Evil; May 8, 2020

Posted on May 10, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

The second half of this verse seems very negative, and almost seems to violate the sovereignty of God, but it agrees with what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:4, where he refers to the devil as “the god of this world.” The NIV renders that as “the god of this age” to try to make it dovetail with conventional theology, but the issue essentially remains. We really don’t understand where the devil fits in, but we certainly see his effects. The thing is, God can and does use even what the devil does and turns it around for good. (Romans 8:28) Right now the whole world is in an uproar over the COVID-19 virus, but in the process all sorts of evil is being uncovered, and we need to be submitted to God so that the evil will be defeated. China unleashed the virus, but as a result the whole world seems to realize that the current regime can’t be trusted, and this could turn out to be a fatal blow, not to the nation but to the regime. That has dovetailed with the political situation in the US, where the mask is being peeled back from bureaucrats and politicians and others, exposing the twisted lies by which they have been operating. That is certainly the “world under the control of the evil one!” However, God is using their overreach against them, and Jesus is Lord. Even the churches being unable to meet has caused many believers’ eyes to be opened, not only to what a privilege and blessing it is to meet, but also to the fact that the world system is not on their side! Recently media companies have been revealing their allegiances, and it isn’t pretty. Believers have got to check their own heart, to see where their priorities lie and recommit themselves to Christ alone.

Yesterday I got increasingly disturbed as several friends posted a brief documentary exposing the medical bureaucracy in the US, and in case after case it had been taken down before I could watch it. I finally was able to get to a live link and, after watching it myself, immediately posted it to my own page to further evade the cover-up. Not just that documentary, but several videos by various doctors have been suppressed, because they contradict the “party line” that is being used to try to control the world. I was disgusted to the point of almost being nauseated, but I’ve got to remember that God is still God, and Revelation is very clear that in the end, we win! I frankly don’t understand evil, but I’m certainly learning to hate it. I need to be humble and submitted to God in my own heart, remembering how blinded I have been in the past by pride. Spiritual warfare is certainly called for. I’m to hate evil, but not hate the people who have allowed themselves to be controlled by evil, and that can be very difficult at times. I am not to give any honor to the devil. It is very appropriate that in English, he is “d” evil! He is a defeated foe, however much he thrashes about. As Revelation 12:12 says, he knows his time is short! Submitted to God, I am to resist him in every way, both in my personal life and, as God enables me, in the wider society, so that Christ alone may be glorified.

Father, thank You for this, and for Your timing in speaking it to me after I got so stirred up last night. Help me not focus on evil but not be deceived by it either. Help me rest in Your peace, allowing Your strength to be manifested in my weakness, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Speaking the Truth in Love; May 7, 2020

Posted on May 10, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 5:11-12 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

It is of extreme importance that John, the Apostle of Love, is so blunt right here. Love does not mean pampering! Paul famously tells us to “speak the truth in love,” (Ephesians 4:15) but if we aren’t speaking the truth, we aren’t loving accurately. Society demands that we tell “while lies” to get along, but that is indeed a very slippery slope. We don’t have to say everything we know, particularly when our words would be hurtful, but we must never flip the truth just to please our hearers. People are very quick to say, “A loving God would never (fill in the blank).” However, that just shows that they’re defining God, and love, as “pleasing to them.” God is far bigger than that, and His love is far stronger! There are indeed many shades of gray in the world, but the big issues are binary. Many people are offended by this statement of John, just as they are offended by Jesus’ parallel statement that John recorded: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) It would generally be counterproductive in terms of evangelism to lead with the negative, but we must never back down from this fundamental truth. If we let go of the absolute claims of Christ, we have let go of life itself.

This is a huge issue in my life. If I weren’t convinced of the truth of John’s statement, and Jesus’ statement, I wouldn’t be pouring my life into telling people about Jesus. Sadly, I have relatives who don’t understand or agree with my motivation, and I pray God’s mercy on them. There are people who have been in this church, seemingly strong believers, who have abandoned the exclusive claims of Christ because they have swallowed the devil’s lies. When someone chooses to follow my blog I try to assess where they are spiritually by reading some of their posts, and frankly, some of them seem pretty off the wall. I’ve got to be at peace with the reality that I’m not God, and that’s an extremely good thing. I am to keep speaking and writing the truth in love, whether my hearers and readers interpret it as love or not. Lies are never love, however much we might think they are.

Father, thank You for my physical father and his life-principle of absolute honesty. I have been blessed immeasurably by that. Help me express Your love accurately, in all honesty, so that many will have their eyes opened to the lies that have bound them, and so repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Fear; May 6, 2020

Posted on May 8, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

This would seem to be a very timely verse, when so many people are afraid of COVID-19. However, I don’t think this verse is very well understood. We really have trouble associating love and fear and punishment. (Incidentally, the Japanese agrees that “punishment” is a better translation here than the more traditional “judgment.”) We may not articulate it, even in our minds, but we tend to think that God is “out to get us,” primarily because we have a nagging feeling that we deserve it! Frankly, apart from the grace of God in Christ, every one of us deserves to spend eternity in hell. However, as John 3:16 says so famously, God’s love provided a way out of that. The more we understand the magnitude and depth of God’s love, the less fear we will have of anything at all. That’s not to say that we are to be presumptuous and/or stupid, stepping out into traffic and things like that, but it is to say that we should have an assurance that God will not allow anything into our lives that He cannot and will not turn around for our blessing, if we will release it to Him. (Romans 8:28) We fear death, forgetting that for believers, leaving this life means going to be with Jesus for eternity, and that is glorious beyond words. We fear suffering, forgetting that, as Peter pointed out, “He who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” (1 Peter 4:1) The more we grasp the love of God, the less we will fear or complain about anything at all. We are all imperfect humans, so there is no reason to accuse ourselves when we feel fear, but we do need to understand that fear is an indication that we have room to grow, and ask God to enable us to do so. As David learned, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3) In this time of COVID-19, we need to choose to trust, and so rejoice in our Lord.

I have very little concern for myself personally over this virus, but I would hate to be a vector of infection for others, so I try to be careful. I am very aware that masks are to protect the people around us far more than they are to protect us. Right now we have no reported cases in Omura, with a population of about 100,000, so all the extreme measures being taken seem quite overblown. My precautions at this point are somewhat along the lines of Paul’s not eating meat when he was around those who thought it was participating in idolatry to do so. That said, I know that gradual asphyxiation is a miserable death, as I have observed in someone with COPD, and I want no part in inflicting that on someone else. Also, various other very bad effects of the virus have been observed, including stroke in younger, otherwise healthy people. Again, I have no fears for myself, but I don’t want to inflict any of that on anyone else. Yesterday I distributed a mask and a tract to many of the homes in the area, and I was actually surprised at how grateful several of the people seemed to be. As I rejoice in God’s love myself, I need to be active in transmitting that love to others, so that they too may repent and believe for their salvation.

Father, thank You for being God. The devil is certainly using this virus in many ways, but You have Your reasons for allowing it. I pray that all of Your purposes, and none of those of the enemy, may be fulfilled, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Love; May 5, 2020

Posted on May 7, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 4:11-12 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

The first letter of John blows me out of the water every time I read it. There is so much vital, deep truth in it that it speaks to me afresh again and again and again. Here, John has been talking about God’s incredible love for us, but then he turns around and applies that to our own love for each other. It is demonstrably true that being aware that we are loved makes it easier for us to love others. That’s why in a sense, a husband and wife can “feed off of” each other’s love in a beautiful recursive cycle. Sadly, with differing “love languages” that all too often doesn’t happen, because the love doesn’t transmit. That said, here we’re talking about a much bigger issue. The better we grasp God’s love for us, the more readily we will love each other. Then John says something that immediately brings to mind what Jesus said to Philip in the Upper Room: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9) God is invisible, and at this point Jesus isn’t visible to our physical eyes, but if we love each other as God loves us, then Jesus is manifested in and through us for the world to see. It’s again as Jesus said: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) Sadly, some churches are known for quarrels and backbiting. Jesus isn’t very visible there! One of the major themes of the Bible is that those who know God are to represent Him to those who don’t yet know Him. That can only happen when we allow His love to flow through us to those around us.

I have a number of very personal illustrations of this truth, but one I frequently mention in counseling couples about parenting involves my two grandsons. They are less than two years apart, so when I first met the older one (they live in the US, and we in Japan) he was 14 months old, and his brother was already on the way. He was a supremely happy child, and about the third day of our stay I found the reason why. He did something for which he had been disciplined previously, and when his mother noticed it she called him down firmly and asked her mother (my wife) to slap his hand. He proceeded to extend his own left hand and slap it with his right! He was such a happy child because, with appropriate boundaries set by discipline, he had full assurance that he was loved. Often a first child will be very resentful of the second, but when his brother arrived, no one was more delighted. Secure in his parents’ love, it seemed totally natural to him that his brother would be loved as well. He will shortly be a teenager, but he is still a very well-adjusted, loving person. Even closer to home, I think my wife’s and my relationship is one of the most powerful testimonies we have. People are regularly in awe of it, and we have actually had women who were not so loving to their husbands leave the church because they couldn’t stand the contrast, and were self-condemned. The Church, though made up of imperfect people, is still to be a reflection of a perfect God. We certainly can’t do it on our own, but God is able to do it in and through us.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the training You give us regularly with “unlovable” people! Help us open up more and more to Your love to allow it to flow through us unhindered. May indeed Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Failures; May 4, 2020

Posted on May 7, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 3:19-20 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

I’m glad John stuck this into his letter. He has been expressing so many things that, on reflection, we don’t seem to measure up to, and so our own hearts condemn us (with plenty of encouragement from the devil). John is reminding us that God knows us better than we know ourselves, and He loves us anyway. He knows what we have done, and He knows what we are going to do. His love is not conditional on that. All that is required is our faith, our commitment. Even there we tend to condemn ourselves, saying that our faith is deficient and our commitment intermittent. God knows that better than we do! It can help to realize how many times Jesus chided His disciples for their small faith, but He loved and trusted them anyway, knowing that the Holy Spirit would iron it all out. For the child of God, active submission is perhaps the most important thing. We need to rest in the assurance that God indeed knows everything, and He’s big enough to handle it all.

I once had someone withdraw from the church because I was talking about “commitment” so much. They wanted to hear more of “the Gospel” in my messages. Not long after that they moved to another part of Japan, and I trust they have grown since then. We are indeed saved by grace through faith, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but we are also created to do good works. (Ephesians 2:10) We can’t earn salvation, but we are to respond to salvation with gratitude and obedience. That said, none of us gets it perfectly right, as I know only too well. That’s why this passage is so important. I am to rest in my knowledge of God’s grace, and I am to communicate that grace to all who will receive it. As John said in the verse just before this, I need to do so with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18) I deal with people who have failed so many times that I am tempted to give up on them, and/or never trust them again, but then God reminds me of my own track record, and I repent. God knows about all failures before they happen, and He loves us anyway. He doesn’t want us to fail, and if we will be humble and honest before Him He will cleanse and strengthen us so we will be less likely to fail in the future, but even if we do, that’s not the end of the story. As a recipient of God’s grace, I am to be an agent of God’s grace.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the various things I see going on in the people all around me. Thank You for what’s going on in me! May I continue to grow, and be Your agent in helping others to grow, so that we may all become mature in Christ, children fully pleasing to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sin; May 3, 2020

Posted on May 5, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

For once I have an almost violent reaction against the Japanese translation of this verse, and indeed of here through verse nine. However, since the Japanese agrees with how a lot of English translations render this passage, it’s important that I deal with the issue. It’s all a matter of Greek grammar, but the misunderstanding has caused a lot of damage in a lot of sensitive people down through the centuries. Greek has more tenses than either English or Japanese, and for once, the NIV renders it accurately, because what John used is the “continuing present” tense. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible, and in this particular case, it’s even the same book of the Bible. John himself wrote, from 1 John 1:8- 2:2, about how we all sin. Those who believe in Jesus have been saved from the penalty of sin and they are being saved from the power of sin, but one of the most attractive things about the hope of heaven is the prospect of being saved from the very presence of sin. Until we get there, we continue to trip up at times, so repentance must be an ongoing thing. If we don’t believe that forgiveness is real then we can have genuine difficulty letting go of what are called “besetting” sins, from older translations of Hebrews 12:1. Peter addressed that in 2 Peter 1:9. Back to this particular verse, it is true that while we are actively abiding in Christ we don’t sin, but unfortunately, on this earth we don’t do that 100%. That’s not an excuse; we should hate sin, and repent the moment we become aware that we have committed it. Paul dealt with that in Romans 6:1-2. A lifestyle of sin is certainly incompatible with salvation. However, some people have despaired of salvation because of the mis-translation of this passage in 1 John, and that is tragic.

I have had a distaste for legalism for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think that’s just from being rebellious! I am deeply aware of, and grateful for, God’s grace, and I desire that everyone believe and receive that grace. However, that is in no way to say I abandon righteousness and holiness. I am absolutely convinced that we can never clean ourselves up on our own sufficiently to be acceptable to God, since He is absolutely pure and holy, but the whole point of the Gospel is that Jesus died for such hopeless beings as we are, covering over our sins with His blood so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Our holiness is a response to and reflection of what He has done for us. The more we are conscious of His love and grace, the more we will reflect Him in our attitudes, words, and actions. I am still very much a work in progress, and as such I am to extend God’s grace to those around me, but never without speaking the truth in love. I am not to allow grace to be mistaken for approval, and that can be difficult at times. I don’t have sufficient wisdom for the task, so I’ve got to stay humble before my Lord and allow Him to speak and act through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for what You did yesterday. I can’t change people, but you can! I pray that all of Your purposes for today may be fulfilled, in this church and in each of the churches of Omura. I don’t think any are meeting in person, but at least two are holding online services, including us. May Your Spirit have free rein in each service, each heart and life, so that the Body of Christ may be built up, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Desires; May 2, 2020

Posted on May 4, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The Bible is so full of rich truth! It is like a deliciously rich dessert that is also nutritionally balanced and good for you. However, describing it in those terms is highly ironic in light of this verse. We have trouble with both parts of the first half of this verse. We don’t like to think of the world being destroyed, but natural disasters and war give us some sort of image of what that might be like, However, we can’t even think of the world’s desires passing away, because our desires seem to define us as human beings. We tend to feel that if we have no desire, what’s the reason for existence? However, we need to realize that this is talking about the world’s desires. When we want more of God, when we desire greater obedience to and intimacy with Him, that is holy and pure and is as eternal as He is. The nice thing is, there is no limit to it because He is infinite! Because we exist in the flow of time and the material universe, these things are hard to grasp. However, it fits in perfectly with one of Jesus’ most famous sayings: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) When our desires are in line with God, they are met abundantly! A major part of growing as a Christian is getting our desires in line with those of our Lord. It’s recently come up that He wants us to be holy, (1 Peter 1:13-16) and Paul states clearly that He wants everyone to be saved. (1 Timothy 2:4) It is when we allow God to replace our desires with His that we discover the barriers to fellowship with Him have gone down and we experience the deep peace and joy for which we were created.

This is something into which I am continuing to grow. I’m not there 100% yet, and that’s OK. While we are on this earth, it’s OK to enjoy life, but I’ve got to be very careful were my love lies. As verse 15 makes very clear, my love is not to be for material things or the world’s system, but for my Lord and His children. The straighter my priorities are, the more I enjoy life! As a pastor, I deal with some miserably unhappy people. In my experience, the majority of their unhappiness comes precisely from this point of their desires and priorities. It’s like James said: “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3) That’s a pretty good description of the effects of selfishness. One of my most common statements in counseling is that selfishness never leads to happiness; at best it leads to momentary pleasure. When I say that to others so often, I’d better remember it myself! It’s like David said, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4) When the Lord is my desire, He meets that desire abundantly!

Father, thank You for Your appointments for yesterday. One was something that’s been nagging at me, but the second was completely unexpected. Thank You for giving me a kick in the seat to get me going on the first, which put me in line for the second. Help me indeed be fully in tune with You, operating on the basis of Your desires, so that Your will may be done for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Apostle John; May 1, 2020

Posted on May 4, 2020 by jgarrott

1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Well, you can certainly tell that John was the one who recorded the Upper Room Discourse! He paid attention and remembered very well, with the help of the Holy Spirit. (John 16:12-13) The standard expressed here is so high that on reflection, everyone should realize that they have more to learn of God, further to go in obeying Him completely. This passage is at the root of the novel that started the whole What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) movement of a few years ago. That novel was written quite a while back, but I imagine it will keep getting rediscovered every few decades until Jesus returns. John was indeed the Apostle of Love, starting with his own intense awareness that Jesus loved him, to the point that his own third-person reference to himself was “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” (John 13:23 and several more) Tradition tells us that he was the was the only one of the original 12 to die a natural death, and it is said that when he was very old he would seem to be asleep, but then rouse to say, “Dear children, love one another.” He was a living illustration of the truth he proclaimed. We can give him no higher commendation than that. John was just a young boy, perhaps 16, when Jesus called him as an apostle, and probably a lot of people thought Jesus was pretty stupid to trust a young boy that much. However, he certainly validated Jesus’ choice! Perhaps one reason he succeeded so beautifully is that he didn’t have as many hardened preconceptions as some of the older disciples. He didn’t think he could do it on his own, and so he trusted and obeyed Jesus completely. As the hymn says, there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus!

Of all the people in the New Testament, short of Jesus, the one I would most like to imitate is John. (Some have said I’m more like Paul, but my wife isn’t that wild about Paul’s personality, so I’ll take a pass on that.) I too have been aware of God’s love for me from a very young age, but I haven’t been as consistent in my obedience as John was. I was five when my parents recorded that I came to my mother and proclaimed that I really loved her, but not nearly as much as I loved Jesus. If only that love had remained consistent my whole life! I fell into pride, and though I knew God really loved me, I somehow thought I deserved it, and obedience kind of left the picture as far as I was concerned. Now I do know that God’s love is certainly unconditional, but my love for God must be, and will be, demonstrated by my obedience to Him. I talk about that any time the subject of salvation by grace comes up. My service cannot earn God’s love, but the more I am aware of His love, the more and better I will serve Him. That is the lesson of John’s life, and it is how I want to live.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your infinite love! Thank You that there is always more to learn of it, more to experience. Help me be a clean, open channel for that love to pour through to others, so that they too may be brought to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Freedom; April 30, 2020

Posted on May 2, 2020 by jgarrott

1 Peter 2:16-17 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

The Bible is so intensely down-to-earth and practical! This particular bit seems directly aimed at Americans, who love and tout their freedom. Peter is saying, “Yes you are free, BUT.” As has been said, one person’s freedom to swing their fist ends where another person’s nose begins. We who are so eager for freedom need to, as the Japanese puts it, “use that freedom as slaves of God.” The current COVID-19 business is a good illustration. We are to wear masks, not for our own sake, but out of respect for those around us, since we might be asymptomatic carriers. “Fear God, honor the king” means that we are to obey the rules, but know that God is ultimately in command, and as Peter said before the Sanhedrin, obey Him even if man says otherwise. (Acts 5:29) Recently the devil and those listening to him have been making use of the virus to clamp down on believers in ways that have little to do with public safety. Legal recourse and even civil disobedience are called for there, but always with respect. We see far too many people acting selfishly, demanding their freedom regardless of the cost to others, but the flip side is those who would deny freedom for ideological reasons. Neither is right, or pleasing to God. We need to speak and act as God’s servants, His slaves, expressing His love and justice for His glory.

Though I live in Japan, I follow what is going on in the US, and since I am registered to vote in Virginia, it breaks my heart to see and hear some of what is going on there. I keep telling myself, “this too shall pass,” but it does provoke some pretty intense intercession at times. The good thing is that the masks are off, and evil is plainly exposed. (That’s rather ironic when physical masks are the order of the day!) I am to pray that God’s children be protected and supplied, and find their refuge in God alone. I am to pray that they wake up and recognize what is going on, and when this is over, not go back to “normal” but be alert and on fire as God’s agents, so that His kingdom may come as His will is done. I need to pray the same thing for the Church in Japan. We don’t have church-specific regulations here, but believers certainly need to be more aware of the place God intends for them in the world. We too need to be awake and active, bringing in the harvest that God desires, for the salvation of multitudes and His glory.

Father, thank You for this clear Word. Help me not just agree with it and fail to act, deceiving myself. (James 1:22) May I be faithful in prayer, faithful in word, faithful in action, so that Your will may be done for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Holy; April 29, 2020

Posted on May 1, 2020 by jgarrott

1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”[

I have the impression that before he met Jesus, Peter was a pretty profane sort of guy. However, Jesus transformed him completely, and here he delivers one of the most straightforward commands to holiness in the whole Bible. He’s not abstract about it either. In the verse before this he talks about being self-controlled, and about God’s grace. He was very aware that we are not naturally holy! He also was aware that it starts with how we think, so we have to get our minds in on it. (OK, so I’m really writing on 13-16!) We’ve got to remember that we are God’s children, and live so as to please our Father. We see children of all sorts around us. Some are a delight to their parents, and some not so much. A little reflection will show us that we have had time in both those camps! However, Peter here isn’t focused on our physical parents, but on Father God, which makes our response of utmost importance. We start out as ignorant, and operate on the principle that was widely quoted around the time I was in college: “If it feels good, do it.” That’s not the way of holiness, or the way to please our Father! However, God in His grace reveals more and more of Himself to us, particularly through the Bible but in many other ways as well. That said, we can’t accomplish holiness on our own. We have to start by accepting what God has done for us in Christ, and then allow that to be worked out in every detail of our lives. As Paul said, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Again as Peter said in verse 13, that grace will be revealed fully when we stand before Christ Jesus our Lord.

This certainly applies to me! Actually, I can’t really claim ignorance as an excuse, because I was raised in a home that was awash in Scripture and faith and love for God. That gives me no excuse for all the times I succumbed to evil desires! I am all too aware that our enemy indeed “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) He constantly dangles his bait under our noses, so to speak, so we must not let down our guard, but be active in submitting to God and resisting the devil. (James 4:7) As Don Francisco sings, “Holiness. It’s the Lord’s command, not the Lord’s request.” We all stumble at times, but 1 John 1:9 is operative, and God will indeed cleanse us from everything and restore us to the holiness He provided for us in Christ.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me live consistently as Your obedient child, recognizing and avoiding the traps of the devil and representing You to those around me, drawing them too to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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