Sincerity; May 14, 2021

Posted on May 18, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Kings 8:60-61 “…so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

Solomon’s words here, though true enough, seem calculated to insure a docile, obedient populace. If Solomon himself had remained fully committed to the Lord all his life, none of this would leave a bad taste in my mouth, but knowing “the rest of the story,” as the saying goes, it does. The roots of the word “sincerity” come to mind. It’s from the Latin, and literally means, “without wax.” Italy is justly famous for marble, but as in most things, there are many grades of that useful stone. Poorer grades often have gaps or holes, making it unreliable as a building material because under load, it can crumble. Unscrupulous merchants would sometimes fill those gaps with wax, making a smooth surface, and then sell the marble for a higher-than-warranted price, but time and a little bit of heat would quickly reveal their deception. Solomon looked perfect at the time of the completion of the Temple, but the cracks and holes in his character were there nonetheless. We need to remember that, as God had told Samuel not so long before this, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) That’s because He sees the end from the beginning, and He knows what each person will do with their life. Hypocrisy tries to put on a good front but sincerity is honest before God and man, always striving to do better but not pretending perfection.

I think I have tended to be blunt and “what you see is what you get,” but I can’t say I haven’t tried to put on a good front a lot of times. That said, I’m not to let “sincerity” be a cover for failing to strive to be better. I often quote Paul’s denial of personal perfection in Philippians 3, but I must remember that part of that is “straining forward” and “pressing on.” (Philippians 3:13-14) I am to confess my sins and failures, but I am never to wallow in them. When I fall down for whatever reason, I am to seek and accept God’s help in getting up and moving on. If I will do that, the gaps and holes that I had tried to “cover with wax,” so to speak, will be filled with His presence by His Spirit, and in Him there is no failure or deficiency at all.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed be sincere and honest in all things so that Your presence may shine through me, drawing people to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sin and Repentance; May 13, 2021

Posted on May 16, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Kings 8:46 “When they sin against you–for there is no one who does not sin–…”

Solomon really doubles down on the subject of repentance. Paul was hardly being original when he wrote, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) This becomes a problem for the believer when we shrug off our own sin and say, at least to ourselves, “Well, everybody sins.” I think that’s one of the things that happened to Solomon. The consequences for his sins hit his descendants more than they hit him, at least in this life, so he didn’t recognize the severity of his sins. Here he’s using defeat in battle and subsequent captivity as an example of the consequences of sin, but nothing so drastic happened to him personally, so he thought he was OK doing whatever he felt like. He didn’t realize that the emotional and spiritual emptiness so evident in Ecclesiastes was a consequence of his turning away from God. He needed to repent just as much as the hypothetical people he talks about in his prayer! We can be such experts at deceiving ourselves! (James 1:22) This is a major reason for the importance of appropriate, timely discipline in parenting. If we wait too long to apply appropriate punishment, the child will lose the connection between his actions and the pain. And yes, I’m talking about physical punishment, because “time-outs” and the like are far less effective. Abuse is never justified, but many discussions can be had on what constitutes abuse. It is only when we grasp that our actions bring us something that we really don’t want that we change our behavior. Personalities differ widely. Some people, from children to adults, are so sensitive that a strong word can bring them to tears, and nothing more is required. Others require something far more drastic! It is up to the parents to discern what is effective for which child, but they must remember that the goal is changed behavior, that is, genuine repentance.

I well remember when my parents applied the “time-out” method with me. (They called it a “thinking session.”) I would have to sit in a chair, isolated, for a specified period of time. Quite frankly, that never bothered me at all, because I had a very active imagination, and I would just sit there and go on adventures in my mind! One of the most effective examples of discipline I’ve been close to was the first time our older daughter “threw a fit,” lying on the floor and kicking and yelling because she wasn’t getting her way. She happened to be in our kitchen at the time. In a burst of divine inspiration, Cathy, while standing at the sink, drew a glass of water and dumped it on our daughter. In total shock, our daughter quit her “fit” and behaved, and she never took that course again. Interestingly, when her younger sister seemed about to do such a thing a few years later, she told her, “Don’t do that. You’ll get water thrown on you.” Our younger daughter never lay on the floor and kicked, either! I wish God’s corrections of me had been that effective! There have been times when I have recognized an unpleasant thing as being the consequence of sin, but all too often I’ve been oblivious. I see more similarities between me and Solomon than I like to admit! I need to acknowledge sin and practice genuine repentance, that is, fully turning away from the sin, so that I may be the son and the servant my Father desires.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the time of singing hymns with Cathy last night. Several were quite moving, and I woke up with one on my mind this morning. Help me indeed not deceive myself, but rather walk in the full obedience You desire of me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Fear of the Lord; May 12, 2021

Posted on May 15, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Kings 8:39-40 “Then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.”

Throughout this prayer there are various calamities mentioned, brought on by the people’s sins. In each case Solomon asks for God’s forgiveness on the basis of repentance, and here he gives the overarching goal: that the people would fear God. That’s a worthy goal, but it is ironic that Solomon prayed this way when he himself obviously didn’t continue to fear God throughout his life. If he had, he would never have built shrines for idols and actually worshiped at them! (1 Kings 11:1-8) As is all too common with leaders of various sorts, he failed to grasp that the rules he proclaimed actually applied to him, too. (We see that in politicians all the time.) Solomon forgot the great truth he proclaimed here, that God knows the hearts of all men. If we know that and genuinely fear God, then we will strive to our utmost to be true to Him, and so love Him with all that we have and are. (Matthew 22:37) Unfortunately, the easier we have it, the less likely we are to fear God, and Solomon had it as easy as it came in those days. Actually, that’s a major factor in the slide in American morality. We have it so easy we make up things to be offended about! If our hearts are turned and tuned to God, then we won’t need calamities to make us seek Him, and the troubles that come simply because we live in a fallen world won’t be able to tear us down. (John 16:33)

As I am reminded from time to time, I grew up loving God but not necessarily fearing Him. That is a dangerous, deceptive situation! It puts us in the category of the people Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:21-23. Even using God’s power to perform miracles isn’t a guarantee we are in a right relationship with Him. I don’t want to be in that group! I need to remember that my very existence is dependent on the grace of God, and live accordingly. I have never been a “hellfire and brimstone” preacher, nor do I want to be, but I must not preach a “gospel” that overlooks the necessity of repentance. For myself, I must not forget to fear God, which is exactly what Solomon seems to have done. With my every breath, all the way to the last one, I am to love, honor, and serve Him, because He alone is worthy.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your grace to me in countless ways. Help me indeed respond to You as I should, in love based on who You are, so that Your purposes may be fulfilled through me for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Temple; May 11, 2021

Posted on May 15, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Kings 8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

I well remember when I used this Scripture in doing a dedication ceremony for the chapel at the “wedding palace” where I do weddings. I think I shocked the CEO by making him vow that the chapel would never be used for anything that would dishonor the name of Christ! I can’t be sure that vow has been kept, but I’ve been doing weddings there now for over 30 years. This prayer in general is notable for having a much higher conception of God than many of Solomon’s ancestors seemed to have. Solomon is clear that what would reside in the physical building would be the name of the Lord, and not He Himself. That made this the definitive Temple of Yahweh, and there was no other. It was only after Pentecost, with the Holy Spirit poured out on many believers, that people really came around to understand the omnipresence of God, and that, as Paul said, we ourselves are His temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 the inference seems to be that the Church, that is, the Body of believers, is the temple, but in 6:19 of the same letter Paul states explicitly that the physical body of each believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That takes Solomon’s prayer to a dimension he probably never imagined! The difficulty for us today is really grasping what all this means. It’s not just a figment of Paul’s imagination, because Jesus talked extensively in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17) about being in us and us being in Him. Going back to Solomon’s prayer, isn’t that the definition of a temple, a residence for deity? At the very least, the name of the Son of God is on everyone who is called a Christian. Frankly, not all are worthy of it, and we all tend to dishonor that name at moments, but that’s what it’s all about. We tend to associate “church” with a physical building, just like Solomon’s physical temple, but just like Solomon said, God can’t be limited to such things. Our physical buildings should indeed be consecrated by consistent, genuine prayer and worship, but we must never limit our concept of God to physical locations.

This is an understanding I came to fairly early, I think, but I find the majority of people I deal with don’t have this clearly in mind. It is certainly true that God does manifest His presence in distinct ways at certain times and places, and we aren’t to discount that. People who enter our building here do seem to feel something, and we occasionally have people show up just because they want to pray in a place where they feel they will be heard. I am to remember that God is indeed everywhere, but at the same time seek to be a carrier of His presence so that people are more aware of Him when I am there. That might seem like conceit, but I have met people who were like that, and that’s how I want to be. I certainly can’t do it in my own wisdom and strength! I want to be such a clear witness (Acts 1:8) that people will be drawn to repentance and faith just by knowing me, for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for the privilege of acting as Your temple, Your residence. I pray that I would be more and more consistent, more and more effective in doing that, so that You will be totally free to make any “home improvements” You want to, making me more and more comfortable and useful to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Wisdom; May 10, 2021

Posted on May 14, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Kings 3:9 “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

I think that Solomon’s point of greatest wisdom was right here, in knowing that he wasn’t wise enough. That’s a point at which a lot of high IQ people fail miserably! Actually, we see that displayed every day when people like Bill Gates, who is undeniably gifted in computer technology, make pronouncements about things that are entirely outside of their area of expertise, all the while making a mess of their personal lives. Actually, Solomon did much the same, applying the wisdom God gave him to governing the nation, but failing to keep his head on straight when it came to women, not only building the Temple of the Lord but also building pagan shrines to please his multiple foreign wives. I have always considered Solomon to be one of the most tragic figures in the Bible because of his enormous potential and his ultimate downfall. He did such a poor job raising his children that his son Rehoboam lost over half the kingdom out of sheer stupidity! No human being has wisdom and knowledge that cover all the bases, so the point of greatest wisdom is to recognize that and seek God, who alone is omniscient. God has allowed mankind to discover many things about the universe, but it is a historical fact that there have been many times that “all the great minds” were agreed on something that turned out to be completely wrong. That’s why it’s so absurd now that people today who are trying to control the populace so frequently use the phrase, “the science is settled.” The science is never “settled!” That’s the very nature of genuine scientific inquiry. We have to act on the best data we have, but recently there has been a lot of ignoring data for political reasons. That’s the very opposite of wisdom, and those who are genuinely wise will discern that fact.

As I am frequently reminded, I have often been caught in the trap of intellectual pride. By its very definition, that is not wise! I need to be like Solomon was at the point of this story, not as he became in later years. The book of Ecclesiastes is understandably depressing to me because it shows the mental traps Solomon ran into, as he trusted his intellect more than he trusted the One who had given it to him. I don’t want to be like that! I am constantly faced with choices and decisions that are difficult because I don’t know the future. I need to depend on the One who does! There’s a beautiful and very true song that goes, “I don’t know about tomorrow… but I know Who holds the future.” That needs to be the foundation of my life, walking in obedience to the God who loved me enough to send His Son to die for me. I have learned that is true wisdom.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your truly amazing grace toward me. Help me use the mind and everything else You have given me as You intend, never presuming but always seeking Your guidance, Your heart, so that Your will may be done through me for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Personal Responsibility; May 9, 2021

Posted on May 14, 2021 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 24:17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall upon me and my family.”

This is one of several passages that indicate why David, in spite of his sins, was “a man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22) Here, he acknowledges that the fault is his and asks that punishment come on him and his family, rather than on the people as a whole. That’s the heart of a true leader! The sin in question is one we have trouble wrapping our minds around. Why would taking a census be sinful? The only answer I can come up with was that it was specifically a military census, to determine the size of his army. (verse 2) These days we would agree that an accurate grasp of your resources is essential, but in those days it was much more an expression of the vanity of the ruler. Besides that, it was quite an undertaking. This one took almost 10 months! (verse 8) All of that indicated a reliance on man, on material things, rather than on the Lord, and I think that is the sin involved here. How often do we do that? Quite often, I would venture. The most famous part of this story comes from verse 24, where David insists that he will not sacrifice to God something that belongs to someone else. On the face of it, that doesn’t fit the definition of sacrifice! As king, he could easily have commandeered the land and the oxen, but as it was, he paid what was probably rather more than the going price for them, before offering the sacrifice. It is significant that this spot was exactly where David’s son Solomon would later build the temple. All of this brings home the fact that God is pleased when we accept personal responsibility for things. Ever since the Garden of Eden we have been prone to try to evade such responsibility, but God sees through all our excuses. Honesty with God, with ourselves, and with others is without question the only way to grow as God’s children.

I will confess to being as prone to want to “pass the buck” as the next guy, but I’ve learned the hard way that never works out well in the end. I was blessed immeasurably by being raised by a father who took absolute honesty as one of his core principles, and it grieves me to see evasion of responsibility and accountability actively being taught. Psychology has its uses and can be very helpful, but these days it is all too often used to excuse almost any behavior. Having been hurt yourself is NOT an excuse to hurt others! I’ve got to remember that from both sides. I’m not to inflict my wounds on others, and I am not to excuse sin, but call for repentance and extend forgiveness. So many people confuse permitting/excusing with forgiveness! I must not do that, with myself or with others, but confess my own sins and lead others to do likewise. Only then will the blood of the cross be fully effective to cleanse us. (Hebrews 9:14)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me never run from responsibility, from accountability, but rather walk in humility and honesty before You, so that I will be fully available for Your purposes, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Consequences of Sin; May 8, 2021

Posted on May 10, 2021 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 12:13-14 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.”

Our sins have consequences, and they aren’t limited to us. Just before this Nathan specifies some things that indeed happened to David because of his sin, but here he declares that the totally innocent child who had been born because of David’s sin would die. David himself had repented because of Nathan’s forthright confrontation, and Nathan tells him, “The Lord has taken away your sin.” (The Japanese says, “overlooked your sin.”) Here, David’s repentance is expressed very tersely, but Psalm 51 is the full expression of that repentance. God’s forgiveness is real, but it doesn’t necessarily interrupt the chain of consequences that come from sin. Opportunities are lost, and evil things are set in motion. That said, verses 22 and 23 show David’s grasp of God’s grace, as he responds to the death of the child. We need to grasp better what it is to fear the Lord and so hate our own sin, knowing that it resonates to those around us. God is indeed love and He is indeed gracious, but He is also perfectly holy, and we must never forget that.

I honestly don’t know which of the unpleasant things in my life have resulted from my sin and how many are strictly part of living in this fallen world. (John 16:33) I also don’t know the cause of the many physical/health-related attacks on Cathy. If they are in any way a result of my sin, I want to know how to repent! She has benefited from some good doctors, but she has also suffered from some poor doctors. Right now, her Parkinson’s specialist is insisting her pain doesn’t come from that disease, but her Orthopedic Surgeon very reasonably says that is the trigger. I just don’t want her to be in pain! I do know that all pain in this world is temporary, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easier to bear. I want to so walk before the Lord that I won’t be a pain vector, to Cathy or to anyone else. I want Cathy to be free of pain, but I don’t want her taken from me, even though her own experience demonstrates that heaven is marvelously free of pain. In some ways that’s rather selfish of me! Like David, I need to walk in humility and repentance, trusting God’s grace but not presuming on it, so that His will may be done in and through me for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do pray that You would keep Cathy from any unnecessary pain, and that You would keep me from being a source of pain in any way to others. May I be an open channel of Your grace, and experience it myself in the process, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Stewardship of Gifts and Opportunities; May 7, 2021

Posted on May 9, 2021 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 7:28 “O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.”

Nathan had built up a track record with David, and David trusted that he accurately heard and reported what God was saying. The first half of this chapter is a pretty magnificent prophecy of blessing, not just of David himself but of his descendants, and David was blown out of the water. He went before the Lord, probably in the tent he had recently put up to house the Ark of the Covenant, (chapter 6) and prayed this formal prayer. My guess is that since he had assigned people to praise God in that tent 24/7, there were people around him who recorded this prayer. Between the prophecy and the prayer in response, it probably seemed to those around David, and even to David himself, that he had reached some pinnacle of perfection/holiness, and that was very dangerous. He indeed did many good things after this, but he fell into the trap of presuming on God’s approval of anything he did, and that led to his massive sin with Bathsheba and Uriah (chapter 11) and near disaster with his own children. We humans can be very blind and stupid! When God blesses us we think we somehow earned or deserved those blessings, and when bad things happen to us we think we are hopeless and worthless, and neither of those things are true. As Paul famously recognized, we are never perfect in this life, (Philippians 3:12-14) but at the same time we are never beyond the reach of God. All that is required is humble obedience, but that is indeed required. Authentic humility recognizes that every good thing we have is by the grace of God, but it also recognizes that God is big enough to use even us and our circumstances for His glory. The bigger God is in our mind and heart, the more available we will be to Him for His purposes.

This hits me squarely between the eyes. I started off with a rather full basket of abilities, but I have failed to be diligent in seeking God for how He would have me apply them for His purposes. That doesn’t mean I haven’t done anything good, it means that the good things have been almost accidental, rather than by my submitting myself diligently to do the hard stuff that is often required. This morning, just before waking I was dreaming about writing, and I realized that I have known for most of my life that I had been given a gift for words, but I haven’t been very purposeful in exercising that gift for blessing people and glorifying God. That needs to change! My time every morning of reading the Bible and “praying through my fingers” like this is a blessing and not a burden, but I need to consciously seek how God would have me expand my writing, and also how He would have me get that to those who need to read what I write, so that I won’t be fruitless but fruitful, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this wake-up call, literally. Thank You also for interrupting me with the lady who came by. Thank You that Cathy realized someone was here and came down also, and we were able to minister to her. I pray that Your words through me to her would indeed penetrate and bring her to clear-cut commitment and faith, exploding Your grace in her life beyond her wildest dreams, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Leadership; May 6, 2021

Posted on May 9, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 12:23 “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.”

As I said in a sermon recently, any leader, much less a church leader, who fails to pray for those they lead doesn’t understand a thing about leadership. We tend to think about leadership in terms of getting in front of people and saying, “This is the way! Let’s go!” To be honest, some “leaders” don’t even do that, but get behind people and say, “Go that way!” That’s the very definition of “leading from behind,” and it certainly never works. If enough power is involved there is indeed motion, but it is more slave-driving than leading. I have seen churches that were like that! As Samuel rightly says, that is sinning against the Lord. Even strictly secular leaders need to be concerned for the good of those they lead. If they are honest, they will concede that they don’t always do it right, and if they have any shred of faith, they will pray for wisdom at least. How much more a church leader! Failure to pray for those led is at the very least hubris, pride that thinks it doesn’t need God. Since the Church is the Body of Christ, trying to lead without being in right connection to the Head is like cancer in a physical body, rebellion against the right order of things. Sadly, there are pastors who seldom pray, and who read the Bible only to create sermons that have no life in them. Such pastors are indeed sinning against the Lord whom they claim to serve.

To be honest, I have been slow to come into this understanding of church leadership. I have prayed for wisdom, but that was self-centered, that I would do the right thing. Praying for the flock has been all too low on my priorities. At the same time, I have bemoaned my own “lack of leadership gifting.” I have recognized my Teacher gifting, since I have never hesitated to get up in front of people and tell them stuff, but without humility before God, that can be “stuff and nonsense!” In my school teaching I have started each class by praying for my students, since I don’t have much individual interaction with them outside of class, but ironically, I have been slow to pray for individuals in the church unless they have asked for prayer. How foolish of me! I have bemoaned the fact that they weren’t the disciples of Christ that they could be, but I haven’t prayed enough to that end. As I have been preaching the current series on prayer, I have been preaching to myself! Ironically, I think I pray for other churches and for world situations more than I pray for individuals under my care, and that’s not right. I’m not to neglect the other prayers, but I am to lift up those in my own flock, especially since they don’t belong to me, but to my Lord.

Father, thank You for this clear Word. Help me follow through! You know each individual need far better than I do, so I have no reason to hesitate to let Your Spirit guide my words. Even as You have had me preach, help me be a fully useful tool in Your hands through prayer, so that Your name may be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Government; May 5, 2021

Posted on May 8, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 8:19-20 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

Samuel could not have been more blunt in his description of the actions of a king of those days (verses 10-18), including saying that they would “cry out for relief,” (verse 18) but the people were adamant. Today, the idea of just being taxed a tenth of your income seems like a really good deal! I think just about everyone was thinking that their sons would be “commanders of thousands,” (verse 12) or some other high position, and even today “working for the government” is seen as a highly desirable thing. Japan even has “cram schools” to help people pass the Civil Service Examination. People have such a distorted idea of what life can be and should be! The people here who were insisting on a king frankly had no real idea what they were asking for, because they hadn’t experienced it. As the saying goes, “The grass is always greener of the other side of the fence.” As a current example, many people living in what is statistically the most desirable nation in the world, the US, pine for socialism, refusing to see what an abject failure socialism has been in every nation that has tried it. They see it as “being taken care of,” much as the people here thought a king would take care of them, not realizing that the resources for any nation ultimately come from the people and the economy of that nation. They want to “tax the rich,” not seeing that enterprising people are the engine of the economy, so they are trying to “kill the goose that laid the golden egg.” It all boils down to a desire to evade personal responsibility, to deny accountability, to others and ultimately to God. As God told Samuel, “It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.” (verse 7) We tend to choose what we see as the easy way out, not realizing all the pitfalls of the way we choose, just as these people with Samuel.

I could obviously stay up on my soapbox quite a while on this subject, but it’s much easier to rant than it is to act responsibly! I am no better than the people in this story if I fail to submit to God personally and live as He indicates. I am active in signing online petitions, since I am physically in Japan, but my primary focus needs to be prayer. The problem there is that there are literally countless things that cry out for prayer! I am to seek and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance in what to pray for, how and when. It is hardly surprising that the federal government is ignoring the National Day of Prayer this week, but past occurrences have been largely lip service in any case. What is needed is for God’s children to get serious about it on a personal level, not only praying for all the issues “out there” but living their own lives in purity and faithfulness. If that happens, then 2 Chronicles 7:14 will indeed be fulfilled.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me live it out faithfully myself, pointing people to You in every facet of my life, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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