The Church; November 12, 2020

Posted on November 13, 2020 by jgarrott

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

The Japanese is much more clear than the English that the “you” throughout this passage is plural. Later Paul speaks of our bodies as “temples of the Holy Spirit,” (1 Corinthians 6:19) specifically in connection with sexual immorality, but here he is talking about the Church, which includes the local congregation. It is sadly not unusual for people, for various reasons, to disrupt or even destroy a local congregation. Paul says clearly that such people are inviting total destruction on themselves. The local congregation is God’s plan to nurture and train His children. It is to be effectively a nursery, a hospital, and a sheltered workshop, raising up believers to be warriors in the army of God, people who will accurately and effectively represent Christ to the world at large. That sort of thing rarely if ever happens in isolation; we need each other. That’s why local churches are so important. No two churches are identical, and no church is perfect. I well remember one of my seminary professors saying, “Stop looking for the perfect church. Even if you find it, it will stop being perfect the moment you become a part of it.” That is too true! Precisely because there are no perfect individuals, there is no perfect congregation, and we need to accept that. Each congregation has a different personality, so to speak, and different strengths and weaknesses. We are to seek God for where He wants us to be planted, and then we are to strive to be His instrument in building and strengthening that congregation. Far too many Christians are passive, consumers rather than participants. God is not pleased with that! When God destroys those who destroy churches, it follows that He builds up those who build up churches. That certainly seems more desirable to me!

I am in a relatively unique position in this, as the founding pastor of this congregation, all the way back in 1984. Its weaknesses can certainly be blamed on me, in large part at any rate. Over the years I have grown, and I believe the church has grown, even though that growth has rarely been in numbers. Our Sunday morning attendance has seldom topped 30 that I can remember, and is currently around a third of that, but we have sent out people to the ends of the earth, literally, including some who are in full-time ministry. I have sought to ground people in the Word, encouraging them to be open to being filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit, and some have accepted that challenge. I feel my responsibility is not just to this congregation but to this city, and I have sought to build up the other congregations as well. God is my judge, but my prayer is indeed for the fulfillment of our church vision of Omura again becoming the foremost Christian city in the nation, as it was 450 years ago, for the glory of God.

Father, thank You for Your plans, and for including me in them. May I indeed be fully useful to You in building Your Church, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Rest, Relax, Rejoice; November 11, 2020

Posted on November 13, 2020 by jgarrott

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

I think every sincere Christian has moments when they worry about their own ability to remain true to Christ, to hang in there until the end. That’s hardly surprising when society around us is such a mess. Here Paul is speaking to that directly. Frankly, the church in Corinth was a mess as well, with factionalism and even immorality, so it’s particularly significant that Paul wrote this to them. The focus, as always, is on God’s faithfulness rather than on our inability. I really like the word order in the NIV here, because it makes that focus very clear. It’s not so common that I prefer the NIV to the Japanese! This fits in perfectly with something the Lord had me preach on December 5, 2010: Rest, Relax, Rejoice. That’s something I understand in theory, but I sometimes have a hard time applying in practice. There is just so much to be uptight about! That’s certainly the case today, with the turmoil over the US election. When everything falls apart, as it seems to be in the process of doing, we’ve got to remember that not only does God have a Plan of the Ages (my grandfather’s term) that will bring it all out right in the end, He also has each believer firmly in hand, so we have no reason for personal anxiety either. When we have that settled in our heart and mind, we can indeed rest, relax, and rejoice.

Looking back over the past few weeks of my devotions, it’s clear that I’m going through yet another period of intensive training in this area. However, God is indeed faithful! Yesterday I woke up at 3:30 and was unable to go back to sleep because of everything on my mind. Last night I realized that every one of those issues had been resolved during the day, and this morning I slept until 6, when we usually get up around 5. Maybe I’m learning something! I know full well that God is still God whatever happens in America, or in Japan. I need to be faithful in the tasks specifically assigned to me, including prayer, and leave everything else – and specifically the results of what He has me do – in His hands. One of the things yesterday was making the very large payment for our new water heater, and the church has two fairly large-ticket items coming up as well. God is still Yahweh Yireh, the Lord our Provider, as He has demonstrated time and time again in the past. I am to recognize the overwhelming magnificence of His grace toward me, and us, and rejoice!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for showing me how to check on exactly when it was that you said this to me. It’s been a large item in my awareness ever since. Help me keep growing in applying it! Thank You. Praise God!

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Resisting Evil; November 10, 2020

Posted on November 12, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

Sadly, this is a phenomenon we see all too often today. It is ironic, but honest people are often the most easy to deceive, because they don’t imagine that someone is trying to deceive them. This is precisely what Jesus was warning against when He told us, “Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) We ourselves are to be totally straightforward and honest, but we must not assume that others will be the same. The current election is certainly a case in point. As Bill Whittle has said, with the exception of legitimate, requested absentee ballots, we are to the point of needing not only photo ID but also indelible ink to mark the index finger (or whatever) of each person who has voted. As Paul says here, being naive can get you into real trouble. He says in the next verse, “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” Paul mentions both the motive and the tools of devious people: their appetites, and smooth, flattering words. The whole “sexual revolution,” going back to the ’60s, is clearly a glorification of appetite, and the wholesale acceptance and support of abortion, even infanticide, is the logical result. You can call it “a slippery slope,” or “the camel getting his nose in the tent,” or whatever, but the current situation didn’t happen overnight. The Church has been effectively asleep at the wheel, failing to stand for Biblical principles, a Biblical world view, because frankly, too often that was lacking even within the Church. I believe the legal challenges to all the election irregularities will prevail this time, but this has been a crescendo building for a long time. We must be innocent but not naive, standing for truth and speaking it in love. That is certainly not politically correct, but frankly, political correctness has been one of the major tools used by the enemy, because it directly goes against honest communication.

This is obviously something I am pretty worked up over. I pray that more of God’s people would be so as well! I do need to rest, relax, and rejoice in the assurance that God is still God, but that doesn’t mean being lazy, and/or turning a blind eye to evil. Government isn’t sovereign, but rather is a reflection of the people governed. We need to pray and work for righteous government, but we also have to work for righteousness on the personal level as well. We can’t change others, much less legislate righteousness, but we can keep ourselves in obedient submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve got to walk the fine line of active trust, not condoning or overlooking evil, but not letting my heart be troubled, either. That’s not something I can do in my own wisdom and strength! I am to seek God’s guidance at every turn, knowing that He is indeed sovereign, and He delights in those who fear Him.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You for the missionary from Hong Kong who wants to contribute to President Trump’s legal defense fund. That is a clear indication of the magnitude of the current situation. I pray that Your children would indeed wake up and resist the devil, not just in the current crisis but in their daily lives, bringing the revival that America so desperately needs. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Work of a Priest; November 9, 2020

Posted on November 11, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 15:15-16 I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

It’s always interesting when God has me write on a section of Scripture that isn’t underlined in my Bible, because that means it’s fresh revelation. This particular section is especially interesting because if you substituted “Japanese” for “Gentiles,” it’s something I could say about myself! Paul here seems a little concerned about how many toes he might have stomped on in the course of his letter, and I feel I’m something of a “toe stomper” at times myself. The point, however, is that political correctness must never be allowed to get in the way of proclaiming God’s truth. We aren’t to offend needlessly, but we must never fail to express what God is saying out of a fear of offending. We are indeed to speak the truth in love, (Ephesians 4:15) but remember that genuine love cares enough to risk being disliked. We all want to be accepted and liked, but when that takes priority over the truth of God, it becomes idolatry. It is quite interesting to see Paul, who was of the Tribe of Benjamin, refer to “priestly duty,” when Jewish priests were exclusively from the Tribe of Levi. It is clear that he was on the same page as Peter, who famously wrote about believers being “a royal priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:9) Here Paul is saying that a priest is to proclaim the Gospel, which, following Peter, means that every believer is to do so! The objective of that is that our hearers would become “an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” We tend to place the focus of evangelism on people, on “getting them saved,” when Paul is placing the focus on God. We are indeed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, but before and above that we are to love God with all that we have, all that we are. I think it’s very good to be reminded of that from time to time.

Recently a Facebook friend quoted my father from one of his books, where he said, “The most important thing a missionary can do is to find the Japanese people that God wants to call for Christian workers, help them to hear the call, and then lead them as they train themselves for the work.” In other words, he recognized the poor efficiency of a foreign missionary in evangelism in Japan, so the missionary needed to equip Japanese to do that work. I couldn’t agree more, though I didn’t have that quote in my personal awareness before. That is exactly in line with Paul’s famous statement that the Ministry Gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4 are “to prepare God’s people for works of service.” (Ephesians 4:12) That is to say that I’m not to beat myself up over not being able to do everything, but rather, I am to work on getting others to do it, and prepare them for what they are to do. That’s a lesson I’ve been painfully slow to learn! I am indeed called and sent to present the Japanese as a holy offering to God, but not only can I not do it in my own strength, I’m not even the right person to do most of it directly. Rather, I’m to be a “tool maker,” forging others to do the work God has prepared for them.

Father, thank You for this Word. I’m a little frustrated that it’s taken me so long to hear it! Thank You for those who have gone into active ministry because of my ministry. Help me be more and more effective in that work, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faith and Hope; November 8, 2020

Posted on November 11, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How good of the Lord to have this in the reading when I’m speaking on Hope this morning! The devil indeed does all he can to steal and/or destroy our hope, but our Creator is truly the God of hope. We can indeed have hope when we trust in God, because He sees the end from the beginning and has it all worked out, when we can’t even see to the next corner most of the time, much less around the corner. Hope is essential for the joy and peace we all desire, but that hope needs to be based on more than wishful thinking. That’s why faith is essential. (The Japanese here says “by your faith,” where the NIV says “trust,” but trust is faith with its shoes on.) When we find we are low on hope, we need to strengthen our faith. The way to strengthen our faith is to focus on our Creator and all He has done for us, particularly in Christ Jesus our Lord, and then exercise the faith we already have, however small it might be. Faith is very much like muscle: it needs nutrition and it needs exercise. The nutrition it needs is the Word of God, and the exercise it needs is simply to be applied to our real-life situations. So long as faith remains theoretical it isn’t very strong. It is when it is put to work where the rubber meets the road that it grows and becomes “an oaken staff to lead us on our way,” as the hymn says.

Like many Christians, particularly in America, my faith and hope have been getting a real workout over the past week. Honest elections are one thing, but dishonest ones are something else entirely. As I posted on Facebook yesterday (reposted from Intercessors for America) prayer is the answer for the vast majority of people who are concerned about the current situation. Those who are physically “close to the action,” so to speak, of course need to speak up and testify to what they have witnessed, as many are doing, but they are in the minority. The rest of us need to be praying, doing spiritual warfare, but in hope and faith, not in desperation. God is not inconvenienced by the current state of affairs, He’s using the acts of the enemy, and those deceived by him, to train and purify the Family of God. I am to personally rejoice that God is far smarter and stronger than the devil, not to mention me, and rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. That doesn’t mean I’m to take spiritual warfare lightly. After all, He’s given me a full suit of armor! (Ephesians 6) That said, I’m to be a happy warrior, rejoicing that the outcome is in the hands of my Lord.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder, and for its timing. May I indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, faithfully doing all that You have for me to do but not being anxious about a bit of it. May I not be distracted by things like the election and so fail to do what You have for me closer to home. May Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Worship; November 7, 2020

Posted on November 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

This is a justly famous verse, and the how of it is expressed both in verse 2 and then in verses 6-8. God is certainly worthy of our worship, but we don’t really know how to go about doing it. Throughout history people have tried all sorts of things to worship deity as they understood it, all the way from meditation to human sacrifice. Paul is saying that in a sense, human sacrifice is indeed the way to go, but not by killing someone, and not by imposing that sacrifice on someone else. I’m reminded of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. They both volunteered to “drink the cup Jesus would drink,” (Matthew 20:22) not knowing it referred to crucifixion, but the way they did it was very different. James was the first of the 12 apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:2), and tradition tells us John was the only one of those 12 to die a natural death. I personally think James had the easier course! John had to keep doing what this verse says, day in and day out, until he was well past 90. That’s a living sacrifice! None of us knows the exact course our life will follow, but we too are called to live our lives for Christ Jesus our Lord, who died and rose again for us. That includes not fitting in with the world (verse 2) and exercising the gifts God has placed in us, for the blessing of those around us and for His glory (verses 6-8).

I had read this verse at least by the time I was 10, but grasping it and living it out is still going on 62 years later! Offering my body to God as a living sacrifice takes many forms, because it encompasses every moment of my life. It includes getting out of the house and walking 5K three times a week, weather permitting, and it also includes going to bed at night so that I will be properly rested. It includes active physical labor, such as the carpentry I did yesterday, and it includes eating what my body needs, and not more. One of the evidences of God’s grace is that all of these activities can be pleasurable indeed, particularly when done with awareness of the God who makes them possible and to whom they are offered. That’s not at all to say that every moment of life is fun, but it is to say that when we live for Christ, the awareness of His presence puts a different perspective on everything. This world puts a lot of pressure on me and everyone else to conform, and resisting that is an essential part of my worship of my Creator. Likewise, faithful stewardship of the gifts He has placed in me cannot be separated from true worship. I delight to worship through song and prayer, both individually and especially with brothers and sisters in Christ, but I must never think that when that is done, I have completed worship.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder. You’ve given me another message, and I haven’t even delivered the one You gave me for tomorrow! Help me share the riches You pour out on me, when and how and with whom You intend, so that Your purposes may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Jews; November 6, 2020

Posted on November 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 11:12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!

My impression is that the average Christian thinks very little about the Jews, particularly here in Japan, where most people have never met a Jew. However, if you read the Bible honestly, the issue is inescapable. After all, the Old Testament records the history of the Jewish people up until a few hundred years before Jesus’ birth, and Jesus Himself and all the earliest disciples were Jewish. Whether salvation was even possible for a Gentile was one of the biggest issues in the early Church! That said, the Church worldwide today is very predominantly Gentile, and Paul did not want those Gentiles, to whom he himself was an apostle, to forget their Jewish roots. This verse points out that every believer has the riches of God’s grace because of Abraham and his descendants. Our response should be to hold the Jews very dear, and seek to share in turn with them the riches of glory in their own Messiah, our Savior Christ Jesus. The good news is that there are more Messianic Jews today than at any time since the 1st Century. Websites like OneforIsrael.com are a joy indeed to read, with their abundance of testimonies of Jews who have discovered Jesus as their Messiah. There are many organizations, both in Israel and around the world, that are dedicated to communicating the Gospel with Jews, one of the oldest being Jews for Jesus. Both Jews and Gentiles need to realize that believing in Jesus doesn’t make anyone less Jewish; rather it completes them by a relationship with the Messiah for whom they have been seeking their whole life.

I have written before about my somewhat surprising connections with Jews and Israel. Though I have never visited the geographic location of Israel, as far back as I can remember I have been proud of having been born in the same year, 1948. The 6-Day War happened while I was in college. I think an Arab Israeli student who was a couple of years behind me was the proudest person on campus at what Israel accomplished at that time, but I was probably a close second! There are many, many other connections I could mention, but I continue to be very aware that my Savior, the Savior of the world, was and is Jewish. I don’t know what this will mean for me in the rest of my time on this earth, but I want to be available for whatever my Lord desires.

Father, thank You for how Jewish I feel at times, even though that is probably an insult to those who were born and raised Jewish. I pray that I would be available to bring more and more Jews into the family of Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting God; November 5, 2020

Posted on November 7, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

That this would be the passage for today shows God’s foreknowledge and perfect plan. This is one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible, yet God is speaking it to me again right now, because I need it. As God spoke to me personally many years ago, there are many things in the world that are not as He would prefer them to be. He would like every human being to choose repentance and faith, to strive to live according to His Word, but that is certainly not how it is. He would like people to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, trusting Him and allowing Him to use them for blessing and for His glory, but that is clearly not the current situation. As I write this, the US presidential election is not yet decided. Whichever way it goes, the fact that so many Americans would choose to be on the side of a party that openly and actively campaigns for the “right” to rip babies apart in the womb is deeply disturbing and depressing. It is no surprise that that same party would be actively suppressing churches and promoting anarchy in the streets. America needs massive repentance and revival, but that isn’t something we can generate. For too many years the average “person in the pew” has gone with the flow, much like the proverbial frog in a pot of water. There has been no statistical difference between the average “Christian” and anyone else, and we are reaping the harvest of that. This verse, then, assures us that God can and will use even this horrible situation for good, if we will keep our eyes on Him. At the very least, it is clear that this is waking up many believers, causing them to see the depth and magnitude of the situation. Repentance and cleansing begins with the family of God. (1 Peter 4:17) This could well be part of what is written in Revelation, but in any case it is a picture of the dire situation of the nation, and God’s children need to respond appropriately.

As I comment from time to time, I didn’t use to be particularly political, but that has changed more and more over the past couple of decades. I have been very emotionally involved in the current election, encouraged by those who seemed so enthusiastically “on my side” and distressed by those dug in in opposition. I found myself depressed yesterday (Japan is currently 14 hours ahead of the US East Coast) to see state after state turning blue, and not just states like New York, California, and Oregon that have been “poster children” for leftist ideology. It is interesting that it would be of such concern to me, when I don’t expect to do more than visit the US occasionally for the rest of my physical life, but I really do care about America, and not just because I have so many relatives and friends there. That my passport says USA is essentially beside the point. Today’s reading is spot on to call me back to the awareness that even things on a national scale, like this election, are “small potatoes” compared to God. I need to lift my eyes, not just from myself but from the world as a whole, and fix them on my Lord, who loved me enough to die for me and who has the perfect plan for me. (Hebrews 12:2)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I indeed needed it. I haven’t checked on the election results yet this morning, but thank You for being God regardless. There were other things that disappointed me yesterday and got me down. Thank You for those, too. I ask for Your solution to each of those situations, whether it is what I had desired or not. May I indeed seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness all the time, and not just in “devotional moments,” so that I will be fully available and responsive to You, for Your will to be done for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Salvation; November 4, 2020

Posted on November 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

From verse 15 Paul comes back to how he started in verse 1, bringing up the dangerous absurdity of mistaking God’s grace for a license to do anything you like. He then expands on that with a word picture that is very uncomfortable to us today: slavery. Most people aren’t aware of how widespread actual slavery is today, only we call it “human trafficking.” We associate it with race, when it started with whoever lost in a war, in which race is largely coincidental. He then brings that word picture to a sharp point with this verse. It doesn’t take much imagination to see that the only thing a slave is “paid” is suffering and death. It is on that backdrop that the grace of God shines in all its glory. The biggest problem is that people refuse to recognize their own slavery, mistaking momentary pleasures for happiness, closing their eyes to the reality that they’re headed for hell. This verse is rightly quoted a great deal in evangelism, but all too many people close their ears to it. Paul uses the term, wages, here because we genuinely earn death by our rebellion against God, but the eternal life that is available in Christ can only be called a gift, because we can never do enough to earn it. Bringing someone to salvation involves the two steps of opening their eyes to the reality of their own condition, and then showing them that God has provided a way out, as only He could. When someone accepts God’s gift, even heaven rejoices! (Luke 15:10)

Of course, this applies to me on every level. I too had to acknowledge my sinfulness, my need, and humbly accept God’s gift. The problem is that between human foolishness and the devil’s lies, I tend to drift into the pride of thinking I’ve achieved salvation, when it is always and only God’s gift. I desire to lead others to salvation, but as a Teacher I tend just to dump information on them, all too often in ways they have no hope of really assimilating and making their own. That accomplishes nothing but confusion and frustration, all too often “inoculating” them against receiving the true Gospel! I’ve got to step back and let God be in full control, of whom to speak to, when and how, and let Him supply the words that will penetrate that person’s heart. Humanly, I want to run around handing out God’s gift, but it’s not mine to give, and He’s got to do it through me. Salvation is a miracle, whenever and however it happens. God has chosen to use people in communicating that salvation, and I’ve got to be humble enough to leave it in His hands.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s also a reminder that the salvation of souls is absolutely the first and highest priority. I let so many things get in the way! Help me be actively available, always ready for Your appointments, so that as many as will may be saved, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Freedom from Sin; November 3, 2020

Posted on November 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Once again I was faced with a real dilemma as to what to write about, because every bit of today’s reading is underlined, and rightly so. This is a very rich section, of great importance to living for and in Christ Jesus. The devil is a liar by definition, (John 8:44) and the vast majority of his power is deception, making us think that we are subject to him when we are not. That’s a major part of why Jesus could say, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) The devil tells us that we are powerless against sin, that it’s no use fighting it, in ourselves or in others. This whole section exposes that lie, and this verse gives the legal justification for that, so to speak. For example, diplomats aren’t subject to many of the laws of the country in which they serve; it’s called “diplomatic immunity.” In the same way, we aren’t subject to “the law of sin and death,” (Romans 8:2) because we are ambassadors for Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:20) and we are subject to the law of grace, as it says here. After all, our citizenship is in heaven. (Philippians 3:20) The point, then, is not to act like a local! If a believer in Jesus Christ lives no differently from the people in the world around him, they are missing the vast majority of the blessings God has prepared for us in Christ. There is no reason for us to remain stuck in sin, because Jesus died to free us from that. Yes, we trip up and stumble at times, but that should be an increasingly rare exception in our lives. As has been said, there are three tenses to salvation in Christ: we have been saved from the penalty for sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will be saved from the presence of sin. This verse is about the present tense of that, reminding us that we are no longer under the authority of sin and the law, but under grace.

This of course applies to me as much as it does to anyone else. I remember very clearly how I struggled with a particular “besetting sin” until I realized that when I confessed and repented, I really was forgiven. The truth of forgiveness in Christ truly set me free. (2 Peter 1:9) The challenge now is in communicating that to those to whom I minister. Again, my enemy is the lying devil who tells people it’s no use fighting sin. Even seasoned ministers get caught in his traps, and I am not to let down my guard. I am to walk in the freedom of grace and teach others to do likewise, but never confuse grace for license, as Paul cautions at the beginning of this chapter. The liberty that is in Christ is far too precious to do anything else!

Father, thank You for this important reminder. Help me be effective indeed in communicating this truth to as many as will receive it, so that we may walk together in Your liberty, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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