Spiritual Growth; November 12, 2021

Posted on November 15, 2021 by jgarrott

Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy–to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

I can’t read this passage in English without Don Francisco’s musical setting for it running through my mind, but that’s not a bad thing! It is one of the most striking doxologies in the whole Bible, which is remarkable considering that it was written by someone who physically was Jesus’ kid brother. It’s interesting to think about his journey of faith, to go from thinking his big brother had flipped out to knowing that the person he had grown up with was the Son of God. In identifying himself at the beginning of this letter he does mention that he’s “a brother of James,” but rather than saying he’s a brother of Jesus, he says he’s “a servant of Jesus Christ.” (verse 1) Here, he reiterates the terminology of “Jesus Christ our Lord.” That process had to be very humbling for Jude, but we can be sure he was deeply grateful for it. I can’t even imagine going through that sort of shift of perspective. That said, the content of this doxology that makes it such a blessing to sing is the assurance that, in spite of all our weaknesses, God’s got us, and we don’t need to be anxious. Every time we slip up, every time we are confronted with our own foolishness and inability, we do well to remember this doxology, and praise God. Paul was likewise convinced of God’s all-sufficient faithfulness, writing things like, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 1:6) and “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” (1 Corinthians 1:9) The more we focus on ourselves, the less likely we are to believe that God could use us for anything worthwhile. The more we focus on Christ, the more we realize that He can do absolutely anything – even using us!

God had to take me from the heights of conceit, thinking I could do it all on my own, to realizing I could do absolutely nothing right without Him, (John 15:5) to finally realizing He could use me in spite of myself. I had a spiritually incredibly blessed childhood, perhaps not equivalent to growing up in the same house as Jesus, but somehow close. I squandered that amazingly! As I have come into better alignment with the Lord He has made good use of all that I have gone through, but I can take no credit for that. Right now I have no question that I will spend eternity with my Lord, but the fact that I’m still here teaches me that He still has things for me to do. I also know that in doing them, I will be further grown and purified, preparing me for the day I will stand before Him. I try to help others understand that for and about themselves, but they tend to look at me and place me in a separate category from them, not knowing all I’ve been through. Any differences among people are, to use a Japanese proverb, like acorns comparing height. All I can do is speak the truth in love, praying that the Lord would take the words from my mouth and use them to impart faith and revelation to my hearers, for their blessing and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. I pray that indeed every time I open my mouth, whether I’m talking to an individual, a group, or a crowd, that it would be Your words that come out, accomplishing all, and exactly, that you intend for them, (Isaiah 55:10-11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Priorities; November 11, 2021

Posted on November 15, 2021 by jgarrott

3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

John knew his friend well, and had no worries about his spiritual condition. With that settled, he also prayed blessing on the affairs of Gaius’ life, and on his health. (The NIV reverses that order.) We tend to get those priorities scrambled. There are proverbs in various languages to the effect that only the sick know what health is. For those with serious health issues, those issues tend to “suck all the air out of the room” in terms of priorities. However, for the nominally healthy, the general affairs of life tend to take priority. We’re concerned with making money, getting along with people, and gaining or exercising influence. Sadly, too often the spiritual never enters into our thinking. We have no grasp of the reality that we aren’t physical beings who happen to have a soul, we are spiritual beings who inhabit bodies. It’s no wonder we get our priorities confused! Jesus very famously said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) That is placing the spiritual first in our priorities, and when we do that, everything else does indeed fall into place. Placing finances first is a common mistake, but as Paul said, “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) I couldn’t count how many people I’ve dealt with who’ve put things off “until I have the money” and have never gotten around to things that would have been major blessings. I’ve particularly seen that in Japan with marriage, and at times it is genuinely tragic. Interestingly, when the spiritual is properly placed first, even serious health issues recede into the background. They don’t disappear, but they are no longer all-consuming. It was easy for John to pray for Gaius because he knew his friend had his priorities straight.

Of course this applies to me, as it does to everyone. I have quite good health for my age, but I have had a few issues, such as basal cell carcinomas, shingles, and hernia surgery. Frankly, those have felt like no more than minor bumps, interesting experiences along the way. I have had ups and downs financially, and there have been issues with family and with other people that have upset me in various ways. All in all, though, God has been more than gracious. I think things look that way to me because the Lord has indeed let me have His kingdom and His righteousness as my first priority. I am increasingly aware that everything I can see, hear, and experience with my physical senses is temporal, and thus of minor importance. By God’s grace I am His child, redeemed by the blood of His Son, and in the final analysis that outweighs everything else. I want to be a good son, pleasing to my Father, so I am to be careful in my stewardship of all that He gives me, all the way down to each breath I take. It has taken quite a few years to get to this point, but I can say with deep gratitude that it is a place of peace and joy.

Father, thank You indeed for Your amazing grace toward me. Thank You for the uncountable abundance of Your blessings, on every level. The devil tries all he can to distract me and get me to complain, and sometimes I trip up. Forgive me, and help me indeed focus on Jesus Christ my Lord, (Hebrews 12:2) to be and do all that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Eternal Life; November 10, 2021

Posted on November 14, 2021 by jgarrott

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

This is as black-and-white a statement as you could find, and it was written by John, the “Apostle of Love!” Those who twist the Bible around to come up with universalism aren’t operating in the love they probably proclaim, but are severely deceived at best. We don’t like to confront Jesus’ statement that “Small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:14) It is true that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4) but the plain fact of the matter is that there are vast numbers of people who won’t do that. We don’t like to confront that truth, and we are commissioned to share the Good News of salvation with as many as will receive it, but the simple fact of the matter is that many won’t. That is perhaps the greatest tragedy of life. When someone dies physically having acknowledged Jesus as their Lord, that death is a very minor bump in the flow of their overall existence. We make a big deal of it and weep and mourn, but for the person himself or herself, it is a release into more joy and glory than our physical bodies can handle. However, for the person who has not acknowledged Jesus as their Lord, death is entrance into a more horrible eternity than we can imagine. That’s why the devil tries to convince people hell doesn’t exist, and for that matter, that he doesn’t exist. He doesn’t want people to recognize the choice that is laid before them. However much we might want the situation to be different, the Bible is very clear. Again, Jesus pulled no punches when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) We try all sorts of mental gymnastics to come up with other “ways,” but Jesus shut that down. The Japanese even have a proverb that says, “There are many paths up Mt. Fuji, but they all reach the top,” meaning that all religions are equally valid. Unfortunately, that is a lie from the pit of hell, and as I said, hell is not a fiction! How this can be, when God is so gracious and loving, is certainly “above our pay grade,” but trying to deny it simply blocks people from the opportunity to repent and believe for their salvation.

This of course is intimately tied to my daily life, because not only am I a believer, seeking to walk each day in Christ, I am a missionary pastor in Japan, surrounded by people who manifestly haven’t committed their lives to Jesus. I am constantly required to release people, and the whole situation, to God, because if I dwell on it I will totally burn out emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually. I am to be faithful in presenting the Gospel to as many as will receive it, and I am to rejoice when they do, but at the same time not take it as my personal burden when they don’t. I can’t bear that burden! We tend to think the situation is very different in America, but simply looking at the news and social media convinces me it’s not. There are many who on the one hand profess to be Christians, but on the other hand actively promote things that are clearly in violation of Scripture, and of the very character of God. Repentance is always an option, but for those who don’t take that option, their fate is sealed. I tremble to say it, but the Bible is clear.

Father, I certainly didn’t expect to take such a dark turn this morning. Thank You for the reminder. I pray that it would give me fresh urgency in the task You have laid out for me, so that as many as possible may at least have the opportunity of salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Practical Love; November 9, 2021

Posted on November 14, 2021 by jgarrott

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Sometimes we forget what a practical, down-to-earth book the Bible is. Here John very politely knocks the stuffing out of people who say nice things but don’t follow through. We see it all the time, and truth be told, we can do it ourselves. That’s one way we are very different from God! God’s very words create worlds, but ours don’t have that power, and we’ve got to follow them up with action. These days we have a lot of people saying compassionate-sounding things, but they want the government to do the acting, rather than taking personal responsibility. To be blunt, they want it done with somebody else’s money. An experiment was done on multiple college campuses of talking with students about “the needs of the poor,” and the students were very enthusiastic. Then, the suggestion was made that everyone go sell their rather expensive smart phones to get the money to help the poor, and instantly, no one was in favor. That’s exactly what John is talking about here. God doesn’t demand poverty of everyone; that would totally destroy any economy. What He does say is that we are responsible for what He puts in our hands, not in the hands of others, so we are to express love with what we ourselves can do. If the Church worldwide were really living this out, there would be no need for the vast majority of government programs. We need to look honestly at our words and our actions and see if they line up. Sometimes all we can do is pray, but do we pray? Likewise, any time we pray we need to be willing to be God’s instrument in answering that prayer, even if it means personal sacrifice. To go back to John, we indeed need to love in actions and in truth.

I think I’ve done my share of saying, “Go in peace, be warm and filled,” (James 2:16) without doing anything to make it happen. I certainly can’t say I’m proud of that! I have also promised prayer many times that I have failed to follow through, and that too is shameful. In seminary, Dr. Cal Guy set a magnificent example that I strive to follow. Any time anyone asked for prayer, whether in the middle of class, walking across the campus, or in a grocery store in town, he would stop and pray, and it was genuine, heartfelt prayer. There often is very little I can do physically to improve situations, but I can always pray, and nothing is too difficult for God. However, as I have said, I must never remove myself from God’s list of options in meeting that need, answering that prayer.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for prompting me through Cathy to call the family last night whose mother was taken to the hospital yesterday. I do pray Your best for each member of that family and Your total healing for that mother. I pray that I would not hesitate to lay down my life for those in my care, not being jealous of my time or effort but giving myself fully to You through giving myself to them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Peter; November 8, 2021

Posted on November 11, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Peter 4:7-8 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Peter never ceases to amaze me. That God could and would take someone as he manifestly was at first, a brash, uneducated fisherman, bossy and opinionated, and turn him into the man we see here just blows my mind. The thing is, the history of the Church is filled with such stories. Even Paul couldn’t believe his own transformation! (1 Timothy 1:12-16) Augustine of Hippo is another who comes immediately to mind and there are countless more, all the way to this present moment. Here, Peter is implying the supreme importance of prayer, and then he states the supreme importance of love. Being clear minded and self-controlled certainly seems desirable, but Peter says that the purpose of such desirable traits is prayer. We tend to put that in the opposite order, praying that we can be clear minded and self-controlled! The thing is, prayer is fellowship with our Creator and Lord, not just expressing what is on our heart but hearing what is on His. Along with worship, it is direct practice for how we will spend eternity. Even then, Peter says “above all,” and brings up love. As Paul so famously wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, without love it all falls apart. We tend to take this statement as our love covering over another person’s sin, but in the case of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, He said that her love covered over her sin. (Luke 7:36-50) Since we all sin, if we fail to love, we’re in trouble! That Peter, of all people, would come to this realization shows the transforming power of God. We have a lot to learn from him, allowing God to transform us just as He transformed him, for our blessing and His glory.

As I write from time to time, I have been enormously blessed by Peter and his example. Those who know me compare me much more to Paul, and I personally would like to be like John, but Peter’s example and what he wrote, though comparatively (to Paul, anyway) brief, has been an enormous help and encouragement to me. The encouragement comes from the clear proof that God can use anyone; it doesn’t matter how you are when He starts. I have written about the absolutely stupid pride and conceit that blinded me to so much, until God so kindly showed me a mirror and I repented in abject tears. At this point, I realize I have plenty of room to grow in prayer, as Peter says here, and there’s always room to grow in love. Agape love isn’t always soft and yielding, but it always draws everyone involved toward God, who is Love itself. (1 John 4:8) I want to keep growing, just as Peter did, to be exactly what God wants me to be, for the sake of His kingdom and for His glory.

Father, You know me and love me, even with all my weaknesses and faults. Thank You. Help me draw ever closer to You, allowing You to flow through me to every person and situation I encounter, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Hope; November 7, 2021

Posted on November 10, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Peter 3:15 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.

I have quoted this verse countless times in preaching and talking with people about evangelism. The most effective evangelism isn’t when you decide to evangelize somebody, but when their observation of you and your lifestyle prompts them to ask you about it. Life in Christ is indeed incredibly rich in ways that the world cannot touch, and the more people become aware of that, the more they will desire it for themselves. The specific element of that that Peter mentions here is hope. Frankly, optimism is attractive! It has also been shown that hope or the lack of it is a major factor in patient survival in a wide variety of diseases. The thing about hope in Christ is that it isn’t dependent on how things turn out here, because it includes eternity with Him. We call someone who is unfailingly optimistic a “Pollyanna,” often meaning that they fail to recognize reality, but Christ-centered hope is very realistic, saying, “I may die a horrible death, but that is a minor detail compared to eternity with my Lord.” The devil does all he can to steal our peace and joy, but when we have an eternal perspective, he can’t do that. Paul put it this way: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17) When we have that assurance, people around us will want it too. However, we cannot have it without what Peter says in the first part of this verse: living with Jesus as your Lord. If we are using Christianity as window dressing, just doing our own thing, we certainly won’t have an attractive, eternal hope, and our lives will be no different from those around us.

I have commented several times over the past few years in particular that if I didn’t have faith I would give up hope. The world is a mess indeed! However, it’s been over 20 years since the Lord assured me personally that He’s not happy about the current state of things either, but that He’s got the perfect end game set up. In the US, recent elections and court cases have given a lot of people hope they didn’t have before, but such hope is by definition temporal, for the here and now. Such hope is nice and isn’t to be discounted, but it can’t hold a candle to eternal hope in Christ. In recent years I have been very politically involved, at least emotionally, but I must never let my priorities get reversed. Things on earth are important only to the degree that they help or hinder people getting into and maintaining a right relationship with their Creator, who loved them so much He sent His Son to be their Savior and die in their place. People will never have eternal hope until they know and believe that, so my task is, as Peter said, to be available to share that marvelous truth with anyone at any time, for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the approaching Christmas season. Every year I somewhat dread it because of all the busyness, but all of those events are opportunities to share the hope that is in Christ. Help me not draw back from any of it, but rejoice to be Your messenger, drawing many to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Marriage; November 6, 2021

Posted on November 10, 2021 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.

Since I have a wife who beautifully fulfills the first six verses of this chapter, my attention naturally goes to this verse. Some women are offended by it, (as they are by most of the first six verses too) especially by the word, “weaker.” The thing is, it’s a simple matter of physiology that men have more muscle mass than women, and have a few other mechanical advantages as well. That’s why it’s so manifestly wrong to allow gender-confused males to compete against females in sports: hormones aside, they have too much natural advantage. In other ways, such as pain tolerance and the like, women can often be the “stronger,” but that’s not what Peter is talking about. Some people are offended by the very idea that people can be different but equal, but such an attitude is very sad and never leads to genuine happiness and harmony. As Peter says right here, if the husband fails to see his wife as his equal in inheriting the grace of God, then his prayers aren’t going to go very far! We are horrified by what we see in Islamist countries like Afghanistan, but denying that men and women are different isn’t the answer. God delights in diversity, but that doesn’t mean different value. Men and women are equally unbalanced without each other.

I was fortunately raised by parents who deeply respected each other, so that was the attitude I expected and desired in my own marriage. I have seen many couples where that respect was lacking, and it has been tragic. In the West we tend to focus on romantic love, but all too often that is just a polite way to talk about sex, and that is no foundation for anything. Sex is a beautiful gift that God has given us not only to procreate but to cement the emotional bonds between a husband and wife. However, without the respect Peter mentions, it is hardly up to the task of holding a marriage together. When asked by the professor in a Marriage and Family class in seminary what my expectations were of marriage before I got married, my answer astonished him. He was amazed that I had that image of marriage before ever experiencing it. What I said was, “I expected marriage to be the biggest job of my life, but carry the greatest rewards.” Experience has certainly born that out! It has given me great assurance as I counsel couples before I perform their wedding – as I will be doing this morning. They are generally amazed when I tell them that my wife and I are still in love after 52+ years! I couldn’t begin to enumerate all the things the Lord has taught us, and done for us, through each other, and it is precisely our differences that have been most instrumental in that. Marriage is a grand experience of discovering fulfillment through fulfilling another, and so is the opposite of selfishness. I could obviously go on and on about this, so I’d better stop!

Father, thank You for the magnificent wife You have given me, and for how we have completed each other over the years. I pray that we would continue to grow as You intend, and that our relationship would be an example to all who know us, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Righteousness; November 5, 2021

Posted on November 7, 2021 by jgarrott

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

This is a justly famous verse, but when we read, “a righteous man,” we tend to eliminate ourselves from the category, and thus feel our prayers aren’t powerful. What we fail to realize is that when we confess our sins and put them under the blood of Christ, from that moment we are righteous. John wrote about it very clearly. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:7-9) Particularly the last part of that gets quoted a lot, but we act like we don’t believe it. When we don’t grasp that we have been made righteous by the blood of Christ, we don’t act righteous. That’s why Peter wrote, “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (2 Peter 1:8-9) That follows a list of qualities you would expect in a righteous person. Self-generated righteousness is no righteousness at all, as Isaiah pointed out. (Isaiah 64:6) Our standing before God, our righteousness, isn’t on the basis of what we have done, for God or for anyone else, but on the basis of what Christ did for us on the cross. When we grasp that and walk in it, then we will have assurance as we pray and God’s power will be manifested.

I don’t know when I first started to realize this, but I know clearly when it really struck home. I had been struggling with a particular sin and couldn’t seem to get free of it, and then the passage from 2 Peter came up, and I had a revelation in my spirit. In that moment I knew that in my flesh I was indeed weak, but that didn’t define me because I was a redeemed child of God, cleansed by the blood of Christ. The release was immediate and marvelous. Frankly, I’m still weak, just as John points out, but I trip up far less, and cleansing is never more than a prayer away. As a pastor I seek to communicate this marvelous truth to others. It’s an essential part of the Gospel! It is when God’s children realize who and what they are in Christ that God’s power operates freely through them, for the destruction of the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and the glory of God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the freedom and joy of righteousness by faith in Christ. Help me communicate that more and more effectively to more and more people, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Desires; November 4, 2021

Posted on November 7, 2021 by jgarrott

James 4:2-3 You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

This issue on the face of it would seem to apply only to the most immature Christians, but it actually applies to just about everyone at times. We often fail to recognize, or at least acknowledge, our own motives. Also, we deceive ourselves as to what our “pleasures” are. We are very complex, and often mixed up, beings. I think that’s a major reason Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:15) Children are inherently simple, and our “adult” thinking can put up all sorts of barriers to a right relationship with our heavenly Father. We tend to justify our desires in various ways, but it all comes down to what Jesus said: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) As I say frequently, God isn’t stingy, but He isn’t going to give us stuff that doesn’t line up with who He is and what we need to be. He recognizes our physical, material, emotional, and spiritual needs and He meets them abundantly, if we will only submit them, and ourselves, to Him. David grasped this. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) When our ultimate desire is for God Himself, He takes care of all the rest.

I have experienced God’s supply in abundance, sometimes amazingly, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t sometimes fallen afoul of what James is talking about. It’s entirely possible to seek good things for the wrong reasons, and wrong things for good reasons. I find that I have to come back to what David said, but interpret it in a way that perhaps he didn’t mean. That is, I need to so delight in the Lord Himself that my desires are changed into what He desires. That’s not the same as receiving what I desire, but it’s far better. I want to be so transformed into the likeness of Christ that I desire only what He desires for me. (2 Corinthians 3:18) As that happens, I am not to be passive but actively press into what He has planned for me, whether it’s anything I could have imagined or not. I am certainly not all the way there, but He is faithful even though I’m not. As He has told me, I’m to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, repenting as called for and delighting to be His instrument for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Cathy and I were looking at the schedule for the next two months, and it looks increasingly packed. You know what You intend, and I only know the smallest fraction of that. Help me recognize Your guidance and follow it each moment, whether that’s a matter of preparation or execution, so that Your will may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Trials; November 3, 2021

Posted on November 6, 2021 by jgarrott

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James was hardly a diplomat. Bluntness was his stock in trade. He was the very opposite of “politically correct,” calling things as he saw them for the benefit of his hearers/readers. The Church needs more like him! Here, having just given a very brief greeting for the sake of indicating his intended audience, he launches right into talking about trials, which many people would rather not talk about. We don’t live in the Roman Empire with its persecutions, but we have brothers and sisters in the Lord who live under the Taliban, or the Chinese Communist Party, or North Korea, and those are certainly no easier situations than what James’ immediate audience faced. That said, trials are not limited to active persecution; every believer faces spiritual warfare in some way. That can make James’ words here seem like a punch in the gut. Consider trials the highest joy? He’s got to be kidding! However, he’s not, and he’s in complete agreement with Paul. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4) All of that agrees with a famous line from Hebrews: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11) The fact of the matter is, by nature we tend to be self-centered wimps, and it can take some pretty hard stuff to work that out of us. We tend to admire elite special forces troops, but we wouldn’t want to go through the training they had to endure to become what they are! However, we don’t get to choose our assignments, and God knows what training we need to be ready for them. What James is talking about involves an awareness that God is training us because He is going to use us. It is that awareness that can make trials “the highest joy,” as the Japanese expresses it. When we go through rough stuff our attitude needs to be, “How is God going to use this? Because for sure He’s going to!”

I well remember my own military training, and the difference it made in me in a number of ways. Some elements of it were actually fun, but a lot of it wasn’t, and I certainly wasn’t Special Forces. In my life in general I have been through all sorts of things, and I can see how God has used them to shape me. In line with what James wrote, I am far more patient than I used to be, better able to endure when the immediate situation is unpleasant. At the same time, I recognize various areas in my personality that could still use a lot of work, so I know I’ve got more trials to look forward to! I’m certainly not to seek out trials, but I am likewise not to run from them. As has been said, the way out is through; going through the rough stuff is how I will get out of it in the end. It is the awareness of God’s love and presence even in the middle of it all that makes it joy.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I feel that my trials are very minor, particularly compared to the physical difficulties Cathy faces all the time. I ask Your comfort, strength, and healing for her, and I ask that You enable me both to be the husband she needs and to learn even from her trials, so that we may both continue to grow in Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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