Jonah; July 31, 2021

Posted on August 2, 2021 by jgarrott

Jonah 2:8 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

Just recently there was a news item from the US that greatly illuminated the story of Jonah. A swimmer was indeed taken into the mouth of a baleen whale and, when the whale realized what it had done, spit out, essentially none the worse for wear. That should put the stop to the people who have claimed that the whole story of Jonah was preposterous! The news item was interesting to me because I had always assumed it had to have been a toothed whale, and the sperm whale is the only one big enough to fit the bill. However, there are any number of baleen whales that are physically large enough, and the blue whale, being largest, would have the best probability for survival. That said, the whole point of the incident was to teach Jonah not to run from God. The way this chapter is written it seems to claim this is the content of Jonah’s prayer from inside the “fish,” but it reads much more like something he wrote after he got out. I don’t doubt that verse one is entirely accurate. I’d bet Jonah prayed a LOT while he was in there! Whenever it was composed, this particular line really strikes me. I’ve written numerous times about how we make idols of any of a number of things, but committing ourselves to anything other than our Creator is indeed worthless. This one verse expresses the sad reality we see taking place all the time: people rejecting the grace God has prepared for them by choosing something else instead. We’re back to the fundamental reality that all of God’s rules and instructions to us are for our good, and not to hem us in or deprive us of anything good. Fail to follow His instructions and you miss out, period. Ultimately, failing to believe in and follow Jesus Christ sets us up for eternal destruction. (John 3:16-18)

I have always believed the Bible was true, but it was still very interesting to encounter that recent news story. I’ve never gone through anything that externally dramatic, but the internal shock when God tapped me on the shoulder and showed me a mirror to see the blackness of my soul, way back in 1972, was certainly life-changing. That said, I’ve still been distracted by various worthless things over the years. Jonah himself apparently had trouble remembering the depth of God’s grace toward him, if you read the rest of the book. I need to do better than Jonah, remembering God’s grace and focusing on Him to receive all that He has for me, and at the same time allowing that grace to flow through me to those around me, building them up and pointing them toward Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the privilege I will have this morning of performing the wedding of two former students. Thank You that they chose the wedding chapel where I work so that they could have me officiate. I pray that I would be an open channel of Your grace toward them, their families, and their guests, drawing them all to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Answers to Prayer; July 30, 2021

Posted on August 2, 2021 by jgarrott

Daniel 9:23 “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision.”

God is not slow to act, but we are often slow in recognizing what He is saying and doing. The whole matter of time gets complicated, because God is outside of time and we are in the flow of it. That is actually a logical requirement, because as physicists tell us, time is a function of the physical universe, so time did not exist until God spoke the universe into existence. We don’t really have good words to talk about it! Peter had the right idea when he said, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) We experience time in a linear fashion, but God sees it all at once. We experience Him as “was” and “will be,” but He is the eternal “I AM.” And all that brings us back to this verse. God is aware of our prayers and He responds appropriately, because He knows our heart and He knows what needs to happen. Gabriel spoke to Daniel using words and concepts Daniel could perhaps grasp, but they were an imperfect reflection of God’s timeless reality. That’s why God has spoken so many times in dreams and visions: normal terminology just doesn’t stretch that far. We aren’t to “trip out” over all of this, being “so heavenly minded we’re no earthly good,” but rather accept that our grasp of things is at best toned down several orders of magnitude from God’s reality. As David recognized, “He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:14) The amazing thing is that God loves His little “dust balls!” When we pray, we are to remember His love and love Him in return, trusting that His answers are already provided, whether we see them, or whether they are what we expect, or not.

God seldom uses dreams and visions to speak to me, but He has done so many times with Cathy. This morning she couldn’t stop talking about a unique and detailed dream she had just had that included a number of physically and temporally impossible features. If she needs to understand it, God will give her the revelation just as He did for Daniel. I need to remember that even as I read the Bible, knowing that my words, and even my mind, aren’t big enough to grasp natively all that God is saying. I am to pray with boldness and faith, and at the same time not try to dictate to God how He is to answer my prayers. I am currently in the flow of time, but by the grace of God I too am an eternal being, united with Him in Christ. That tension is at times uncomfortable, but I am to be at peace with it and rejoice in the overwhelming grace of my Lord.

Father, thank You for this Word. As much as You have made me a man of words, sometimes Your truth is so big that it makes a mockery of my attempts to describe it. Thank You. I don’t want to follow a small God! Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that Your will may be manifested in and through me on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Repentance; July 29, 2021

Posted on August 1, 2021 by jgarrott

Daniel 9:9-10 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.

This chapter is perhaps the most magnificent example of substitutionary repentance in the whole Bible. Daniel was personally righteous, to the point of becoming a proverbial example of righteousness. (Ezekiel 14:14) However, he didn’t rest in that righteousness but took on the sins of the nation, thus becoming a forerunner of Christ. Nowhere in this prayer does he say, “They did all these things.” All his pronouns are 1st person, we. America has been in need of national repentance for quite a while, but how many of the people praying for her have prayed in the 1st person like this? Christians in America are tempted to be disgusted at many of the things in society which have really come out into the open in the past year, but how much do we recognize and repent of the fact that our own inaction over the years has greatly contributed to the situation? We certainly aren’t as righteous as Daniel. He was taken into captivity as a teenager and had no voice whatsoever in the mounting sins of the nation. However, America being a democracy, every citizen has a voice, and each individual impacts society. One area that is hopeful at the moment is the way that parents are finally standing up to the forces that have hijacked the schools, recalling and/or running for school boards, or taking their children out of public schools and homeschooling them, in order to counter the junk that is being taught to children today. It will take a few years for that cohort of students to make a significant impact on “higher” education, but it has been our inaction that has allowed the situation to get so rotten in the first place. As Andrew Breitbart famously said, politics is downstream from culture. I would add, culture is made up of the attitudes and actions of individuals. If we are horrified and/or disgusted at what is going on, (and we should be) then we need to look at ourselves first. Without personal repentance, national repentance won’t happen.

Having lived most of my life in Japan I have always felt at somewhat of a remove from American culture, but I have still participated in it. I have lived in the US a total of around 18 years, and for a significant portion of that I was hardly a “beacon of righteousness.” I wasn’t involved in anything that would have interested the police, but my spiritual pride blinded me to how I was flowing with, even delighting in, the schemes of the devil to pollute society. I have far more reason to use the 1st person in repentance than Daniel did! Here I am mercifully free of American “mainstream media,” and so get a much more balanced view of what is happening in the US, so I have no excuse not to pray! I need to let the Holy Spirit show me not only how to pray for the nation, but also how to repent of my own involvement in things being as they are. I am to speak the truth in love, not holding back for fear of offending, but not offending needlessly either. I am to place my hope not in politicians, certainly, but in God who is Lord of all. Seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness has very broad application in the world today!

Father, thank You for this clear Word. Help me indeed pray as Daniel did, in all honesty and humility, so that my prayers may be useful to You in working Your will, so that it may be done as perfectly on earth as it is in heaven, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faithfulness; July 28, 2021

Posted on July 31, 2021 by jgarrott

Daniel 6:20 When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

We often don’t realize how closely we are being watched. Naturally there are individual differences, but people who consistently follow God and are true to Him get noticed. Other people admire them, even if from afar, and they often feel they couldn’t live like that. What they want to know, however, is whether God rewards such faithfulness. That Daniel would choose a horrible death rather than fail to pray to God was certainly impressive, and the king wanted to know the outcome. I can’t help but feel that this incident had an impact on the later decision to return the Jews to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Otherwise, why would Cyrus have made his decree in the name of “Yahweh, the God of heaven?” (Ezra 1:2) Daniel’s absolute faithfulness to God made him be completely trusted by the human rulers he served. In American government today, conspicuous faithfulness to God tends to make you suspect, because those currently in positions of authority know you won’t go along with their agenda. However, that situation cannot and will not continue, but God Himself will never change, so faithfulness to Him is still the order of the day. We are seldom presented with such dramatic choices as Daniel was, but martyrs down through the centuries have made the right choice. It’s hardly coincidental that the Greek word, martyr, actually means “witness.” When we choose loss over denying our Lord, as Daniel did, we are presenting a powerful witness to the world.

I’ve certainly never been presented with as dramatic a choice as Daniel was, but people are watching me nonetheless. I know that following Christ certainly doesn’t guarantee me a trouble-free existence. After all, Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble!” (John 16:33) However, it’s how I respond to that trouble that people are watching. If I gripe and moan, people will think that following Christ isn’t worth much. If I am “joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances,” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) people will want to know what I have that they don’t, and sharing the Gospel with them will be easy, delightful, and fruitful. This is why my wife, Cathy, is so dearly loved by so many. Many people are aware of her physical challenges, and others are amazed when they find out about them, because she rarely complains, but rather is concerned for others. That’s why people at her rehabilitation facility often say, “Your God is strong!” We frankly don’t know when the harvest will come, but as long as the Lord leaves us here, we are to be faithful.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Daniel was another one like John, who went through a great deal to be faithful to You. May I learn from their example so that others may learn from mine, and many be brought into the discipleship of faith, for a great harvest in Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Politics of Envy; July 27, 2021

Posted on July 31, 2021 by jgarrott

Daniel 6:5 Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

Politics and envy haven’t changed throughout human history. This story is certainly famous, being taught to Jewish and Christian children, but we see echoes of it all the time around us. I don’t know of any politicians today who are as upright as Daniel was, but the tactic of attacking good men on the basis of the foundation of their goodness, that is, their faith, is constantly in evidence. I just read that the high school football coach who was fired for insisting on praying, quietly and personally, on the 50-yard-line after every game is going all the way to the Supreme Court. His “crime” was that he was influencing his students to join him, thus “polluting” them with religion! Thankfully, the probability that the current court will uphold his 1st Amendment right to free expression of his faith is high, but the fact that the issue arose at all is an indication of how low the nation has sunk. Of course the prime current example is Donald Trump, who didn’t even come to active faith until shortly before the 2016 election, but who instituted policies based on that faith with remarkable consistency, and so stirred up a world-class hornets’ nest! He is no Daniel, but the lions’ den is very real, even if metaphorical. We need to remember that the God who protected Daniel hasn’t changed, and His righteousness and justice will prevail.

I certainly wasn’t a fan of Donald Trump before 2016, and it wasn’t until after I started seeing changes in his behavior that I started hearing rumors of his conversion. His very name is still a flash-point for argument, but I have believed for many years that a good way to judge someone’s character is to look at their enemies. That certainly influences me to support Donald Trump! We had a case here in Omura where a Christian mayor who refused to bend to the will of some unscrupulous “power brokers” was accused of accepting bribes – the very thing he was refusing to do – and was actually convicted, though given a suspended sentence. He was naturally removed from office on that conviction, but as soon as the statute of limitations ran out, he ran for mayor again and was elected by the populace that realized he had been framed. His actual “crime” was refusing to go along with “politics as usual,” just as was the case with Trump. I’ve never been into politics personally, and Daniel’s moral fiber is a challenge to me, but I know that God has not changed, and I am not only to walk in personal obedience to Him, I am to pray for those around me who are trying to do so. The battle is real, and will continue to be so until the final victory described in Revelation, so I’m not to let down my guard but be alert and active for the sake of God’s children, His kingdom, and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed walk in step with Your Spirit at all times, whether that means prayer, ministry, or anything else, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Obeying God; July 26, 2021

Posted on July 28, 2021 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 42:20 “You made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.'”

It’s dangerous to ask for God’s guidance if you have no intention of following it! As I wrote yesterday, those who asked Jeremiah to pray to the Lord were just looking for a divine rubber stamp on what they had already decided to do. After all, since it was such a good plan, God couldn’t help but approve, right? We do that far more often than we like to admit. God is often incredibly gracious, but what really bit on this occasion was the people’s explicit statement that they would do whatever the Lord said, “whether it is favorable or unfavorable.” (verse six) We dig ourselves more holes than we realize! If Jeremiah had come to them unsolicited and they hadn’t listened that would have been bad enough, but they absolutely compounded their sin by their insistence that they would obey God when they had already decided what they would do regardless. The next chapter tells us that they took Jeremiah with them to Egypt in defiance of the Lord, and he continued to speak the Word of the Lord to them there. Tradition tells us that they got so fed up with him that they eventually stoned him to death, probably after what he said to them in chapter 44. I can imagine the glorious reception Jeremiah got before the throne of God! I frankly don’t want to imagine the fate of those who treated him that way.

I am well aware that I have acted in defiance of God more times than I could count, but I don’t think I’ve been quite as blatant about it as these people were. However, that’s hardly to say that I’m innocent, worthy only of God’s commendation! To me, the whole story, as tragic as it is, is a lesson not to trust in religion. As the Lord had me say yesterday in my remarks in the afternoon program, religion is man’s attempt to please God, generally to get something out of Him. That never works! As the Bible says many times throughout, God is seeking hearts that are tender and obedient toward Him, who will “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24) rather than just go through rituals. I know that well, and at the same time I have patterns of church services that I’m used to, and the patterns themselves become comforting. I don’t know that that’s bad, exactly, but I’ve got to be careful that my heart is always in it, with a fundamental commitment to obedience. Yesterday’s activities went very well, but we didn’t have the kind of attendance I had been hoping for, not in numbers but in who came. I’ve got to release that to the Lord and work with those He brings me, because He knows whose heart is ready. I must never refuse to minister to someone because they aren’t Japanese! God knows what He is doing here, and I’m to be at peace with that.

Father, I do thank You for getting us through the very full day yesterday, and for the many blessings You poured out on us in the process. I have a pretty full schedule today as well, though not as hectic. Thank You for the assurance that You will get me through today as well. I do ask Your guidance and anointing on my words as I speak in the online seminar, that I may speak only Your truth, building people up for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sincerity; July 25, 2021

Posted on July 27, 2021 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 42:6 “Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.”

It is amazing how sometimes we can say the perfect thing and then turn around and do the opposite. I can’t read this without being painfully aware that “the rest of the story” is entirely different, but that’s tomorrow’s reading. By this point it was widely recognized, by both the Jews and the Babylonians, that Jeremiah heard accurately from the Lord, and that’s the backdrop to the Jews’ request to him. However, the Jews were still wanting a rubber stamp on what they wanted to do; their protestations of “listening obediently” to the Lord were just posturing. We see a great deal of that with politicians today. If all the fine-sounding pronouncements were genuinely sincere, we would live in a paradise on earth! In this particular instance, the Lord promised them the best possible outcome if they would follow His instructions. It’s interesting to think about how it might have changed history had they actually done so! The sad thing is, they probably thought they were being sincere in what they said to Jeremiah, but as James pointed out hundreds of years later, we can be remarkably adept at deceiving ourselves. (James 1:22) Noble words aren’t bad, but as the Bible makes abundantly clear, God sees through them all to our hearts, and He knows what we will do and why. We have a stubborn tendency to want to be in control, when we have neither the wisdom nor the ability to do it right. “Listening obediently” has got to be more than window dressing.

I am in the middle of another training session in this. We have what is for this church a major event planned for today. For some churches it would be minor, but we’re not used to such things. Cathy and I are quite stressed out about how it’s all going to go down, and we’ve got to release it into God’s hands. That’s a lot easier said than done! I am finding that less-appealing places in my heart are being exposed, and whereas that’s ultimately a good thing, it’s certainly not comfortable. I honestly do not know what the outcome of today will be, and I’ve got to be at peace with that. I know that if I will flow with the Holy Spirit on His schedule that the outcome will be blessed indeed, but there is something in me that keeps trying to grab the wheel (or the joystick or whatever). I feel like I have been obedient to do what I have been shown to this point, but there are many unknowns. I’ve got to choose faith and obedience at every turn, so that God’s plans may unfold on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You for all You did enable us to get done yesterday. Thank You for every detail of Your plans for today. Help us rest and relax enough to really rejoice in You, as You desire, for the sake of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Relationship with God; July 24, 2021

Posted on July 27, 2021 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 37:3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

This little detail is both very human and very ironic. In the verse ahead of this it’s just been recorded that neither the king nor the people were paying any attention to what God had said through Jeremiah up to this point, but now the king wants Jeremiah to pray for them! We encounter that all the time even today. People want the protection and blessings of God, but they don’t want to obey Him! Zedekiah was the son of a very devout, righteous king, but it doesn’t seem to have rubbed off. He only knew the outward forms, and didn’t have a personal relationship with the Lord. However, he knew without question that Jeremiah was a man of God, so he tried to get God’s help through Jeremiah. This strikes me as very similar to people praying to various saints rather than directly to God, when Jesus went so far as to tell His disciples, “In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” (John 16:26-27) When we have a direct connection to the Source, why go through an intermediary? Zedekiah wasn’t as openly defiant as his nephew Jehoiachin, who we learn in the chapter before this burned a scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies, but neither did he have the spine to oppose some of his advisors, who threw Jeremiah into a cistern in the chapter after this. God draws close to those who choose to draw close to Him. As we read just a few days ago, God promises that He will allow Himself to be found by those who seek Him with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) When we find Him that way, we have great assurance that He indeed listens to our prayers and gives us what is best.

This is a factor in prayer that I’m not sure I have covered sufficiently in the past three months of preaching on prayer. As I have commented before, I grew up in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing, because my parents both had a clear, personal relationship with the One to whom they were praying. Going through the motions was thus easy for me, as was loving God, actually, but a deep personal relationship was something I had to grow into, and I’m still doing it! I feel like I’m in a little bit of a “catch 22” about this. I want the believers to pray, frequently and in faith, but their relationship with the Lord has to go deeper for that really to happen. At the same time, their relationship with the Lord isn’t going to mature without a lot of prayer! The key is the choice to obey, and not be like King Zedekiah, who didn’t pay attention to what God was saying. I have long felt that James was writing specifically for me: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) This isn’t legalism, but it is the choice to obey.

Father, I have chosen not to obey You more times than I could count, but You love me anyway. Thank You for Your truly amazing grace. Help me communicate that grace sufficiently that people will fall in love with You, repenting of their wrong choices and choosing You more and more consistently, growing into the deep fellowship with You that You desire, for their blessing and Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Omnipotence; July 23, 2021

Posted on July 25, 2021 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

I have always loved how God quoted Jeremiah’s own words from verse 17 back to him here. God had told Jeremiah in some detail what was going to happen to Jerusalem, and at this point that is obviously about to take place, but He completely blindsided him by telling him to buy a piece of land outside the city with good money and have the transaction legally witnessed. At this point Jeremiah can’t even imagine things returning enough to “normal” that such a thing would make any difference whatsoever. He rightly remembers all the wonderful things God has done in the past, but being told to buy the field is something he really can’t wrap his mind around, even though he did it as told, as recorded in the first part of this chapter. This is a problem we all have. We get so mired in the past and the present that we have no capacity to envision what God is going to do in the future. There are plenty of secular examples of this as well. It’s generally quite amusing to read what various publications printed years ago predicting what the future was going to look like. Occasionally they got a few things almost right, but the misses can be quite hilarious. The point for us, as it was for Jeremiah, is to realize that God can indeed do literally anything, and so not try to stuff Him into even the biggest box we can imagine. It literally doesn’t matter what the current circumstances are; God is still God. That should be a huge comfort to us!

This is an extremely timely Word. We have ministered in Omura for 39 years and 10 months at this point, with so far very little visible results. There has been fruit, yes, but much of the best fruit has dispersed to the four corners of the earth. I will be 73 in two months, and have no clear picture of my successor. We have poured our hearts out to the people of Omura and have been welcomed and affirmed as people, but very few have come to Christ. Thinking about it, though, that’s not as severe as Jerusalem being surrounded by the Babylonian army! We have an outreach event coming up in two days, and at the moment I’m rather stressed out about the preparations for that. I have no idea what if any lasting impact the event will have, but I’ve got to remember what God told Jeremiah. I’ve learned the hard way not to try to dictate to God what He’s going to do, but I still need an infusion of faith to believe that He’s going to do wonderful things beyond my imagination. He has told me to rest, relax, and rejoice, but I also need the anticipation of faith that will welcome what He has planned, and not stumble in moving into it.

Father, as often as I tell other people to take their eyes off of themselves and their circumstances, I’m not very good at it myself! Forgive my hypocrisy. I do indeed pray for the fulfillment of the vision You have given us of Omura again being the foremost Christian city in the nation, whatever steps that involves and whatever it will look like. Help me not draw back from my part in the “grunt work,” but be willing to apply myself fully however You indicate, for the sake of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Fulfillment of Prophecy; July 22, 2021

Posted on July 25, 2021 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 31:9 “They will come with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.”

This is a dearly loved chapter for many, particularly Charismatic Christians. I’ve been singing songs from this chapter for over 40 years! However, I think many modern people don’t realize that this prophecy was delivered in Judah, before the Babylonian captivity, and was specifically addressed to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, that had already been wiped out by Assyria. That’s why there is a specific reference in verse five to Samaria, and why it’s so significant that in verse six the watchmen cry out, “Let’s go up to Zion.” This was a prophecy of the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel, that had seemed like a distant dream for well over a hundred years by the time of Jeremiah. The Bible is rich even on the first reading, but understanding the context often makes it far richer and more meaningful. That’s why it’s so rewarding to really dig into it! That said, there’s a difference in translation between the NIV and the Japanese that really caught my eye. Where the NIV says “they will pray,” the Japanese says, “I will comfort them.” Those two things often go hand-in-hand, but they aren’t the same thing. Once again I regret my lack of Hebrew scholarship! In any case, this prophecy was given many centuries before its fulfillment, but even Jeremiah had no idea of that at the time he delivered it. I wonder how many Jews completely discounted this chapter in the long centuries of the diaspora? However, God’s Word is true, period. That’s something to remember, because there are many passages in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation that have yet to be fulfilled. We live in exciting times indeed. The Chinese took that as a kind of curse, but when we are secure in Christ, it is a statement of great hope. As Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Luke 21:33) We do well to read the Bible at times like a “future newspaper,” knowing that if God said it, that settles it.

I have had some awareness of this even from childhood, since I was born in the same year as the modern nation of Israel. However, I have also been very turned off by people who were intensely focused on Revelation, for example, drawing up timelines and trying to figure out exactly where we were on them. I try to remember that Jesus said both, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,” and, “Be on guard! Be alert ! You do not know when that time will come.” (Mark 13:32-33) I’m not to be in the business of setting schedules, but I am to be alert and available nonetheless, precisely because it indeed might be today! I’ve sung the song, What if it were Today, since childhood, but I haven’t really lived by that admonition. I’ve still got growing to do!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the awareness that my own personal appointment with You will certainly be less than 30 years from now. Help me be faithful on every level, looking forward with hope and joy to all that You have planned, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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