Fathers; July 10, 2020

Posted on July 13, 2020 by jgarrott

Malachi 4:5-6 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

It is fascinating, and entirely appropriate, that this last part of the Old Testament so directly prophesies the content of the New Testament. Jesus explicitly said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy. (Matthew 17:11-12) In that sense it is past prophecy and might be written off as irrelevant, but we need to examine it a little more closely. The last part of it speaks of the consequences of people not heeding Elijah/John’s message, and Jesus Himself wept over what was going to happen to the land of Israel because of the response of the Jewish leaders to Him. (Luke 13:34-35) The thing is, in these Last Days before Christ’s return, we are experiencing an epidemic of a rupture in the relationship between fathers and their children. The majority of the societal ills so evident today can be directly traced to that. In fact, the BLM organization explicitly states that one of their goals is the destruction of the traditional family. That is tragic in the extreme, and obviously demonic. Whatever else you say about these present days, the masks are coming off and people are being open about what they represent. That’s ironic in the light of the physical masks being used because of the pandemic, but it is evident to anyone with an ounce of discernment. It is all too meaningful that we are seeing such attacks on the “Founding Fathers,” even George Washington of all people. It is the devil attacking the very idea of fatherhood, because he is so violently against Father God. The idea of the traditional family is being attacked as “misogynistic” or even “racist,” as though any race had a monopoly on fathers and children. The “systemic racism” that exists is in the welfare system that Lyndon Johnson promoted expressly to destroy the Black family, and he was all too successful. For America to be healed, the children of God need to stand up against the schemes of the devil and proclaim the Fatherhood of God, expressed in the nuclear family, and reject the flood of lying nonsense that has been poured out on society.

I obviously have no trouble getting up on a soap box on this issue! That said, my physical presence is in Japan. Thanks to the Internet, I do have opportunities to speak to the world at large, but I find myself fearing people’s reactions. That isn’t fearing God! I have been convinced for over 50 years that the whole sexuality/gender mess is a lie of the devil, but I interact all the time with people who are caught up in it. I even have close family members who are deceived, not seeing it as a spiritual issue at all. I am to speak the truth, always, in love, always, knowing that my wisdom is not up to the task but God’s is. I am to represent Him, not with any sense of pride but with a total commitment to being available to Him, for Him to speak through and otherwise use me, for the deliverance of others and for His glory.

Father, thank You that I do care enough about this issue to get so worked up about it. Help me not be afraid of emotion, but not be controlled by it either. May Your passion motivate me, not my own unreliable emotions! May I rightly relate to You, so that You through me may indeed destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8) and set many free, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Trusting God; July 9, 2020

Posted on July 11, 2020 by jgarrott

Zechariah 11:16 For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs.

This whole passage is pretty depressing. However, I am reminded of something said by one of America’s Founding Fathers: “The people will get the government they deserve.” That said, this description seems remarkably applicable to various leaders in the world around us. They seem to be entirely focused on what they see as their own profit, and not at all on those they supposedly lead. That this passage exists in the Bible is an indication that God’s plans are indeed so much higher than ours that from our viewpoint they can seem entirely inscrutable. (Isaiah 55:9) This is where faith really comes in. When we are faced with leaders such as are described here, we need to seek the “great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20) all the more earnestly. When we rely on human leaders, even well-intentioned ones, we get into trouble. However, God will always work good out of circumstances that are turned over to Him. (Romans 8:28) Yesterday I read the next draft of my father’s biography, and was struck by how much blessing my father said he got out of the experience of being interned by the Japanese military police for the first six months of WWII. I am reminded of the the way a Persian rug is made, with countless knots on the backside. We may only see the knots, but God sees the tapestry from the other side, and it is a thing of beauty indeed. Even when we encounter faithless leaders, such as this passage describes, we need to trust that God is still God, and the ultimate resolution will be very good indeed.

I have had some things in my life that at the time seemed terrible, but for which I am now grateful. I face things all the time that seem less than desirable, so I am challenged to trust God. Sometimes I do better at that than at other times! I am saddened to see people decide they know how things are supposed to be, and get bitter and sometimes downright nasty when things don’t go their way. I will confess to having that same tendency in myself. I am mystified at how seemingly rational people could take the positions they do, yet they probably feel the same way about me! The only answer is the solution that Jesus told us to pray for: that God’s name would be acknowledged as holy and His rule and authority be manifested as His will is done, right here on earth. He once told me personally that many, many things are not as He wants them to be, but I know that the current situation isn’t the end of the story. Like my father in the internment camp, I need to receive the blessings God has for me right now and be available for His use, not being anxious about tomorrow or next week or next year.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for what You allowed us to experience yesterday. Thank You for what You have on our slate for today. Help us indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, whether the events of the moment are as we would have planned or not, so that Your plans may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Way of the Lord; July 8, 2020

Posted on July 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Hosea 14:9 Who is wise? He will realize these things.
Who is discerning? He will understand them.
The ways of the Lord are right;
the righteous walk in them,
but the rebellious stumble in them.

This verse would be a fitting postscript to any of a number of the books of the Bible. The truths of God are indeed the foundation of wisdom and discernment. The last part of the verse seems a bit more meaningful in Japanese than it does in the NIV. Rather than saying, “The ways of the Lord are right,” it says, “The ways of the Lord are flat,” that is, easy to walk on. That points up the irony of rebellious people stumbling in trying to follow God. If you are committed to obedience, then following God isn’t difficult. If you are rebellious and resentful, then following God seems laden with pitfalls. You can say that attitude is everything. Many people have noted that it doesn’t matter what happens to you that determines your life, it’s how you respond to what happens to you. That’s why the devil works so hard to promote the victim mentality. Some people can be severely victimized but still overcome it all to rise to great success and happiness, but others can be in much less difficult circumstances and essentially throw their life away. In recent months I’ve been coming to realize more and more the depth of Jesus’ seemingly simple instructions to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) That applies to every detail of life, because it requires a focus on God rather than on yourself. A “pity party” has never done anyone any good! When we are focused on “Why me,” we can’t recognize the good that God has hidden in the circumstances that are so painful.

This applies to me as much as it does to anyone else. We have just had some rain for the record books, causing landslides and some flooding. Yesterday someone in their 20s asked me if I’d ever experienced anything this bad, and I had to say, yes. 38 years ago we had the Nagasaki Flood, that killed 299 people and caused massive damage. The past few days have been inconvenient, perhaps, but there were no reports of injury in Nagasaki (though Kumamoto has had over 50 deaths). When we are focused on God and His kingdom, we will recognize what He wants us to do and we will be blessed in doing it. Looking back, I can see that the way of the Lord for me has indeed been flat, even though at times it felt very rough and nearly vertical. God plans good for His children, and the more we focus on Him the more we will experience it as that.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that the rain has lifted now, and I will be able to go walking this morning. I pray that my response to everything, “good” or “bad,” would give You full opportunity to work in and through me, pointing and drawing those around me to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Recognizing God; July 7, 2020

Posted on July 10, 2020 by jgarrott

Hosea 11:3 “It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.”

This sad commentary is something I’m afraid the Lord has to say about a lot of people today. He is incredibly gracious and loving, but we take it for granted or don’t recognize it at all. We will never know how much, but I think a very great deal of human suffering would be, or would have been, avoided if we would simply have recognized where our blessings came from. Often it takes disasters for us to realize how good we have had it up until that point. The world is still struggling with the pandemic, and America is in the throes of political unrest, and the town where I live has just had landslides and flooding. All of those undesirable things should make us aware how good things are normally. A lot of complaining comes from a lack of perspective. That’s why a parent’s, “Keep crying and I’ll give you something to cry about,” is actually good parenting. If children always have everything as they want it, they will end up with zero maturity and self-control. At the very least, when hard times come we should be grateful that things aren’t like that all the time!

I’ve done my share of grousing at God, but it’s been many years now since I realized that no matter how bad things might seem, they could always be worse. Again I’m reminded of Andrae Crouch’s song, Through It All. As it says, “So I’ll thank Him for the mountains, and I’ll thank Him for the valleys, and I’ll thank Him for the times He’s brought me through. For if I’d never had a problem I wouldn’t know that He can solve them, I wouldn’t know what faith in God can do.” I subscribe to the Persecution newsletter to better know how to pray for my brothers and sisters around the world, and it lets me know I have nothing to complain about! As soon as I take my eyes off of myself I am filled with gratitude for the grace and mercy of God, and that is a blessed way to live indeed.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I had a largely sleepless night last night, but in the process You showed me some things to do and how to do them. I ask You to guide my words and actions so that others may more accurately recognize what You are saying to them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sincerity; July 6, 2020

Posted on July 8, 2020 by jgarrott

Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”

Verses 1-3 of this chapter actually sound very good, and verse three has been set to music in Japanese in a worship chorus that I like very much. However, verse four makes it clear that those pious words are just words, and didn’t indicate the motives of the heart of those who spoke them. They were trying to bribe God with religious words and rituals, when God was after real heart change. The Japanese for this verse, rather than saying “mercy,” uses a word that is usually rendered in English as “faithfulness,” written with two characters, the second of which indicates reality as opposed to fantasy. Later in this same book we are told to “Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: ‘Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.’” (Hosea 14:2) Words are important and valuable, but only if they express the true motivation of the heart. Isaiah, Jeremiah and others condemn empty ritual, but we still try to get away with it because it is easier than genuine heart and lifestyle change. Right now one of the elements of the political turmoil in the US is the whole matter of words and symbols. Political correctness kicked in first, and only recently morphed into tearing down statues of historical figures. Words and symbols are important, but that importance is mostly limited to the attitudes and intentions of the heart. As a Black policeman recently said to a White girl who was berating him and other police officers, “America doesn’t have a race problem, it has a sin problem.” What is going on is very sad, and would often be laughable if it weren’t so destructive. Symbols are taken as more important than substance, and everyone loses. God is the most real thing there is, and He desires reality in our obedience to Him.

I was a Drama major in college, and I understand acting. I can put on a very convincing front. However, that has taught me the importance of genuine sincerity. “Sincere” comes from the Latin term for “without wax,” because, as famous as Italy is for beautiful marble, used in buildings and statuary, not all marble is of the same quality, and unscrupulous people would use wax to fill in holes in low-quality marble to make it look much better. In English we use “Sincerely” as a standard term in ending a letter, but that is no guarantee the letter is actually without pretense and deceit! God sees through every pretense, and it is totally impossible to deceive Him. I am not only to speak the truth in love, (Ephesians 4:15) I am to live in truth, without pretense or deceit. While I am on this earth I won’t do it perfectly, but my goal is always to be an accurate representation of my Lord, who is Love and in whom there is no deceit at all.(1 Peter 2:22)

Father, I am saddened, at times to the point of depression, at some of the things I see and hear in the news, but I certainly like it no less than You do. Help me remember that You always have a purpose for allowing it, and that Your ultimate resolution will be glorious indeed. As You have told me to do, help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You whatever is going on, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Consequences of Sin; July 5, 2020

Posted on July 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Hosea 5:15 “Then I will go back to my place
until they admit their guilt.
And they will seek my face;
in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

Time and time again the Bible records God allowing people to suffer the consequences of their rebellion against Him until those consequences drive them to seek Him again. Sometimes things that we see as great disasters are actually God’s mercy, seeking to put people into situations where they will recognize that He is their only hope. Today it is not considered politically correct to even imply that active sin has consequences, but that is all part of the devil’s disinformation campaign. Any time you are in a difficult place, the first thing to do is turn to God and ask, “How have I contributed to getting here?” And then, we have to be humble enough to listen to His reply. Sometimes the answer will simply be that we live in a fallen world, and that means we will have trouble. (John 16:33) However, for individuals and for society as a whole, often the answer is that we have ignored God and gone about our own way, placing other things ahead of Him. Right now the US is in a crisis, and I personally think God is trying to wake His children up. We have coasted for far too long, dulled by our very affluence, accepting societal sins that 50 years ago, or even less, would have caused a major outcry. Those who are actively serving evil are running rampant, and the picture isn’t pretty at all. The thing is, all those things were already there, but they weren’t accepted as normative. Nowadays we constantly hear the term, “new normal,” mostly in reference to the pandemic, but God’s people need to rise up and say that rampant sin is NOT normal, and stand firm against it. More and more people are rightly saying that what America needs is a spiritual revival, but it will only come when His people snap out of their stupor and get active in seeking Him.

It’s easy for me to point fingers, but I’ve done my own share of accepting “societal norms.” I haven’t been consistent in evaluating things by God and His Word. As a result, my calls to repentance have been muted, and I will have to answer for that. I am not to be deliberately combative, but I am never to back down from God’s standards of morality. It has become a truism, but I’ve got to “hate the sin and love the sinner,” precisely because God has done that toward me. Frankly, it’s not easy. Rants against sin very often come across as rants against those who practice it. I try to be very careful in my classes when I cover the subject of abortion, because statistically speaking, the probability that there are people in my classes who have been involved in it is high. Right now homosexuality is very much in the spotlight, even including relatives. I am to love such people, accepting them as individuals but not condoning their sin. We had a transsexual person coming to church who wanted me to say that God accepted him as a woman. I couldn’t say that, but I did tell, and show, him that God accepts him as a person. I’ve got to keep speaking the truth in love, whether people’s response is as I would like or not.

Father, I don’t have the wisdom to do it all right. Help me love, and hate, as You do. Help me love those who are deceived and pray for them, but not let them pull me into accepting their deception as all right. May I be Your agent in destroying the works of the devil, (1 John 3:8) setting people free and establishing Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Rules; July 4, 2020

Posted on July 6, 2020 by jgarrott

Daniel 1:15 At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.

Here we have a clear example of the practicality of God’s rules. There was no understanding of nutrition for most of human history. Even King Henry VIII of England would have lived much longer and in better health if he had eaten, for example, raw cabbage on a regular basis, because vitamin deficiency was a significant factor in his death. So here, there was no scientific knowledge, but Daniel and his friends had the fear of the Lord, and that is certainly the foundation for true wisdom. (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10) That not only gave them the courage to resist the rich food Nebuchadnezzar prescribed (that incidentally had been offered to idols), it also set them up to learn a lot of things, as it talks about in verse 17. The simple fact of the matter is that we can’t know everything, so God gives us rules to help us steer clear of pitfalls we otherwise wouldn’t avoid. People perversely think they are being “free” when they flaunt God’s rules, not realizing that they are walking straight into the devil’s traps. Dietary restrictions might not seem to have much spiritual importance – and indeed, under the New Covenant we are freed from those (1 Timothy 4:3-5) – but the principle is one of obeying God, which the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.” People who rightly fear God do not live in abject terror, constantly thinking they are about to get “zapped.” Rather, they make God their first priority and their highest authority. In other words, if God said it, then that settles it. When we are fully listening to God, we will be good stewards of our bodies, as Daniel and his friends were, and we will have wisdom and insight when it comes to everything else as well.

The Lord blessed me with a high IQ, but I have learned the hard way that’s not the same thing as wisdom. We see people all around us who demonstrate that reality! I’ve learned that my analysis of a situation never has all the facts, so by definition I can’t make the best decision about it on my own. However, God has laid out general operating principles in the Bible, and if I seek to follow those, He “tweaks” my instructions however is necessary. He uses various methods to do that, speaking to me through people or events, or most often by internal nudges to do one thing and not another. However, if my attitude isn’t one of submission and obedience to Him, I’m not going to recognize those specific instructions. I have learned that indeed, “His commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3) As the hymn says, “There is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”

Father, the more I look back over my life the more overwhelmed and grateful I am at Your incredible grace. Left to myself I would have gone off the rails more times than I could count, but You hemmed me in in various ways and protected me. I identify with the writer of Psalm 119 more all the time! Help me be faithful in my obedience, not just for my sake but so that I will be an effective tool in Your hands for the blessing of those around me, building up the Body of Christ for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The River of God; July 3, 2020

Posted on July 4, 2020 by jgarrott

Ezekiel 47:12 “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”

This vision of the river flowing from the temple is dearly loved, and has been the basis of several songs. It is so closely linked to Psalm 1:1-3 that the Psalm can serve as a commentary on the vision. From the Psalm we know that these abundantly-bearing fruit trees are people who absorb the Word of the Lord, which cannot be separated from the Spirit of God. Jesus of course said that the Holy Spirit would be “streams of living water” flowing out from those who believe in Him. (John 7:38-39) Various parts of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement have laid claim to this, which is one reason so many songs have been made from Ezekiel’s vision. All of that said, there are several things we need to realize about this. In the first place, God’s temple is in our heart, (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19) so as Jesus said, the flow is from within us to the world. The metaphor flips, but as Psalm 1 says, we are the trees that absorb and live by the flow of the Spirit, the Word of the Lord. Those who live like that are consistently fruitful, nourishing and healing those who come to them. It is significant that in Ezekiel’s vision there were multiple trees, which points up the fact that no one has a monopoly on either the Word or the Spirit of God. Jesus used the plural in talking about what would flow from the inner being of believers, even though there is one Spirit of the one God. That fits in with John mentioning “the seven spirits of God” in Revelation 3:1. Seven is the number of perfection, of completion. It’s not that Christian faith is in any way polytheistic, it’s that God is so complete, so wonderful, that the limits of language and physics and geometry can’t contain Him. That’s one reason it’s important to recognize that Ezekiel’s vision includes “all kinds” of fruit trees. We aren’t supposed to be the same, not only because that would be boring but because none of us by ourselves can fully express the magnificence of God.

I had wondered what I was supposed to preach on Sunday! This might be a bit deep for some of my hearers (and yes, there’s a joke in there, but I can’t help it) but I have to trust the Holy Spirit to give each one as much as they can absorb. My concern is to remain in the flow myself, so that what comes from me may be clean and pure and effective. I have seen groups that acted like they had a monopoly on the River of God, but that is an aberration that comes from human pride. In the stained glass windows at the front of this church there is the cross superimposed on the red ball of the Japanese flag, signifying Christ in Japan, but the background to it all is a swirling blue, signifying the living water of the Spirit of God. I need to live and minister in such a way that God can use me to make the vision of those windows an active reality, for His glory.

Father, I’m somewhat blown out of the water by this. Help me not only assimilate and act on it, but also effectively communicate it to the believers so that they too may grasp the vision and run with it, destroying the barriers that have existed in this city and this nation for so long and bringing Your kingdom, Your rule and reign, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Justice; July 2, 2020

Posted on July 4, 2020 by jgarrott

Ezekiel 34:16 “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.”

God knows how to take care of His people! In this chapter and elsewhere the Bible talks about the failures of human leaders, and then it tells us that God has no such failures. On a geopolitical scale we are seeing this right now, with the Jews being brought back to Israel and the old being nurtured. That is of course very encouraging to every discerning believer as a sign the Lord’s return is not far off, but this is true on a strictly personal level as well. The devil is always out to steal, kill, and destroy in relation to God’s people, (John 10:10) but God has not forgotten them. I read just yesterday of how, with COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, mobs of Hindus in India are attacking Christians, taking out their frustrations on them. A pastor was severely beaten for the “sin” of praying for someone’s healing in the name of Jesus! There is much in the world today that is not fair or just, but God has not forgotten us, and we must never forget that. In the final analysis, justice will be served on God’s scale, and that is always better than anything we could come up with.

I have just read a draft of a brief biography of my father, who came to Japan as a missionary in 1934, was interned by the Japanese for the first 6 months of WWII and then sent to the US on a prisoner exchange ship, lived through the war ministering to ethnic Japanese in the US, and then returned to Japan in 1947. I’m sure that justice was very big in his mind and heart throughout that period, but he yielded it to God. I have only encountered a small fraction of the injustice my father endured, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t bristled at some of the things I have seen and heard and experienced. The key for me is first of all to believe that God is still in control, just as He was in WWII. With that foundation, I am to offer myself as an instrument of God’s justice, but not try to take things in my own hands to impose justice by my standards. Right now justice is being used as an excuse for all sorts of wrongs. Reading and hearing the news can be quite depressing! I’ve got to remember that Jesus is the Great Shepherd, and He will make everything right. (Hebrews 13:20, 1 Peter 5:4) Whatever else I do, I am to keep praying that God’s name be acknowledged as holy and His kingdom come as His will is done, right here and in every circumstance, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for being able to participate in the production of my father’s biography. I pray that it would be a blessing and an inspiration to all who read it, pointing people to You and giving You glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Preaching; July 1, 2020

Posted on July 3, 2020 by jgarrott

Lamentations 2:14 The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The oracles they gave you
were false and misleading.

Lamentations is not a book we read very often, and when we do, it’s generally limited to the expression of faith and hope in 3:19-39. The physical context is clear: Jeremiah has seen the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem, with horrible loss of life. As such, as a whole the book is valuable for us today to point out that God is still God, no matter how horrible the circumstances. This verse should remind us that Jeremiah wasn’t the only prophet operative in Judea at that point. I personally think he doesn’t fit into the description he gives in this verse, but the fact that the people hadn’t paid sufficient attention to his prophecies probably made him feel like an utter failure. What he didn’t know was that God intended his prophecies not only for his immediate hearers but for many generations after, all the way to us today. That said, this verse points up the danger of sugar-coating the Word of the Lord to people. When we speak God’s grace and forgiveness, we must not let people think their sins are simply excused and don’t matter. That sort of thing is rampant in churches today. God’s grace is indeed sufficient to cover any sin, but that certainly doesn’t mean we are to treat sin lightly. As Paul said, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2) Saying that sin is OK is like a doctor telling a patient, “You have an aggressive cancer, but big deal.” When preachers get focused on drawing people in they only talk about “Your best life now,” and never mention sin. They will have to answer to God for that. Pentecostal churches like to refer to themselves as “Full Gospel,” but if they aren’t turning people away from sin they are ignoring the reason for the cross of Christ, and that’s no Gospel at all.

My association with Lamentations goes back at least to when I was in the 5th grade. We were in the US for a year and my Sunday School teacher was a friend of my brother, a little bit older than he was, if I remember correctly. The teacher asked my class, “Does anyone know what lamentations means?” I responded with, “To lament is to be very, very sad.” The teacher was blown out of the water that I not only nailed it, I did so from the root word rather than the form he had given, and from that point his nickname for me was “Lammy Pie.” Far more germane to me today, I have been a preacher for the past 40+ years. Have my messages been faithful, or have they been false and worthless? Have I exposed sin to bring repentance, or have I effectively excused it? God is the judge of that. From Jeremiah’s example, I know that I’m not to judge things on the basis of immediate response. Sometimes the Word of the Lord is a time bomb, and goes off in a person’s heart even years after they first hear it. However, it does feel good indeed to see repentance and healing and rebirth right on the spot. I am not to demand immediate results of God, but I am to be faithful as His servant, speaking what He tells me, when and How He says to do it, and leave the results up to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the changes I am seeing in some of the people around me. I pray that Your plans for each and all of us may be fulfilled in every detail, and that I may be fully useful to You in that process, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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