Lawlessness; December 28, 2019

Posted on December 29, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 24:12-13 “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Where the NIV uses “wickedness,” the Japanese uses “lawlessness.” Read that way, this sounds like current news! I have ceased to be amazed at the incredible disregard for the law in America today, from illegal immigrants having been deported multiple times only to come back, to top law enforcement officials deciding they are above the law, to Congress trying to make the Constitution say whatever they want it to say, and everything in between. It is disgusting, and disgust is not in the spectrum of love. However, before we go dumping on everyone else, we need to take an honest look at ourselves, just as Jesus said. (Matthew 7:4) Do we obey speed limits and other traffic laws? Do we fudge on our taxes? Even more importantly, do we do things we know are not pleasing to God, just because we want to or they feel good? Society isn’t going to clean up its act until the Church cleans up its act. It is astounding to hear politicians and others claim Christian faith while espousing such things as infanticide. Their love would put liquid nitrogen to shame! A major factor in that is that we rank sins in our own minds and hearts, and we always rank the other guy’s as worse than our own. We forget that James pointed out, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” (James 2:10-11) We want the rest of the world to obey the law, but take a pass for ourselves!

I am just as much prone to this as anyone else. To be honest, if I lived in the US I would get a concealed carry license, because I love my wife enough to want to protect her. (And yes, my Army experience tells me I am quite proficient. I feel that comes under Jesus’ instructions in the Garden of Gethsemane, recorded in Luke 22:36.) However, I am all too aware that I am not the ultimate judge of my own righteousness or lack thereof. Like Paul said, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:4) I am to ask and allow the Holy Spirit to keep tabs on the temperature of my love for God and for my neighbor, and do whatever He indicates to correct any cooling. I can’t generate agape love on my own, so my task is to “keep the riverbed clean” of anything that would hinder the flow of God’s love through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder that nothing in the world today is any sort of surprise to You. Help me trust You fully, not going around judging others but rejoicing in Your grace toward me, so that Your grace may flow through me to those others I am tempted to judge, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Titles; December 27, 2019

Posted on December 29, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 23:8-10 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.”

This is a particularly awkward Scripture for the Japanese Church, because titles are so ingrained in Japanese society. The Japanese translation I use gives “Sensei” where the NIV says “Rabbi.” Anyone who has ever studied Japanese martial arts is familiar with that term, because it is the title of Teacher, (literally, “one born before,”) and failure to use it is considered very rude. That overlaps with verse 10, so they use another term there that means more literally, teacher, but is also the second character in the terms for pastor, missionary, and a number of other professions. However, that’s no more awkward than the situation for the Catholic Church, that has institutionalized the title of Father to a degree that is totally pervasive. In Japanese Catholic churches priests are addressed as “Shinpu,” which literally means, “Father of God!” That doesn’t seem strange to Japanese, because Shinto priests are called a title that means “god owner!” An American Catholic missionary friend explained that the title for priests was imported directly from China, where the character that the Japanese use for God has a meaning much more along the lines of “spirit,” so the translation would be, “Spiritual Father.” Even so, he agreed that it was in violation of this Scripture. Japan is an extremely vertical society, to the point that people rarely have close friends who weren’t in the same grade with them in school. Everyone else is either “senior” or “junior” to them, and how can you be friends with someone like that? American, not to mention Biblical, egalitarianism is a foreign concept indeed, and the barriers are being overcome very slowly. We have the saying, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross,” but that seems a stretch even in many American churches, and it is certainly difficult for Japanese believers to grasp fully.

As a pastor/missionary as well as a school teacher in Japan, I get called Teacher daily, and I often refer to others that way. Avoiding it with others would be rude in the extreme, and that would hinder the Gospel getting through to people. Within this church I have succeeded in getting most people to call me “Mister Jack” or “Pastor Jack,” but there are some who balk at that. In general society I don’t rebuke people for the titles they give me, (though I do correct them when they refer to me as Father) but one of my points of distinction over the past 38 years has been how I treat everyone the same. I am on friendly terms with the mayor and some other politicians, as well as a number of doctors and the like, but I treat them no differently than I treat anyone else. It has been shocking to some, but they have excused me (I think) because as a foreigner I’m “not expected to know all the social niceties.” It was a help to me that I grew up as the youngest child of one of the highest-status people in the whole city, who nonetheless treated everyone the same. That is an example that I have sought to follow all my life, so that nothing would interfere with speaking the truth in love.

Father, You alone know how well I have done in following this. I ask You to continue to grow and train me, so that just as Jesus humbled Himself, I may be fully humble as Your agent, drawing many to be Christ’s disciples indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Lies vs. Truth; December 26, 2019

Posted on December 28, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 2:8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

This is a verse I’m sure I’ve never written on before! However, it has a very modern ring to it, because it records the words of a lying politician. We make jokes about it, but people in positions of political power, or people desiring such positions, often discard truth if it seems to get in the way of their ambitions. There is a severe irony to that, because all power ultimately stems from the One who cannot lie. Lies, on the other hand, are the native language of the devil. (John 8:44) When we choose to lie we are placing ourselves in the devil’s camp, and that is a very dangerous place to be. From the world’s perspective some liars seem to be very successful, at least for a while. However, Jesus said clearly that “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37) We never ultimately get away with lying! There are some people who seem to be congenital liars, hardly able to make an accurate, honest statement, but they actually weren’t born that way. A small child can’t be anything but honest, but there comes a point in their development when they learn to lie. In terms of psychology, some people insist that’s progress, but it is actually quite sad. The issue is what happens from there. If their initial lies seem advantageous to them, they will learn to lie more and more. If their parents fail to instill the value of honesty through appropriate discipline, lying can become a runaway train, with nothing to stop it. Sadly, we can get to the point of feeling, “If I say it, it’s true.” Discovering the fallacy in that can be life-shattering. Lies are an attempt to hide truth with darkness, but as John wrote, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)

I had the enormous blessing of being raised by a man who held absolute honesty as one of the foundations of his life. I have tried to do the same, and I must say it makes life more simple. I don’t have to remember what I told someone, because I just have to tell the truth! That said, I haven’t always held to that. I have particularly lied to try to build myself up in other people’s eyes, and that is total foolishness! When I seek to be honest myself, I can sometimes be too accepting of what other people say, when they aren’t likely to have been raised as I was. Again as Jesus said, I am to “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) Being shrewd (or wise, as many translations have it) doesn’t necessarily mean telling lies, but it does mean seeing through them. I am to be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit, because no lie can get past Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. I am often saddened and even disgusted by current events. Thank You for the assurance that Your truth will ultimately prevail, whatever is going on at the moment. May I be an open channel of Your truth that sets people free, (John 8:32) for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Response to Experiences; December 25, 2019

Posted on December 28, 2019 by jgarrott

Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

When I have all 20 verses essentially memorized, it can be hard to know exactly what the Lord is saying to me through this passage right now. However, this verse is a matter of the shepherds response to what they had experienced, and that is a vital question for every individual in every situation. Every person experiences highs and lows, things that please them and things that don’t. It’s not just for those who are bipolar! The important thing isn’t so much what happens, as how we respond to it. In verse 15 we have the record of how these shepherds responded to the angelic visitation, and here we have the record of their response to the total experience. Simply put, they allowed what they experienced to prompt them to action, changing them in good ways. After the angels left them they didn’t lie around going, “Man, what a trip! That was freaky!” Rather, they acted on the information they had been given, and sought out the newly-born Savior. Then, as it records here, after telling Mary and Joseph about the angels, they went back to resume their responsibilities with the sheep, but not as they had been before. They went from being terrified when the first angel showed up (verse 9) to glorifying and praising God, unable to hold back the joy that welled up from within them. They had just had proof that A, God was real, and B, He cared about them enough to send a Savior, even if that Savior was a helpless little baby, lying in a manger of all places. God deals with each of us in different ways, but the message is always the same: He loves us and He wants us to live as His children, in all holiness and joy. At the point of this story, nobody imagined just what this little baby was going to do to be our Savior. Crucifixion wasn’t on anyone’s mind! We never know all the ramifications of what we experience, but the better we know God, the more confident and assured we are that He is going to work everything together for good, and we rejoice. (Romans 8:28) When we fail to rejoice, it proves that we have more to learn about God and that we need to grow more in our faith.

This of course applies to me as much as it does to anyone else. I have had 71 years of experiences so far, and continue to experience life moment by moment every day. In that I am no different from anyone else. My desire, and what God wants for me, is to respond to everything I experience with gratitude and praise, recognizing that I am held in His hands of love. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Right now I have just gotten over a major “hump” in the year’s calendar, but that doesn’t mean at all that things stop happening. Life will continue to go on, moment by moment, so my focus is to be on making the use that God intends of each of those moments, giving Him glory by saying what He is saying and doing what He is doing. I don’t know what lies ahead, but I know Him, and that should enable me to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, just as He has told me to do.

Father, thank You for all that You allowed me to experience yesterday. Thank You that I could go to the funeral as planned and still take care of other things. Thank You especially for Your grace and blessings in the Christmas Eve service last night. Some people we expected weren’t here, but others we didn’t expect were, and You blessed us all. I pray especially that those who were here for the first time would be unable to forget what they experienced of Your presence and be hungry for more. I pray that everything about today would be as You desire, that we wouldn’t miss any of what You are doing by demanding something else. May we be Your children, Your agents indeed, every moment of today, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Name of Jesus; December 24, 2019

Posted on December 27, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 1:21 “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Virtually every detail of the Christmas story is miraculous, but we are so familiar with it that we forget that fact. Of all the parts of the story, the detail that the world most tries to dismiss as fable is the virgin birth. Sex is so pervasive today it is almost rare for anyone, male or female, to make it to their wedding day a virgin. In recent decades sex has been elevated to the point that some people celebrate the “right” to destroy infants in the womb so that nothing will inconvenience the free practice of sex. That God would bring His Son into the world without making use of sex is an affront to such people. However, of the two people who recorded the Christmas story for the Bible, it was Luke, the physician, the scientist, who went into the most detail about the virgin birth. He probably had a lot of trouble with the idea initially, too, but he had seen enough of the power of God to convince him it was real. Matthew, on the other hand, simply states it as fact, and then fleshes it out with the human details as well as connecting it to Old Testament prophecy. Here he tells us how the angel specified Jesus’ name, and that is powerful indeed. We don’t often think about the fact that “Jesus” is the Greek form of “Joshua,” (Yeshua) or realize that it means, “The LORD saves.” That tidbit has been grasped by Messianic Jews, and to me it is beautifully powerful. There is a very simple chorus that I like very much that just says, “Yeshua is Lord,” over and over. It is when Jews recognize that and acknowledge it that they are truly united with the Body of Christ, and that is glory indeed, as Paul wrote in Romans 9-11. Gentiles too need to realize that even the name, Jesus, speaks God’s plan of salvation.

This is something I have known for many years now, but it is a reality that keeps growing in me. Tonight I will have the opportunity once again to tell the Christmas story to a mixed group, some of whom will think they are familiar with it and some of whom will be quite unfamiliar with it. I need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to express it clearly with words and body language that will be understood and received, so that the complacent may be encouraged to action and the unbelieving brought to faith, for the salvation of many, building up the Body of Christ for His glory.

Father, thank You for all You have done already in this year’s Advent season. Every year we get overwhelmed with the busyness of it all, and tend to lose focus on the joy of what it represents. However, You brought us through a very long day Sunday, and You will bring us through today as well. Help us indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, so that You may use us to build Your Church, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Love; December 23, 2019

Posted on December 27, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 22:40 “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

It is of great interest and extreme importance that Jesus said that all the commands in the Bible, whether delivered by Moses or by any other prophet, depend on something internal that cannot be seen by human eyes. We can certainly see the effects of love, but we can’t see love itself. Since He said this in Aramaic, so the Greek record that we have is a translation, we can’t place any special importance on which of the Greek words for love is used here. Like English and Japanese, Aramaic and Hebrew just have one word each for love. Seeing the usage in the Old Testament, however, there’s no question that it includes not only emotion but commitment. Since it is an intangible, we are brought back to what God said to Samuel: “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) This also fits the English proverb, “Handsome is as handsome does.” Our hearts control our actions, which is again why Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:20) It all hinges on the reality that God, as invisible Spirit, created everything that is material, and thus visible. We tend to fixate on, or at least be distracted by, external appearances, but God says that it’s the invisible things that are more important. That’s why Paul said, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) All of that said, the love that Jesus is talking about, that God requires of us, makes itself evident. He also said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) You can’t get any more clear than that.

As a pastor, a marriage counselor, and someone who’s been married over 50 years, I think and talk a lot about love. Precisely because it’s so vitally important, the devil does all he can to cheapen it and distort our understanding of it. Much of what the world means by love fits the Greek word eros, rather than anything else. In Japanese they even have expressions like “love car,” referring to physical possessions! I am constantly battling world view issues, not only in others but also in myself. When we fail to see everything as the creation of God who is love, it all becomes distorted. Perhaps Cathy’s and my greatest task in Omura is demonstrating God’s love, so that people may have their eyes opened to see God who is love. I think she’s better at it than I am. We had a good friend essentially drop dead yesterday, and right now Cathy is baking shortbread cookies to take to the home. The friend was in church on the 15th, but she hadn’t been baptized, so we can only yield her to God with the hope that she had cried out to the Jesus she had heard about from her younger daughter and from us. The news she had died came in on the answering machine during our service, and after I listened to the message and reported it to the members, everyone was quite sobered. As someone commented at that point, we indeed never know about tomorrow. That’s why it’s so vital that we walk in love today.

Father, thank You for Your love. We have no hope of loving properly apart from Your love flowing through us. Help us indeed love You and love our neighbors, so that Your will may be done for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Impossible vs. God; December 22, 2019

Posted on December 26, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This is one of the fundamental truths of Scripture, yet we forget it in practice all too often. Three times we have God saying this explicitly about Himself, to Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 32:27) to Mary, (Luke 1:37) and here. Each time, God has backed up His words. Jerusalem was indeed destroyed and then renewed, Mary indeed became pregnant by the Holy Spirit and bore Jesus, and through the years countless “impossible” people have been saved. We hear passages like these and get encouraged, and then turn around and focus on difficulties instead of on God! We miss out on countless miracles because we refuse to trust God for them. The particular issue here was the disposal of wealth, and Peter’s question (verse 27) and Jesus’ response should be a huge encouragement to all who are fully committed to Christ, but we are left with the question of whether we are willing to make that commitment. The young man who triggered this episode couldn’t bring himself to do it, at least not at that point, and that is precisely what Jesus was talking about being impossible for man. You could say that the young man was addicted to his wealth, and addictions are indeed impossible to kick by human effort alone. However, God is able to make it happen! When we look honestly at our own situation and attitudes, despair is a very natural response. However, if we submit our weaknesses and imperfections to God, He is able to supply us with everything we lack, including the commitment to follow through. What it takes on our part is choice, the exercise of our free will. Sometimes that is huge, and the results are immediate and dramatic, but sometimes it is a series of small choices, getting more in line with God step by step. The young man in this story was presented with a huge choice, and he didn’t take it. However, we are all presented with choices daily, and choosing to follow Christ in each one builds to a glorious conclusion. Conversely, the devil tries to tear us down by getting us to make a series of wrong choices, and that result can be disastrous. Even the huge choice isn’t final, but needs to be backed up with consistent small choices. If all of that seems daunting, we need to remember that it’s not difficult for, or with, God.

This is certainly a Word to me, because I am constantly presented with things and situations that are impossible from the human perspective. For starters, I minister in Japan, which has the lowest “rate of return on investment” of any mission field in the world. There is no active persecution, but genuine conversions are painfully few and far between. However, I do have a few growing disciples in the congregation, and I’m seeing distinct progress in one even right now. My schedule can seem daunting, but God has gotten me through worse before, and He will get me through this now. He has given me, and this church, the vision of Omura again being the foremost Christian city in the nation, and that is manifestly impossible by human effort, so I’ve got to hang onto what Jesus says here and trust Him to bring it to pass, even using me in the process.

Father, thank You for this Word. I am constantly telling people to focus on You rather than on themselves, and here I need to be reminded of that myself! Thank You for Your plans, for this church, this city, and this nation. May they indeed be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Hearing and Being Heard; December 21, 2019

Posted on December 25, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

This is the second time God the Father audibly affirmed Jesus as His son, the first time being when He was baptized. (Matthew 3:17) This time He includes the command, “Listen to Him!” At His baptism, Jesus hadn’t yet started teaching, and those around to hear the voice weren’t His dedicated disciples, but here the audience is Peter, James and John, the disciples closest to Him. You would think they didn’t need to be commanded to listen to Jesus! However, there’s the old saying about familiarity breeding contempt. It is a common phenomenon that a preacher can speak at a different church and be much better received than at the church he pastors. Often, the further from home, the better the reception. Likewise, a visiting speaker can come in and preach essentially the same content that the pastor has been trying to get through to the congregation for months, and they receive it as fresh revelation. Yes, Peter, James and John needed to be told to listen to Jesus! It’s interesting that after being told this, they had the spiritual sensitivity to understand that when Jesus told them Elijah had already come, He was talking about John the Baptist. (verse 13) We too need to listen to those close to us, whom we might actually be tired of listening to! Ideally, we need to have our hearts tuned to recognize God’s voice however and through whomever He chooses to speak, but we are often numbed by the physical … masking what God is saying to our spirit. That is all the more likely when God speaks through someone we hear frequently. We too need the Father to tell us, “Listen to him,” even when the “him” in question is far below Jesus in our estimation.

I have experienced this from both sides. However, it’s been a long time since I’ve sat regularly under someone else’s preaching, so my experience tends to be from the perspective of the speaker. To be honest, at times I have longed to be invited to speak elsewhere, for a conference or just for a service, because when that has happened in the past, the reception has been very gratifying. Elsewhere, I have been used many times in prophecy, but hardly ever right here where I minister all the time. Those subscribed to my blog are many times the number in my local congregation. However, God has used this to teach me faithfulness, and I am grateful. Even such little things as speaking at the interdenominational prayer breakfast can be refreshing, because those who gather for that are actively seeking God, and I generally get really positive feedback when my turn to speak comes around. I am to remember that Jesus said, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” (John 15:20) In other words, I’ve got no gripe coming! I am to be faithful, not only to speak but also to pray for my hearers, so that they may receive whatever God says through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the times that You really are heard through me. The reception to the Gospel story as I gave it at the nursing school Christmas party on Friday was very encouraging. I pray that many of those students would indeed show up for our Christmas Eve service. Help me remember that it doesn’t matter if people hear me, so long as they hear You. May Your name be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Faith and Hope; December 20, 2019

Posted on December 25, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 12:21 “In his name the nations will put their hope.”

It is significant that Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for Jews, probably in Aramaic, included this quote from Isaiah. Where the NIV says “nations,” the Japanese is even more specific in saying “Gentiles.” The whole question of whether a non-Jew could be saved without becoming a Jew first just about sank the early Church, prompting two major Church Councils, first after Peter had the temerity to obey God and baptize Cornelius and his household, (Acts 10-11) and then after Paul had such success in his missionary journeys. (Acts 15) Today the situation has essentially flipped, with the absurdity of Replacement Theology saying that the Church has eliminated the Jews from God’s plan. That’s just window dressing for antisemitism, and history shows that’s clearly of the devil. Matthew, whom God had focus on the Jews after his secular career as a tax collector had been one of betraying the Jews to the Romans, still could not avoid the reality that God’s love, God’s plan, is big enough to encompass all mankind. The particular phraseology God had Isaiah use is also significant. Hope and faith are deeply intertwined, but they aren’t the same thing, or Paul wouldn’t have listed them separately in 1 Corinthians 13:13. In some ways hope is a precursor to faith. We hope something is true even before we are sure that it is. Paul put it this way: “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) Faith, on the other hand, is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) At this point in our existence, we certainly need both!

To me, perhaps the ultimate expression of this distinction between faith and hope is, “the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) I have settled faith that Christ is in me, giving me eternal life, but I do not yet see more than a small taste of the glory that is to come. As a pastor, I desire to impart both faith and hope. It must not be false hope, drummed up in human imagination, but rather “hope [that] does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5) Many people have essentially given up on life, to the point that they are afraid to hope. When God gives a promise, that is a true hope! To me, pessimists make poor evangelists. You could define optimism as being hopeful, and that is how I want to be. I am to be a realist, not denying the current state of events, but my faith should always give me hope that God is going to use all the mess that’s going on for blessing, and for His glory. (Romans 8:28)

Father, thank You for this reminder. We are constantly bombarded with negative experiences of all sorts, and yesterday was no exception. However, You also did some very good things in the day, and I have hope for resolution today of some of yesterday’s negatives. May I keep my eyes on You, allowing You to fill me with faith and hope, so that those I encounter may be drawn to You as well, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Priorities; December 19, 2019

Posted on December 24, 2019 by jgarrott

Matthew 10:37-39 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

It’s all about priorities. Jesus isn’t telling us not to love our parents or our children, He’s telling us to love Him more. And He’s not telling us not to love ourselves, at least to the point of taking good care of ourselves and being content with what we’ve got. Rather, He’s telling us to love Him more than we love physical life itself. There’s a linguistic trap there, because He is eternal life, (John 14:6) so loving Him is loving life, but it isn’t our own life, it’s the life that only He can give us. Humanists say many things that sound very good and noble about loving and interacting with each other, but if we don’t love God above and beyond all of that, it falls apart and becomes meaningless. To use Jesus’ turn of phrase, we lose our lives. Some very well-meaning people have turned this teaching around and perverted it, denying that a pastor’s “first flock” is his own family. I have heard some real horror tales of missionaries essentially abandoning their own children to “serve the Lord.” I somehow don’t think God receives such “service.” Closer to home, (for most people) many pastors get so busy with church that they lose their marriage, not to mention the love and respect of their children. We forget that serving the church does not necessarily equal serving God. And of course, this isn’t limited to “clergy.” You couldn’t count how many people have lost their families through being too wrapped up in their work, or for that matter, have lost their spouse through being too wrapped up in their children. It is only when Jesus is Lord indeed, first in every decision and every circumstance, that all the rest of it falls into place.

As a pastor myself, I face this issue constantly, in myself and in those I serve. So long as I serve God through serving people, I’m OK. It’s when I serve people instead of serving God that I get into trouble. A continuing issue for me is the use of time. That is specifically applicable here, because we measure life by time. So long as I insist that time is mine, I lose the benefit of it. When I willingly give time to my Lord, I gain it, because His purposes for me are fulfilled and I receive the satisfaction and rewards that He intends for me. I deal with that every day! I tend to be a stickler for being on time, and get very irritated when I am forced to be late for something. If I really give my life, my time, to God, then such things shouldn’t bother me! The other day my bad attitude was on display when I was pointed out as the reason the City Christmas program wasn’t starting on time, when it was an unrealistic schedule that I hadn’t set. I was hanging onto my life/time and not taking up my cross! It’s easy for me to see mistaken priorities in others, but not so easy in myself. I sometimes recognize my errors in retrospect, but I want to avoid them before they happen.

Father, thank You for continuing to work on me. Thank You for this past Sunday, and for bringing me to repentance. Thank You for my wife, who makes it so easy to love her, but to love You even more. Help me indeed be a vessel of love to all around me, not in my own strength but because I love You and allow Your love to flow through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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