February 5, 2017

Posted on February 12, 2017 by jgarrott

Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

This is of course one of the pivotal points in the entire Biblical narrative. Its importance cannot be overstated. Several messages could be preached on this passage (and doubtless have many times) but what strikes me most strongly right now is that Abram wasn’t the final, end recipient of all that God was promising. Dotted throughout this is the clear statement that others would be blessed through him. He would certainly receive plenty of blessing in the process, but it was not to stop with him. That is actually a major principle of the whole Bible, and we overlook it to our loss. There is an old hymn that is specifically about this: Make Me a Channel of Blessing. It’s refreshing to find hymns that are genuinely Biblical without simply being Scripture set to music (though those are nice too). When we focus on I-my-me-mine, as we are so prone to do, we generally miss the greater part of what God is doing. He cares about each of us individually, but He also cares about each other human being, down to the end of the world. My father caught that idea in his letter to the family before his heart surgery from which he woke up in heaven: “My prayer for each of you is that you will know and do God’s will for you, which will fit in perfectly with His will for everyone else.” We are individuals, but we aren’t in isolation; what we do or fail to do affects many more people beside ourselves. To the degree we are self-centered, we fail to recognize and enjoy the many ways God wants to bless others through us, and so miss blessings for us.

This applies to me just as much as it does to anyone. As a pastor I try to communicate this truth to others, but it sometimes feels like bailing a battleship with a teaspoon. The thing is, I don’t see the end results of anything I do, because my actions will continue to echo on to the end of the world. I’m not to despair at a lack of immediate, visible results for my labors because I don’t know what the end results will be down the line. I have ministered to many people who have talked about how they were impacted by people years ago, and those people probably never knew the influence they had. God created and commissioned me to be a blessing. I need to believe, trust, and rejoice in that, whatever happens to be visible to my very limited perception.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I get very caught up in the “right now,” and lose perspective entirely. Thank You for how You have blessed many people through me over the years, and how You continue to do so. May I not hinder that by my narrow field of vision, but may I also not obsess over it. May I rather rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me, so that Your will may be done in and through me on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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February 4, 2017

Posted on February 6, 2017 by jgarrott

Genesis 9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

This would certainly seem to be a definitive answer to vegans! In our current shrink-wrapped society we don’t like to think about how our food used to be alive, and many people react against hunting, thinking it cruel. However, you can’t get any more “free range” than that, with the deer, duck, or whatever living a perfectly natural life until they have one very bad day. The Bible as a whole doesn’t condone cruelty to animals, but it makes no bones about our being at the top of the food chain. Even this passage talks about respect for life, and lays the groundwork for Jesus’ blood sacrifice for us. Greed and cruelty are clearly antithetical to the character of God, in whose image we are created, but I really think it’s the devil who creates false dichotomies that deprive us of things God intended for our blessing. It’s good to note that this passage doesn’t support a meat-only diet either, but simply says that meat is to be added to the plant products that were already understood to be edible.

I’ve had some interesting encounters in this area. Personally, I’ve taken a deer while hunting, and I’ve butchered a pig and assisted with a couple of turkeys that started out live. Some people have been grossed out, even horrified, by that. In the 9th grade, I think it was, I did a report for biology class on comparative anatomy, dissecting and taking pictures of a frog, a fish, and a chicken, comparing the organs of each. With the chicken, my photo series continued to the plate of fried chicken my mother prepared, and then a plate of bones after the meal. I got an A! In contrast to that, I deal with someone who won’t knowingly eat any animal products at all. Their health really suffers for it. I don’t know if I can use this passage to correct their thinking, but I need to try. Paul dealt with this issue a lot, and I need to learn from how he handled it. God’s truth will always set us free from the lies of the enemy, who is only out to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 8:32; 10:10)

Father, thank you for Your abundant – and delicious – provision. Help me make the right use of what You provide as a good steward of my own body, and help others do the same, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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February 3, 2017

Posted on February 5, 2017 by jgarrott

From today, the theme shifts to God’s Provision. The Scripture passages have been chosen on the basis of their use of provi*, abundan*,much, give*, or gave, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I will write on that part of the passage. I look forward to all that God is going to speak to us on this theme over the next several months.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man
in his own image,
in the image of God
he created him;
male and female
he created them.

It is very significant that in this first narration of the creation story it is clear that male and female are on equal footing. We get hung up on gender pronouns sometimes. Current political correctness takes that to the height of absurdity. Male and female are certainly different, in more ways than most of us realize, but they are equal. A lot of the root of “gender dysphoria” comes from people feeling their biological gender is in some way inferior. We have such difficulty dealing with the idea that “different” doesn’t necessarily mean “better” or “worse.” That’s not at all to say that there are no values; it is always better to express the character of God, that is, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, (Galatians 5:22-23) than not. However, such factors as skin color, eye color, hair, and any of a number of other things, have no bearing whatsoever on “good” or “bad.” It is sad indeed to hear feminists embracing “nasty” in self-description. They have no grasp of the intrinsic value of men or women. The last verse of this first chapter in the Bible says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) I don’t care for the deliberately poor grammar, but I love the sentiment on a shirt I saw years ago: “I know I’m something, ’cause God don’t make no junk.” God made us all different but equal, and that’s very good.

I am deeply grateful to have grown up in the home that I did. My parents deeply respected each other, and they respected us children as individuals. Discipline was certainly present, but also a great deal of liberty. Since we were Americans in Japan, there was a great deal of awareness of differences among people and cultures, but particularly on my father’s part I don’t recall any cultural imperialism. That might sound strange to some people who identify religion with culture, since we were here to tell people about Christ, but that shows a fundamental misunderstanding on their part. As I have been telling people for the past 35 years, I’m not here to teach them a religion, I’m here to introduce them to a Savior. All of that said, gender equality was very much an issue in society as a whole. My mother really struggled with her role at times, because she had arrived in Japan as an appointed missionary before my father, (they married in Japan) but the mission board automatically placed her in a “subservient” (as she saw it at the time) role, focused on the family rather than on school teaching, evangelism and the like. I think she failed to grasp just how huge a testimony a Christian home is in a non-Christian society. Right now I think Cathy’s and my relationship is one of the most powerful influences we have on society around us. I need to treat each person as both individual and equal in value, however much their abilities or other characteristics might vary. Compared to God, none of us have any ability anyway! I need to help people recognize, apply, and rejoice in what God has placed in them, so that they may fulfill all of His purposes in creating them as they are, for His glory.

Father, this is something I deal with constantly. Help us all see You, and consequently see ourselves and each other, accurately, so that Your love and grace may flow freely, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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February 2, 2017

Posted on February 5, 2017 by jgarrott

Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

I’ve read of a Christian leader who takes this verse as a key to time management, saying that if half an hour was worth making note of in heaven, then any time we have a block of time as much as that we should be intentional in our use of it. That has a lot to be said for it. However, the thing that strikes me at the moment is the use God had for the half hour in question. As much as goes on in John’s Revelation, quiet is somewhat surprising. There is value to loud praise and singing, but there is value to be quiet as well. In our busy world today, quiet can be hard to come by. Often enough, we are afraid to be alone with our own thoughts. Modern technology has made it possible to maintain a virtually constant stream of auditory input, and some people become anxious and even agitated without it. A famous verse says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) That particular verse could also be translated, “Stop fighting.” One reason we are so addicted to our music, etc. is that we don’t really want to listen to God; we are resisting Him. That resistance deprives us of untold blessings. I’ve always thought it was tragic when I have seen people walking in beautiful natural settings with earbuds in, oblivious to the sounds and even the sights around them. I think one reason most people have never been aware of God speaking to them is that they have never been that quiet. In Pentecostal/Charismatic circles it is not unusual for people to gather around someone to pray for them. I think it was Katie Fortune who first pointed out to me that too often the person being prayed for is also praying non-stop, either in their native language or in a prayer language. That somewhat defeats the purpose! There are times when we need to be quiet, to listen, to receive what God has for us. In the perfection of heaven, silence is one of the blessings.

I was reminded just recently of how God once told me to shut up so I could hear Him. I tend to be a talker, and one thing I have had to learn as a counselor is how to be quiet long enough for the other person to get out what they really need to say. In that, I’ve got to be really listening, rather than just formulating in my mind the next thing I’m going to say. I’ve got to be quiet not just externally but internally. In the hectic pace of life today, genuine quiet can be a rare commodity, to the point that we forget what it’s like. With the variety of demands on me I sometimes find myself longing for it! I need to remember that internal quiet is a choice that doesn’t depend on external circumstances, and make the choice to indeed, be still, and know that God is God, my Creator, Savior, and Lord.

Father, yesterday was certainly another practicum in this. Thank You for continuing to work on me in all the ways I need to grow. Help me not simply try to avoid responsibilities, as I am so prone to do, but rather take care of things when I should and not put them off, since only then will I have the inner quiet for which I hunger. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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February 1, 2017

Posted on February 2, 2017 by jgarrott

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

This whole scene is one of almost unimaginable glory, with various parts of the chapter memorialized in song by Handel and others. I can’t read it without singing, at least internally! However, as I read it just now one little phrase, that doesn’t appear in any of the music I know, jumped out at me. (It’s actually the sentence that caused this passage to be included in this series of readings on prayer.) This is where it says the incense is the prayers of the saints. It struck me that incense is something to be offered to God, that has value in and of itself. We get all wrapped up in what to pray and how to pray and when to pray, but this would indicate the fundamental issue is that we pray. Jesus made it clear that we aren’t to think God will hear us because of the quantity of our words. (Matthew 6:7) However, that’s hardly the same as saying it doesn’t matter if we pray. Prayer doesn’t benefit God especially, but it pleases Him because it is a matter of our focusing our hearts on Him. What we can offer to God is prayer, praise, and obedience, period. Everything else we have is from Him to begin with, to it is returning to Him what was already His. That’s not to say financial offerings, for example, are meaningless, but it is to say they are important for our spiritual attitude rather than because they meet God’s need. Prayer is a joy to me, and it increases my joy to realize that my prayers are pleasing to Him.

I’m still learning about prayer, and I expect to continue to do so until I stand before the throne, just like the elders in this passage. In many ways I don’t pray enough, because I let any of a number of things distract me from my focus on God. At the same time, I must not forget the first time I heard God speak to me in what might as well have been an audible voice (though I don’t think anyone else would have heard it had they been present). I had been praying earnestly for God to speak to me, basically non-stop for several minutes, and then when I paused for breath He said, “Well then, shut up.” I was caught so off guard that I had to laugh! I need to pray listening prayers, offering my words but being expectant and receptive of His. As a pastor, perhaps of my deepest longing is for those in my care to learn to pray, receive what God is saying, (especially through His Word) and then act on it. I’m not 100% in that myself, so I’ve got to keep pressing in for more, but it breaks my heart to see Christians who don’t have a growing, intimate relationship with their Savior. It’s so available to them, if they will only choose to accept it.

Father, recently I’ve been struck by how many people claim the name of Jesus but really follow their own imaginations rather than Him. Keep me from doing the same. May my prayers, praise, and obedience be fully acceptable and pleasing to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 31, 2017

Posted on February 2, 2017 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.

This passage has long been used in Pentecostal/Charismatic circles to encourage praying in tongues. That’s not unreasonable, but this says far more than that. In the first place it speaks of our personal responsibility for spiritual growth. Far too many Christians expect to be spoon fed on Sundays and do hardly anything focused on God during the week. That would certainly fit the profile of the 1-talent servant in Jesus’ parable! (Matthew 25:14-30) In the second place, praying in the Holy Spirit is hardly limited to praying in tongues. Actually, all of our prayers should be guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit, because He certainly knows how to pray according to the Father’s will far better than we do. (Romans 8:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11) It is the next part that particularly gets ignored. We cling to passages like Romans 8:38-39, which says that nothing can separate us from God’s love, and so fail to grasp what is being said here. Jesus Himself said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (John 15:9-10) That sounds exactly like what His half-brother Jude says here. Too often we sing about God’s love, grace, and mercy and forget the little matter of our obedience. It’s not that God doesn’t love us when we disobey Him, it’s that we step outside of the realm of His benefits for us when we ignore or deliberately violate what He has said, either to do or not to do. Even Jude is talking about Jesus’ mercy – extremely appropriate when he grew up with Him but didn’t believe in Him until after His resurrection – because none of us obey perfectly. We let temporal things distract us from the eternal, the visible from the invisible, so we are dependent on God’s grace and mercy. That’s why we need to make full use of what God provides to draw closer to Him in obedience.

Growing up in the home I did, pride and presumption nearly did me in. I knew Jesus and thought I loved Him, but that love wasn’t demonstrated in obedience the way Jesus said. I certainly wasn’t taking Jude’s advice here. In God’s incredible grace and mercy He pointed that out to me after I was married, a father, and out of the Army, and it has been quite a journey since then. There are times when I feel very desirous of God taking me home NOW, but I know the timing of that is entirely His business, and meanwhile He has work for me to do. I am still all-too-easily distracted by temporal things. I need to remember a truth I heard many years ago: sometimes the good will keep us from God. If I focus so hard on what seems good to me that I lose sight of God, then that good has become a tool of the devil. I need to surrender everything to Him and allow Him to do for, in, and through me what He has planned, for His glory.

Father, You know the devastation I feel at losing the land next door. You know all the issues that are connected to that in my mind and emotions. You also know far better than I do what You want to do in and through me, and I know that Your plans are always good. (Jeremiah 29:11) Help me keep myself in Your love through my obedience, so that Your plans may be fulfilled indeed, in Your way and on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 30, 2017

Posted on February 1, 2017 by jgarrott

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

The older you get, physically and spiritually, the more true this verse is for you. You realize that the only thing from this world that can possibly be with you in the next is people, and your focus shifts to them. John was obviously talking about spiritual children here, and from that perspective I’m sure he had a huge family. We all have people we care about, whether they are biologically related to us or not. The better we understand what is genuinely important, the more we are going to be concerned about whether those people are walking in God’s truth. We naturally want those people to be healthy and prosperous, as John says in verse 2 that he prays for, but the greatest good we can desire for anyone is that they live in right relationship with their Creator. I have seen many, many aberrations of this, with people caring more about “creature comforts,” for themselves and for others, than they do about walking in God’s truth. If we don’t have the focus right in our own lives, how are we going to have it right in relation to others? Tradition tells us that John lived physically well past 90 (the only one of the original 12 apostles to do so) but there is ample evidence that his spiritual maturity surpassed that by far, and that is a much more important thing for us to emulate. We should be focused first on our own walk with the Lord, (Matthew 7:3-5) but on that foundation we should be doing all we can to help others walk with Him as well.

I can certainly identify with John when it comes to joy. I’m not yet 70, but physical things have a smaller and smaller attraction for me, especially compared to the spiritual. My whole framework of priorities and values has shifted over the years, and I’m grateful. It is distressing when people I care about ignore God and/or flaunt their disobedience to His rules, but I’ve passed through some of that myself, and I’ve seen some people recover marvelously. It’s those stories of recovery that give me joy! I think it’s accurate to say that no one on earth is where they could be, spiritually speaking, but the closer any person is to God’s best for them, the more joy it gives me. Just yesterday Cathy and I were talking about spiritual growth we are noticing in someone, and we were rejoicing. I know it gives my Father joy when I walk rightly with Him, and His joy is communicated to me when others do so as well.

Father, thank You for not giving up on any of us. You’ve been giving us a pretty intensive course in faith and trust over the past few months, and I’m grateful to see some of the results. I pray that we would all walk closer to You in Your truth, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You so that we won’t get in the way of Your perfect will being done in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 29, 2017

Posted on January 31, 2017 by jgarrott

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

This is one of those strong statements in the Bible that, when taken wrongly, have caused some people to discard their faith when things didn’t go as they expected. That certainly applies to the story behind the current movie, Silence. The original author, Shusaku Endo, felt that God was silent in the face of Christians’ suffering because He didn’t answer their cries by rescuing them. After all, how could rescuing His children from suffering not be His will? However, that ignores the reality that even Jesus suffered horribly and died, so the question of God’s will is a deep one indeed. Our faith needs to be in Him and in what He has already done for us, not in what we think He is going to do for us. 25 years ago I had a very promising young man leave the church because his father wasn’t cured of cancer, but died. He overlooked the fact that his father lived over three years past his diagnosis, when the doctors had given him six months. God had given the young man over two years of opportunity to lead his father to faith, but he didn’t use that time for that purpose, and he decided it was all a lie when his father died. That was the greater tragedy. We have a stubborn tendency to decide what must be God’s will, and then when things don’t turn out that way we blame God. How foolish! Job had the right idea: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15)

I am in the middle of just such a test of my faith. Last night the owner of the land next door called to say that he is deciding to sell the land to the developer and not to us, giving up on trying to jump through the legal hoops required. That was a gut-punch indeed for me, and I haven’t had much sleep as a result. My wife sent out an immediate prayer request by email, and it is interesting that one of the most encouraging of the early responses was from someone I would not have expected it from. He said, “It’s not over ’till it’s over.” That said, I am certainly to the point of having to release my dream of an assisted living facility next door to the Lord completely. Even at this point nothing is impossible for Him, but I cannot imagine how He might bring it to pass (certainly not as I had envisioned it). I’ve got to keep my faith focused on Him rather than what I want Him to do for or concerning me. It is interesting that when I was investigating all the legal hurdles to establishing an assisted living facility I was just about ready to give up the idea then. (The problem right now is a matter of zoning, rather than regulations.) I was well aware that I don’t have the administrative gifts to handle running such a facility, particularly on top of the church, but my expectation was that either I would be grown in that area or, more probably, the Lord would bring others into the picture who were appropriately gifted. If by some miracle He still brings it to pass, I’m sure that will happen, but in the mean time, I’ve got to release it all into His hands and rest, relax, and rejoice in Him.

Father, thank You for this too. Thank You that my cold is much better. Thank You that You can be trusted, not only with my life and my health but with this church and with my legacy as well. Thank You for pointing out to me that legacy was one of the things that was making me count on this so strongly. Forgive my foolishness! May Your name alone be hallowed and Your kingdom come as Your will is done, right here, in every situation, as perfectly as it is in heaven. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 28, 2017

Posted on January 31, 2017 by jgarrott

1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

I like that the Japanese specifies just words or tongue. We do need to be verbal in our expressions of love, and the more so the closer the relationship. However, words alone are empty. This actually matches James’ famous statement about being a “doer of the Word,” in James 1:22. Some people are more verbal than others, so there is going to be a wide variation in how this is expressed, but both John and James are cautioning against thinking, even subconsciously, that “I’ve said it so I’ve done it.” Jesus was very clear on this point as well. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) On that point we need to be careful we don’t decide on our own what God’s will must be, but rather be humbly submitted to Him. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23) The same can be said of expressions of love. A major issue between husbands and wives is the failure to understand what will be received as an expression of love. With all the differences between men and women, it’s not unusual for one partner’s “expressions of love” to make the other partner angry! Learning to love accurately and effectively is a lifelong endeavor.

I’ve been in quite a practicum in this area over the past 48 years. (The anniversary of our first date is just over two weeks away.) I can tell my wife often that I love her, and I do, but if my actions don’t line up by meeting her needs, it all sounds very empty. I do a lot of marriage counseling, largely premarital but some otherwise. This is an issue I bring up every time, but people seem to have great difficulty understanding and accepting it. We think everyone is supposed to be like us, whatever their gender! I had the huge advantage of growing up with parents who were quite expressive of their love, for each other and for us their children. They didn’t flaunt it, but we certainly knew they kissed, and not just a peck on the cheek, either. Far beyond that, we saw how they were thoughtful of each other, communicating, and as much as possible sticking to, schedules, offering to run errands for each other and the like. It’s no wonder I couldn’t wait to get married, and so tied the knot at 20! Some of our friends today are in awe of our marriage, but don’t see how they could emulate it. They may not have the background that Cathy and I did even before we married, much less the track record since, but they can certainly improve their current situation if they will take John’s words to heart.

Father, thank You for Your love and grace to us. Help us be open and accurate channels of that love and grace, to each other first of all but also to everyone around us, so that they may be drawn to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 27, 2017

Posted on January 28, 2017 by jgarrott

1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

This is a justly famous verse, but we tend to add to it in a way that actually diminishes the impact. What we do is insert, in our minds at any rate, “in the church,” after “speaks” and “serves.” The devil doesn’t like our obeying this verse at all, but he minds it much less if we limit our application of it to formal “church” settings. That produces “Sunday Christians” who do little or nothing to advance the Kingdom of God. Paul talked about watching our speech at all times, (Ephesians 4:29, 5:4) and the same sort of thing may be said of all our activities. (Colossians 3:17) Since as believers we are to be speaking the Gospel, everything we say should be in line with that. That’s not at all to say we’re always to be solemn; even Jesus told jokes! However, there should not be a disconnect between the Gospel and anything else that comes out of our mouths. Likewise, we are to serve people as serving the Lord. If we will do that, we will find His strength to be abundant indeed.

Anyone who knows me would be quick to agree that I am “one who speaks.” Too often it’s a problem getting me to shut up! I have no greater joy than when I am aware that God is speaking through me, and people are receiving His Word. At the same time, it also gives me joy to serve Christ through serving others. Actually, I have let my own joy in speaking and serving be a hindrance to this church, because if I’m always doing everything, others are deprived of the joy and the growth that come from such activities. Our speaking and serving, as Peter talks about them, are certainly not confined to the church, but the fellowship of believers is an excellent place to train in doing these things properly. If someone cannot pray out loud in a church setting, they certainly aren’t going to pray out loud for a non-Christian friend in that person’s presence. I am to teach the believers to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16) I’m not to be the only teacher/admonisher!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for this cold, that makes me more than willing to let anybody serve however they would like, because I don’t feel like it! Help me recognize how You want me speak and serve today and be obedient, whatever I feel like, so that Your will may be done in and through me for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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