Judging; May 4, 2021

Posted on May 6, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 3:9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

This was perhaps the high point of Eli’s ministry, the moment at which he best fulfilled the Lord’s purposes for him. He was a very poor priest, bringing judgment on himself and his household by his failure to train up his sons as he should have, but in this moment he steered Samuel rightly, and all Israel, and indeed all posterity, has benefited. We don’t know God’s plans, but sometimes He uses one person largely to bring out another person. That doesn’t mean the first person is unimportant. It’s fairly well known that Billy Graham was the only person to respond at an evangelistic meeting when he was a young man, and the evangelist thought he was a failure. The whole world knows the result of that story! Eli was by most counts a failure indeed, but he was used by God to encourage Hannah’s faith and to nurture Samuel in seeking God – more than he himself sought God! I don’t think he failed to receive the reward for that, despite his failures. None of us knows exactly how we ourselves will be judged by God, so how foolish of us is it for us to go around judging others? We aren’t to excuse sin, but neither are we to condemn. We are to lift people up to God for Him to use them, dealing with their sins and healing their wounds. That’s His job and not ours. Sometimes He uses us in the process, particularly in healing, but it’s not anything we can do on our own.

As a pastor, this is a particularly sensitive issue for me. I am to teach and admonish, and even at times to discipline, but I am never to do it from some kind of high horse. I must always be aware of my own weaknesses, walking humbly before my Lord. As Paul said, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:3-4) I am to repent of my sins the moment I become aware of them, keeping my conscience clear as Paul did, but not thinking that makes me better than others. I am also not to dump on myself, thinking I’m a failure. Someone God has touched through me could end up being as mighty in the Kingdom as Billy Graham! I am to rejoice in the grace of God and be at peace with my own total dependence on that grace.

Father thank you for this clear reminder. Help me indeed be faithful in the tasks You have for me, not avoiding them or making excuses, but not putting myself down, either. May I indeed be a useful tool in Your hands, just as You had me talk about in the message on Sunday, so that Your purposes may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Response to Circumstances; May 3, 2021

Posted on May 5, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 2:2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.

Recently I have been reminded many times that the people in the Bible for the most part lived in a polytheistic environment. They might not have thought there was no other god in existence besides Yahweh, but like Hannah, they came to the conviction that He was the only One worth worshiping. This particular verse has been set beautifully to music, and I would guess that most people who sing it think it comes from Psalms, when actually it is from Hannah’s prayer. There is a huge difference between societal religion and experiential faith. Hannah could create this beautiful, powerful prayer/song/psalm because she had encountered God directly, through His answering her heartfelt request. I feel sure she became more and more aware of Him through her pregnancy and raising her son to the point that he was able to be taken to Eli at Shiloh. That was what enabled her to make the huge sacrifice of being separated from her son, but she certainly didn’t dismiss Samuel from her thoughts and love. It is record­ed in 2:19 that she took him a new robe in her annual visits, and I’m sure that was a reminder to him that he hadn’t been discarded. We all have circumstances that seem less than ideal, but how we respond to them is the key to their impact on our lives. Hannah and Samuel both yielded their circumstances to Yahweh, and were blessed as a result. (2:21)

I have certainly had many things in my life that weren’t fun at the time, and some have left lasting scars. Some of the things that were most problematic at the time I wouldn’t trade for anything now, because they shaped and grew me into what I am, making me more assured in my dependence on God. As a pastor I am continually dealing with people who don’t have that perspective yet, so my task is to help them gain that perspective. My older daughter was in an abusive first marriage, but she says she doesn’t regret it, because it provided her with a daughter whom she loves greatly and is very proud of. I must have done something right in raising her! Like Paul, I need to remember that every good thing I have is the result of God’s grace, (Ephesians 2:8-9) and that grace is enough to deal with anything and everything I will deal with from now through eternity. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the very good day yesterday. Thank You for everyone who was here for the service, and for Your clear presence in it. Thank You for showing me how to cover for the battery dying in the digital audio recorder, and that I didn’t panic when I discovered what had happened. I pray that what You spoke through me would indeed bless many who hear it digitally, as well as those who heard it in person. May we continue to grow as a church in every way that You intend, on Your schedule and not ours, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Parenting; May 2, 2021

Posted on May 5, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 1:27-28 “I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.

Here we have the proof of Hannah’s faith. She remembered the terms of the vow she made, recorded in verse 11, and recognizing that God had fulfilled His end of it, she fulfilled hers. The record is simply that Samuel was weaned at this point (verse 24), so I’m thinking he was probably about the same age as the bull that was sacrificed for the occasion, that is, three. Today, Hannah would likely be arrested for “child endangerment/abandonment,” but those were different days back then! No child had it easy, and infant mortality was what we would consider shockingly high. That he had survived long enough to be weaned and was healthy at that point meant that he was likely to live to full adulthood at least. Hannah wasn’t short-changing God! That she entrusted her son to Eli and company proves a level of commitment equal to martyrdom, I think. The flip side of that is of course Samuel himself. I don’t doubt that Hannah had prepared him for this all along, talking to him about how she had prayed for him and that he belonged to God, but this was the first time he had ever met Eli and the people around him. It had to be a major shock to him. However, the evidence is clear that he got through it pretty well, accepting Eli as a father-figure. However, he didn’t do any better with his sons than Eli had done with his, (1 Samuel 8:3) probably because he didn’t grow up with the example of good parenting. What are called “generational curses” are often the natural results of the examples we see and follow. In spite of that, Samuel grew to be undeniably a great servant of the Lord, just as Hannah had promised him to be.

As the youngest of four, my circumstances are hardly like those of Samuel. Also, my parents presented an example of good parenting for me to follow (though my own results are my own responsibility). That said, I think my parents gave me to the Lord as fully as Hannah did. I never felt pressure to be anything specific, but my parents consistently prayed for me to do God’s will for my life, serving Him. I can’t claim that my focus was very clear on that for many years, but since November, 1972, that has been my goal. Parenting is indeed a huge task and many people run from it, either refusing to have children or essentially abandoning them after they are born. (And no, I don’t think Hannah was abandoning Samuel.) However, parenting brings rich rewards that can be had no other way. I have two physical children, but quite a few spiritual children in addition. My prayer for them all is that they would indeed serve the Lord all their lives, just as Hannah dedicated Samuel, because that is without question the best road all the way around.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for my physical children and my spiritual children. I do pray that they and I would love You and serve You as You alone deserve, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Words; May 1, 2021

Posted on May 3, 2021 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 1:17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

Eli’s words to Hannah were very simple, but because he was the priest, Hannah received them as from the Lord, and they engendered faith in her. We cannot know whether it was his words that enabled her to conceive, or the faith those words generated, but the result was miraculous, at least from Hannah’s standpoint. We really don’t know what our words will do, before we speak them and often, not after either. The Bible has a lot to say about words, and it can be a very deep study. Right now a lot is made of various words, and definitions seem to be changing all the time. Some words have been designated as “micro aggressions,” and we are told to eliminate them from our vocabulary. That seems like a total distortion of the gift of language! Our words are certainly important, but God is most interested in the heart behind the words. God can speak words through us that are far beyond our own ability or qualification. Eli, for example, was hardly a good priest, as comes out in chapter 2 in what he allowed his sons to do, but God honored his office anyway. The extreme example of that is the statement by Caiaphas, the high priest at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, that Jesus would die for mankind, as John explained. (John 11:49-52) Our goal should be to always speak the truth in love, (Ephesians 4:15) allowing God to speak through us as He chooses, so that His will may be accomplished in and through us. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

I have always been a man of words, at times for good and at other times not so much. I am in a position where my words have weight for many of the people who hear or read them, and I’ve got to remember that. Something I read several years ago made a deep impression on me. A man with a strong, and recognized, prophetic gift had a dream in which he was at a construction site, and several people were throwing things at him, sometimes missing but sometimes hitting him rather painfully. Finally, in exasperation he picked up a screwdriver that was lying on the ground and lightly tossed it at one of the offenders. To his horror, it pierced the man’s abdomen and wounded him severely. When he woke up, he realized that it had all been about words, and that because of his gift and his office, he had to be very careful with his words because they had great potential to wound. I have tried to take that to heart. I have great joy in speaking and writing what the Lord pours into me, but I must never take that gift lightly. Like Paul’s authority, it is for building people up and not tearing them down. (2 Corinthians 10:8)

Father, thank You for this cautionary Word. I certainly don’t want to be paranoid, but I do want to be a good steward of the words You give me. Help me indeed speak Your truth in Your love so that people may be set free from the lies of the devil (John 8:32), for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Stewardship of Abilities; April 30, 2021

Posted on May 3, 2021 by jgarrott

Judges 13:8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”

To be quite honest, I think Manoah might well have prayed this prayer because he wondered if his wife hadn’t just had a fling with a handsome stranger, and he wanted to check out her story. After all, the cause of a couple’s infertility can be with either spouse. It wasn’t until the angel went up in the flame of the sacrifice that he was completely sure that it was indeed an angel. None of us have conversations with angels every day! However, God was gracious to him and to his wife, confirming what He had said to her in the clearest possible way. The negative side of this was that I think Manoah and his wife treated their son with such awe at the circumstances of his conception that they failed to discipline him at all, and he was spoiled rotten. We actually know more of the story of their son Samson’s life than we do about most of the minor characters in the Bible, and self control was hardly one of his character traits! It was tragic, but God used even the results of their poor parenting to deliver Israel, in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him. I think the reason Samson has four chapters of the Bible devoted to him is that he was a prime example of someone who was mightily gifted by God, but failed to submit that gifting to Him in faithful obedience. We see that all the time, with performers and scientists and athletes and people of virtually every other profession who are at the top of their field but fail to acknowledge their Creator, claiming all the glory for themselves. It’s tragic every time, just as it was for Samson.

My gifting is certainly not in the extreme category of that of Samson, and thankfully, my parents did a much better job of parenting than did Manoah and his wife. My life hasn’t devolved into tragedy, certainly, but I too could have benefited from more self-discipline, actively applying my gifts instead of taking them for granted. It has only been as I have aged that I have understood on the deepest level that the gifts were never mine to begin with, and I was no more than a steward. I haven’t been the most faithful of stewards! Thinking back, my potential as a young person was incredible, but by failing to buckle down and put in the hard work to develop that potential, much if not most of it was squandered. I think perhaps the best job I’ve done has been that of husband! However many more years the Lord keeps me here, I want to apply all that He has put into me however He desires, not sloughing off or making excuses but applying myself faithfully, so that His purposes may be accomplished in and through me for His glory, even at this late date.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace and patience toward me. Thank You for the plans that You have for me from this point. I pray that I would not get in the way, but would be fully available and committed to You, whatever that involves, for the sake of Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Confirmation; April 29, 2021

Posted on May 2, 2021 by jgarrott

Judges 6:36-37 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised– look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.”

This is a famous story, and rightly so. When we come up with our own plans, we indeed need to think carefully and rationally and calculate our probability of success. Even Jesus said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’” (Luke 14:28-30) However, He was talking about the matter of total commitment to discipleship. When it comes to specific things God tells us to do, if we fixate on our own abilities and resources, we will be paralyzed and not follow through. That’s not to say that we are to be foolish and thoughtless, but it is to say that our reliance is to be on the One who gave the command. At times like that, it is only natural that we want to be sure we heard correctly, and that is exactly what Gideon did. However, “asking for a sign” can be a cover for a simple lack of faith. Jesus dealt with that, too. “The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.’” (Mark 8:11-12) Gideon wanted to believe, but he needed encouragement, and God gave it to him.

I’ve had some interesting experiences in this area. Just a few years ago we were feeling God wanted us to buy the land next to the church building to build a senior care center there. We were excited at the idea, but had no resources. Then a non-Christian friend heard about our desire and offered, completely on their own, to lend us the necessary large amount. We took that as confirmation from the Lord, but we failed to include the church members sufficiently in our talking and planning, and there was opposition arising from disbelief. Bureaucratic regulations played a big part, but we ultimately had to set that plan aside. Frankly, that was heartbreaking. God did use those events to bring about some good things, but we came away scarred. Confirmation can be a tricky thing! However, we are completely assured that God has not abandoned us, or this city and nation, and we are to stay available to Him for however He wants to use us, whether it matches our dreams or not.

Father, thank You for all You allow us to go through. Help us learn what You want to teach us, growing as You intend, so that the results will be what You desire, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Power; April 28, 2021

Posted on May 2, 2021 by jgarrott

Judges 6:16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

The story of Gideon brings to mind Paul’s experience with his “thorn in the flesh,” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) in that it was an exercise in recognizing human weakness and trusting God’s strength. Here, Gideon has just protested his own lack of strength, and through the angel the Lord says to him, very simply, “I will be with you.” Gideon had more doubts later, but the demonstration of consuming the offering with fire and then disappearing (verse 21) was pretty convincing at this point! The vast majority of our fears, if not all of them, come from failing to look to God and see Him as He is, both loving and omnipotent. I think we acknowledge God’s omnipotence in theory, but tend to doubt it when it comes to specifics. Likewise, we believe that “Jesus loves me,” just as the song says, but doubt it when we slip up and sin. Humility and repentance are necessary, but on that foundation we should have rock-solid assurance that God is God and that settles everything. The story of Gideon has resonated for thousands of years because God took a nobody and demonstrated His power , justice, and covenant faithfulness through him. When God could do it through Gideon, He will have no trouble using us. The key, however, is being sure that God alone gets the glory, as comes out in chapter 7. The minute we think, “I can do this,” we fail. We’ve got to stick with, “God can do this, even using me.”

This has been a major issue in my life, and the fact that I haven’t recognized it much of the time has been an even bigger issue. God has given me many different gifts and abilities, and I have tended to trust in those gifts and abilities, essentially thinking, “I can do this,” and so have accomplished very little. What I should have been doing all along was think, “If God could give me me these abilities, then He can really do anything!” Right now, when I am well past what most people would think of as retirement age, God is lining things up and moving in ways that have me in awe of what He might do. I have demonstrated conclusively that I can’t accomplish much on my own, but there are literally no limits to what God can and will do, even using me.

Father, thank You for this Word. Thank You for getting through to me in various ways. Help me indeed let go, of the accelerator, the brake, and even the steering wheel, trusting and obeying You completely. May Your will be done fully and perfectly in and through me, for the establishment of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Idolatry; April 27, 2021

Posted on April 29, 2021 by jgarrott

Judges 6:10 “I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”

Verses seven and eight record that “When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet.” They were probably all excited and happy, because here was evidence that the Lord had heard them. However, the message was not what they wanted to hear! This particular prophet remains anonymous, but his message was essentially repeated almost countless times throughout the history of the descendants of Abraham: “You messed up, treating other gods as though they were as real as I am.” The NIV here says “worship,” but the Japanese says “fear,” probably in line with the Hebrew. Throughout the Old Testament there is a lot of conflation between those two terms that we consider to be very different. Religion in those days had a lot of what today we would call superstition, and people did religious things to “avoid angering the gods.” Actually, the majority of Shinto teaching is along those lines, and superstition is hardly extinct in the West, either. In any case, fearing/worshiping any “deity” other than the Creator is obviously a no-no. Right now we are in the middle of an illustration of that truth that few if any people would think of as religious, but it is: our response to COVID-19. People, fearing infection, superstitiously wear masks that several studies have shown are of dubious value and have many negatives. They wait anxiously on the pronouncements of the “priests” in the medical and media communities, placing restrictions on their own activities that could certainly be described as religious. That’s not at all to say that the virus isn’t real, but it is to say that the response to it has left logic far behind. God alone is to be feared and worshiped!

My feelings in this area were confirmed when the school where I teach recently stated, when I asked, that even if I am vaccinated they will expect me to continue to wear a mask/face shield at school. I teach Medical English, Vocal Production, and Pronunciation. Masks, on me and on my students, directly interfere with that. If vaccination doesn’t liberate me from masking, why do it? On top of that, though I am in the “susceptible” group because of my age, my students are almost all in the category of people who have essentially nothing to be anxious about at all! I find myself saddened, disgusted or even angered at young children being forced to be masked, or adults outdoors, with no one close to them, still being masked. That is superstition, and NOT science. The devil is very crafty, and he uses every trick he can think of to distract us from God, and from fearing Him alone. I am not to run around berating people for wearing masks. That would be as foolish as the people who berate others for not wearing masks. I am to speak the truth in love as God gives opportunity, and I am to be sure that my own focus is on the Lord in grateful obedience.

Well, Father, I certainly didn’t expect to go off on that tirade when I started my devotions! Thank You for the many ways You speak to us, even when they aren’t expected. Help me hear You clearly, not being foolish but living as a good steward of all You have given me, including my body, my health, and my time, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Human Purpose; April 26, 2021

Posted on April 28, 2021 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

This of course brings to mind the simplified version that God spoke through the prophet Micah: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) We get all tied in knots over what we are to do. That’s hardly surprising, because we can’t keep it straight on our own. If we indeed fear God, that is, recognize Him for the omnipotent, perfectly holy Creator that He is, then we will conversely love Him and walk as He shows us to. We will recognize that His commands are not to bind us but to protect us, and we will be grateful for them rather than resent them. The catch is that we are human! We are all too prone to ignore God and chase after all the glittery things the world and the devil dangle in front of us. One of the many attractions of heaven is that all those distractions will be gone. In this world we find ourselves in Romans 7 all too often, doing things we really don’t want to do and failing to do things we really do want to do, even though we know those latter things will bring blessing because they are God’s will for us. It all comes back to fearing God and loving Him, and then living our lives according to that.

This certainly applies to me. Raised in such a thoroughly Christian home, my danger is in taking God for granted. Even when I have done things that I knew were not pleasing to Him, I have known that He was aware of every detail. What foolishness! That is clearly acting against my own best interests. At the same time, that should give me empathy for those to whom I minister, knowing that I am as human as they are, and that God’s grace is as available to them as it is to me. We are on this world to discover God, to respond to Him, and to lead others to do likewise. That sums it all up, because any human achievement pales to nothing in the light of God’s glory. We will be judged not on the basis of our achievements, but on the basis of our faithfulness. I am at the point in life when I am thinking about my legacy, wondering what I have accomplished and how I will be remembered. That means nothing at all, if I am thinking about what other people might think of me. What matters is whether my Lord will indeed say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Recently it has seemed like there is no end to the blessings You are pouring out on me – which is appropriate, because there is indeed no end to You! Thank You for how well my school classes are going this term, for the pleasure of the vegetable garden, for the sweet fellowship during and after the church service yesterday. The list goes on and on! I ask You to protect me from the distractions, both the “glittery” things and the painful things, to focus fully on You in grateful, loving obedience, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Intercession; April 25, 2021

Posted on April 28, 2021 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 9:26 I prayed to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”

God certainly gave Moses lots of “on the job training” in intercession! I don’t believe God was actually going to destroy the Israelites, but He wanted Moses to understand the seriousness of the situation. I think he got the message! In a sense, God was helping Moses put things into perspective. Moses was personally angry, so he needed to understand that the people had rebelled against God far more than they had rebelled against him, and had to let go of his anger. It is significant that at no point does Moses try to excuse what the people had done. He never says, “Don’t destroy them, because they aren’t really so bad.” No, his intercession was entirely on the basis of what God had done to that point and what the nations would think of God if He destroyed His people. Moses too was operating from a polytheistic background, so from his standpoint, he was relating to Yahweh, the greatest God but one among several at least, rather than the totally unique Creator of the universe and everything in it. Even so, he indeed learned how to intercede for the people, and we would do well to learn from his example. He prayed with great earnestness and personal sacrifice, and God responded. Right now America is in a somewhat similar place. People have turned from God to worship government, or physical pleasure, or personal power, or whatever. God has every reason to destroy the nation! However, the faithful remnant needs to be earnest in intercession, not on the basis of “it’s not so bad,” but on the basis of America having been founded on Biblical principles and used as the greatest missionary-sending nation in history. We need to pray for revival so that God will be shown as great in the world, and many will turn from the devil’s lies to follow Him alone.

I have enjoyed prayer all my life, but I don’t think I’ve been a very dedicated intercessor. I minister in Japan, but I have a real concern for America. I certainly desire that God work in both nations, but how much have I dedicated myself in prayer to that end? Moses has much to teach me! In my personal ministry I haven’t seen any golden calves made, but I have seen people turn their backs on things God was showing them to do. I need to keep my focus on the reality that it’s all about God and not about me, and be willing to be used however God indicates, in intercession, in teaching, or however, so that the plans of the enemy may be defeated and God alone be acknowledged as holy and His kingdom come as His will is done, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You are doing in and around me, and even through me. Keep me from holding anything back, but rather enable me to pour myself out for You, Your kingdom, and Your people, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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