Faithfulness; September 10, 2025

Posted on September 11, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

I have no idea how many times I have quoted this verse, because hearing it said to me by my Lord is my ultimate goal in life. Countless messages have been preached on this parable of Jesus, including by me, but it’s still worth noting the major points. The first is that the Master entrusted things to his servants on equal terms, “to each according to his ability.” God knows what we’re capable of, and He doesn’t give us more than we can handle. It is reported that Mother Theresa said, “I know that God will never give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I wish He didn’t trust me so much.” The second point is that the entrusting was complete; there wasn’t a “big brother” mechanism to breathe down their necks to see if they were behaving themselves. God is aware of everything we do, but He isn’t a task manager, leaving us as robots. Free will is real, whatever it might feel like. The third point is that the reward for faithfulness was equal, regardless of the starting point. The servant who started with two talents got exactly the same commendation as the one who started with five. The point here is not quantity, but the faithfulness itself. And the fourth point is that God rejoices when we are faithful. These men were told to enter into their Master’s joy, not some separate joy. The theme of our readings is The Joy of the Lord. Most of them seem to deal with it as the joy that He gives to us, but here, Jesus is saying that we enter into His joy. We can hardly imagine what that is, because it is qualitatively as well as quantitatively different. After all, our Lord is infinite! All He asks of us is faith and faithfulness, and the faith is a gift from Him. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

I don’t know how long ago it was that I realized that this commendation was my ultimate goal, but it’s been many years. I thankfully have had good examples, starting with my parents, and their parents before them. Those are mighty big shoes to fill, in the faithfulness area! I feel like God over-gifted me in a way, with verbal and mechanical and musical gifting. At least He didn’t add sports on top of that! Looking at all I started with, I sometimes question my level of faithfulness. I have to be satisfied with doing as Paul did: “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) That said, I’ve also got to remember what he said immediately before that: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” (verse 2) All my life, various things have been easy for me that other people couldn’t do, or did only with difficulty. That led to my being lazy, and that’s certainly not a good thing. I have learned the hard way the truth of the adage, “Use it or lose it.” I was once the concert master of the 25th Infantry Division Band, but I haven’t picked up one of my clarinets in years, and I don’t know what it would sound like if I did. I have a large vocabulary, but I just had to look up how to spell “adage!” I have no idea how I will be judged, but I know my gracious, loving Lord, and I entrust myself to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Faithfulness is really all You ask. May I recognize my own tendency to unfaithfulness and in all humility receive Your grace, that is all I need. I do desire to be faithful to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Discipleship; September 9, 2025

Posted on September 10, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 13:52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

I have liked this verse for many years, because my grandfather W. O. Carver’s memoir was published, after his death, under the title, Out of His Treasure, referencing this verse. However, reading it just now in the Japanese, I got a fresh revelation. Imagine my surprise to discover that the latest version of the NIV uses the same terminology: “become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven.” Discipleship is far more than scholarship, acquiring information. The kind of person referenced here is rendered in English as “scribe,” or “teacher of the law.” The Japanese simply says, “scholar.” Such people are noted for their head knowledge, but if they don’t put that knowledge into practice, it is essentially meaningless. In a sense, it can be compared to faith, as James describes it: “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26) I keep coming back to the fact that in Japanese, the word for “disciple” is the same as that for “apprentice,” one who learns by doing. You can watch a craftsman at work and admire his perception and his skill, but until you put your hand to it and attempt it yourself, you can hardly be called an apprentice. Sometimes we have the blessed privilege of human mentors in the faith, and sometimes we can even be those mentors, just as Paul said, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me,” (1 Corinthians 4:16) and “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) However, even if we don’t have a human mentor, we can indeed follow the example of Christ, as Paul did. Jesus didn’t hold anything back in His complete obedience to the Father, and neither should we. We are to give our lives totally to Christ, whether it is in a moment, like James the son of Zebedee, or over 90+ years, like his brother John. That is what discipleship is all about. All of that said, what Jesus says in this verse totally settles the question of whether Christian churches should use the Old Testament as well as the New, and the answer is a very emphatic YES. A true disciple/apprentice doesn’t discard the things he learned first, just because he learned more on top of that. If we want to know the Bible, and we certainly should, then we need to read the whole Bible, and not just a few favorite verses.

I had the privilege of being raised in a family of Bible scholars. Not only did my maternal grandfather found the oldest surviving Department of Missions of any Protestant seminary in the world, my father got his Master’s degree in Hebrew and his PhD in Greek, teaching both those languages in a seminary in Japan. I was given a full Bible after my baptism at age 7, and had read it through by the time I was 10. However, I sadly learned that head knowledge doesn’t equal discipleship. The Lord had to deal with my spiritual and intellectual pride when I was 24, showing me how far I was from being a disciple. In the 50+ years since then I have had my ups and downs, but at least I know what my goal is! I do want to know the Bible, inside and out, but I also want to put it into practice fully, not as an academic discipline but as the Word of the Lord. Only then will I be the mentor God wants me to be, able to tell people to imitate me, just as Paul did.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me keep learning from You, never thinking I’ve “arrived,” but pressing in for more of Christ just as Paul did, (Philippians 3:13-14) for the blessing of those around me and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Roots; September 8. 2025

Posted on September 9, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 13:20-21 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

Emotions are tricky things. Every evangelist is delighted when someone receives the Gospel with joy, but Jesus here explicitly says that such people may possibly produce no fruit. I find it very interesting that Jesus specifies they lack roots “within themselves.” (as the ESV and the Japanese express it). We may think of roots as external, but if you think about it, they are very internal, hidden and not exposed. We speak of “shallow” people in other contexts as well. Roots are serious business! We’ve all seen pictures after storms of huge trees that have flipped over, and sometimes the root mass is shockingly shallow. There are lots of Christians like that, too. We need to be the kind of person who digs into the things of God, not just delighting in them but sinking roots into them, absorbing the nourishment we can get no other way. When we are that way, no storm of life can uproot us! It’s also important to consider what Jesus says here about “the word.” The things of God in general are very good and beneficial, but there’s no substitute for getting into the Bible and letting the Bible get into us. Spiritual enthusiasm without secure Biblical roots is a recipe for heresy. All of this is not to say that enthusiasm and joy are bad by any means, but it is to say that we must not be satisfied with emotions, because they are passing. Considering some emotions, thank God they are passing! We need to be rooted and grounded in God’s truth, and rejoice in His grace that allows us to be that way.

Just recently I was asked, during telephone counseling, whether a Christian who commits suicide goes to hell. I think the person who asked was considering it, actually. I responded that suicide is the ultimately self-centered act, discounting all impact on other people and not allowing God to provide His answers to whatever situation is being faced. I know, because I attempted suicide once when I was in college. That was only months before I met my wife, and I shudder to think of the loss if I had succeeded. Ministering in Japan, I don’t encounter very many people who “receive the Word with joy,” so when it happens I am delighted. However, I’ve got to be very careful to help such people cultivate the roots they need to stay firm in the storms of life. I have known people whom I thought were completely secure in their faith be pulled aside into heresy because of emotions, choosing “kindness” over the truth of God. That’s tragic! I’m not to be satisfied with my own roots, but seek to nurture all the believers in my care to plant their roots firmly. Those in this flock run quite a gamut! Some, I have absolute confidence in, but others, I feel like I need to keep nudging them. I need to entrust them all to God, and be faithful to interact with them as He directs, not necessarily with blanket policies but with individual discernment and care, so that the Body of Christ may be built up.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You never said that being a pastor would be easy! Thank You for the conversation You directed yesterday with my successor in this congregation, and for her response. Thank You for her deep roots. I do pray that You would give her great assurance and peace as she follows You, knowing that there is indeed no way she can do it on her own, but no way You can fail if she will be submitted to You. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prophets; September 7, 2025

Posted on September 8, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

As familiar as this verse is, it just occurred to me that Koine Greek has no punctuation. Accordingly, this verse can be read that Jesus is saying His disciples are prophets, just like the ones recorded in the Old Testament. That position is supported by most of the rest of the New Testament, actually, but the average Christian doesn’t think of themselves as a prophet. Given Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 14:1 and following, that’s probably a mistake. The devil does all he can to make us be afraid of being prophets, acting as God’s spokespeople. After all, such prophets got persecuted, often killed in various horrible ways. Jesus says here that even if that happens, we are to be glad, because our eventual reward is great. Speaking out what God is saying is a huge privilege, and one to be greatly desired, just as Paul said. However, we must never let it go to our head, because pride will steal our reward from us. The value and the glory are in the words, not in the one speaking them. Again, as Paul said, “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) That said, we must not forget that it is a treasure! We are never to take lightly the privilege of speaking for God. However, if we concoct in our own minds what we are going to say, it instantly stops being genuine prophecy. Our own thoughts and ideas are nothing, compared to what God says, even when He speaks through us. However, God’s words are “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) We generally apply that to the Bible, which isn’t wrong, but God speaks His Word through His children, too.

I have had times when I was speaking what the Lord was saying, but then the Lord stopped talking and I didn’t. That’s an absolutely horrible feeling! In contrast, one time I was in a meeting and speaking out what the Spirit was saying, and when He stopped, I did too, even though it seemed to be in the middle of a sentence. At that moment, someone on the other side of the room picked it up at exactly that point, and the sentence was complete. Any time God speaks through me, my task is to focus on Him, not on myself, and not on the people who are listening to me. If I focus on my listeners, I end up trying to figure out how to correct their situation, whatever that might be, and that can get in the way of my hearing God. I have learned that political correctness has nothing to do with genuine prophecy. That’s one of the things that can trigger persecution! I am not to let my words hurt people needlessly, but sometimes they need a scalpel, or even a sword, to cut off what is binding them. I am never to assume that because I said it, it’s accurate prophecy from God. I’m as fallible as anyone. However, I am never to draw back from speaking or writing as the Lord directs, so that His Word may accomplish everything for which He sends it, (Isaiah 55:11) even when He sends it through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Being Your agent is incredible, both in privilege and responsibility. May I not focus on this clay jar, but rather let You shine through me, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Confirmation Joy; September 6, 2025

Posted on September 7, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

This passage is so familiar that I could pretty well quote all 12 verses from memory, and I’ve not only written, I’ve preached on this particular verse. However, familiarity indeed breeds contempt, and it is actually very helpful to revisit familiar passages, particularly those that have strong calendar associations, out of sequence, so to speak. I would call this verse an example of confirmation joy. It may not have been as extreme as what the Magi experienced, but we’ve all experienced this to some degree, when something we were looking forward to turned out as expected, or perhaps even better than expected. In the case of the Magi, they had set out in faith that they were understanding what God was showing them, but it was certainly a major undertaking, and I’m sure they at times wondered if they had been mistaken. When the scribes in Jerusalem quickly came up with Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah was to be born, I’m sure their anticipation peaked (or so they thought) and here, the heavens themselves confirmed that they were on track. They probably wondered if they had already died and gone to heaven! In terms of narrative, this is something of the peak of the story, but for the Magi, it was entering the house and encountering the Holy Family, and everything they had been through to get there became insignificant. I’m sure their spiritual sensitivity was at peak level at that point, so it’s hardly surprising that they recognized the Lord’s instructions not to go back to Herod. The thing is, every believer has something like this to look forward to, when we stand before our Lord in heaven. We believe, firmly enough, but the reality will be so much better than we can now imagine. As the song says, “I can only imagine.” As Paul said, “‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) Now that will be confirmation joy!

So many things whet my anticipation of heaven! Unless the Lord returns first, I know that there will be people who will mourn my departure, but that is a transition I personally look forward to immensely. My wife has had a taste of heaven, having had a near-death experience over 50 years ago, and nothing she has told me has blunted my anticipation. For that matter, I had an experience myself over 30 years ago of being in a small prayer meeting, just worshiping in the presence of the Lord, and the joy in my heart became so intense that I literally asked the Lord to back it off a little, if He had anything more for me to do on this earth, because I didn’t think my physical body could take it. That won’t be a limiting factor in heaven! I am feeling great joy at the moment that someone to whom I have been witnessing has promised to come to church tomorrow. I hope I don’t explode when he shows up! God does have good things planned and prepared for us. I am to rest in that assurance, and share the good news with as many people who will receive it as possible, so that God’s plans for us may be fulfilled for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, from an extremely familiar verse. May I not let familiarity blunt my appreciation of Your Word, but rather let Your Word become more and more part of me, for the blessing of those I encounter and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making Aliya; September 5, 2025

Posted on September 6, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 10:9 Though I scatter them among the peoples,
    yet in distant lands they will remember me.
They and their children will survive,
    and they will return.

This is what is today called “making aliya,” moving from anywhere in the world to Israel. For many people it involves a huge cultural shift, but it is motivated by what it says in this verse: remembering the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and wanting to be in the Jewish ancestral homeland. This movement has been called Zionism since the late 1800s, and for many today it is a curse word, utterly despicable, because antisemitic feelings run strong. To me, that shows the validity and accuracy of the Old Testament, as well as the reality of the devil, who is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44) If the Old Testament weren’t true, there would be no logical basis for antisemitism whatsoever, other than the general human tendency to separate into groups. As it is, Thomas Lehrer’s classic song, National Brotherhood Week, in discussing various group enmities, pointedly says, “Everybody hates the Jews.” People laugh, because there is illogical truth in that statement. The roots of antisemitism are in jealousy of the people chosen by God, and frankly, hatred of the God who chose them. All of that is ultimately futile, however, because puny man can’t really counter omnipotent God. The rational response to all this is to rejoice that God cared enough about mankind in general to choose Abram, rename him Abraham, and then work through him and his descendants to reveal Himself to the whole world, ultimately sending His Son, a physical descendant of Abraham, to die for our sins and open the way for our salvation. Those who have that mindset are the biggest supporters of the Jews! Of course, we understand, with Paul, that Jews too need to repent of sin and believe the Gospel, but there is a deep sense of humility and gratitude. (Romans 9-11) The New Testament couldn’t exist without the Old Testament. Christian faith has a Jewish foundation!

As I have written before, I have always been proud to have been born in the same year, 1948, as the modern Jewish nation. I’ve never had the privilege of visiting the land in person, but I learned Jewish songs even as a child, and I feel great empathy with those making aliya. Things are happening today that seem to foreshadow events described in Revelation and elsewhere, and I look forward to the day Christ will return and set foot on the Mount of Olives, in a sense making aliya Himself. In that day I will no longer have my current physical limitations, and I’ll be able to visit freely. That’s just one of so many things to look forward to! Meanwhile, I’m to live in faithful obedience, countering the lies of the devil with the truth of God and calling all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, to repentance and faith for their salvation.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the privilege of serving You, as a very small part of Your plan. May every detail of Your plan be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory alone. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Returning to God; September 4, 2025

Posted on September 5, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 9:12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

This chapter is most famous for verse 9, which was fulfilled on Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem, but I have always liked this verse as well. Different translations render this as “prisoners of hope” or “prisoners who have hope.” Not being a Hebrew scholar I can’t say which is more accurate, but it would seem strange for hope to be the imprisoning agent. Regardless of that point, we are being told to “return to our fortress.” The Bible speaks many times of God being our fortress, and I am very comfortable with that being the meaning here. The promise of a double restoration is a good one, but we have to return to our fortress for it to happen. When we get in trouble of various sorts we are quick to search for remedies, but the ultimate answer is always to turn to God. That doesn’t mean to be passive, because God often has specific things He wants us to do, but it does mean acknowledging that He is our Source, our Supply, and in Him we have everything we need. Sometimes that doesn’t look like everything our flesh wants, as in Paul’s famous entreaty about his “thorn in the flesh,” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) but as God told him, His grace is really all we need. This verse also brings to mind Jesus’ promise to His disciples that anything they gave up for Him would be multiplied to them. (Matthew 19:29) There, it doesn’t just say “double,” it says “100 times as much”! God is never at a loss for anything we need, but we have to return to Him to get it. We often fail to recognize when and how we are drifting from God, and sometimes He has to put us in a tight spot to get us to realize it. However, that’s never out of spite, but always out of love. After all, He delights to give us His Kingdom! (Luke 12:32)

This is something God has had to teach me repeatedly, but I think I’ve got a fairly good hold on it now. God has every resource in the universe at His disposal, and He’s my Daddy! That doesn’t mean I’m to presume on Him like some spoiled brat, but it does mean I’m never to be anxious about anything. There are a LOT of scriptures that say that! He has told me personally to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, so my only concern is to be careful not to drift from Him, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. He is indeed my Fortress, and when I am resting in Him, absolutely nothing can get to me! My biggest issue is the little things, ironically enough, that get under my skin in one way or another. I’ve got to be on my guard against such things, and walk in consistent humility.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I let little things irritate me all too often! May I be so grounded in You that those things bounce off without penetrating, so that I may consistently show the face of Christ to all around me, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Truth; September 3, 2025

Posted on September 4, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 8:16-17 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord.

These are some pretty clear instructions, and they seem to me to be very applicable to America right now. They apply both to personal interactions and to public life, specifically, the judicial system. America’s judicial system seems to me to be pretty messed up right now, but that may be because I’m not that familiar with what is going on in other countries. I’ve heard some pretty horrific tales from other countries, too. The over-all emphasis seems to me to be on truth. Things are coming out in the US right now that boggle the mind, with the details of “The Russia Hoax” coming out, with top government officials having committed perjury for political purposes and the like. And that applies on the personal level as well, just as it says here. God is Truth, and that instantly eliminates all the “my truth” and “your truth” nonsense. Whereas it is valid to say that truth isn’t necessarily the same thing as facts, they have a very intimate relationship! The ultimate truth is that God exists, and everything else comes from that truth. The minute we try to say that God doesn’t exist, or simply to ignore Him, then we get into all sorts of problems. Since our existence depends on Him, we need to seek out His character and will and act accordingly. He’s giving us a sample of that here, and we need to pay attention.

I had the huge advantage of being raised by a father who held absolute honesty as one of his core principles. That has made me very uncomfortable with lies, and I’m grateful. Literary fiction is a different matter, but I’m talking about things presented as truth. I have been very disgusted by noble-sounding fiction presented on the Internet as fact. There are plenty of genuinely true stories that could be told, and we should not be trying to manipulate people, even with good goals, by presenting fiction as fact. When I speak or write, I want people to have the assurance that my words are true, regardless of the subject. When I find I was mistaken about something, I need to make corrections as quickly and effectively as possible. When I follow the One who is the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) I want His character to be reflected through me, for the blessing of those around me and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You indeed for the parents You gave me, and for their example. May I be an accurate representation of Christ to all who see me, imperfect though I am, just as my parents were, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rejoice!; September 2, 2025

Posted on September 3, 2025 by jgarrott

Zechariah 2:11 “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”

You couldn’t ask for a more definitive statement that God doesn’t limit His love and acceptance to the Jews. This verse and the one before it have been nicely set to music in Japanese, and I naturally have translated that into English. (In a case like this, of which there are several, it’s not so much a matter of translation as of rearranging the words so they fit the meter.) It’s a catchy, rhythmic tune, and it’s not unusual for me to find myself singing it in my heart as I’m out walking. God is here telling us to rejoice, and we should delight to obey! It’s important to notice why we are to rejoice: God is going to come to us and live, that is, make His home and remain, with us. Actually, He has now done that in Christ Jesus our Lord, so we have no excuse not to rejoice! This is why, and how, people have sung to the Lord even as they have been martyred. There was an instance of that just recently in Nigeria, which has had a horrific number of martyrs in recent years. A woman was horribly abused and then hacked to death, and the reports are that she sang to the Lord until she died. That sort of thing is possible only by a supernatural awareness of the presence of God, but we have records of such in the Bible as well. If you think about it, this leaves us no excuse for pity parties! As Jesus told us so clearly, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Coming back to this verse, I would guess that the vast majority of the people who read what I am writing are Gentiles, which means we are among the “many nations” mentioned here. That gives us all the more reason to rejoice, because we have been included by faith in the family of Abraham, and that’s amazing!

Of course, I have committed my life to adding the nation of Japan to the list, so this certainly applies to me. Interestingly, over the past 41 years I have baptized not only Japanese, but people from America, Canada, Korea, Jamaica, and Honduras. At one point I even resented, foolishly enough, having so many non-Japanese active in this church! Frankly, drawing Japanese into the Kingdom remains a real challenge, but there are signs that we may have several in the near future, and that’s exciting. Whether that happens or not, I’m still to rejoice, because God certainly dwells among us, and that is worth celebrating indeed.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. Thank You for Your Spirit, who indeed indwells us and causes Christ to be formed in us. (Galatians 4:19) May I rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all who see me may know that You are with me, and desire to welcome You into their own hearts. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dependence on God; September 1, 2025

Posted on September 2, 2025 by jgarrott

Zephaniah 3:12, 15 But I will leave within you
    the meek and humble.
The remnant of Israel
    will trust in the name of the Lord.
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;
    never again will you fear any harm.

It struck me that the same terminology is used in referring to humble and lowly people and to the Lord, the King of Israel. The same thing is said in different ways in other places, but it is clear that God is with the humble, not with the proud. In fact, pride is perhaps the single greatest hinderance to salvation. I keep coming back to this truth, but salvation requires acknowledging that you need it, and that you can’t save yourself. There are literally countless stories that illustrate this, but a famous one is that of John Newton, the author of the lyrics of Amazing Grace. He went from being the captain of a slave ship, one of the most despicable occupations, to being a pastor, and penned the words to perhaps the best-loved hymn in the world. If he had not humbled himself before God as his ship was in danger of sinking in a storm, he would indeed not have been saved, on any level, and would today have been rotting in hell. This is why Jesus so famously said that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) Materially wealthy people are very likely to trust in their wealth, not realizing how ephemeral it really is. It is much easier for someone who has nothing in this world to depend fully on God. If you want to be with God for eternity, you need to realize that you have nothing valuable apart from Him even now.

I didn’t grow up in poverty, exactly, but it certainly wasn’t “the lap of luxury.” That said, many of my Japanese friends as a child thought we were rich, because compared to them, we were! We were supported by the mission board on an American framework, when Japan was recovering from the devastation of WWII. As an adult, I have had times of fairly major “pinch,” financially speaking, but God has always come through. At this point, various things have combined to the point that we have fewer financial worries that ever before. I am grateful, and at the same time I am aware that we are no less dependent on the grace of God than when we didn’t know how we were going to get the next meal on the table. I want to be one of those who are with my Lord and King even now, before I get to heaven!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your abundant supply of everything we need, whether we see it with our physical eyes or not. Help me walk in constant awareness of my dependence on You, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You, just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment