and every day, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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