Poverty and Wealth; January 6, 2019

Posted on January 8, 2019 by jgarrott

Revelation 2:9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!

When reading the 2nd chapter of Revelation we tend to focus on the warning passages, specifically places like the statement that the church in Ephesus had forsaken their first love, in verse 4. However, not everything Jesus says to the churches is severe. We indeed need to be very careful that we don’t get complacent and take God’s grace for granted, but as the Scripture for the Year tells us, we aren’t to be afraid that God won’t give us His kingdom. (Luke 12:32) The world in general tends to pay attention to the big churches, the ones that count the “important people” among their members, but here Jesus is telling us that He is paying attention to the churches that don’t fit that category as well. Actually, the vast majority of churches around the world have less than 200 members, and in some areas such as Japan, that’s less than 100 members. In attendance, in Japan that would be less than 50. Because many churches have less than 10 full-time wage earners, such churches are unable to pay a livable salary to a pastor, so their pastors are forced to be “tent makers,” working a secular job as well as tending the flock. Jesus is here reminding such churches that they are rich, because they have title to God’s kingdom. It’s not that He is promising anyone “easy street,” but He does say, at the end of verse 10, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” That is wealth indeed!

This church certainly fits into the category of “little flock,” yet we have been amazingly blessed. Materially, we own a building and land – a huge expense in Japan – and don’t have a great deal of debt. On the flip side, the church has never been able to pay a full salary to anyone, which makes my search for a successor much more difficult. The position of Church Treasurer has been so stressful that multiple people have quit the church over it! (Right now I’m filling in, which is undesirable from several standpoints, but we certainly can’t afford an outside accountant.) I have certainly had times of considerable discouragement, particularly when receiving pensions from the US and Japan has greatly increased my annual income! It’s all training in fixing my heart on the kingdom of God, rather than on anything material. There is the temptation to look at people as sources of offerings, rather than as souls in need of eternal salvation. Yielding to that would destroy our reason for existence! However, as the saying goes, “Where God guides, He provides.” As this verse reminds us, God’s children are wealthy indeed, and I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in that assurance, even when it isn’t reflected in either the church’s or my personal bank accounts.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for how it fits in with the verse You’ve given us for this year. I’ll be preaching on that verse this morning. I pray that I would say nothing out of my own imagination, but only, and exactly, what You are saying to us Your children. May everyone in the church be encouraged, so that together we may make ourselves available to You for all that You want to do in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Suffering; January 5, 2019

Posted on January 7, 2019 by jgarrott

Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

When you think about God’s provision, suffering doesn’t usually come to mind! However here, John is speaking of it in the same breath as the kingdom of God, and throws in patient endurance in the bargain! We have great trouble seeing it that way, but sometimes suffering is indeed a gift from God. John was to the same level of spiritual maturity as Paul, who said that he wanted to “know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:10) That wasn’t from some perverted masochism, it was from an awareness that we have things that need to be burned out of us, and sometimes suffering is the best, indeed the only, way to do that. My mother had a phrase she used often in praying for people: “Keep them from unnecessary suffering.” I think she had learned this lesson too. Here, John knew that he was exiled to Patmos because he had been faithful as a witness of Jesus Christ, and he considered it a high honor. Even in the “politically correct” world of today, speaking the Word of God can get you into trouble. The term, “hate speech,” is one of the most Orwellian in the world today. Simply speaking the truth of God, out of an abundance of love and an honest desire for the very best for the hearer, is denounced as “hate speech” if it contradicts the current narrative of total sexual confusion and license. If we suffer for having so spoken, we should take it as an honor! No one likes suffering, and we would be sick if we did, but we can rejoice in it, giving God thanks for it, knowing that God never allows anything that can’t be for our good, (Romans 8:28) and He sees the final outcome of blessing.

I am once again reminded that, compared with so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I have experienced very little suffering. I’m not to go looking for suffering, but I am never to draw back from proclaiming the Word of the Lord out of a fear of suffering. I am prone to draw back out of a fear of being disliked, and that is a very low bar indeed! I need to be more like Paul and John, not drawing back from anything the Lord indicates I am to say or do, but choosing faithfulness over convenience, God’s approval over that of the world. A genuine Christian trying to please the world is like Donald Trump trying to please the media; it’s not going to happen. As has been said, in the current environment he could do something absolutely fantastic for the nation and it would either be denounced or totally ignored. I need to take that as an object lesson and fear nothing, focusing on Jesus Christ and what He wants me to do, accepting with joy whatever comes with the package, even if it is suffering.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I was inspired night before last to see and hear my sister in the Lord preach the wake for her own husband, who died so suddenly and unexpectedly. Likewise, I live every day with Cathy, who has physical suffering from her various medical issues. I do pray that You would keep her, and me, from unnecessary suffering, and that You would enable us to be faithfully obedient to everything You say to us, for the sake of Your kingdom and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Personal Responsibility; January 4, 2019

Posted on January 7, 2019 by jgarrott

Jude 1:20-21 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Jude is a very interesting and at the same time somewhat obscure individual. He was one of Jesus’ younger brothers, but not nearly as prominent as James. About all we know of him is his listing among the children of Mary and Joseph, (Mark 6:3) and this letter, in which he claims his kinship with James but calls himself “a servant of Jesus Christ.” (verse 1) The letter closes with a glorious, encouraging doxology that has been delightfully set to music by Don Francisco, (verses 24-25) but the majority of the letter talks about men who were making trouble, false teachers who were leading others astray. He then turns to the intended recipients of the letter, and by extension us, and talks about what we are to do in contrast to the false teachers. These two verses stress personal responsibility more than anything else, with the repeated admonitions to “build yourselves” and “keep yourselves.” In the doxology he does say that God does the heavy lifting, but here he stresses our participation. Far too many Christians seem to expect everything to be handed to them in one way or another. We bemoan the “entitlement mentality” we see in society, not recognizing that we have it ourselves in terms of our faith and salvation. We love to quote Ephesians 2:8-9, which talk about salvation and faith being a gift, but ignore verse 10, which talks about God having prepared stuff for us to do. We ask God for more faith, but fail to exercise the faith we have already been given, when using it is what makes it grow. We want to bathe in God’s love, forgetting that Jesus strongly and clearly connected love with obedience, as he talked with the disciples in the upper room before His crucifixion. (John 14:15-26) God has already provided everything we need, but we are to be intentional in laying hold of it. Verse 20 was often quoted in the early days of the Charismatic Movement in terms of speaking in tongues, to point out that exercising spiritual gifts builds us up. That’s certainly not limited to tongues, but it’s amazing to me how many people I encounter who have had an experience with the Holy Spirit and have spoken in tongues, but who yet fail to use that gift in praising God and praying for others. That’s not being a good steward of God’s provision! We are to desire to grow, and be active participants in that growth, so that God won’t have to keep changing our diaper, as spiritual infants.

This certainly applies to me! I have had periods of growth, but I have also had periods of coasting, or even regression. Loving obedience to Christ can sometimes feel like hard work! As a pastor I naturally desire that each member of the flock be active in pursuing God, in pursuing growth in Christ, but I’ve got to set the example. I get tired of spoon-feeding them at times, but too often I fail to apply the truth I already know. I don’t want them to be so self-centered, but I demonstrate that myself all too often. I too need to build myself up in faith by exercising it and keep myself in God’s love by full and instant obedience.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for the rather shocking reminder that none of us is guaranteed tomorrow, when the husband of a neighboring woman pastor went out to walk the dog on New Years Eve and fell over dead with a heart attack. The wake I attended last night was sobering for all the participants. Help me make full use of the time, and everything else, You provide, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Parents and Children; January 3, 2019

Posted on January 5, 2019 by jgarrott

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

This seems like a direct echo of verse 4 of 2nd John, which came up yesterday. However, there he is speaking of children of “the chosen lady,” whereas here he is speaking of his own spiritual children. There he says “great joy,” but here he says, “no greater joy.” There is indeed great joy for parents, both physical and spiritual, when their children, again both biological/adopted and spiritual, do well. The world being under the control (to a point) of the liar, (1 John 5:19, John 8:44) there are many temptations to deviate from the truth. That’s where spiritual growth and maturity come in. If we weren’t tested/tempted, we wouldn’t grow, so that’s why God allows the current state of affairs. The absence of such temptation is certainly something to look forward to in heaven! Children misbehaving don’t cease to be children, but they certainly try the patience of their parents. In extreme situations, some parents go so far as to legally disown their physical children, which is tragic when it happens. With spiritual children there is no legal framework, but removal from church rolls is sometimes practiced. (In ecclesiastical settings, that is called excommunication.) However, even such steps don’t break the original parent/child bond, however distorted it might become. God is the ultimate Father, and whereas there isn’t direct insemination involved, He does create our physical bodies. More importantly, He has provided a way for us to become His children indeed by faith, as John talks about in John 1:12-13 and Paul talks about in Romans 8:15 and 23 and elsewhere. Paul uses the Roman legal term of “adoption.” Those involved with that legal process with physical children can understand that very well. In any case, God’s relationship with us His children is echoed in the interaction between parents and children on earth, both physical and spiritual. If we examine the joy we have when our children do well, we can understand, at least somewhat, God’s desire for us to do well, and indeed, how we can give Him joy. He’s certainly worthy of all the joy we can give him!

I have certainly experienced this myself, both with my physical children and my spiritual children. I have also experienced the heartache of my children wandering from the truth. That makes me not want to give my heavenly Father such pain. I have also learned that whatever the level of my authority over them, their decisions are ultimately their own. I was talking with one of my spiritual children yesterday, and he was mentioning how his recent studies in psychology had helped him understand that the domestic violence and divorce between his parents when he was a child had greatly impacted him in various ways. I acknowledged that, but stressed that even so, as an adult he bears responsibility for his actions right now. Society loves to give us excuses to blame others for our sins, which is proof of the devil’s influence. Part of submitting to God and resisting the devil (James 4:7) is refusing those excuses and repenting in truth. God can and will heal those wounds, whatever their source, but we have to own them and submit them to Him honestly. That’s a big step toward “walking in the truth,” as John talks about here. I desire that all of my children, of any description, walk in the truth, so I’ve got to set the example for them, refusing all the lies of the devil even when he twists facts to suit his purposes.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for all that You are doing here. Help me not get in Your way, but cooperate fully with You in word and deed, both in prayer and in my interactions with people, so that Your will may be done in everything, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Imperfection; January 2, 2019

Posted on January 5, 2019 by jgarrott

2 John 1:4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

When you think about it, this is a pretty remarkable statement. John has great joy that some people are walking in the truth. We would understand this better if he had said all, but he didn’t do that. What I get from this is that for all the people who burned with faith and went joyfully to martyrdom, there were a lot of people who weren’t that way. We tend to idealize the Early Church, but reading through the various letters in the New Testament, including the letters from Christ to the churches in the first part of Revelation, we find that there was no congregation without problems, and many were more noticeable for their problems than their successes. The point is that God used them anyway, and the true Church, the assembly of disciples of Jesus Christ, grew to the point that it took down the Roman Empire. We have many problems today. Some “mega-churches” seem to be humanistic, materialistic shells, and some “spiritual giants” turn out to be complete charlatans. I could go on and on about the problems, but none of those are greater or more powerful than the Lord we serve. We aren’t to ignore issues, but neither are we to allow those issues to convince us it’s all a lie, as some people have done to their great loss. We need to be like John, rejoicing that even some of the people in the churches are walking in the truth. If we are honest, we will realize that our own lives haven’t been completely pure and faithful. Some of the things we do are truly pleasing to God, but certainly not all. If we focus on our failures, we’ll give up on ourselves! This isn’t at all some sort of “I’m OK you’re OK” sort of thing, but rather, “I’m imperfect and you’re imperfect and we’re all dependent on the grace of God.” We aren’t to excuse failure, either in ourselves or in others, but we are to rejoice in successes, even small ones, and realize that God can even turn major failures around for blessing. (Romans 8:28)

This is an important Word for me to receive at this point. I am very aware of imperfections, and they sometimes grate on me badly – especially my own! I must not focus on those, but rather on my perfect Lord, who allows us occasionally to reflect His goodness even in the middle of our own brokenness. I am not to lose sight of the some that John mentions out of my desire for perfection, for all to be right, both within me and around me. God is perfect but nothing else is, and I need to be at peace with that. I am never to stop striving for perfection, but that striving needs to be with God’s energy and not my own. There’s no way I could even make reasonable progress in my own strength and wisdom! I am not to excuse my failures, but rather repent of them immediately, confessing them to God, and then – and this is vital – receive His forgiveness. He gives it, but I’ve got to receive it. (1 John 1:9)

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am so prone to forget the truth I think I know! Thank You for the communicating Cathy and I could do this morning, when communication has been distorted all too often. Thank You for who is coming to help me today, when I have been frustrated with what he has not done recently. Help me rejoice in what he is doing today, rather than focusing on negatives. I tell people all the time to lift their eyes off of themselves and fix them on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2) Help me indeed do that myself, so that I won’t be deceiving myself. (James 1:22) Thank You. Praise God!

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The Kingdom; January 1, 2019

Posted on January 2, 2019 by jgarrott

Luke 12:32 Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

When I felt God was directing me to use this verse as the Scripture for the Year, I really didn’t think that deeply about it. However, looking at it now in context, all sorts of things are coming to me. From verse 22 through 31, we have Luke’s version of Jesus’ famous teaching that Matthew records in Matthew 6:25-34. Whether these record different occasions or separate accounts of the same occasion is unimportant. It is entirely possible that Jesus taught the same content on multiple occasions, as most teachers do. It is also possible that Luke, not having been present at the time, was using someone else’s notes of what Jesus said, and that person hadn’t picked up on the same points as Matthew. That said, it is this verse that is strikingly unique to Luke’s version. Matthew and Luke both record Jesus as telling us to seek God’s kingdom, but only Luke tells us not to worry about it, because God’s got it all worked out. That’s entirely consistent with what Matthew records, but it puts the point on God’s kingdom being God’s business, and He’s giving it to us. We can’t earn God’s kingdom, nor even get there by our own labors. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it needs to be our first priority, our final goal. Paul famously pointed out, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) In other words, God is giving us His kingdom out of His own mercy and love, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to do. That’s why Jesus told us to “seek” the kingdom. We aren’t to take God’s grace for granted, but we are to be supremely grateful for it, responding to Him with the obedience that comes from love. The devil wants us to be anxious, afraid that we’re going to lose it all, but God wants us to have none of the devil’s lies. We aren’t to focus on our weaknesses and failures, but rather on the omnipotent grace and love of God.

I’m very grateful God directed me to this verse for this year. We certainly qualify as a “little flock!” I have been hit with all sorts of anxieties, virtually all coming from human weakness, either in me or in someone else. I worry about individuals’ faithfulness to the Lord, when I can’t control that in any case. I worry about a successor, since I am already past what many people consider retirement age, but this is Jesus’ church, and not mine or a denomination’s. I worry about health, in my wife and in myself, when, as it says in verses 25 and 26 of this same chapter, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (I am to be a faithful steward of this body I’ve been given, but not be anxious about it.) I don’t know what God’s plans for us are in this new year, but I can have peace and joy in the assurance that they are good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Father, thank You for this glorious reminder on the first day of a new year. Thank You for the two totally new people who showed up around 11:30 last night for our Watchnight service. I don’t know how You plan to bless them, or us, but I thank You for that very real encouragement. I pray that throughout this year we would indeed seek Your kingdom, with all that means, for Your plans to be fulfilled in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Context; December 31, 2018

Posted on January 2, 2019 by jgarrott

Isaiah 43:189 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.”

Context is essential when reading the Bible. God has just referenced when He divided the Red Sea, which was several hundred years in the past when He said this to Isaiah, so this isn’t a matter of forgetting history. There is a lot of truth to the modern proverb that says, “Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.” That is evident today in the young people who are enamored of socialism, because they have no historical context for the damage those nice-sounding words have done over the past Century and more. That’s all the more ironic when we have a contemporary example in what is going on in Venezuela right now. What God is saying to and through Isaiah is that we aren’t to be bound by the past. We have a natural inclination to feel that we will never rise above our past experiences, our past performance. We should acknowledge our weaknesses, but we must always remember that God is greater than those weaknesses, and indeed greater than everything else put together, because He is infinite. Right after this He reminds Isaiah of His provision even in difficult circumstances, specifically water in the desert, which is an image people in the Middle East could really relate to. This year our Scripture for the Year has been Jeremiah 32:27. “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” No circumstance is too difficult for God to overcome. Calendars are arbitrary, but we have used them for thousands of years, because the passage of time does make a difference in the human experience. On this last day of the year (as we currently calculate years) it is valuable and even important to learn from the past but not let it bind us in the future. We are to be looking forward to what God has in store, knowing that His plans for us are good, (Jeremiah 29:11) whatever things look like in the short term.

I have great assurance that it was God who led me to choose this passage for today when I was making up the Scripture list. It is certainly applicable to me and my circumstances! We have been in Omura for 37 years now, and I am currently 70 years old. However, Moses was 80 when God told him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, and His power has certainly not diminished. I have tried all sorts of things over the years, and none of them have been particularly effective in getting people to accept the Gospel as applying to them. However, yesterday as I was doing some organizing I found that we have a lot of manga tracts, and the idea came to me of distributing them to school children. We have a lot of children who go by here every day, from elementary through high school, because we are close to several schools. We haven’t had a specifically children’s ministry for over 10 years, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t God’s timing. I am not to disregard God’s leading just because “I’ve tried that.” It has been said that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but God has seasons for everything and I am to be obedient to Him, whatever my past experience might say to me.

Father, thank You for this clear, encouraging Word. Thank You for the service yesterday, and that it was genuine worship even without a sermon. Help me indeed shift my focus to You in everything, so that I may be fully responsive to all that You want to do in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Knowing; December 30, 2018

Posted on January 1, 2019 by jgarrott

1 John 5:20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

John closes his letter with three “We know” statements. It’s important to know things, to have them settled in our hearts and minds. That’s actually not a very “politically correct” thing to say, because the devil wants us to think that everything is relative, and what is “true” for one person might not be “true” for another. He does all that he can to sabotage the very idea that there is an absolute Creator who cannot be anything less than true. Indeed, our understanding is often faulty, and it is imperative that we maintain humility, but as this verse says, that very Creator does give us understanding so that we may know Him, and in the process know some other things too. I think it was Karl Barth who, when asked what was the deepest thing he had discovered in all his years as a highly respected theologian, replied, “Jesus loves me. This I know for the Bible tells me so.” Whatever you think of Barth’s theology otherwise, that statement is profoundly true. We need to get a few things firmly settled in our hearts and minds, or otherwise we will be vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. Paul described it as “Infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14) The Bible speaks many times of God being our Rock, our foundation. Without that foundation, the first storm that comes along is going to do us in, as Jesus so famously said. (Matthew 7:24-27) We need to remember that in that parable, Jesus expressly spoke of “He who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice.” (Matthew 7:24) Strictly head knowledge isn’t much use; we’ve got to apply what we know. In other words, if I know that God loves me and wants the best for me, how is that going to affect the way I live? If I know that God is holy and calls me to be like Him, what choices will I make? Some humanists insist that we can’t really know things – but are adamant that they know that! As John says here, God gives us understanding. (The Japanese says, “The power to understand.”) It’s all grace, so there’s no room for pride, and our level of knowledge is certainly limited. As Paul pointed out, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12) That’s one of the many things to look forward to in heaven! For right now, one thing is enough: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

This is very close to home for me because I like knowing stuff. However, I understand that accumulating facts is no more than a trivial hobby. My goal is like that of Paul: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11) (There is no uncertainly as to whether I will “attain to the resurrection,” but rather a lack of knowledge as to exactly how that is going to come about.) I have had, and continue to have, many misunderstandings and misconceptions, as well as accepting wrong information at times, so I must maintain humility, but at the same time I must not budge from the things God has engraved on my heart by His Spirit. I am to speak the truth in love at all times, so that others may know God by what they see and hear through me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You indeed for reminding me again and again of the things I already know, because I am so prone to let them slide, as if I didn’t really know them. Help me be firm and faithful as Your servant, Your child, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Victory; December 29, 2018

Posted on December 31, 2018 by jgarrott

1 John 5:3-5 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

There is so much of extreme value and importance in this chapter! That’s why meditation on the Word is so valuable: we can’t take it in by just casual reading. Some people would think this particular passage is largely theoretical, but it is actually extremely practical. We tend to say we love God, but John here quotes what he heard Jesus said in the Upper Room: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) That’s where the rubber hits the road! In our human foolishness, we tend to rebel against God’s commands, but here John expresses why that is so very foolish: it is obedient faith that brings us victory in all the challenges of life. The devil wants us to think that God’s commands are just to bind us and hold us back, when nothing could be further from the truth. Where they hold us back, it is to keep us from going over the edge of the cliff! Properly understood, God’s commands should be a source of deep gratitude. That’s the position the writer of Psalm 119 had come to, which is why that Psalm is so worthy of meditation. Many people feel defeated in life, and here we have the secret to consistent victory: obedient faith. There is no end to the self-help books that promise victory in various areas. Some of them may be helpful, but here we have the key that unlocks it all. One problem that many people have is their understanding of what it means that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. If we fail to see God as infinite and absolute, we can’t grasp what and how much it means that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s why they devil works so hard to erode the belief in absolute truth of any kind. In recent years he has been sadly successful! If we want victory in life, and who doesn’t, then we have to accept that God is God, and He loves us so much that He sent His Son, and live accordingly.

This is of extreme relevance to me, not just personally but in my ministry in Japan. A major problem with the spread of the Gospel in Japan has been the lack of belief in an absolute, omnipotent Creator. Japan calls itself “The Land of 8 Million Gods,” and there are quite probably more than that even in Shinto, which is where the expression came from. When you add in Japanese Buddhism, which essentially makes anyone who dies an object of worship, you get many times that number. That makes the commitment even of many Japanese church members rather shaky. If things don’t seem to be working out as they try “this Christian thing,” they are all too prone to dump it and try something else. There’s naturally no victory in that! However, that attitude isn’t limited to Japan. I know of Americans who have seemed to be very earnest Christians who have suddenly turned their backs on the whole thing. The devil has deceived them, blinding them to the truth that is expressed here. I am to pray for all such people that the Truth may indeed set them free. (John 8:32) Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not be able to stand against His Church, made up of those who have genuinely acknowledged Him as Lord. (Matthew 16:18) I am to be sure that I am in that number, and speak the truth in love so that as many people as possible may be added to it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am reminded all too often of my own inability to be victorious. Help me indeed take my eyes off of myself and fix them on Jesus, (Hebrews 12:2) just as I encourage others to do, so that we may all experience the victory that is ours in Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Agape Love; December 28, 2018

Posted on December 31, 2018 by jgarrott

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

The more you read 1 John 4, the more you realize you don’t really understand agape love. God had a reason for choosing Greek for the dissemination of the Gospel! We have fears of various sorts and we struggle with loving those around us, which proves that this verse is true. The thing is, we need to have the humility to admit that we haven’t been made perfect in love, and yield ourselves to God for His love to flow through us, replacing our own, highly imperfect love. The rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, has a number of problems theologically, but one song from it has a kernel of deep truth in it: I Don’t Know How to Love Him. If we are honest, we all have to make that confession. Our concepts of love are so distorted by so many things, both within us and from outside us, that without the help of the Holy Spirit, we have little hope of getting it all straight. For example, there are those who think they are motivated by love in forcing girls to go through FGM, and there are others who think that love means spoiling children rotten. Either of those is a sad distortion. What complicates it all is that our distorted view of love colors how we see God, since He is Love, as John says in this very chapter. It should be totally obvious that God isn’t self-centered and/or erotic love! All of us have tasted agape love, both receiving it and, at least in flashes, letting it flow through us. The point is to learn more and more about it, to recognize it and not be deceived by the countless imitations. That’s why John wrote this passage. Fear is within us, so it is a reliable gauge of our level of love. There is a lot in the world to make us afraid, so this is constantly being tested. When we have a perfect appreciation of God’s love for us, fear becomes a non-issue, and we allow God’s love to flow through us, even to those who are perhaps killing us. That is a high standard indeed!

I feel like I have a better grasp of agape than many, but when I look at it this way, I see that I’m not yet “made perfect.” However, I can say that yielding to God’s love does make fear fly out the window. John’s remark about punishment rings true when I realize how many of my fears are related to my own failures. It’s not at all that I’m to be cavalier about sin of any sort, but God’s grace is indeed greater than all my sins, just as the hymn says, and His love covers over them all. (Proverbs 10:12, 1 Peter 4:8) I’ve also got to realize that applies to the sins of everyone else as well. I am to pray for those who sin against me, just as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:44) and allow His love to erase the impact of their sin in my life. That’s not easy! The longer I serve as a spiritual father to many, the better I understand how we all break our heavenly Father’s heart in many ways. I need to let His love flow through me more and more, to wash out all the junk and make me into the loving child that He desires.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do ask for Your wisdom and guidance in expressing Your love to those around me, especially to Your wandering sheep. Help me correct and admonish as necessary, but always keep Your love primary and in the forefront. I can’t do that on my own! May I be increasingly effective as a vessel, an agent of Your love, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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