Personal Evangelism; July 31, 2019

Posted on August 1, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Virtually every verse of this Psalm is underlined, in both languages, in my bilingual Bible. I could write on any part of it! It strikes me that this Psalm is a personal testimony of David. The preface indicates that he wrote it after the Lord gave him the wisdom to escape a potentially very dangerous situation. Rather than take credit for that escape, David praises God and recommends Him to all who will listen. That is the essence of personal evangelism. There are all sorts of “canned presentations” for evangelism out there, but none are very effective even in countries with a Christianized culture, and far less so in places like Japan. Every believer needs to grow past the point in their faith of what’s in it for me, but in all honesty, that’s how most people make the first step. David is saying, “Have a taste. God is the best thing ever!” Actually, David used a specific framework for this testimony, starting each verse with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, so that shows us the utility that things like The 4 Spiritual Laws tract can have. However, the framework by itself is nowhere near as effective as when it is backed up by personal experience. “God met my need, and He’ll meet yours too, if you will let Him.”

I well remember my frustration in Personal Evangelism class in seminary, realizing how ineffective what I was being taught would be in Japan. The professor was a marvelous man and a very effective evangelist in the American context, but I knew his techniques wouldn’t make the transition to the Japanese context. When we finally got to Omura, after graduation and serving in a church in Virginia for two years, I told people I wasn’t here to teach a religion, but to introduce a Savior. (There’s a pun in that in Japanese.) I grasped the reality that nothing would be as effective as sharing what God had done for me, but my background was totally different from those I was speaking to, despite my having been born and raised in Japan. Not only was I from a strongly Christian family, my schooling was American, having attended the dependents school of Itazuke Air Force Base. After seeing my own daughters’ experiences in Japanese schools, I have come to the conclusion that the major purpose of Japanese schools is to make people Japanese, instilling culture and even thought patterns into them. (America would be a more effective “melting pot” if US schools did more of that, but that’s a different discussion.) On top of that, I am Caucasian, which automatically makes me “other” to practically everyone I meet, so they don’t see my experiences with God as having any relationship to them. That makes me a far more effective Bible teacher than evangelist, which itself is fine with me, but I need to inspire the Japanese believers to share Christ with their family and friends, since they don’t have the barriers I do. That’s not easy either, because I can’t really teach by example. However, people do get saved, and it’s almost always from their seeing someone who is living out their faith in a personal relationship with their Lord. That is something to rejoice over!

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do pray for the sister who will be here next week from America, desiring to win her parents and sister to Christ while she is here. Thank You for the openness her mother has expressed. I pray that Your Holy Spirit would have free rein, that we may see a marvelous harvest in Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Music Ministry; July 30, 2019

Posted on August 1, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 33:1-3 Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

This is an anonymous Psalm, but it is clear the author was a musician who loved God. Such people are valuable! These three verses alone have enough in them to base a whole course in music ministry on them. In the first place, this is addressed to righteous people. All too often worship leaders are chosen for their musical skill alone, and that is a very dangerous mistake. If a person does not have an active, personal relationship with the Lord, they have no business leading worship, because they won’t really be worshiping themselves. Conversely, anyone who is in right standing before God (upright) is going to want to praise and thank Him, whether or not they are in a formal leadership position. Next, verse 2 mentions instruments. Some worship leaders play an instrument as they lead and some do not, but musical instruments, and music in general, were originally intended by God to be used in worship. However, the instruments, and the music itself, are not to take priority over the purpose, which is expressing thanks and praise to God. Then it mentions “a new song.” Some churches go “whole hog” with this, essentially using only songs from within the past few years, whereas some go with hymnals that have few songs less than 100 years old. Either extreme misses out on a great deal. Failure to sing new songs tends to stagnate churches into ruts, blinding them to the reality that God is still alive and working right now. However, the Church has a very rich musical heritage, and even Gregorian chants can be powerfully moving when properly used. There is such a volume of new music being created that it can easily be overwhelming, so wisdom is called for. The Holy Spirit knows what each congregation needs, and what is pleasing to the Father. Then there’s the little matter of skill. As already mentioned, some churches make the drastic mistake of going on skill alone. I have a professional Christian musician friend who has been a vibrant believer for many years, but who was won to the Lord by being asked to play in a “praise band” when he didn’t know Jesus from the man down the street. I know of other examples of that sort of evangelism, but such a person must never be the worship leader. When we hear and watch professional Christian musicians it quickly becomes evident which are genuinely worshiping God and which are just performing. God is always more concerned with the heart than with anything else. That said, a musician who doesn’t practice isn’t being a good steward of the gifts they have been given, and Jesus was very clear on that point. (Matthew 25:14-30)

This is very close to home. My wife and I both came from very musical families that loved God, and her father was the music minister in most of the churches they attended. Just yesterday she and I were both moved to tears during a video chat with our younger daughter as she was speaking of her deep joy at leading the music at her church, even considering leaving a very high-paying job to devote herself to it. Nothing would please us more! We are largely responsible for the music at this church, since it is so small, and we too find deep joy in praising God through music. As a pastor, one of my goals is for each believer to discover and delight in the joy of offering music to God. There are widely different levels of ability, but as I said, God is interested in the heart, and this passage even speaks of a “joyful shout.” I must not make people feel that because they can’t sing like I do, they aren’t to make music to God!

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the timing, right after yesterday’s chat. I find myself convicted of my own lack of practice. Keep me from taking Your gifts for granted. Help me rather polish them consistently and effectively, so that I may offer my very best to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Confession; July 29, 2019

Posted on July 31, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord”—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

This Psalm has several dearly-loved passages in it, and I really wondered what I was to write on. I almost wrote on the first two verses, but then realized that what I would write about is expressed more explicitly here. Protestants don’t hold Confession as a sacrament, but that doesn’t mean confessing our sins to God isn’t important. Whether another human being is present at that confession is a minor point; the important thing is honesty before God. (Verse 2 closes with, “and in whose spirit is no deceit.”) Our attitude here is of the utmost importance. Saying, “I did it and I’m glad” isn’t the way to get forgiven! Some celebrities have made something of a career of that sort of thing, but it certainly does them no good before God. As David says here, the whole point is in acknowledging that we have committed sin against God, not just “made a mistake,” and saying we’re sorry, with the honest desire not to do it again. As David says elsewhere, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14) We cannot surprise or shock God. The only logical course is to be completely open before Him, so that He can show us what we have done.

I had the huge blessing of being raised by a man who took absolute honesty as one of his guiding principles. That, plus the logical realization that it’s pretty silly to think I can hide anything from God, has made confession relatively easy for me. I sometimes tend to say too much! I have also done some real damage by saying true things about others that they didn’t want out in the open. There was no malice on my part, but Japanese culture is big on “public face” and “true intentions.” All too often, they are at complete odds! That makes it all the more important, and remarkable, that my father held so firmly to absolute honesty, when he lived and ministered in Japan. I won’t say he didn’t have any enemies, but I’ve never met anyone who didn’t hold him in high respect. How people feel about me is of relatively minor importance, but I don’t want ever to try to hide anything from God. I do slip up, and I want to be instantly responsive anytime the Holy Spirit points something out to me. “Confession is good for the soul” is far more than a platitude!

Father, You know me far better than I do. Help me repent of everything not pleasing to You, but not pick at myself about things Your Holy Spirit isn’t shining light on. Help me distinguish clearly between Your voice and that of the “accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10) so that I may walk in the peace and assurance of my place in Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Churchese; July 28, 2019

Posted on July 30, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 31:23-24 Love the Lord, all his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.

David had experienced God’s grace and mercy many times, and he wanted others to experience them too. We tend to back off from claiming we’re saints, but the Bible is consistent throughout, in both Hebrew and Greek, in using that term with those who walk in faith. You might think that “saints” wouldn’t need to be exhorted to love God, but we are all equally human. David uses several terms here that have become standard to be point of almost losing their meaning as “churchese,” so it’s important to think about what they really mean. “Saints” is one of them, but there are several more. “Faithful” is another term we use without thinking, at times. The Japanese here makes it clear that this refers to those whose faith isn’t just words, but is lived out in fact. As James famously pointed out, using the right words without living them out is just deceiving ourselves. (James 1:22) Then we have “the proud.” We might have various definitions for the word, but what this is talking about is people who think they don’t need God. Throughout the Bible we are reminded that God is our Creator and our Sustainer, and as Jesus said, we can do nothing apart from Him. (John 15:5) Then David closes with those who “hope in the Lord.” I really like the Japanese expression, that I think must echo the Hebrew pretty closely, because of how English Bibles tend to waffle between “hope” and “wait.” That expression is very simply, “wait in hope.” When we really trust God, we realize that His timing is seldom ours, but His timing is always best. Peter expressed it in terms of a thousand years and a day. (2 Peter 3:8-9) That can be really hard to accept at times! When we have all these terms as concrete realities in our life, rather than just platitudes, we really enjoy the abundance that God has for us.

Naturally, this applies to me at least as much as it applies to anyone else. Growing up in the church, I had “churchese” down pat from an early age! Coupled with a significant knowledge of Bible facts, it made it easy to “play the Christian,” regardless of what was going on in my heart. The irony is that I was never more hypocritical than when I was accusing the Church of being full of hypocrites! By God’s grace He called me up short on that way back in 1972. I wish I could say that I’ve never fallen into it since, but it’s a continuing issue. That said, I agree totally with my maternal grandmother. When she was 91 and in a nursing home, we were gathered around her and singing Amazing Grace together. After we sang the 2nd verse, she said, “No, that’s not right.” We thought she was senile, and had forgotten the words. However, she was talking about the line that says, “How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.” She said, “When I first believed, I only knew a very little about God’s grace. The longer I live, the more wonderful and precious I know it to be.” I too am to live out my days in ever-increasing appreciation of God’s love and grace, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the privilege of speaking Your Word this morning. I pray that by Your Spirit it would penetrate all our hearts, cutting out all that is not pleasing to You and strengthening all that is in line with Your perfect will, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Tests; July 27, 2019

Posted on July 30, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 26:2-3 Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in your truth.

This strikes me as a rather foolhardy prayer! David loved God, certainly, but he was not aware of his own capacity for self-deception. A far wiser posture is that taken by Paul: “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” (1 Corinthians 4:4) Here, David comes across as self-righteous, and that is very foolish. God knows our hearts at all times, but He does put us through what the Bible calls testing, not so that He will learn something but so that we will, and grow in the process. Here again Paul had a very good revelation: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) Often enough, the process isn’t very enjoyable. However, the outcome is always good, if we will respond as God intends for us to do. (Hebrews 12:11)

As a school teacher, I have to test people regularly. Because I teach in the medical field, I always stress to my students that they aren’t to study for the sake of passing the tests, but rather so that they will be equipped to serve their patients in the future. However, the tests are important tools in gauging their progress, not just for me as their teacher but for their own self-awareness. As a matter of fact, we have major tests coming up this next Thursday. In the Medical English class, I would not be surprised if one or more students get 100% of the answers correct, though I am even more confident that more than one student will come up short and have to be retested later. In the Pronunciation and Vocal Production class, I can guarantee that no one will get a perfect score, but it is also very rare for someone to fail. A major purpose of that class is to help my students become aware of their own limitations and make progress in overcoming them, because when they become Speech Therapists, that is exactly what they will need to do for their patients. I have no joy in marking people down, but rather rejoice in good performance. That gives me understanding of God, as He puts us through various tests. He never wants us to fail! As a pastor, I seek to help people understand that about God, but some of them really struggle with it. Maybe they had vindictive teachers! I am to be the sort of teacher, in school, in church, and in my daily life, who encourages, even when correction is called for. I am to remember God’s grace toward me, and apply it to those around me in turn.

Father, thank You for the privilege of teaching, and for equipping me to do the job. It has its joys and its frustrations! Help me grow as You intend through all that You take me through, whether it feels like a test or not, so that I may be the son that You desire, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Guidance; July 26, 2019

Posted on July 28, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 25:12 Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

Where the NIV says, “the way chosen for him,” the Japanese says, “the way he should choose.” That difference touches on the whole question of free will vs. predestination, but what David was writing about was guidance. We often claim we want God to guide us, and we often agonize over multiple choices in our lives. However, David starts this verse with the first essential for hearing God accurately: fearing Him. This isn’t a cowering-in-the-corner, trying-to-get-away sort of fear, but rather an awareness that God’s strong and I’m not, God’s smart and I’m not. It’s a conviction that God always has the best idea. When that is our attitude, obedience to God is the only logical course of action. When we don’t have that attitude, we’re only asking God for advice in order to get a step up, rather than seeking to fit into His perfect plan for our lives. It doesn’t take much thought to realize which of those would be pleasing to God.

Like everyone else, my life has been a succession of choices. At times I have sought God’s will, but far too often I have ignored Him. When I think of how He has guided and protected me even when I wasn’t seeking Him, I am filled with gratitude for His grace. A prime example of that is my marriage. At the time I was courting my wife, I had no regular devotional life, and actually hardly ever prayed, if I recall correctly. I was tired of church, and thought I was a better Christian than all the hypocrites I saw there. I certainly didn’t fast and pray about who I should choose as a life partner! In spite of that, God gave me an almost instant conviction that this was the woman for me, to the point that I wrote my parents Monday night, after our first real date on Sunday, that I had found the girl I wanted to marry, and on Thursday of the following week we got engaged! Such a scenario seems fraught with danger, but that was 50 years ago, and the wisdom of God’s choice is clear to all. At the time I married her I had no idea that God had called her to be a missionary when she was 12, and just after she turned 13 He had made it clear that was to be to Japan. As I look back how, I can only shake my head in amazement at the depth of His love and grace. Frankly, when I got married I had completely forgotten that God had called me as a missionary when I was 10. All of that aside, as a pastor I frequently have people come to me with questions about decisions in their lives. Sometimes I ask them, “What does God say?” Often they respond that they don’t know, but that is generally less than honest. Usually we know, on some level, but we want our own way instead. How we choose shows whether we genuinely fear God, in the ways I outlined above. I am not to dictate to people how they should choose, but I am to seek to help them accept that God’s way is best, whatever that is, so that they will recognize and follow it in and from their own heart, rather than as some external command.

Father, thank You for this reminder of Your absolutely amazing grace. Help me be an open channel of that grace to others, so that, fearing You, they may recognize Your guidance and choose the way You have prepared for them, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Enemies; July 25, 2019

Posted on July 27, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

I’ve had this Psalm memorized since childhood, and I was actually rather curious as to what the Lord would bring to my attention from it this morning. As it turns out, it’s the whole matter of enemies. We would like enemies to disappear completely, but God has a better idea. God gives us victory, but the fight itself is necessary for our growth. When Israel was preparing to enter Canaan, Moses told the people, “The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.” (Deuteronomy 7:22) Jesus famously said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Paul even said, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13) Conflict is part of the human condition, until God makes all things new. (Revelation 21:4-5) Because we aren’t there yet, the point that David realized is that God is good to us even while all of that is going on. We complain about the opposition and conflict when we should be focusing on all that God has done for us in Christ. As a matter of fact, we complain about a lot of things, when the Bible says in many places and in many different ways that it’s all going to work out for our benefit, whatever it looks like at the moment. (Romans 8:28 and many more)

As a pastor, I not only deal with this issue in my own life, I am constantly dealing with it in others. I should be grateful, because it makes it very clear to me the terrible damage such lack of faith generates. I have told people to take their eyes off of themselves and their circumstances and fix them on Jesus until I’m blue in the face, but so often it just doesn’t seem to penetrate. We all want to get through, or rather get out of, the current trial, not recognizing that God wants to do specific things for our benefit through that very trial. We fixate on the enemies, instead of on the banquet God has laid out for us. I have been shocked at some people who refused to eat, preferring instead to complain about the enemies! God is incredibly good to each one of us, if we will just open our eyes to see it and receive it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As much as I try to help others, I get grumpy and complaining too! Help me indeed so focus on my Lord that I recognize Your hand of grace in absolutely everything that happens in my life, so that I will overflow with the praise and thanksgiving that You deserve, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Dependence on God; July 24, 2019

Posted on July 27, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalms 18:1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.

David was at his best when he recognized his dependence on God. Actually, that can be said of anyone! We human beings have the odd conceit that we can get by on our own, that we really don’t need God or anyone else. How foolish! The Japanese for this verse, instead of saying “love,” says “desire,” as in the deer desiring water in Psalm 42:1. You could say that David was addicted to God, and that’s a wonderful way to be. When astrophysicists study the universe they use terms like “strong force” and “weak force,” because the more they study things, the more impossible they realize they are. By rights, the universe shouldn’t exist! At every level, all the way down to subatomic particles, there are contradictions and logical impossibilities. What keeps it all together? Physicists can’t really say, which is why they use such vague terms. What, for heaven’s sake, is “dark energy?” Paul had a simple answer to all of that: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) In other words, Christ is the “cosmic glue” that astrophysicists are searching for! David had a much simpler view of things, and he just said, “O Lord, my strength.” None of this is to say that God hasn’t gifted each of us with various abilities, or that we aren’t to use those abilities to accomplish various things. Jesus’ parable of the talents removes all doubt on that point. (Matthew 25:14-30) However, we’ve got to remember that God is the source of it all, and give Him the thanks and praise that He alone deserves.

This has been an issue all of my life. The Lord blessed me in so many ways from birth that when I took the aptitude testing in the Army I qualified in every category, which is virtually unheard of. The big problem was that I took it all for granted, failing to ask why I had been so gifted, or really understanding that everything was indeed a gift of grace, and not anything I had earned. Diligence has not been my strong suite! Over the years I have had to have various failures to teach me that no, I can’t do it all on my own. For many years I have known in theory that I can’t do any of it on my own, but going from theory to gut-level understanding has taken more time. I still find that many things come easily to me that other people struggle with, but I have my struggles too, and now I am much quicker to turn to God, even when it’s something that doesn’t seem hard to me. I tell people often that apart from the grace of God, none of us can even draw a single breath. That is very true, and He continues to remind me of it day by day.

Father, thank You for this reminder just now. Thank You for all You enabled me to do yesterday, and for all that is on the schedule for today. Some of the demands are physical, and some are mental. I can’t meet any of them apart from You! I ask You to give me the energy, the understanding, and the dexterity to do each thing on Your schedule, for Your praise and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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When God Seems Distant; July 23, 2019

Posted on July 25, 2019 by jgarrott

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

The past few days it has come out how David heard from God, but this Psalm makes it clear there were times when he felt like he wasn’t hearing a thing. We all have times like that, and they are an indication that God is a good parent. Being totally available to your children 100% of the time tends to make them self-centered and stunts their growth. Of course, we are physically and emotionally limited in just how much attention we can give our children. God has no such limitations, but He still seems to back off sometimes. The path of maturity is to stay obedient to what we have already heard from Him, doing what these verses say David did: remind ourselves of how good God has already been to us, and praise Him accordingly. As came out strongly in this past Sunday’s message, trusting God is a choice, and we won’t learn to make it consistently until we learn to make it when it’s hard. An interesting difference in translation comes out in verse 5. I chose the Scriptures for this series by doing a computer search for the English word, love, and then deciding how much context to include with the verses that came up. However, as I read the passages in Japanese, I find that about half the time the term that is used isn’t the one that is usually rendered “love” in English, but rather the one that is usually rendered “grace.” They are indeed inextricably connected. God would not be so gracious toward us if He didn’t love us, and because we can’t earn His love, it is by definition grace. Here, the Japanese says, “I depend on Your grace.” When we remind ourselves of how much better God has treated us than we deserved, we can get through all sorts of trials with flying colors.

This is certainly true for me. Considering how much I have ignored God over the course of my life, despite having known a lot about Him from infancy, I hardly have room to complain if He doesn’t seem instantly responsive to me! That said, the longer I walk with Him, the more responsive I feel He really is. It’s like the Bill Gaither song says, “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.” As a pastor, I am constantly dealing with people who haven’t gained the maturity to trust God regardless of their circumstances. Interestingly, that includes parents who are constantly complaining about their children, not recognizing the irony of the situation. I know that since becoming a parent I have learned a lot about God that I otherwise would not have grasped. Now that I am a grandparent – and great-grandparent – I have learned about how God can sometimes be downright indulgent toward us. Over time I have learned how incredibly patient God is with us, and I am deeply grateful. I need to extend that same patience toward those to whom I minister, giving them the chance to grow as God intends, for their blessing and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me remember that You are never far from me, whatever it feels like, and help others to come to that same realization, so that we may all be the children You desire, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sanctuary; July 22, 2019

Posted on July 24, 2019 by jgarrott

Psalm 11:3 “When the foundations are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”

Two things strike me about this verse. One is a sharp difference in translation between the English and the Japanese here. Where English translations are pretty thoroughly agreed in saying “foundations,” the Japanese says, “sanctuary.” I don’t know that it makes a huge difference, but it’s interesting. The other thing is that the English and Japanese agree that this is part of the quotation that starts at the end of verse 1 with “Flee like a bird.” In other words, this is something said by someone who is trying to discourage you, to make you give up. However, David very rightly comes back by saying, effectively, that his foundation, his sanctuary, is the Lord Almighty, not any physical thing or even any social construct, and nothing can destroy Him. Recent years have seen severe attacks on the foundations of civil society, most notably in America and in China. Those attacks have taken very different forms, but their goal is to make people abandon God and His order of things, which makes their origin very clear. In America, some people have responded to the attacks by indeed fleeing, retreating to some place they can live “off the grid,” isolated from the chaos they see in society. They’re listening to the wrong voices! The Early Church should be very instructive here. God allowed persecution specifically to get them moving, away from the communal comfort of Jerusalem and out “to the ends of the earth” so that they could fulfill the Great Commission. In a few hundred years they managed to flip the Roman Empire to Christianity, but there were all sorts of problems there, too. The point for us today is to remember that whatever is happening in society around us, we are not powerless so long as we are rightly related to the Lord in faithful obedience. We are to be instruments of God’s name being acknowledged as holy and His lordship being established as His will is done, right here on earth as perfectly as it is in heaven. That won’t happen if we fear man more than we fear God.

Living in Japan, I view both America and China from a physical distance at least, but I feel a lot of emotional connection. China is ramping up active persecution of religion in general and using technology as a tool to that end. The Communist government is the very definition of “godlessness,” and they take pride in that. After all, a religious person has a higher loyalty than to the government, and they can’t allow that! However, their efforts are driving more and more people to take refuge in the only true sanctuary, the Lord Almighty who loved them enough to give His Son for them. In America, which was founded on expressly Christian principles, the picture is more chaotic, but light and darkness, good and evil, are being ever more starkly contrasted, and more and more previously lukewarm Christians are waking up. We may not like the fight, or even some of the people God chooses to fight for us, but we are not to “flee as a bird,” but rather submit to God and resist the devil. (James 4:7)

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Help me support my brothers and sisters who are in the middle of the conflict through prayer, giving myself to You so that Your will may be done through me, whether I am physically involved or not. Help me recognize the devil’s schemes in my own immediate sphere as well, to stand firmly against them. Thank You for the assurance that the final outcome will indeed be glorious. Even so, come Lord Jesus! Hallelujah!

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