Interpreting the Bible; November 18, 2019

Posted on November 20, 2019 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
for we have the law of the Lord,’
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?”

Here’s an important verse for Bible translators and interpreters! The Japanese here is even clearer in saying that that lying scribes have turned the Law into a lie! Thinking about how Jesus responded to the minor details of the Law, including His remarks about “the traditions of men” (Mark 7:5-13) it really makes me wonder how much got added to such books as Leviticus. That’s why it’s important to focus on what Jesus said were the most important commands, to love God and to love our neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40) This verse also brings to mind the various seminaries that have devolved from institutions training people to be disciples of Jesus Christ to strictly academic institutions that foster atheism, or at best agnosticism. Paul described such people as “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:5) When we read, and especially when we teach, the Bible we need to be clearly connected to the Holy Spirit who is its Author. Far too often people use the Bible as a means to their end, rather than submitting themselves to God and His Word. Hearing politicians throw around Bible verses when their lives don’t demonstrate the character of Christ can be disgusting. Repentance is certainly possible and past actions don’t limit present reality, but it doesn’t take much perception to realize that people can use the Bible with no intention of submitting to God. We need to approach the Bible, every time we read it, with humility and gratitude that it is even available to us. In many countries Bibles are rare indeed, and are actively suppressed in some.

I hope I never forget the time the Lord got through to me with the realization that He’s smart and I’m not. As familiar as I am with the Bible, there is the temptation to take it for granted instead of actively applying it to my own life. As a pastor and teacher I frequently express the Word in various ways to others, so I must be very careful I’m not like the scribes mentioned here. I’ve got to remember that “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) My reading of the Bible and my teaching of the Bible must both be guided by the Holy Spirit who caused it to be written. Only then will it accomplish that for which God has sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Father thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the awareness You have given me of the differences in languages, so that I will seek Your meaning in everything I read, rather than applying linguistic preconceptions. I ask for Your anointing to communicate Your Word accurately, whether in English or in Japanese, so that my hearers and readers may hear what You are saying to them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Entitlement; November 17, 2019

Posted on November 19, 2019 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 5:30-31 “A horrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land:
The prophets prophesy lies,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?”

Reading this I am reminded of something I’ve read just recently: “People get the government they deserve.” That isn’t necessarily true, but it’s more true than we like to admit. We are so often blind to our own sins and mistakes. I recently ran across a list, published in a Christian magazine, of things that shock missionaries when they return to their home country. I posted it to a Facebook group of MKs (missionary kids), and got a lot of response. At the moment I don’t remember if it was in the original list or in a comment to my post, but one item seems to me to be a close parallel to this passage: “A fat-cat entitlement mentality.” In a generally affluent society, whether someone is “well off” or not, they tend to think they deserve to be rich. If they are, they take it for granted, and if they aren’t, they resent that fact, sometimes bitterly. That might be expected in the world, but we see it so much in the Church! As God has Jeremiah say here, the spiritual leaders too often let go of their mooring in God and His Word, and the people in the pews seem to be fine with that! He isn’t specific here, but He makes it very clear the outcome won’t be good at all. We need to be honest in looking at ourselves, allowing the Holy Spirit to shine His light into all the dark corners and do whatever house cleaning is necessary. Especially those in church leadership need actively to seek accountability, having someone who is free to speak into their lives with complete honesty. Failure in that area in leadership affects many, so those under leadership need to require faithfulness in their leaders, as well as in themselves.

As a pastor, I’m talking to myself here. I’ve got to keep watch that my own heart is open to the fullness of God’s Word, applying every bit of it to my own life. God has enabled me to see issues such as this in the world around me, but I must not be blind to how they have taken root in my own heart and life. I too can have a fat-cat mentality! I need to live each moment in humility and gratitude, recognizing that I exist only by the grace of God. I am to seek to make the use God intends of everything He gives me, whether tangible or intangible, as a good steward, recognizing His ownership of it all. I really am incredibly blessed, and I need to recognize that to the core of my being. Only then will I be effective in leading others into intimacy with their Creator.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am so quick to forget that Your blessings are grace! Thank you for the healing I’ve experienced in the mouth ulcer on my lip, and for how much better my tongue is where I bit it yesterday morning. I don’t think about the blessings of a lack of pain until I have pain! Thank You that the two families returned safely from Hong Kong last night. Conditions there should help me be grateful for conditions here! Keep me sensitive to Your Spirit at all times, Lord, so that You may receive all the glory for all that You do. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Bible; November 16, 2019

Posted on November 18, 2019 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 3:18 “In those days the house of Judah will join the house of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your forefathers as an inheritance.”

The Bible contains almost countless prophecies that have already been fulfilled, which is a strong witness to the veracity of the whole thing. Jeremiah certainly has quite a few of those, and some of them seemed so preposterous at the time that even Jeremiah complained! (Jeremiah 32, for example) People who discount the Bible really haven’t read it with any understanding. Part of that comes from an active desire for the Bible not to be true, because they know they stand condemned by the precepts laid down in it. However, our excuses and twisted justifications don’t change the truth of the Bible. Doing that is rather like trying to deny the truth of gravity, and then walking off a cliff. Just like he did with Eve, the devil loves to say, “Did God really say…?” Or, “God said this, but….” That’s why it’s so important to get the Word into our minds and hearts. Memorization is fine, but it doesn’t do the job by itself. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had huge chunks of the Bible memorized, but they had no grasp of the character of the God who caused it to be written. That’s why Paul said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6) We need to get the Spirit’s explanation and interpretation of the words on the page, but conversely, we need to get the words off of the page and into our minds and hearts to give Him something to work with. Setting Scripture to music is an excellent way to do that, but nothing is a substitute for reading the Bible daily with a hunger to hear from God. If we do that, we find that God is amazingly faithful to speak to us. So many people lament that they never hear from God, or they don’t know how to hear from God. I would bet anything they don’t read the Bible daily in humble expectation.

I have learned from experience that a vital part of all of this is the commitment to obedience. It does no good to read the Bible and know what God has said and is saying, but then go off and do your own thing anyway. Having first read through the Bible by the time I was 10, and having done so many times since then, there’s hardly any situation I encounter that I don’t know what God has said about it. However, I don’t always do what I know God has said! I sometimes think James 1:22 was written just for me! (Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.) As a pastor I am constantly telling others what’s in the Bible, but if I’m not living it out myself, it does me very little good. One of the believers here once said that I was addicted to the Bible. I was so happy to hear him say that, I cried! He said he knew what he was talking about, because he was a recovering alcoholic himself. Alcoholics get to the place they can’t really function if they haven’t had at least one drink. I want to be that way about the Bible! I want it to inform me every moment, so that I live it out so as to fulfill that for which my Lord sent it, (Isaiah 55:10-11) for His glory.

Father, thank You indeed for Your Word. Thank You that I was born and raised in a family that was steeped in the Bible and sought to live it out. May I do no less, and introduce many to the incredible riches You have provided for us, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Living Water; November 15, 2019

Posted on November 18, 2019 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

The imagery here is especially striking for Israel to be in a relatively arid part of the world. Water, or the lack of it, is literally the dividing line between life and death. That’s the background to the many Biblical references to “living water” or “water of life.” What the Lord is accusing His people of here is sadly still common. People abandon their Creator, and then in His place create all sorts of substitutes that are no substitutes at all. One of the more absurd of those, that happens to be vigorously promoted by some people, is government as a substitute for God. Claiming “separation of Church and State,” they try to drive all mention of God out of the marketplace, insisting that we rely on human institutions instead. How foolish! That is exactly equivalent to abandoning a free-flowing spring in favor of cracked cisterns that don’t hold water. God is saying here that’s a double evil, because if people simply wander away from the spring they would be likely to return to it. However, they actively try to replace the spring with broken cisterns, which blinds them to the availability of the spring. Jeremiah is known as a severe, accusing prophet, but he was simply responding to the sins around him. Actually, he expressed the love of God magnificently many times, and this verse also is holding out God as an unfailing spring that is available to all who will come to Him, instead of being deceived by the multiple lies that are in the world.

The closest I’ve come to this was in focusing on the gifts God had given me, rather than on the One who gave me those gifts. However, I see this sort of attitude around me all the time. Something I see all too often is one I can relate to from having been there: the conviction that “I’m smarter than they are, so I should be in control.” That level of pride blinds us to God, because it puts man in the place of God. Even knowing the Bible as well as I did, I still made decisions that didn’t consider God at all, which is the equivalent of making cracked cisterns. When even the Son of God prayed, “Not as I will, but as You will,” (Matthew 26:39) how could I do anything else?

Father, thank You for this reminder. I often fail to recognize when I’m straying into this sort of thing. Keep me aware of my total dependence on You, as well as Your gracious, abundant supply. Help me be an open channel of Your living water to that others too may “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Psalm 34:8) for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sin and Repentance; November 14, 2019

Posted on November 16, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 66:3-4 “They have chosen their own ways,
and their souls delight in their abominations;
so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
and will bring upon them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
and chose what displeases me.”

This sounds remarkably close to home! It certainly sounds like a description of much of society today. Very few people make decisions based on “What does God want?” It’s all based on what seems pleasurable to the individual, and not even on what seems good to them. “Good” itself is defined almost entirely in terms of self, with pleasure, finances, and influence being esteemed. Isaiah and several other prophets made it very clear that such an attitude brings judgment beyond our worst fears. Regardless of how things play out on earth, each person will have to stand before God, and all excuses will be peeled away. (Hebrews 9:27) That’s why the cross of Christ is so absolutely vital, for indeed, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) We all fit into this description in Isaiah at times! That’s why Jesus’ message wasn’t just, “Believe,” but “Repent and believe.” (Mark 1:15) James had some very blunt things to say about belief that isn’t coupled with repentance. (James 2:19) If we fail to let go of our sin, our faith doesn’t mean much. Even Jesus was clear on this point. (Luke 6:46) Repenting of sin means choosing to let go of it and seeking God’s will instead. Any church that teaches, you don’t have to change, is preaching a false gospel. God accepts us as we are, just as the hymn says, “Just as I Am.” However, He doesn’t leave us as we are. Repentance means giving Him full permission to change us however He chooses, because He is the standard for what is right, and not our flesh or feelings.

This certainly applies to me. Having been a missionary pastor for well over 30 years, some people have trouble imagining that about me, but I am as much in need of the grace of God as anyone else. It was a great victory for me when I realized that when I focus on the sin I have committed, I’m all the more likely to do it again. When I realize and accept that God’s forgiveness is real and focus on Him, I am truly set free from the sin. I deal with people all the time who are caught in a cycle of sin and have accepted the devil’s blanket condemnation of them. As with everything else he says, that’s a lie from the pit of hell! The Good News, the Gospel, is that God has made forgiveness and salvation available through Jesus Christ, so every chain of sin is broken for those who receive Him as Lord in repentance and faith. My task and my privilege is to communicate that Gospel to as many as will receive it, for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You know the specific people who came to mind as I wrote that. I ask Your grace and mercy for them and Your anointing for me, that I may speak Your truth in love to set them free from all the lies they have swallowed, for their salvation indeed. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Identity; November 13, 2019

Posted on November 15, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 63:16 But you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us
or Israel acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.

This verse would seem to be one of particular impact to Japanese, because they are very concerned with belonging. For over a generation the “returnees problem” has been an issue, because once a Japanese person has lived overseas for a length of time, particularly as a young person, they can have real problems feeling accepted and actually being accepted upon their return. That even becomes a legal issue at times. When I first applied for permanent residency in Japan (the equivalent of a US “green card”) I was rejected out of hand, not because I didn’t have work and income to demonstrate I was a productive member of society, but because, teaching at three different schools, my income from my visa sponsoring school was less than half of the total. The question was, “Where do you belong?” That actually is a weak translation. “What are you part of?” might be a little closer. I had to have two more years of depending on just the one school before my application was approved. The irony is that then I became free to work as much or as little as I chose, and my status at the original sponsoring school has been part-time ever since. All of that is minor compared to the issue of whether we belong to God. The thing is, whether human groups or institutions acknowledge and accept us or not, God is still our Creator, and when we find our identity in Him we are secure. We all find our identity in various ways, but the most fundamental of all is being a child of God. When we have that worked into our hearts and minds so that we live it out in our daily lives, nothing can shake us badly or for long.

As a Third Culture Kid (someone raised in a different culture from their parents, so that they synthesize a “third culture” for themselves) I have had the issue of identity / belonging all my life. I have been American but not American, Japanese but not Japanese, and at times the stress has been severe. That said, I wouldn’t trade it for anything! I understand, and take comfort in, Paul’s statement that “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) As a pastor in Japan, I find that a major obstacle to evangelism is people’s fear that if they become Christians they will cease to belong to their Buddhist/Shinto families, or even become less Japanese, since religious practices are ingrained in Japanese culture. I need the wisdom and anointing of the Holy Spirit to help them grasp that belonging to and being in right relationship with their Father outweighs all of that. They are at least far less likely to be legally disinherited from their families that was the case a generation or two ago, but ostracism is still a very real possibility. I am not to downplay that, but seek to help them see that their eternal status is the most important. It is glorious indeed when families get saved, so that they make the transition together. We have one family in this church that started with one person being a believer, and then another, and another, and another. I pray for many more such families, and even for whole families to believe at once, like the Philippian jailer and his household. (Acts 16:29-34) I can’t make it happen, but God can!

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. I do indeed pray for people to find their identity in Christ, to know that their heavenly citizenship is more important than any other. I pray that this church would be filled with disciples indeed, even as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God as Dirt; November 12, 2019

Posted on November 15, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 61:11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

In such a dearly-loved chapter as this I was again at a loss for what part of it to focus on, but then the Lord spoke a fresh revelation to me from this verse. I had never thought about it before, but the imagery here is very clear. Since seeds sprout when they are in the soil, it is when we are in the Lord that we produce righteousness and praise. God is comparing Himself to dirt! Actually, this should be a very comforting thought for every believer. It isn’t that we have to produce righteousness and praise on our own, it’s that we simply have to abide in God. We get all tied in knots about what we think we have to do to be pleasing to God, when what He asks of us is to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him. When we do that we will indeed do all sorts of things under His direction, but it isn’t a matter of our striving. Like seeds in the soil, we need to be willing to die to self. Jesus pointed that out very explicitly. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) Our ultimate fruitfulness comes as we die to self and abide in the eternal life that only God can give.

As I am reminded frequently, my father wrote his doctoral dissertation on the New Testament use of In Christ, along with related expressions. He told me personally that though he did that research and wrote that dissertation, he didn’t really understand what it was to be in Christ until he had an encounter with the Holy Spirit over a year after he had arrived in Japan, PhD in hand. I find it fascinating that the idea isn’t limited to the New Testament, but is expressed here as well. (Just another reason to call this book, “The Gospel according to Isaiah.”) Like so many around me, I too have struggled with trying to “be good,” when what I needed to do was focus on being in God. We are so prone to look at God’s rules as demands on us, when actually they are guides to help us avoid the traps of the devil and abide in all that God has prepared for us. I’m not a very good judge of my own righteousness, but even I can tell whether or not I am praising God. I need to keep watch over that, and when the praise dies down, I need to check my alignment, whether I am pressing in to rest, relax, and rejoice in my Lord.

Father, thank You for this reminder. This is a really good message to share with the believers! Help me do so by Your Spirit, not working it up but allowing You to flow it through me. Thank You for the privilege of interpreting yesterday for the sister from Brazil, and for giving me understanding of her non-native English. Thank You for what she shared about how You have been working to grow her group in Brazil, and for how that could be applied right here. Help me indeed apply all that You teach me so that I won’t deceive myself, but rather be the son and servant that You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Death; November 11, 2019

Posted on November 12, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous perish,
and no one ponders it in his heart;
devout men are taken away,
and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
to be spared from evil.
Those who walk uprightly
enter into peace;
they find rest as they lie in death.

This is a truth that few people really grasp. A specific example of this is found in 1 Kings 14, where the young son of King Jeroboam dies, and the prophet Ahijah says about him, “All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.” (1 Kings 14:13) In other words, he wasn’t being punished by death, he was being rewarded! We fear death, when sometimes it is the best thing that can happen to someone. Among those who have had what are called “near-death experiences,” my wife is hardly unique in strongly looking forward to going back to heaven! It’s not at all that she has a “death wish,” but rather that she has seen that what lies beyond is so much better than what she goes through here. I feel that Billy Graham was specifically spared from seeing the political turmoil that is going on in the US right now, since he was a “pastor to presidents” for so many years. That’s not at all to say that death is always a reward. It all depends on where you are headed after death! The point is to so live on this earth that God will be delighted to have you with Him for eternity. When we are indeed walking with Him in this life, we have no reason whatsoever to be anxious about how long we will be here, because we will continue walking with Him over there. Sometimes we get really tired of all the junk we go through here, but we need to remember that when we respond properly, it just makes us more fit for heaven, and that’s something to be glad about.

I have always felt that the Lord taking my father home at age 64 was a special reward for him, keeping him from having to retire from the mission field, which he had really been dreading, Right now I’ve passed that age by over 7 years, and I recognize that each day means the Lord has something more for me to do here. I am not to shy away from that, but eagerly seek out God’s plans for me so that I may be an open channel of His grace and blessings to those around me. Having seen how rough my father’s death was on my mother, I do all I can to stay healthy for the sake of my wife. For me, going to heaven will be a total delight, but if she’s left behind, it will mean a mountain of headaches and heartaches for her, and I’d like to spare her that. I’d certainly like to keep her with me for as long as possible, but I have no anxiety whatsoever about our destination for either of us. That will certainly be a grand reunion with so many who have gone before!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for yesterday and all it held. Thank You for the way You are working on so many levels, and for allowing me to be part of that. I pray that every moment You give me on this earth will be spent exactly as You desire, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Salvation for the Nations; November 10, 2019

Posted on November 12, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 56:6-7 “And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to serve him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant–
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”

This is a marvelous promise that Jesus Himself quoted when He drove the merchants out of the Court of the Gentiles of the temple in Jerusalem. (Matthew 21:12-13) It is vitally important for every Gentile believer, because we aren’t physical descendants of Abraham, but rather heirs by faith. (Romans 4:11-17) However, we would do well not to take this lightly at all. Today there are some who espouse what they call “Replacement Theology,” saying that the Church has completely replaced physical Israel in God’s plan, but that is just an excuse for antisemitism, and is a lie of the devil. This passage gives the conditions under which Gentiles will be accepted, and it is certainly a call to total commitment. “Cultural Christians” would hardly qualify! We tend to delight in the promises of God and revel in His grace, but overlook the context of those promises and take His grace for granted. How foolish! Imagining God to be like Santa Claus, we fail to fear Him, and so lose all pretense of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10) We need to keep the door of the Church open for all who will come in truth, as this passage describes, but we must not think that salvation is “into bliss and out of blister,” as my grandfather used to say. Those who would follow God as His children need to follow indeed, and not go off however they please.

I have always had a strong antipathy to legalism, but I must not let that dull me to the reality that I serve a holy God who is more than worthy of total devotion. I spent far too much of my life in pride, thinking I had somehow earned God’s blessings! I am the product of generations of people who were committed to God, but that is certainly nothing I could choose, or somehow bring about after the fact. Just as Paul made it clear that physical descendants of Abraham need to commit to Jesus Christ in faith even as Gentiles do, (Romans 10:1-4) my pedigree in no way excuses me from total commitment to my Lord. I am as much in need of the grace of God as someone who has lived their life in total ignorance of God, but His salvation is equally available to us both. I must remember that evangelism is indeed “one beggar telling another where to find bread.” My goal is indeed that God’s house would be a house of prayer for all nations.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You continue to give me fresh challenges in sharing Your Gospel. Help me not shy away from any of them, but make the most of every opportunity, just as Paul said, (Colossians 4:5) so that as many as will may repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Invitation; November 9, 2019

Posted on November 11, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

I am in real trouble when it comes to choosing just part of Isaiah 55! Much of it has been set to music, and I can’t read it without that music flowing through my heart and mind. The truth in this chapter is worthy of a lifetime of meditation! The invitation expressed here displays God’s heart marvelously, so much so that we tend to feel it’s too good to be true. However, it is amazingly, gloriously true! These two verses express not only the depth of God’s mercy, but also the need for repentance. These days – and actually throughout history – some people have misread God’s grace and mercy to mean that they can “come to Him” and still keep living however they were before. That’s a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus’ message, at its most fundamental, is expressed in the first chapter of Mark. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15) The invitation is to repent and believe, not just believe and receive. When we believe we do receive, but if we don’t repent, we haven’t really believed. Isaiah makes it clear that repentance means leaving things behind, both actions and the thoughts that underlie them. We can’t pick up the good stuff God has for us without putting down the bad stuff we’ve been carrying. There are things of which we want to be free, but we have to let go of them to gain our freedom. Monkeys can be caught by putting something they want into a jar with a narrow mouth, and then firmly anchoring the jar to something. The monkey will put its hand in to grasp what they want, but their fist is too big to come back through the mouth of the jar, and they are caught. We have to let go to be free.

This is something I have experienced myself, and as a pastor I see it in others all the time. Japanese often want to “follow Christ” without letting go of the religious traditions of their ancestors. Some groups have compromised with that, but that can be a slippery slope indeed. I am to keep proclaiming, “come,” but not fail to say, “forsake”. It is only those who have repented who can receive God’s full salvation and walk as His disciples, His agents. I too am tempted by numbers, to cut corners to get more people into the building, but doing so wouldn’t actually save anyone and would totally destroy my ministry. I am not to allow the traditions of men to be barriers to people coming to Christ, but I must never stray from the grace and holiness of God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You know who has come most recently to “be saved” without wanting to let go of the lies of the devil. I ask Your grace and mercy for them, and especially the courage to let go. They have gone far in their pursuit of a lie, and it will take a clear act of Your Holy Spirit to enable them to renounce that, but nothing is impossible for You. I ask You to guide my interactions with them, and with everyone, so that Your invitation may go out undistorted, bringing many to light and life, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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