Faith; June 6, 2025

Posted on June 7, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 38:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

The first line of this jumps out because it is what Jesus said from the cross. Different translations render the last part of the verse differently. The NIV makes it a request, the ESV makes it a past tense statement, and the Japanese makes it a continuing present tense statement. I see those as going up on a “faith scale.” Often we ask God for things, but aren’t necessarily confident that He will give them to us. When He has done something in the past, that at least gives us the assurance that He is capable of doing it. However, settled faith says, “This is the way You are.” Too many of us are stuck in “wishful thinking,” to the point that it can be hard to call it faith. The one definition the Bible gives us of faith is famously found in Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” I have heard it expressed as, “We know that we know that we know.” That’s pretty far removed from wishful thinking! We can’t really generate such faith in or by ourselves; we have to receive it from God. That’s why Paul so famously said, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) We speak of “working up courage,” but we can’t really “work up” faith. That said, we can choose to receive it. At the father of an epileptic boy famously said to Jesus, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) We are to seek to keep growing in faith, not by generating it but by exercising it. The more that we act on the faith we have, the more will be given to us. Stewardship works that way! Faith is the opposite of pride. It is yielding to God, knowing that He alone is right and holy and powerful and love itself. The more we depend on ourselves, the less we are operating in genuine faith.

I’m talking to myself here! This is some pretty deep truth. I have believed in the existence of God for as long as I have been aware of such things, and by God’s grace I heard and accepted as true the Gospel of Jesus Christ from infancy. That said, I’ve had to grow in faith for over 70 years, and my faith still isn’t perfect. However, I have the assurance that God will give me whatever is lacking in my faith whenever I need it, and I have peace. I desire to impart faith to those around me, but I can’t do it in my own strength and wisdom. Even so, God sometimes uses me to impart faith, and I am grateful. I expect to see someone while I am out walking this morning to whom I desire very deeply to give faith, but so far he hasn’t accepted it. All I can do is keep interacting with him, keep loving him, and trust the Holy Spirit to work His work in His time. (John 16:8)

Father, thank You for this clear, strong Word. Help me indeed live it out, allowing You to keep growing me and to use me to save and to grow others, building up the Body of Christ for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Salvation; June 5, 2025

Posted on June 6, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 30:11-12 You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

I learned the KJV of these two verses set to music about 45 years ago, and the song still echoes happily in my heart. It is interesting that the forward to this Psalm says it was for the dedication of the temple. These verses certainly fit that, but some of the middle of the Psalm seems a bit odd in that context. We have trouble remembering that up until around 150 years ago, life expectancy was much shorter than it is today. There were of course exceptions, like Moses living to 120, not to mention the lifespans mentioned from before Noah, but the average person was doing well to make it to 40. The point is never how long we live, but what we do with however much time we are given. America’s Homeland Secretary was recently put down for commenting that we all die sometime, when that is one of the absolute truths of life! That is in no way to suggest that we are to hurry the process along, either for ourselves or for anyone else, but it is to say that realism is essential. Our time on earth is to give us the opportunity to choose God, to make Him Lord of our life so that when this life is over, we will spend eternity with Him. When we do that, the last line of this Psalm becomes real: “I will give thanks to Him forever.” We frankly don’t appreciate God’s blessings without at least tasting unpleasant things for the contrast. That’s why David talks about “turning mourning into dancing.” Without experiencing mourning, we don’t have sufficient reason to dance! That’s why repentance is essential for salvation. If we don’t understand that we are headed for hell, as the just result of our rebellion against God, we won’t have true appreciation of the salvation that is available through faith in Jesus Christ. These two verses are the honest testimony of all who have been born again by faith.

I was baptized at 7, having been raised in a home that was steeped in faith and love for God. I think that experience was real and valid, but it didn’t really register for me as it should have until much later, at 24, when the Lord showed me, just for an instant, the blackness of the pride in my heart. That was repentance indeed, and was so shattering that I asked for, and received, baptism a second time. And after that came baptism in the Holy Spirit, and for many years now I have had complete assurance of salvation and joy in fellowship with my Lord. That certainly doesn’t mean I’m perfect! I have to keep my repentance up to date, because I won’t be free of the presence of sin until I am with my Lord in heaven. That said, I am completely unconcerned about how much longer I have here, because as Paul said, what comes after is better! (Philippians 1:21-23) The task for me is to discern what God wants me doing right now, and do it with my whole heart. If I will do that, then my heart will keep dancing all the way into heaven!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Assorted things keep trying to drag me down, but You are far greater than all of that. Help me serve You every moment in every way, so that Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Perspective; June 4, 2025

Posted on June 5, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
    and with my song I praise him.

This pattern is frequent in David’s Psalms, where he expresses his need, sometimes using fairly extreme terminology, and then progresses to praising God for meeting his need. We shouldn’t hesitate to ask God for whatever we need, but we should always remember that from His perspective, that need is already met. Paul touches on that a good bit in Romans, saying things like “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11) From our perspective, we are all too alive and vulnerable to sin, but from God’s perspective, all of that has already been taken care of by Christ’s sacrifice. From our perspective, all sorts of needs might be towering over us, but from God’s perspective, every one of those has been met by His riches in glory. (Philippians 4:19) We live in the flow of time, but God is outside of time, so everything is “now” for Him. We really can’t grasp how that works, so that’s where faith comes in. We are to live each moment in the flow of time, trusting Him to have it all under control, knowing that the love that caused Him to send His Son will be sufficient to take care of everything else as well. (Romans 8:32)

I have been aware of this issue of God being outside of time for as long as I can remember. I realize that’s pretty unusual, but then, I had no trouble understanding the concept of negative numbers when my brother explained it to me after he first encountered it in school, so I guess that’s how I’m made. It has helped me be patient (sometimes!) and has helped me trust God when I couldn’t see any solution to whatever I was confronting in the moment. There are countless elements of God’s kingdom that I wish were already manifested, but I need to release all of them into God’s hands and simply focus on whatever it is He wants me doing in the moment. As I was saying to a brother in Christ just yesterday, the main thing God asks of us is faithfulness. One of these days I will indeed have God’s perspective, after I leave this world and its limitation behind, but until then I have to trust that He indeed sees it all and has it all worked out.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s interesting that I still need it! Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Presence; June 3, 2025

Posted on June 4, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.

I’m sure this is many people’s favorite Psalm, because it is so loaded with marvelous verses, many of which have been set to music. I settled on this verse this morning because it expresses the attitude that enabled David to write all these Psalms. When we honestly hold being close to God as our highest goal, our greatest good, there is no end to the spiritual riches He pours out on us. The Japanese here has an interesting turn of phrase at the last of the verse. Where most English translations say, “inquire,” or “seek Him,” the Japanese says, “let my thoughts wander around.” That’s a very interesting image. Frankly, our thoughts do wander, sometimes quite often, but if they are wandering in God’s temple, that is, in His protected area, we don’t have to be worried about what they’ll settle on. Otherwise, that’s quite an issue! Spiritual warfare is a given, and most of it takes place in our minds. When we are firmly planted in God’s house, in His presence, our minds will stay pure and strong in Him. The sad truth is that we generally don’t stay there, and we open ourselves up to all sorts of attacks. God allows that so that we will grow, so that we will know without the shadow of a doubt that we can accomplish nothing right on our own, (John 15:5) but in Christ we can do absolutely anything He asks of us. (Philippians 4:13) One of the most attractive things about heaven is that we will be totally at rest and secure in God’s presence, with absolutely no anxiety or danger. That’s what we get to sign people up for!

I don’t know at what point this awareness became firm in my mind and heart, but I’m very thankful it has done so. The continuing challenge is to live it out here and now! It’s been over 10 years since the Lord told me to rest, relax, and rejoice, and I keep getting lessons in that. My GPA still has room for improvement! I do genuinely enjoy life at this point, but at the same time my anticipation of heaven continues to grow. I find the idea of living forever on this planet interesting, but at the same time pathetic, because it can’t possibly compare to living in eternity with the Creator of it all, who loves me so intensely that He gave His Son to die for me. I can recite this Psalm in all honesty (though I don’t have it memorized), and I am deeply grateful.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. I am deeply aware of the definition of grace as unmerited favor. I haven’t earned any of this! Help me live out my gratitude consistently, not just because that is the best path for me, but so that those around me may also be drawn to repentance and faith for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Focus; June 2, 2025

Posted on June 3, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 21:1, 13 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.
    How great is his joy in the victories you give!
Be exalted in your strength, Lord;
    we will sing and praise your might.

Again, this was either written for/about David or he wrote it in the 3rd person. That said, the focus seems quite Davidic, because it’s all about God. The first and last verses praise God’s strength, not man’s, and the body of the Psalm maintains that focus. We too need to keep our focus on God, and not on ourselves or our circumstances. That can be difficult, frankly, because we don’t see or feel God physically, and what we do see and feel can be very distracting. However, the heart that seeks Him does find Him, just as He promised, (Jeremiah 29:13) so God is not asking something impossible of us. We just need to remember that God is everything, and the entire universe exists just because of Him. We are tempted to think we accomplish things on our own, but that is just an illusion. He does bless us with all sorts of abilities, but those abilities are ultimately from Him, and the better we remember that, the more peace and joy we will have. The body of this Psalm talks about the defeat and destruction of those who oppose God, and that is also something to keep in mind. “The fear of the Lord” isn’t just a casual expression! Our minds can’t really grasp the hows and whys of all that God does, either intentionally or by permission, but that’s hardly surprising when He’s infinite and we are certainly limited. We just need to keep our focus on Him, and gratefully rejoice in what He allows us to discover and do.

Yesterday I watched something that claimed Jesus appeared to Elon Musk when he was a young boy to anoint and commission him to do all that he has done and is doing, but I find myself extremely skeptical. For one thing, if he had talked about the experience in front of a large audience, as was the “setting,” there would be other records of his having done so, and not just a narrated YouTube video. For another thing, had he indeed had such an experience, he would be a much more overtly dedicated believer right now. His abilities are indeed from God, but that is true for every one of us. I am to focus on my Lord, and rejoice to participate in what He is doing. That can be as small as encouraging a boy whose parents just got divorced or as big as sparking a national revival. The one has happened, the other hasn’t yet, but it is equally possible. The point is that my focus is to be on faithful obedience to my Lord, allowing Him to use me however He desires, for His glory alone.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed stay focused on You. There are so many distractions! Thank You for the privilege of fellowship with You by Your Spirit. May I delight in that more and more, so that I will be fully and instantly available to You at all times, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Security; June 1, 2025

Posted on June 2, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

The introduction says this is “a Psalm of David,” but from the content it seems to me like it was written for or about him. That said, many authors throughout history have written in the third person, so it could well have been composed by him. Regardless, this verse is justly famous, and enjoyably set to music, tying in the verses ahead and after it. The point is an excellent one: some people seek and trust in physical things for their security, but God is ultimately far more reliable. Often God does use physical things to benefit us, but as Jesus famously told us, we need to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) It’s all a matter of focus and priorities. We never know what will happen in the world around us. A village in the Swiss Alps was just wiped out when a glacier above it collapsed. Thankfully, the people and animals were evacuated just before the collapse, but several hundred people suddenly lost everything material that they had. And of course, there are things like Russia launching drones and cruise missiles against civilians in Ukraine. Such predations of man are what this Psalm is talking about, but it actually applies to everything in life. As Solomon famously wrote, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) We are certainly active agents in our lives, but God is both the foundation and the ultimate authority. The better we grasp that, the more successful we will be.

I have experienced God’s protection and provision more times than I could count, because it actually is continuous. I’m not to be lazy, careless, or presumptive, but I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that God always has the final answer. Thankfully, that has made me more and more grateful over the years. I am to plan and I am to apply myself, but before and above all of that, I am to seek my Lord and trust in Him. Many things in life are uncertain to say the least, but when I am secure in Christ, I am secure indeed. As has been said, when you serve the Lord, the retirement benefits are out of this world!

Father, thank You for this reminder. There is indeed a very great deal going on throughout the world, and uncertainty seems to reign. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, allowing You to use me however You will, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Being Right Before God; May 31, 2025

Posted on June 1, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 19:14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
    be pleasing in your sight,
    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Verses 7-10 are very enjoyably set to music in both English and Japanese, and verses 12-13 are deep and worthy of much meditation, but this last verse covers it all. “Words” here certainly includes everything we say, but it also includes our lifestyle. Psalm 50:23 in the KJV (also set to music) explicitly uses “conversation” to mean lifestyle, though other translations express it differently. That covers our activity, but those activities start in the mind and heart, and that is dealt with here too. Jesus went so far as to say that our thoughts themselves, if nurtured and dwelt on, are sin. (Matthew 5:27-27) Fleeting thoughts can come from anywhere, but when we take them in and mull them over, they become ours, and we are fully responsible for them. That’s why David here says “meditations.” Only the truth of God is truly worthy of meditation! David is talking about being right before God in every respect, and that is a worthy goal indeed.

This hits me particularly hard because I’m a man of words, both spoken and written. I regularly confess to having “pun disease,” and it can be hard to get me to shut up at times. That in itself isn’t bad, but I have been known to hurt people with my words, and that’s not good. As a pastor I am sometimes called on to say strong words, but they must always be spoken in love. (Ephesians 4:15) If I leave out the love, I’m a “noisy gong or clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1) That said, I too have to remember what I just said, about our actions coming from our thoughts. I need to keep my thought life in line with and in submission to my Lord. That’s an area where I still have room to grow! I just learned of someone I respected greatly having fallen into absolutely stupid sin, and I am reminded that none of us can relax in that area. Overt sin always starts in the heart, and I’ve got to be very careful of that. This verse isn’t a prayer for God to rubber stamp what I say and think, but a plea to be kept right before God. It is one I need to pray regularly.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It was a real shock when I heard of that man’s huge stumble. I pray that few people would learn of it, so that the fruit of his immense good works wouldn’t be poisoned in the hearts and minds of others. May nothing pollute the fruit of my life. May it all rather bring blessing to people and glory to You. Thank You. Praise God!

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Inheritance; May 30, 2025

Posted on May 31, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 16:6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.

This verse, on the face of it, refers to land received when Canaan was parceled out to the Israelites. However, it was a verse dearly loved by my father, and his father before him, and in their case it didn’t refer to real estate at all. We all inherit various things from previous generations, and the intangible is often far more important than the tangible. Sometimes that “inheritance” is evil, with generational curses, distorted values, and so on. However, in Christ all that is transformed. The New Testament has a lot to say about it, expressed perhaps most clearly by Peter: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5) When we are in Christ, it doesn’t matter so much what we do or don’t inherit from our physical family, because we have a magnificent inheritance through our union with Christ. On earth, even real estate can be swept away by natural disasters, and anything else is even more perishable, but our inheritance is in heaven, where “neither moth nor rust corrupt, nor thieves break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20) That is something to be deeply grateful for!

A friend of mine in Nepal has just lost his father, who was not a believer, and he is confronting this issue right now. I have no idea of any material inheritance issues there, but his father did not pass on faith in or knowledge of Christ; those things were given to my friend directly by his heavenly Father. I have another friend in Hong Kong who is in a similar situation. His father, though in poor health, is still alive, but he is stubbornly non-Christian. I can and do pray for such friends, and I continue to pray for a miracle in the case of Hong Kong, that the father would repent and believe while he has the opportunity, but I have no direct influence. I have deep sympathy but no honest empathy, because I come from generations of people who loved and served God. These friends of mine help me realize what incredible grace and blessings I have received, through no effort or even choice of my own. My point is what I do with what I have received, sharing God’s grace without hesitation. God has indeed met my physical needs, just as Jesus promised, (Matthew 6:33) but my stewardship of the spiritual riches God has poured out on me is even more important. I am grateful for this blog as one avenue for doing that, but I pray that I would indeed “make the most of every opportunity,” (Colossians 4:5) acting as God’s agent toward each person I encounter, for their blessing and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the incredible inheritance You have poured out on me. I pray that I would indeed be a good steward of it all, for the advancement of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Wisdom; May 29, 2025

Posted on May 30, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

I couldn’t begin to count how many times I heard or read the first line of this verse quoted, and I’ve done it quite a few times myself. It fits in perfectly with that famous verse from Proverbs: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) It is entirely logical that rejection of God is the very definition of foolishness. In both Japanese and English, shifting the beginning quotation mark also makes sense: The fool says, “In his heart there is no God.” The greatest wisdom is welcoming our Creator in, to sit on the throne of our heart. These days we carry around “smart phones” that give us access to all human knowledge, if we know how to use them. Of how much greater value is it to “carry around” God, who is the source of all true wisdom? Foolishness is on full display, with people insisting boldly various things that are at total odds with reality, but God is always just a heartbeat away. However, the key to “accessing” Him, as we might access the Internet, is humility and repentance. (2-factor authentication, anyone?) Humility seems to be in short supply, and too many avoid repentance at all cost. Simply saying, “I was wrong,” would help get us out of so many problems, but we hate to do it! The thing is, we are quick to recognize foolishness in others, but fail to recognize it in ourselves. Consistent, even constant, turning to God to seek and listen to Him is far and away the wisest course for mankind, but we so seldom take that path!

I was blessed with both a high IQ and a home environment that led toward faith in God, but that didn’t guarantee wisdom by any means. I believed in God, but mostly kept Him in the background. Nowadays, I pass by a bus stop and everyone there has their nose in their phone. I should have been that way toward God! Instead, I rejoiced to absorb information, but I let it swell me up, instead of grow me. As Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) I was already a married father when the Lord showed me, for a brief instant, the state of my own soul, and I collapsed in repentance. I am so grateful He did that! My progress since then hasn’t been entirely steady, but at least I’ve been headed in the right direction. I still delight to learn and know stuff, but at least I know that God’s smart and I’m not! What I need to know most is more of Him, keeping myself fully submitted and committed to Him. As my father used to tell people, “Give all you know of yourself to all you know of Christ.” By His grace I hope to know more and more of myself, and more and more of my Lord, keeping all of me committed to all of Him.

Father, thank You for Your incredible patience with me. Help me respond to You as You desire, growing as You intend, so that Your will may be done in and through me for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Remembering Blessings; May 28, 2025

Posted on May 29, 2025 by jgarrott

Psalm 13:5-6 But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

This wouldn’t be considered one of David’s “major” Psalms, but it still contains major, practical truth. His particular problem at this point isn’t very specific, other than that it involves enemies who want him dead, but as he did many times through his life, David reminds himself that he’s gotten as far as he has by trusting God, and he recommits himself to that lifestyle. He chooses to sing to God, because of how God has dealt with him in the past. We tend to have a remarkable ability to forget, or at least ignore, all the good things God has done for us in the past, when we encounter some new difficulty. How foolish! That’s why prophet after prophet in the Old Testament reminded the people of the miracles God had performed for their ancestors, pointing out that if we are true to Him, He will certainly take care of us. That’s precisely what we need to remember on a personal scale as well. That’s what the hymn Count Your Blessings is all about. The devil tries hard to blank our memory of past blessings so that we won’t trust God for the future. That’s why we need to submit to God and resist the devil. (James 4:7) Simply remembering how good God has been to us is a way of doing that!

This is perhaps appropriate to me at this moment, because I woke up with my lower back in pain when it wasn’t hurting when I went to bed. On the larger scale of things it’s not a big issue, but it’s a distraction. The thing is, God has been incredibly good to me over the years, and I have great assurance that He will guard and guide me all the way until He takes me home. This is a little reminder to have empathy for my wife, who deals with physical pain every day! I’m not sure of what all today will hold, but I know that God’s plans for me are good, (Jeremiah 29:11) and I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him whatever is going on around me, or even in me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You enabled me to do yesterday. Not much of it was physical, so this back pain is something of a mystery. Help me recognize what You want me doing each moment of today and follow through in obedient joy, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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