September 9, 2016

Posted on September 10, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 37:3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

The Bible is loaded with examples of hypocrisy, and this is a good one. Zedekiah was the son of a good king. Reading about Josiah his father is glorious and encouraging. However, Zedekiah was far from fully devoted to God. He made the right move here, but he was looking to God, through Jeremiah, as an “escape clause” rather than with any real commitment to obedience. He knew what obedience to God looked like from watching his father, but he didn’t follow through on his own. He evidently got pretty close, since he sent both a government official and a priest to Jeremiah, but the problem was in his lack of follow-through. This is a good object lesson for us. We are to inquire of God, certainly, but we need to be committed to obedience before we know what His answer will be. Too often we “seek God,” but all we really want is a rubber stamp on our own plans. I think everyone is guilty of that sometimes, so the question is whether we realize it and repent. The reason we are given free will is not so we can choose to abandon God, but rather so that we can choose obedient devotion to Him. If the possibility of rebellion and rejection were not real, then free will would be an illusion and the whole concept of sin a fiction. However, it is all too possible for us to go through the motions with our hearts not in it, and so be mired in sin even while people around us think we are pious. Our actions are important, but God wants us from the inside out. Sometimes we have to slog through stuff when we don’t feel it. Even Mother Teresa confessed to that. The question is our commitment to obedience. That is the true test of love for God.

Wow! That hits hard! I have certainly had my times of being on the wrong side of this issue. Like Zedekiah, I had an exemplary father, but the Lord had to point out to me rather strongly that my standing with Him was not on the basis of my father (though I do enjoy generational blessings) but on the basis of my own repentance, faith, and obedience. Because I knew the routines so well, I could fool a lot of people – including myself! God wasn’t after the routines, He was after my heart, and it had wandered pretty far, even though it knew Him. Right now, I feel I am to share this principle with people this Sunday, but I don’t yet know how. I am to be humble and quiet before the Lord, allowing Him to show me the Scriptures to be used and how the points are to be made. It would be ironic indeed if I were to preach on this subject out of my own head instead of in joyful obedience to Him!

Father, Thank You for this strong message. Usually I have sermon notes done by this time in the week, so this was also another lesson in trusting You. I do ask for clear anointing as I work on the notes, not to make the task easy (though it does) but so that it will be Your Word indeed, working Your will in the hearts and lives of all who hear it, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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September 8, 2016

Posted on September 10, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

I have always loved God’s gentle humor here. He is literally quoting Jeremiah back to him, from the beginning of Jeremiah’s prayer in verse 17. This story illustrates the reality that even God’s most faithful servants don’t always operate in all the truth they know. All of us get tied in knots over one thing and another, when if we exercised perfect faith we would be at peace all the time. The good news is, God is just as patient with us as He was with Jeremiah. Like Jesus with His disciples, sometimes He chides us for our failing to use the faith He has provided, but that is never harsh. When Jesus pulled Peter out of the lake and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt,” (Matthew 14:31) He was probably actually very pleased that Peter had exercised enough faith to get out of the boat. God never asks of us more than He has provided. (Luke 12:48) We are responsible for our stewardship of what He has given us, however much or little that might be. Almost always, He has given us more than we realize, but we won’t discover that until we step out in obedience. Jeremiah is again a good example here. He was obedient to buy land for a considerable sum of money, even though his senses and his intellect told him that the Babylonians owned everything by conquest and contracts between Jews were meaningless. Likewise we need to be obedient to the Lord regardless of what the devil and the world say or do. Yesterday I watched the trailer of a movie that is just coming out telling the true story of America’s only unarmed medal of honor winner, a medic who saved 75 lives in Okinawa in WWII, having gone through terrible hardship for the right not to carry a weapon. His motivation was his Christian faith, believing that he was doing what God was calling him to do, and God came through remarkably.

I am constantly faced with the challenge of living out all that I know of God and His word. James 1:22 is engraved in my brain and heart, because I know I am called to do the Word, not just hear, read, or even teach it. A special temptation for pastors is to think that because they are teaching the truth they are practicing it. Sadly, there is no end to the parade of fallen leaders who show that is not the case. Again it was James who said, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) I have a risky job! If I rely on myself, I will certainly fall flat, but if I am fully and properly dependent on God, He will do it all through me, and do it well. As Paul said, our competence comes from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 3:5-6)

Father, the past few days You have done a number of things beautifully through me. Thank You. Every day presents fresh challenges. Help me never presume on You, much less on the gifts You have given me, but walk in constant assurance of my complete dependence on You, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing, just as You have told me to do, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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September 7, 2016

Posted on September 9, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 31:16 This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”

declares the Lord.

This is an enormously comforting verse that probably every Christian worker needs from time to time. It brings to mind Psalm 126:5. “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” The Bible actually has many passages about both tears and rewards, and one of the important points of heaven, repeated twice in Revelation, is that God will personally wipe away every tear. (Revelation 7:17, 21:4) A line from a secular song says, “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden.” When we insist on things being easy we miss out on most of life! One of my most frequently quoted Scriptures is John 16:33. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Life on this earth has many joys, but it also has many struggles and sorrows. It is always our choice what we focus on. If we focus on the trouble, we will be miserable. If we focus on the Lord, we will have peace and joy. One powerful de-motivator is the feeling that all our efforts aren’t accomplishing anything. That is a major issue in Japan, which has far and away the lowest “return on investment” of any field of evangelism in the world. However, the field is not without fruit, and we are called to faithfulness, not flash. Patience is a prime requirement for anyone who would serve the Lord, but especially so in Japan.

This is of course the story, not just of my life but of my family, since my parents were missionaries here before me. It was said of my father that the reason he had so much success as a school administrator, as well as trustee of the Japan Baptist Convention and other such positions, was that he could “out-sit his opponents.” That is, he could be patient until they came around to his position. Even so, on at least one occasion he prostrated himself on the floor before the Lord and cried out, “Lord, if I am what is keeping revival from Japan, then take me out of the way!” I can certainly identify with that! God’s many promises of reward for my labors, here and elsewhere, seem ephemeral at times. If I limit myself to what my senses and intellect tell me, then I will live in discouragement and depression. However, in Christ I can rejoice! Just yesterday I found out that someone to whom I have been ministering for several years in the Prefectural Mental Hospital will be discharged this month, and he repeated to me his commitment to follow Christ only. That makes up for a lot of struggles! He won’t be living in this immediate area, so he won’t be an addition to this church as such, but there is a good church close to his home which I recommended to him, and he has certainly been added to the family of God. I am indeed to rejoice in such things, and trust God with His resolution to everything, for His glory.

Father, thank You for the victories I do see, however small they might seem at the moment. Help me trust You indeed with everything, resting, relaxing, and rejoicing in You, just as You have told me to do, so that nothing will hinder my availability to You, for Your perfect will to be done in and through me for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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September 6, 2016

Posted on September 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 29:7 “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

God is here expressing an economic principle that is all too often forgotten: genuine prosperity does not come in isolation. Even the filthy rich couldn’t be that way unless the general population had enough money to be able to buy their products, whether those products are merchandise or entertainment. We don’t expect the Bible to be an economics textbook, but in many ways it really is. Jesus had more to say about money than He did about heaven! The principle expressed here is the reason why democracies have been more prosperous than any other kind of nation: the general population is given the opportunity to become prosperous, which raises the prosperity of the entire nation. That’s very solid macro economics! However, the various economic principles expressed in the Bible are never in a vacuum; they are always in the context of accountability toward and dependence on God. That’s why this verse specifically says to pray. If we try to divorce human activity from God we won’t get very far. This actually ties in with the 2nd Great Commandment, (Matthew 22:36-40) which was part of Sunday’s message. If we love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we will pray for his blessing and prosperity. There are some activities we cannot in good conscience pray for God to bless, but in such cases we can pray for the people involved to be delivered and led into righteous activities. You don’t pray for the local drug dealer to have lots of customers, for example, but you do pray for him to repent and believe in Christ so that he may use his God-given abilities in the way they were intended.

This is a somewhat surprising revelation even for me. I don’t expect my devotions to be about economics! However, I need to remember that God is indeed interested in every detail of our lives, and that His plans for us, mentioned so famously in verse 11, cover every one of those details. Men in particular are adept at compartmentalizing their lives, so I’ve got to be careful that every compartment is yielded and submitted to God. I am all too adept at being spiritual one minute and carnal the next. I need to seek God’s help in being consistently faithful, not simply for my own sake but so that my example may draw others closer to God. For example, I am not to tell others to pray for the prosperity of their city and nation and fail to do so myself. I cannot control others directly, and I should not be trying to do so. However, I should be praying for them and allowing God to use me as His agent in blessing them.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am very prone to want to control others, but doing so violates the free will that You have given each of us. Help me release everyone into Your hands, praying for them while recognizing that Your hands are certainly big enough, strong enough, and loving enough to deal with every detail. Thank You. Praise God!

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September 5, 2016

Posted on September 8, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 20:7 O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.

You can’t accuse Jeremiah of hiding his feelings! I think the majority of genuine Christians, even, would be afraid to talk to God like this. However, it’s important to notice just what it is that has Jeremiah so upset. It’s not God, really, but rather the response of the people to whom Jeremiah is trying to communicate the Word of the Lord. Reading the entire Book of Jeremiah, there is nowhere the Lord promises him it will be easy. Rather, He says He will strengthen Jeremiah against them. (Jeremiah 1:8) The tension between his awareness of God and his view of his circumstances was so great that today, a speech like this would be described as bipolar. With all that is going on in the world today, any thoughtful person could be that way. The task, then, is to shift our focus more and more from the temporal to the eternal. The difficulty is that at this point we ourselves are temporal, and it takes real faith to shift our focus to God with any consistency. The writer to the Hebrews put it so beautifully: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) “Growing weary and losing heart” has been a risk for believers down through the centuries, but as John said, faith will overcome. (1 John 5:4)

I have certainly had my “Jeremiah moments,” feeling overwhelmed by the response, or lack of it, to my ministry, but God has always pulled me through. I am totally convinced that I can accomplish nothing good on my own, (John 15:5) but I have experienced the power of God to do some fairly remarkable things through me. I am not to fear being honest before God, but I’ve got to remember always that He sees things differently, and far better, than I do. He knows every outcome, every ripple from every event, and I’ve got to trust Him with it all. Sometimes, like Isaiah, I’ve got to “set my face like flint” (Isaiah 50:7) and keep going, remembering that God’s outcomes are always good.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that the typhoon that was supposed to hit us last night seems to have largely passed us by. Thank You that the unexpected additions to today’s schedule fit together so well. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in all of it, allowing You to work Your perfect will in and through me, for the blessing of all involved and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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September 4, 2016

Posted on September 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

“I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.”

The fields of Psychology and Psychiatry were developed to deal with the issue posed in verse 9, but any psychologist or psychiatrist who doesn’t know the Lord and depend on His Word and His Spirit is basically feeling around in the dark. The human heart/soul is a fascinating thing in its complexity. The majority of people who who go into the field of the soul (psyche is Greek for soul) do so, at least initially, out of a desire to understand themselves. Investigating such things is not wrong, much less bad, but leaving God out of the equation removes the only possible foundation for real understanding. Paul struggled with this very issue, famously expressed in Romans 7, but he did so on the basis of human sin and God’s righteousness. That gives far more hope for genuine resolution! Modern Psychology and Psychiatry generally deny completely the world of the demonic. That is a major reason for overflowing mental hospitals worldwide. If there is no recognition of the reality of sin, and how sin opens the door to the demonic, there is ultimately no hope. There are indeed chemical imbalances that mess people up, but those are relatively minor. Much is made of “genetic predisposition” to mental illness, but no attention is paid to what the Bible says about generational curses. It is only when we recognize our own accountability before God, as well as our own inability to clean ourselves up, that we can repent indeed and receive God’s deliverance and healing.

I visit patients every week at the Nagasaki Prefectural Psychiatric Medical Center, so I am confronted with this issue constantly. I frankly do not know why more people aren’t delivered through my ministry, but some are. In general, the environment there has had a very negative effect on those who were desiring to depend on Jesus, because the staff treats that as harmful superstition. The level of demonic activity there is very high. Even outside of the hospital I deal often with what is classified as mental illness. Society treats all such problems as things to be medicated rather than repented of and delivered from. That can be tragic. It is my personal observation, not just from people I encounter but also from examining my own soul, that the root of the vast majority of all such problems is self-centeredness. There is a reason God tells us first to love Him and then to love our neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40) I’m preaching on that this morning! I need to help people understand that if they will repent of their violations of those two commandments, everything else will straighten out. However, I am to be patient and not judging, asking and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work in their hearts and minds to overcome a lifetime of the devil’s lies.

Father, thank You for this very timely Word. Guide me in how and how much to incorporate in this morning’s message. I pray that Your truth through me would indeed set people free from the lies that have bound them for so long, for their full deliverance and salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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September 3, 2016

Posted on September 7, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 16:20 “Do men make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”

When reading the Bible, it is important to keep track of who is saying what to whom. However, that’s not always easy, because ancient Hebrew and Greek didn’t use modern punctuation, like quotation marks. This verse is something that God was telling Jeremiah the people of Israel would say in later years, after He brought them back from captivity. At the point Jeremiah was hearing this, the people around him for the most part hadn’t caught on to the reality of this statement. Anthropologists today can tell you how every culture has made its own gods, and actually modern culture is no different. It is no accident that popular entertainers are called idols! It takes a level of spiritual sensitivity/maturity to recognize the futility of man-made religion, because the devil is very active in deceiving as many people as he can. He doesn’t care what religion you are, so long as you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord! It was very eye-opening, for those who were paying attention, when in recent years large numbers of Dalits, the “untouchables” of the Indian caste system, started ditching Hinduism because they realized that it had been the major framework of oppression and discrimination against them. The fundamentalist Hindus said, “You can become Buddhist or Muslim if you like, but if you become Christian, we will kill you.” In other words, the devil likes every religion except genuine Christianity. Incidentally, there is still severe persecution of Christians in many parts of India, just as there is in China, though Christians in the West are generally ignorant of it.

Living in the non-Christian nation of Japan, gods that are not God are inescapable, but at least people call them gods. In America, such gods are equally rampant, but people don’t recognize them for what they are. The devil is just as happy with a church that doesn’t teach the Bible and never talks about sin and repentance as he is with a pagan temple. Sometimes I think he’s even happier with it, because it makes people discount Christianity, since it is powerless. As a pastor I must be on my guard that we don’t become like that. Recently I have been very gratified to hear that several people have said to Cathy, “Your God is powerful,” in relation to how she has dealt with all her health challenges. The thing is, even the members of this church grasp that to varying degrees. I need to help them understand that the more they choose to trust Him, the more His power will be manifested in their lives. Hardly anyone besides Cathy and me is more than one generation away from active paganism. They need their world view adjusted! I can’t do that on my own, but God can use me in doing that, so I’ve got to keep myself available, saying and doing what He directs, rather than simply what seems good to me.

Father, we’re back to our Scripture for the year. (Proverbs 3:5-6) I am all too prone to lean on my own understanding! Help me listen faithfully and obey accurately, so that Your reality may be manifested through me and many brought from darkness to light, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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September 2, 2016

Posted on September 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.

There are obviously some idiosyncrasies in the Hebrew here, because the Japanese, which tends to be more literal in its translation, says, “If you return I will cause you to return.” The NIV makes more sense at first glance, but there is some hidden truth in the Japanese. If we commit of our free will to serve God, then He will cause/enable us to serve Him. The next part likewise calls for us to exercise our free will, because what comes out of our mouths is our choice. God will supply the words if we choose to speak what He is saying, but we can likewise choose to speak our own imaginations, and such words are worthless. Whether we speak at all is also our choice. As Paul said, “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.” (1 Corinthians 14:32) He also said that for a believer there should be no “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking.” (Ephesians 5:4) It is amazing what comes out of the mouths of Christians sometimes! As James said, “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (James 3:10) Anyone who desires to be God’s spokesperson should choose not to say anything that is inappropriate to that office. As the saying goes, “If you can’t say something good, then don’t say anything at all.” Sometimes God’s words through us may be strong, but they will not belittle, much less be out of the gutter.

I have long sought to be one who speaks what God is saying, and it is an incredible privilege when I have assurance that is going on. I also have a healthy sense of humor, and have been justifiably accused of having “pun disease,” but I must be careful that my humor doesn’t put others down. Thankfully, dirty jokes don’t even seem very funny to me any more. As far as puns go, several of the prophets and even Jesus used puns! As God told Jeremiah, I must be careful to keep Him as the criterion of what comes out of my mouth, rather than adjusting myself to the opinions of those around me. I am not to hurt needlessly, but I am not to be afraid of stepping on toes, either. As my father wrote to me, when he was acknowledging my gift for words, sometimes a scalpel is called for, but it must not be infected with pride or any such thing. If I am speaking God’s Word, sometimes it will “penetrate even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.” (Hebrews 4:12) That can hurt! I am to choose to walk in the holiness of Christ, so that my words may accomplish His will and nothing else.

Father, looking back over what I’ve written, it’s downright scary. I must never “think up a Word,” but rather be totally submitted to You for You to supply what You want said. I know that my personality and circumstances will color what I say, but may I never degrade Your Word. May Your Word indeed accomplish everything for which You send it, even when it comes through my mouth, for Your glory alone. (Isaiah 55:10-11) Thank You. Praise God!

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September 1, 2016

Posted on September 4, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, O Lord our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.

Modern atheists would point to this verse as an example of ancient superstition. They would agree that “the gods of the nations” don’t make it rain, but because we understand something of meteorology these days, they would insist that indeed, “the heavens themselves make it rain.” However, that is highly simplistic. It is no accident that supercomputers were developed in part to try to get a handle on world weather patterns, because they are so incredibly complicated. Today meteorologists can forecast weather to a degree that would have been astounding not so many years ago, but they still can’t really tell us why the weather does what it does. It has been said that science is the business of finding God’s footprints, but trying to leave God out of the picture creates far more problems than it solves. It is highly incorrect, politically speaking, to say that weather events are in any way related to human behavior – other than “global warming, which is most highly correlated to sunspot activity – but the Bible has never been big on political correctness. We forget or ignore, to our peril, the fact that God really is in control.

I have prayed about the course of typhoons and seen them change, and just yesterday I watched a video of a tornado in the Philippines dissipate as a church congregation prayed. Presumption is foolish, but ignoring God is far more so. When God allows something it is always for a reason. We don’t always know the reasons, but I’ve got to remember, and remind others, that God is still God. Repentance and humility are never bad ideas! As I was writing that we had another earthquake shock, on the heels of one last night during prayer meeting. I am to use such things to prompt me to pray, both for God’s mercy and that all of His purposes for allowing this to be fulfilled. I am to be grateful for such things that shatter the illusion that we are in control, and seek to walk in faithful obedience all my days.

Father, I do pray for the people in Kumamoto, which was almost certainly the epicenter. The psychological stresses on them are even greater than the physical damage they have experienced. May Your children not only be protected, but also be bold to share the good news of Your grace and love to those around them who have no real hope, for a massive harvest in Your kingdom. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 31, 2016

Posted on September 1, 2016 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.”

We sometimes overlook the prevalence of false prophets mentioned in the Bible. Not only do we have Jeremiah and the like dealing with them, Paul, Peter, James and John all talked about them. Since the devil is a liar by nature, he’s going to lie even when it doesn’t seem to make any difference (though it ultimately will). Just because people have impressive, holy-sounding titles doesn’t mean they are submitted and committed to the Lord so as to hear Him accurately and consistently. The thing is, too often we seem to want to be deceived; we want our flesh to be pandered to. God sometimes speaks words of great comfort to us, but He always speaks words of holiness. Preachers who “tickle the ears” (2 Timothy 4:3) without calling to repentance fall into the category of false prophets, because they purport to speak for God. It is evident that they have no fear of God, or they would never do that. Believers need to be careful who they listen to, seeking shepherds who follow the Great Shepherd of the sheep, (Hebrews 13:20) searching the Scriptures themselves to confirm what they are being taught.

When I am a pastor, an “under-shepherd,” myself, I need to pay close attention to this. I have been amazed at men who, for example, are in the wedding business, but their “ordination” was purchased over the Internet. I have been amazed at churches that had all the trappings, but existed to affirm defiance against God. I have been amazed at people who with one breath would proclaim love for God and with the next breath defend their own sin. I have been amazed at people who have “succeeded” in the “religion business” while focusing entirely on man instead of on God. Such things are all tragic. That said, I am not to spend my time analyzing, much less judging, other ministries. I am to be discerning so that I won’t be led astray and I am to be faithful in proclaiming the Word the Lord gives me, raising up spiritual children who likewise will distinguish truth from error by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am not to focus on human doctrine but on the truth of the Word, so that Word may have its full work in and through me, (Isaiah 55:10-11) for the glory of God.

Father, as I consider such things, keep me from pride, from thinking I’ve got it together better than anyone else. Help me be humble and quiet before You so as to hear what You are saying and not be distracted by all the noise around me. May I apply everything I hear from You in my own life, not thinking I’m exempt because I’m the preacher. May Your Name be acknowledged as holy and Your kingdom come, Your will be done, in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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