Focus; August 9, 2020

Posted on August 11, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 4:44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus healed and delivered many, which gained Him popularity, but He never stopped proclaiming the Gospel. We get caught up in all sorts of things, but we must never forget that we are God’s agents to tell people, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15) To put it into slightly different context, the good news is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) It is true that our lives must reflect the character of Jesus, but we also must never stop talking about Him. Over 40 years ago my wife drew a picture, a cartoon, really, that we still have in a frame on the wall. It is of a round little figure and the outline of his body is filled with words, like joy, and envy, and peace, and anger, and on and on. The caption of the picture is, “Whatever you are full of, you will spill when you are bumped.” That reflects what Jesus said: “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:18-19) He was talking about negative things there, but the positive things also come from the heart. The things is, we need to be so full of Jesus that any time we are “bumped,” Jesus comes out! Like Jesus, we are not to stop telling people about the holiness, love, and grace of God, that lead us to salvation if we will believe.

I am certainly a talker, but the question is, what do I talk about? I enjoy displaying my knowledge about a wide variety of subjects, but those are all inconsequential compared to salvation in Christ. I have a good example for that in my father. A phrase for which he was known was, “Give all you know of yourself to all you know of Christ.” His work was in institutional education, founding the University Department of Seinan Gakuin, which is to this day the highest-ranked private university in Kyushu, but he never forgot that his fundamental purpose was to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have had times, even periods, of forgetting my primary purpose for being in Omura, and even for being on this earth. I must not do that! Yesterday I reestablished contact with an old friend, who has moved with his wife into an elder-care facility. We were just talking on the phone, but we were both glad to hear each other’s voice. In my talking with him, and with everyone, I need to keep proclaiming the good news of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Father, thank You for this reminder. My life seems to run on many different tracks at once. Help me focus consistently on Christ and Your kingdom, so that everything I am and say and do may draw people to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Fulfillment of Scripture; August 8, 2020

Posted on August 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Luke 4:21 And he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

This whole story is one I have loved for a long time. I have preached multiple times about how the passage from Isaiah is our commission as well as Jesus’, because of Jesus’ words after His resurrection: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21) However, that fact drives home what I feel the Lord saying most strongly at the moment: we too are part of the fulfillment of Scripture. We are used to the idea that Jesus fulfilled Scripture, and we are aware that there are prophecies in the Bible that have yet to be fulfilled, but we don’t often think about our being part of that fulfillment. Sadly, one of the best examples of that is Jesus’ statement that “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) We who maintain love for the Lord should take comfort in the very next statement: “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:13) Recently many have been seeing world events as fulfilling Scripture in Revelation and elsewhere, but we need to remember that some prophecies are fulfilled multiple times. Some of the things Jesus said about the End Times were clearly fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be fulfilled again. The point is that every statement in Scripture is valid, and we need to be careful we don’t fulfill the negative things, as well as to keep ourselves available as instruments for fulfilling the positive things. To go back to Matthew 24, the next thing Jesus said was, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) If our prayer is indeed, Maranatha, (Our Lord, come! In 1 Corinthians 16:22) then we need to be active in preaching the gospel of the kingdom! These days electronic means are included in that, but the important thing is the message, not the method. After all, “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)

Recently a brother spoke clearly to me that the Lord is going to use the Internet to multiply the work of this church. We have recently started live-streaming our services, which I had been encouraged to do before but had always hesitated for various reasons. This past Sunday, the viewership of the live stream was 10 times the number of those physically present, and spanned multiple continents. I am not to take personal pride in that, but I am not to fail to go through this door the Lord is opening. I am to let the Lord show me how He wants to use me to fulfill His promises, because I certainly can’t accomplish anything on my own. These are exciting times, which isn’t always comfortable, but there is glory in being part of what God is doing.

Father, thank You for this Word. Help me indeed not hang back from what You are doing, but keep myself fully available for whatever You want to do through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Bartimaeus; August 7, 2020

Posted on August 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 10:51-52 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Several things are interesting about this story. For one, it’s very unusual for the name of a person Jesus healed to be recorded. To me that indicates that Bartimaeus remained part of the group of disciples, probably all the way through Pentecost and after. Something that strengthens that impression for me is the way he sought help, calling Jesus “Son of David.” He was clearly addressing Jesus as the prophesied Messiah, and with that conviction it is hardly surprising that once healed, you couldn’t get him away from Jesus. Probably many of the people who followed Jesus thought He was a great teacher, and may have suspected that He was the Messiah, but they didn’t proclaim it openly the way Bartimaeus did. That is another unique thing about this healing: most people didn’t physically follow Jesus after their healing (though some wanted to). It is also indicative of his focus on Jesus that, though a beggar, when he heard that Jesus was calling him, he discarded his cloak, which might have been the most valuable thing he owned. Compared to meeting the Messiah, it had no value to him. There is a powerful parable there, of discarding what we have held dear in order to follow Jesus. All in all, I find Bartimaeus very impressive, and consider him a worthy example of a faithful follower of Jesus.

From time to time I am challenged by the faith of others, either meeting them in person or reading about them, and Bartimaeus is one of those. I have far more advantages than he did, but his commitment to Jesus appears to have been total, and that is what counts. I have experienced Jesus’ power many times in many ways, and I honestly desire that my commitment, my obedience to Him be total, but from my perspective my performance has been spotty. Various things distract me, and I lose focus too easily. Like Bartimaeus, I need to be willing to leave everything behind in order to be close to my Lord. The time will come when I do that, leaving even this physical body behind, but that will be no loss at all compared to being with Christ, just as Paul realized. (Philippians 3:7-14)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the various training You are giving me in priorities and trusting You. Help me receive the lessons You give me and grow as You intend, so that Your will may be done more and more fully in and through me, drawing many more into Your kingdom, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faith; August 6, 2020

Posted on August 7, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 9:23-24 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Matthew’s telling of this episode came up in the readings July 26th, but this little interchange between the father of the boy and Jesus is too important to skip over. Jesus’ statement that “Everything is possible for him who believes,” is something He said several times in different ways, but it is the father’s response that rings true for probably every honest believer. We believe, but our faith seems very shaky at times. We honestly want to believe more, but sometimes it seems like a huge obstacle. I think it comes back to our focus on ourselves: how much do I believe. The object of our faith is much more important! We are too prone to see God as either a cruel taskmaster or as an indulgent Santa, and either of those is far off the mark, even though they each contain an element of truth. It is true that God is absolutely holy, and as such no element of impurity can come near Him without being destroyed. Peter rightly quoted God’s words in Leviticus: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) However, God is also love itself, (1 John 4:8) and that love is so intense that it caused Him to send His Son to take the penalty for our sins and die in our place, redeeming us to eternal life. (John 3:16-17) However, that doesn’t make him an indulgent Santa. He wants what is best for us, and like any wise parent, He knows that giving us what we ask for isn’t always the best thing for us. We’ve got to remember that He knows the end from the beginning, and trust Him with it all. From our perspective we may see lots of ugly knots, but from His perspective He sees the beautiful tapestry He is creating in and through our life. When we are focused on our faith, we can lose sight of Him for whom all of creation was just a matter of speaking it out, expressing His will.

This certainly applies to me! I can’t remember ever not knowing about Jesus, and I proclaimed my love for Him to my parents at a very young age, but that doesn’t mean my whole life has been an example of mountain-moving faith. I identify a great deal with the father in this story! I don’t doubt at all that God exists, and that He loves me, but that has got to be expressed in daily, obedient trust. Yesterday I was given appointments for tests and surgery that I am told are for a third basal cell carcinoma, but the fact that this one didn’t look like the others, the urgency with which the hospital seems to be acting, and my not having had radiology tests before my previous surgeries, makes me question the diagnostic report. This is a good exercise in using the faith I have! God knows the true diagnosis, and He is more than able to take care of whatever the issue is, so as He has told me many times before, I’m to rest, relax, and rejoice. This is coming at a very busy time for me, with my photo show starting next week (I’ll have to duck out for the CT scan) and giving exams just before I enter the hospital for surgery, and that greatly intensifies the “faith training.” I can’t complain, any more than I could complain in more than words during my Army training. Rather, I need to rejoice that God knows what is best for me and for Cathy, and He is working it out on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for loving me so much. I do ask You to deal with my persistent unbelief, just as this father prayed, so that I may be the son and the servant that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!
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Maturity; August 5, 2020

Posted on August 7, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 8:25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

I think this is a very important story, not just for those involved in healing ministry but for everyone who seeks to follow Christ. The point that we need to get is that even for Jesus, not everything happened instantly. He certainly didn’t do anything wrong, but this man wasn’t healed instantly; Jesus had to touch his eyes again. We are so used to everything being instant that we get impatient, and/or we give up. How foolish! Jesus even told a specific parable to teach us that we “should always pray and not give up.” (Luke 18:1) It’s not often the Bible explains to us what it is trying to teach us! This story of Jesus healing the man’s eyes isn’t quite that obvious, but it’s the same message. Things that come too easily are seldom valued, and God wants us to be mature. Psychologists have long used “tolerance for delayed gratification” as a major measure of psychological maturity. When everything happens as soon as we want it to, we don’t gain that maturity. Any parent can testify that patience is required in raising children. As a matter of fact, a major portion of child abuse comes from the lack of maturity in those abusing them. They demand instant adherence to something the “adult” desires, and when that doesn’t happen, the child is punished. There have been children killed for not stopping crying, or for being slow to be potty trained. That is the tragic result of children having children, regardless of the physical age of the parents. Spiritual immaturity can be just about as tragic, with people giving up on themselves or on others in various ways. In general, God wants us to “keep on keeping on,” trusting Him for the final solution. That’s not to say that we aren’t to seek better ways of doing the task at hand. It’s often said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. We do need wisdom from God for every situation, but the point is to keep at the task at hand until God says we’re through with it.

This is something I still deal with constantly, in myself and in others. At almost 72 years old I’ve had quite a lot of run-ins with my own impatience, and it still happens from time to time. As a pastor and teacher I have to deal with the maturity, or lack of it, in others with occasionally distressing frequency. As that happens I am reminded of how I have been in times past, and it helps me be gracious. Sometimes people take themselves out from under my supervision. In such cases I am to keep praying for them, but not necessarily take it as a failure on my part. I am to assure them, if possible, that God hasn’t left them, even if they have turned their back on Him. Speaking the truth in love, I am to invite them to turn around and face Him again, so that He may do in and through them what is best on every level, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There have been a lot of people over the years who have turned away. I do pray that the seed that has been planted in them wouldn’t die out, but would produce the fruit that they need and You deserve, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Preconceptions; August 4, 2020

Posted on August 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 6:2-3 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

I find it very interesting that Jesus had three brothers whose names overlapped with His 12 apostles. It’s also interesting that this wasn’t a small family, with five boys and at least two girls. We don’t often think of Jesus in this family context, but I think it’s helpful to do so. The people of Nazareth saw Jesus as too ordinary, but we tend to see Him as too “other” to relate to Him. I’m sure He did His share of riding herd on His brothers and sisters, probably changing diapers and helping with discipline and the like. That’s why it wasn’t until after His resurrection that His brothers could really accept that He was the Messiah. It is telling that those in Nazareth acknowledged that His words were full of wisdom, and they couldn’t deny His miracles, but they couldn’t accept that it was the village carpenter who was doing all this stuff. From our standpoint, the image of a muscular carpenter isn’t the one we’re used to! We all have trouble with preconceptions that block us from receiving what God wants to give us. We imagine how our life is supposed to be, and then resist and rebel when God leads us a different way. We look at things with strictly human eyes, instead of allowing God to show us things as they really are. Jesus would have liked nothing better than to really bless the people of the village where He grew up, but they would have none of it, essentially, because of the “carpenter box” they had put Him into. We need to ask God to show us how we have done the same sort of thing, so that we won’t miss the magnificence of His plans for us.

Growing up as a Third Culture Kid I perhaps have less tendency to box people in than some people do, but that doesn’t mean I am fully accepting. I too need to be willing to hear God no matter who He is speaking through! In my case, I am often turned off by “big church” speakers who try to tell me how to minister in Japan. To be quite honest, what they have to say isn’t universally applicable even in America, much less in other cultural contexts! However, that doesn’t mean they don’t sometimes share things that God wants me to receive. When I put people in boxes I am putting myself in a box as well, and God is in the business of breaking all such boxes. I am to be spiritually discerning, allowing the Holy Spirit to filter my intake, but God has blessed me from unexpected directions many times before, and I am to be open to that. However, when people don’t want to receive what God wants to give them through me, I am to remember what happened to Jesus, and respond to them in love.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Right now the boxes that I deal with most often are those of “holy man” and “foreigner.” The problem with the “holy man” box is that people don’t think they can be like me, which also applies to the “foreigner” box. The latter carries the problem that sometimes I’m never actually heard, because I am seen as simply “other.” Thank You that You understand all of that, and that it isn’t too difficult for You to overcome. I ask that You enable me to speak Your truth in love regardless of how it is received at the time, so that at some point it may penetrate and set people free indeed, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Witnessing; August 3, 2020

Posted on August 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 5:18-19 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

One thing about Jesus was that He wasn’t predictable. Often when he healed someone He told them not to tell anybody, but here He explicitly tells the man to tell his family what had happened to him. I’ve thought about this a good bit over the years, because witnessing is fundamental to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:8) The conclusion I have come to is that during Jesus’ earthly ministry there were times when being mobbed was a problem for Him, but this man was from an area that wasn’t as central to His ministry. I think another factor is that this man had no personal pride left, after how he had lived while demon possessed. People who knew him or knew of him – and that was probably just about everybody – knew him as a dangerous, raving maniac. That made the very fact that he could give a clear, logical statement of what had happened to him an impressive testimony to the power of God and the person of Jesus Christ. He didn’t need to know or explain theology, he just had to say, “That is what I was and this is what I am now.” The thing is, every true Christian has a before/after story, whether they realize it or not. Knowing God and walking in obedience to Him makes a difference in your life, and people are going to notice. Not many have a change as dramatic as this man, but change is part of the definition of being born again. We don’t need to go around “bragging about” how bad we used to be, but we need to be honest, with ourselves and with others, that we didn’t deserve God’s salvation; it’s all grace. When we are clear on that, people will indeed ask us how we can be as we are, and we can tell them. (1 Peter 3:15) This is far and away the most effective personal evangelism.

I’m in an awkward situation in this area, because as a Missionary Kid I’ve always been considered one of the “good guys.” The thing is, my sins, though not as obvious, were just as real as those of anyone else. Just recently I was talking with a younger believer and he said he had trouble imagining me like that. As I said, I’m not to brag about my sins, but I am never to think I’ve either earned or inherited my “ticket to heaven.” That is always and only because of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8-9) In Japan that is further complicated by the fact that I am a Caucasian, and people seem to have trouble grasping that everything I have spiritually is available to them. Racial/cultural identity is very strong in Japan. As a pastor, therefor, I seek to help the believers be willing to share their own stories, but again there is a cultural barrier. Japanese can be intensely private, and tend to maintain emotional distance even as physical distance can be problematical in such a densely populated country. The only real answer is for the Holy Spirit to work in people’s hearts to enable them to open up, so that is what I pray for. I certainly can’t make it happen on my own!

Father, thank You for bringing this up. There was an example just yesterday of someone failing to share both a need they had and a blessing they had received, because they considered them personal. That’s not the pattern You have shown us for Your family. I pray that You would give us courage to open up to You more through opening up to those around us, so that Your grace may flow unhindered through us for the blessing of many, and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Opposition; August 2, 2020

Posted on August 5, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 3:5-6 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Reading this, recent congressional hearings in the US immediately came to mind. This is of course another answer to the question of whether Jesus ever got angry, but it’s important to note just what made Him angry. That trigger was obviously some people’s preference for their own rules and political power, if you will, over the good of someone who was obviously in need. That attitude has been distressingly on display a great deal in recent days and weeks. The response of Jesus was to work righteousness, healing the man in need, but the response of those who opposed Him was to plot His death. (The Japanese uses the interesting expression of, “take him away by burial.”) That sort of illogical rage is very much on display these days. Donald Trump is certainly no Jesus, but the opposition to him, both who is doing it and how they are doing it, makes me cheer him on more and more. Fortunately he has gathered some excellent people around him, and they too face the hatred of those in opposition. The Attorney General recently acquitted himself very well indeed in the face of illogical attacks. That’s not to say at all that everything this administration does is correct, but it is to say that those who seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness need to be praying earnestly that all the plans of the devil, whoever he is using, may be thwarted and God’s will alone be done. We need to be careful that when people’s hard hearts make us angry, as happened to Jesus here, we don’t focus on the opposition any more than Jesus did, but rather just keep doing what God has shown us to do.

Political events in the US have gotten closer to home for me than I am used to, certainly. Our younger daughter lives in the Seattle area, and is careful not to go near downtown. My brother lives in Louis­ville, and reported that the turmoil there got very close to him. Reading this morning’s passage reminds me that the underlying reality of it all is spiritual. It is, in the final analysis, spiritual warfare, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t physical consequences. I am to pray, faithfully and earnestly, not simply for those close to me but for the nation and the world, that God’s name would be acknowledged as holy and His kingdom come as His will is done by His imperfect children, including me.

Father, I don’t usually get so political, but this is what You brought to mind. Keep me from compartmentalizing my life. Rather, help me be fully submitted to You in every area, knowing that the Lordship of Christ applies to absolutely everything, with no exceptions. Give me wisdom for every situation, that I may not be led astray by emotions but rather serve as Your agent, even as Jesus did, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Salvation by Grace; August 1, 2020

Posted on August 5, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 2:17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is an enormously important statement on the part of Jesus, and it is actually a huge stumbling block for the salvation of many. Jesus isn’t actually excluding anyone from His call, He is saying that to respond to His call you have to acknowledge that you are a sinner. Sadly, that is what many people refuse to do. Don Francisco wrote a song called Anybody Else but Me that captures this tragedy in an amusing way. Aimed squarely at people in the “Bible belt” of America, it has someone singing, “He was talking to the hypocrites, Pharisees, anybody else but me.” As long as we have that attitude, we can’t receive His salvation. In addressing the church in Laodicea, Jesus made it clear that this is a danger for people who are actually saved as well. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) We have to acknowledge that we are lost in order to be found, that we are poor in order to receive God’s abundance, that we deserve hell in order to receive heaven. This doesn’t mean we are constantly to poor-mouth ourselves, but it does mean that we have to recognize that every good thing we have is by the grace of God, and not something we have created or earned on our own. Some people turn this around and feel you have to have sinned spectacularly in order to get saved, but that’s not the case either. Everyone is worthy of hell because of ignoring God and rebelling against Him in various ways, failing to do what we know He wants and doing things we know are not pleasing to Him. As Isaiah recorded so memorably, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) It is when we recognize and confess that, that we are saved.

This is something I really wrestled with. I wasn’t one of the “bad kids,” and I felt superior to those who fit in that category. I had considerable knowledge of the Bible, and I thought that in itself was a marvelous “merit badge.” It wasn’t until I was in my 20s, already a husband and father, that the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and showed me a mirror so I could see the blackness of my soul. I fell to my knees and cried out, “My Lord and my God.” The fact that was my response tells me I was indeed saved, but just barely. It was from that point that I started to grow spiritually, because I recognized that I had nothing apart from Christ. Looking back over the time before that I can see many times the Lord protected me from major sin, when I was doing nothing to avoid it on my own. That has happened since then, too! God’s grace is indeed amazing, and I am as much in need of it as anyone. I was talking with someone just recently and they said they couldn’t imagine that about me, but God certainly knows, and to a lesser extent I know too. I need to live my life in appropriate gratitude and obedience.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your overwhelming grace! Thank You for the blessed time I had yesterday with my missionary brother from Hong Kong. He is younger than my own children but he is very much my brother, and I am grateful. I pray that I would be an open channel of Your grace to all, so that as many as will may recognize their need and receive it, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Forgiving; July 31, 2020

Posted on August 2, 2020 by jgarrott

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

This is a very interesting incident. It’s the only place I can recall where someone else’ faith was credited for forgiveness. We don’t know all the circumstances, but obviously this man had something about him that made his friends care enough to go to all the trouble they did to get him to Jesus. However, what comes to mind is what Jesus said to His disciples in the upper room after His resurrection: “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” (John 20:21-23) There is much we don’t really understand about forgiving sin! With all that is going on in the world at large, not to mention all that is happening in each individual life, we have plenty of opportunity to learn about forgiveness by doing it. When we learn about something distant from us it is our sense of right and wrong that is invoked, and we have to decide whether to forgive or not. When it is something closer to home that impacts us personally, then it gets real and emotion is fully involved. However, there too forgiveness is a decision. I really don’t know how much authority we have in terms of forgiving distant sins, but I do know that forgiving sins against us personally is of the utmost importance. “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15) There too, Jesus is our ultimate example. He had no sins to need to be forgiven, but even so, on the cross He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) When we really understand how much we’ve been forgiven, forgiving others should be a matter of course, and something we do with joy.

This of course applies to me, as it does to everyone. I feel like I forgive pretty easily, but I still catch myself resenting various things and getting upset about them. As it says in Hebrews, I need to “Fix [my] eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [I need to] consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that [I] will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3) I’ve certainly not had anywhere near the stuff done to me that Jesus had done to Him, on any level, physical or emotional or social. He will enable me to do what He did, (John 14:12) forgiving many so that they may be brought from darkness to light, from death to life, for the glory of God.

Father, I still don’t fully understand forgiveness, but help me be an instrument of Your forgiveness to many, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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