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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

Joy; April 28, 2020

Posted on April 30, 2020 by jgarrott

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

I really love 1 Peter! I appreciate the anointing of the Holy Spirit on Peter as he expressed these truths, and that same anointing on Silas as he recorded it in well-organized, grammatically correct sentences. (1 Peter 5:12) This first section seems very appropriate, as so much of the world is involved in the trial of dealing with COVID-19. That said, this particular bit reminds me of a video I saw yesterday. I’ve recently discovered the One for Israel section of YouTube, and I have been greatly blessed by all the testimonies of Jews who have discovered that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. One that I watched yesterday was by a woman who indeed radiated the joy that Peter speaks of here. Actually, all of them have been pretty joyful! So many people go through life seeking joy, and the best they find is momentary pleasure. We tend to confuse fun with joy, and they are distinct, though sometimes concurrent. There is nothing wrong with fun, but it actually can be a distraction from the joy that our souls crave. I am reminded of when I was first married. There was a lot of fun, in the physical relationship and various activities, but there was also a deep joy that I had found a life partner with whom to share everything. And frankly, that has only grown in the 51 years since! I think that some couples may never get through to that joy, because they don’t allow their connection to get that deep. That is directly analogous to what Peter is talking about here, just as Paul expressed in Ephesians 5:22-33. The deepest possible joy comes from our connection, our intimacy, with our Creator, who loves us so much He not only made us, He gave Himself for us in the Person of His Son. (Galatians 2:20) The more we discover of that connection, the deeper we get in that relationship, the deeper and stronger our joy becomes.

As is evident, I can’t talk about with without relating it to myself (as in my comment about my marriage), because God has been so gracious to me. I have fun with a number of things, but joy comes in things related to my Lord. There is great joy indeed in sharing Christ with others, especially when they receive Him! There is joy in sharing the riches of His Word that He so graciously pours out. There is joy in meeting His appointments, that are so often unexpected in terms of my schedule. I think you could say that joy comes from participating in my salvation, as Peter says here and as Paul referred to in Philippians 2:12. There, Paul mentions “fear and trembling,” but in my experience, joy is predominant. Peter had already experienced denying Jesus three times, and I think he had gotten that fear behind him! It is my conviction that the joy of knowing my Creator more than outweighs all the trials I have ever experienced, and, I believe, ever could experience.

Father, thank You for Your incredible, overflowing grace! Thank You for the truth of what Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Thank you that as the Japanese puts it, I can be triumphant in my joy in Christ Jesus my Lord. May Your joy through me draw others to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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

James the Brother of Jesus; April 27, 2020

Posted on April 30, 2020 by jgarrott

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James is the opposite of politically correct, which is why his letter is so valuable. I think he learned that from his older Brother! Reading this letter gives us some real insight into what it must have been like to grow up as the half-brother of Jesus, yet without accepting that He was the Messiah. 1 Corinthians 15:7 tells us that after the resurrection Jesus came to him personally, as He had done for Peter, but neither he nor his brother Jude make any claim to their genetic kinship to Jesus, but rather proclaim that they are His servants. In other words, James is speaking here from personal experience. As Paul mentions in Galatians 1:19, it was well known that he was raised in the household of Mary and Joseph, and that doubtless colored people’s perception of him. He became the de facto leader of the Church in Jerusalem, after Peter, but he didn’t do it by throwing his weight around. Growing up he doubtless watched his older Brother, and he saw what absolute integrity looks like. He learned that words have to be backed up with actions, and actions have to come from the heart. We need to learn from him not to let familiarity breed contempt, as it is so prone to do, but rather press in to know more of Christ, while being fully aware of our total dependence on Him.

I didn’t grow up with a perfect older brother, but he was pretty good! I did learn a lot from him in various ways, and I still have the warmest regard for him. We were both raised by an awesome father, but as magnificent as he was, he still was not perfect. So we can’t identify with James’ experience completely, but we did learn a lot along the way. I have had my problems with expecting special treatment because of whose son I was. Part of that has come from indeed receiving special treatment, because of my father and my maternal grandfather. When God brought me up short and showed me the blackness of my heart, part of that was indeed the sense of privilege because of my pedigree. I certainly need to learn from James! Like just about everyone else, I think, I enjoy being put on a pedestal, but that is a very dangerous perch. As James says here, I indeed need to humble myself consistently before the Lord so that I won’t get in the way of whatever He wants to do through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that the Facebook Live worship service yesterday went pretty smoothly. Thank You for what we learned from that first experience. I pray that next Sunday would go even better, and that we would know whether You want this to be a regular feature of our services. Keep us from “performing for an audience,” but rather enable us to worship You in Spirit and in truth, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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

Mercy; April 26, 2020

Posted on April 28, 2020 by jgarrott

James 2:12-13 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

I think a lot of people are vaguely aware this is in the Bible, but they totally forget it in their daily lives. We human beings have a nasty habit of setting ourselves up as the “righteous standard,” and everyone who doesn’t meet our criteria is inferior. In the process we totally overlook the many areas in which we ourselves fail to meet the genuinely righteous standard of Jesus Christ, and so don’t realize how much we ourselves are in need of the mercy of God. This can be particularly true for those who haven’t committed what society calls “major sins.” After all, everything we have ever done is justified! That is one of the devil’s favorite lies. We forget something else that James wrote just before this: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10) Mercy is closely tied in with forgiveness. And one of the strictest things Jesus is recorded as saying applies here: “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) It is when we fail to recognize our own need for forgiveness and mercy that we fall most badly.

This is something with which I am all too familiar. Since I loved Jesus even as a child, I thought I was in good shape, not realizing that I was allowing pride to blind me to my own failures. It wasn’t until I was a married father that the Lord showed me a mirror, and I got just a glimpse of the blackness of my own soul. I was devastated, but it has given me an awareness of my own need for mercy and forgiveness, which has made it much easier to show mercy and forgive others. That’s not to say I do it perfectly! As a pastor I sometimes deal with people who don’t see how they can be forgiven, but I have to say they are much easier to work with than those who don’t see how they can forgive someone else. Such people are terribly bound! As this passage says, God’s law, that requires mercy and forgiveness, is indeed the law of freedom. Anything less is the bondage of sin.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the incident just this past week when I blew up because of my own stresses and pride, and for the mercy that was shown me then. I continue to pray that we would all allow Your grace and mercy to flow through us freely, lifting each other up and defeating all the plans of the enemy, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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

Perseverance; April 25, 2020

Posted on April 27, 2020 by jgarrott

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

As I was reading from verse 1, I first thought I would be writing on verses 2-4, but this is much the same message. Scriptures on perseverance and patient endurance are scattered throughout the Bible, because that is an essential tool for making a success of life. This is also a very timely reminder, because so many people are chaffing under shelter-in-place orders. This is all appropriate to our whole generation, because we live in a time of instant gratification, and patience seems to be a forgotten virtue for many. Tolerance for delayed gratification has long been recognized as a major marker of maturity, and pursuit of a goal over a long period of time has traditionally been admired. The thing is, life has lots of junk we don’t like, just as Jesus said. (John 16:33) If we get stuck on the junk, we won’t be able to enjoy the abundance of good stuff God provides as well. If we stick it out through the junk, we recognize all sorts of blessings we may have overlooked before. A little while back I stubbed my right big toe so hard it turned purple, and in the process fell and sprained my right thumb. That was no fun at all, but as a result I am very appreciative of being able to walk without pain and being able to grip things firmly with either hand. Life is full of abundant blessings we don’t recognize because we take them for granted, and that is a major loss. Trials open our eyes to what we genuinely need, and to the Father who meets those needs if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) The current situation with COVID-19 is more severe for some people than for others, and if we look around, we can almost always see someone in a worse situation than we are. We need to thank God for the training in maturity and for the opportunity to help others, where we can meet their need.

This naturally applies to me. To this point I have only had to endure minor inconvenience because of the virus, but Japan seems to be later in the curve than the US. The school where I teach has been closed for at least two weeks, and as an “outside instructor” I am paid only for hours taught. Likewise two of three weddings scheduled for March were postponed or canceled, and all weddings for April and May are off the schedule, so my income has taken a decided hit. I haven’t seen any of the “stimulus money” from the US, even though I am a Social Security recipient, and I’m not likely to receive the Japanese equivalent that is due next month because I’m not a Japanese citizen. However, God is my supply and at this point we aren’t hurting. I am being stretched in ways that don’t always feel good at the time, but I know the long-term effects will be good. I am not to focus on the negatives, but rather rejoice that my Lord loves me enough to keep working on me, growing and shaping me as He knows I need.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that Nagasaki Prefecture isn’t on “lock down,” despite the recent bump in COVID-19 cases from the Italian cruise ship that docked in Nagasaki City for repairs. I didn’t know any of those were still out! Thank You that the Japanese medical system is excellent. I ask Your grace and mercy, not just here but around the world, that Your purposes in allowing this to happen will be fulfilled on every level. I can see some potential huge good, but I’m not in control, and that’s a good thing. May indeed Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

Posted in Christian, encouragement, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Outcomes; April 24, 2020

Posted on April 27, 2020 by jgarrott

Hebrews 13:7-8 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

There is so much good in this last chapter of Hebrews that I really had to get quiet before the Lord to know what part of it He wanted to speak to me this morning. Verse seven gives the clear implication that the leaders spoken of are already dead. This is something we all need to be at peace with. A couple of days ago I mentioned the high percentage of pastors who feel that Christ will return within their natural lifetime, but we aren’t to demand or presume that. Right now the news is filled with reports of people who died because of COVID-19, but they aren’t mentioning the many more people who died of other causes. I’m reminded of the report I saw yesterday that actually put quotes around the word “unexpected” for someone who died at 94! We need to live in the awareness that our time here is temporary, so that we will make the use God intends of every day, every minute. The people referred to in verse seven were clearly faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, so their reward was sure. As verse eight says, if God could bring such people to a good end, He can do so for us as well, because Jesus Christ doesn’t change. Actually, He has changed a great deal in appearance, as John discovered on Patmos as recorded in Revelation 1, but His essence, who and what He is, doesn’t change because it is eternal, from the Creation on through eternity. It is not at all bad to have an expectation of Christ’s imminent return, but we must never use that as an excuse for not dealing with the task at hand. If that task involves physical danger, so be it. Our departure is in God’s hands, whether it is today or long in the future. Some of our “seniors in faith” lived very long physical lives, like the Apostle John and Billy Graham, and some were martyred almost immediately upon their profession of faith, but the length of their service isn’t the issue. Our focus should be on being faithful to the end, whenever and whatever that end might be.

I have thought about this off and on over the years, and I’ll confess that I think about it a little more often now that I’m in my 70s. At the same time, I remember that Moses entered his major ministry at age 80, and there have been various statements that the fulfillment of our church vision, of Omura again becoming the foremost Christian city in Japan, being in the near future. I can’t begin to imagine how that would come about, but I know that nothing is impossible for God. I am to remember those who have gone before me, including my parents, and not demand a specific schedule of God, but rather keep myself fully available for however He wants to use me – or not use me, if that is His choice. I know that the criterion for my reward will be my faithfulness with whatever He has placed in my hands.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the stir about the virus to make more people think about their own mortality. I ask for wisdom and clear guidance as to how I am to serve You in this time, from now until the end, so that all of Your purposes may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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

Perseverance; April 23, 2020

Posted on April 26, 2020 by jgarrott

Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

I have long liked the first half of Hebrews 12 and have written and spoken on it many times. However, though this is underlined in my Bible, in both languages, I don’t think I’ve ever written on this verse. Frankly, growing weary and losing heart is an issue for many at this point, particularly with all that is going on about COVID-19. We tend to think of the lives of saints as being filled with dramatic encounters, when most of it is just a daily slog. Actually, we also often fail to realize that we are the “saints” the Bible talks about! That provides the devil with an opportunity to to discourage us, to make us think we’re never going to make it over the next mountain, when in retrospect we often realize that “mountain” was just a bump in the road! We’re back to the “perseverance” mentioned in the first verse of this chapter. In just about everything in life, the answer is Jesus. Many years ago I heard someone say, “The answer is Jesus. Now, what was your problem?” That is very much to the point, because He is both our example and our reward, and every good thing we have from God we have in Him and through Him. We tend to see that Jesus is the answer for the world’s problems, just as the song says, (“Jesus is the answer for the world today…”) but we fail to see that He is also the answer for every one of our problems, no matter how mundane.

I’m in the middle of training in this, yet again. I’ve discovered that a big part of perseverance is going through the same lessons again and again, each time learning them just a little better. I’m reminded of people who have to take their driving test repeatedly before they get their license. Right now I’m yet again having my pride ground down, getting ready to put our Sunday services live on the Internet. I would be satisfied with just putting them on YouTube, but our younger daughter talked about the huge difference, for her, between her current church using Facebook Live and YouTube. I’m used to being the “go-to tech guy,” and feeling overwhelmed is very uncomfortable indeed. The devil is doing all he can to get me to throw it all away, but God is already doing good things in spite of me, so I must indeed not “grow weary and lose heart.” I have seen various good things the Lord has done through the COVID business for others, and I’ve got to be open and available for Him to do good things in me and in this church as well.

Father, thank You for the current trial. I just about lost it last night, which shows my prideful rigidity. Thank You for getting me past that, and for my loving wife who was such a help to me yet again. Thank You for the opportunity to minister, in a completely different way. That was very healing, as being used by You always is. Help me continue to grow and not lose heart, so that Your purposes may indeed be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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

The Day; April 22, 2020

Posted on April 24, 2020 by jgarrott

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The irony and the impact of this coming up in today’s reading is rather strong. Because of the Japanese government declaring a national State of Emergency last week, we decided in Sunday’s business meeting to not meet for the next two Sundays, and Nagasaki Rehabilitation College where I teach is likewise closed down until May 6th. On top of that, yesterday an article came in about what a high percentage of Pentecostal, Charismatic, and historically Black denomination pastors believe we are in the Last Days. Over half the pastors surveyed believe Christ will return during their natural life. I will confess to being in their number! That said, stopping all normal activity “because Jesus is coming soon” is hardly good stewardship of our time and resources. A temporary hiatus in church services could and should create a hunger to get together. I hope and pray that America will see a huge surge in church attendance after the restrictions there are lifted. Japan’s pause is slated, at least at this point, to be much shorter, but I pray for a similar response here. God allows these things for a purpose, and His purposes are always good. I feel the Church worldwide needs more of a sense of urgency as God’s timeline is progressing, and that has been sorely lacking in many if not most churches. We aren’t to be frantic, but neither are we to be passive, much less lazy. God wants to use us, and making ourselves useful to Him is always the path of greatest blessing.

This of course applies to me. I was still in my 20s when I first had the strong feeling that Christ would return before my physical death, and I’m now over 71! Meeting regularly for worship is such a strong habit in me that the decision on Sunday was rather gut-wrenching. We will be attempting online worship for the first time, and that actually has the potential to reach a lot of people we’ve never touched before. I wired this building with Ethernet 21 years ago, and now we have a good use for the connection behind the pulpit! There are many unknowns, but we do have a reliable Guide, and I need to trust Him every step of the way. I need to renew the excitement of looking forward to Christ’s return! That doesn’t mean I’m to overlook my immediate responsibilities in any way. Rather, it means that I need to let the hope that is in me be all the more brightly shining, to draw as many as possible to repentance and faith while they still have the opportunity.

Father, thank You for all that You are doing. Thank You for snapping me out of business-as-usual, getting my attention. I wasn’t aware of ignoring You, but my spiritual as well as physical ears can get dull. The spiritual are far more important than the physical! Help me get with Your program, actively doing what You intend whether I’ve ever done it before or not, so that indeed Your kingdom may come and Your will be done, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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