August 27, 2016

Posted on August 30, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 64:4 Since ancient times no-one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

The thing is, God acts on behalf of those who are faithful to Him. Answered prayer is not a fantasy! Other religions have their mythologies, but no other religion even has the tradition of a Creator who cares enough to act, just as this verse says. Atheists try to poo poo the whole idea of prayer, but there have been several actual scientific studies that show it makes a difference. Actually, what scares a lot of people is the awareness that if there is a God who answers us, we have to answer to Him, and that can be terrifying. Japanese Buddhism has the tradition of “Enma Sama,” the Judge of the Dead. That actually comes from Chinese mythology and has no basis in original Buddhism, but there are Japanese temples that have paintings that look like something from Bosch or Dante, except all the figures are oriental. (A Japanese pastor I know, who was actually raised in a Buddhist temple, said it always bothered him that those being judged and tormented were depicted as Japanese, but Enma was in Chinese garb!) People have an innate awareness that “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) They try to get around that with ideas like reincarnation, but the basic awareness is still there. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches us that yes, we are accountable to God, but God has made a way for us to be acquitted on the basis of His Son’s righteousness rather than our own. That goes a step beyond even this verse. There is certainly no other God like that, in any religion at all! Those who choose to trust Him, to repent of their rebellion and throw themselves on His grace and mercy, discover that He is no fantasy at all, but is as real – or even more real – as they are.

The idea of such a personal God is totally foreign to the average Japanese. I get disbelief when I tell people that I have had times of fellowship with God in worship when I was more aware of His reality than I was of my own. That is one of many barriers to the Gospel in Japan. People with a Judaeo-Christian heritage, even if they have no personal faith, still have the intellectual framework of a personal God, but that is missing in Japan. I am not to let that deter me, but rather be faithful to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, to be entered by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. I am to tell people that God indeed acts on behalf of those who wait expectantly on Him, just as this verse says, whether they believe it at first or not. My life is to be a demonstration and verification of the truth I proclaim, so that those who see me may be drawn to Him who gives me life.

Father, thank You for the privilege of being Your agent. I pray for those to whom I minister, and actually for all who see and know me. May the veil be lifted from their eyes (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) so that they may not perish, but repent and believe for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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August 26, 2016

Posted on August 27, 2016 by jgarrott

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

This is a very interesting verse, because it transcends all racial justification for salvation. Isaiah himself was certainly Jewish, but this verse could easily come from a Gentile. It is saying that God is Redeemer, in much the same way John said He is Love. (1 John 4:8) Redemption is certainly one of the great themes of the Bible, but we don’t really think about it very much, even though we sing hymns like Redeemed! How I Love to Proclaim It. I think that’s because we don’t like to admit, in our own hearts, that we need to be redeemed. Redemption involves something that has been lost – taken, stolen, sold – and then buying it back, with money or something else of value. Even coupons fit into that category, because the company distributes them and they become worthless until someone brings them in and receives either money (a discount) or goods for the company to get the coupon back. Human beings are of great intrinsic value, but when we wander from God we become slaves to sin. If we come back to Him in repentance, He redeems us with the blood of His Son. One of the biggest reasons people don’t get saved is that they don’t want to admit they need it … that as they are, they are serving the devil and are headed to the same fate that awaits him.

I don’t remember how clear a concept I had of my own sin when I committed myself to Jesus Christ at age 7 (though I do remember going to my father and talking to him about my desire to be baptized and become a Christian). I do remember how very aware I was of my own sin when the Lord tapped me on the shoulder in 1972 and showed me a mirror, and I saw the blackness of my pride. I knew then that it didn’t matter how stellar my parents were; I myself had to be humbly obedient before God, or I was in total denial of my Lord and Savior. I am very, very thankful to know God as my Redeemer! Since then I have sought to share the good news of the Kingdom of God, and everything that includes, with as many as possible, but I haven’t met many receptive hearts. Human beings as a race seem to be largely deaf and blind! However, since God got through to me, I know He can get through to others, and I must never give up. I want as many as possible to sing, Redeemed! How I Love to Proclaim It, and really mean it!

Father thank You for the privilege of proclaiming Your Gospel. Help me never give up, but let Your Spirit use me to bring people to repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 25, 2016

Posted on August 27, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 56:7 “These I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”

The passage from verse 3 through verse 8 is enormously important, but it was overlooked by most of the Jews of the 1st Century. One person who didn’t overlook it, though, was Jesus. In one of the most dramatic moments of His public ministry He drove the merchants out of the temple and quoted the last part of this verse. (Luke 19:46) What many people today overlook is the specific part of the temple involved in that incident. The temple had three major precincts: the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Court of the Gentiles. Only priests could enter the Holy of Holies, and that with special precautions, and only Jews could enter the Holy Place, but the Court of the Gentiles was available to anyone who wanted to draw close to God. The Jews reasoned that if the outer court wasn’t labeled as “holy,” it was OK to do anything at all there. Jesus took strong exception and reclaimed it for the nations, as it says here. In our smallness of heart we tend to group into cliques, inflating ourselves by putting other people down. We don’t understand that God is big enough to love and value each of us individually; it is never a “zero sum game.” We have great trouble understanding that someone else being blessed doesn’t preclude our being blessed, and that makes us feel competitive with one another toward God. How foolish and sad! Because God is infinite, His love and grace are infinite. If anything, sharing that love and grace increases our own appreciation and enjoyment of them. Christians who are not evangelistic, much less missions-minded, cut themselves off from far more of God than they can imagine.

When I have followed my missionary parents to be a missionary myself, this isn’t an area where I could be called indefinite. However, I have had very spotty success in transmitting this attitude to others. Far too many seem to be totally satisfied with their personal assurance of salvation, not understanding that they are violating the Second Commandment: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” When we obey that fully, we desire our neighbor’s salvation as much as we desire our own, and we understand that our “neighbor” can be anyone on the face of this planet. Everyone is called to focus on specific things, and each person’s focus is going to be different, but if our focus is on ourselves to the exclusion of others, we have lost sight of God in the process. I have demonstrated that I can’t force this understanding into people’s hearts and minds, so I’ve got to keep speaking the truth in love, letting the Holy Spirit use my words to bring light to the dark places in people’s hearts. That includes evangelism on my part, and it includes waking believers up to the privilege and responsibility of evangelism on their part.

Father, this is particularly difficult in Japan, as You well know. The culture values intellectual and emotional privacy to an extreme, and talking about faith and religion is considered impolite by many. However, nothing is too difficult for You, (Jeremiah 32:27) and You desire the salvation of the Japanese people. Help me be fully available for however You want to use me to that end, for a massive harvest in Your kingdom, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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August 24, 2016

Posted on August 26, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.”

One of the distinctives of Isaiah is how clearly he expresses God’s love and concern for all mankind, and not just the Jews. Unlike Jonah, who rebelled at the idea of God being merciful to vicious Gentiles, Isaiah seemed to have no problem with God’s grace. He was very clear about God’s righteousness, as comes out so clearly in Chapter 1, but at the same time he countered legalism again and again. I say that as though it were just Isaiah who said these things, but God clearly spoke through him, and here he is quoting God directly. The thing is, he was a willing participant in the message. If we fail to appreciate both God’s holiness and His grace, we will garble what He wants to say through us, and the Gospel will not be transmitted accurately. It’s not unusual for God to say more through someone than that person realizes, such as when Caiaphas said, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” (John 11:50) However, it is far better when the speaker appropriates the message they are transmitting, and Isaiah seems to have done that.

As I have said recently, Isaiah is perhaps my favorite character in the Old Testament, and the one I would most like to emulate. I have had the privilege many times of speaking out what God has been saying, though seldom in a “Thus sayeth the Lord” format. It is always interesting, and a joy, really, to discover after the fact that I have spoken God’s Truth into someone’s heart and life, when I wasn’t so aware of it at the time. One time sticks in my memory, when the pastor who was conducting the funeral of a dear family friend told me that years before I had said something to him that had changed the whole course of his ministry, when I honestly didn’t remember ever meeting him before! I desire to be fully available for God to use me however He pleases, whether it is speaking or otherwise, so I need to hear and appropriate His words myself. I certainly never want to hear Him say to me, “Depart from me; I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23)

Father, I delight to speak Your words, but it is painful when they are not received. I know I have a lot of company in that experience! Help me love You and love others with Your love, so that Your heart may be communicated accurately through me, breaking down the lies with which the devil traps people, setting them free to repent and believe for their salvation, so that Your house may be full indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 23, 2016

Posted on August 26, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 38:16-17 Lord, by such things men live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
and let me live.
Surely it was for my benefit
that I suffered such anguish.

The first thing that jumped out at me about this chapter was that Hezekiah, as faithful as he was, had little if any concept of resurrection and eternal life. Isaiah had received revelation of it, but either he didn’t understand it was for all believers or else he simply didn’t communicate it to others very well. The second thing that jumped out at me was in this specific passage, and that was the difficulties in translating from one language to another. In both Hebrew and Greek, the same word can mean “spirit” or “breath,” and that can make for all sorts of misunderstandings. “His spirit left him” and “His breath left him” both seem to point to death, but “He lost his breath” shouldn’t, at least in English. (Japanese makes the same distinctions between spirit and breath, by the way.) Here, the NIV speaks of “my spirit finds life,” but the Japanese speaks of “the life of my breath.” I often prefer this Japanese translation, but not here! Also, immediately following that, the Japanese has a request for health and life, while the NIV states that God has already granted them. Again, I like the NIV. However, the two translations come together for the first two lines of verse 17, and that’s the real point of this passage. God does not allow us to go through suffering that cannot be for our benefit, if we will accept it as such. Romans 8:28 is parroted by many, but with very little understanding of how true it is. The NIV says “for my benefit,” and the Japanese says, “for my inner peace.” (That makes it clear the original uses shalom, which seems to have much the same meaning in Hebrew as aloha does in Hawaiian.) However you translate it, those who have gone through suffering in faith often have a level of peace that can’t be achieved any other way. It is a total release of everything into God’s hands, trusting Him to do the right thing with it all, whatever that is. That is valuable indeed!

I don’t think I’ve experienced that level of suffering yet! That said, I do continue to grow in releasing things to God rather than trying to carry them myself, whether they are physical or emotional. I am personally in rather remarkably good health for my age. We had a bit of a scare the past few days with chest pain, but a visit to a cardiologist confirmed that it was muscular (from too much work with a chain saw) rather than heart-related. However, there are all sorts of emotional stresses on me, and some of them can be quite trying. As I learn to release everything to God I will receive and experience more of the peace that I know He has for me, so that I may in turn be an open channel of that peace to those around me. Yesterday had a series of things that, added up, really drained me, even though each individually would have been no big deal. I need to grow in immediately releasing things to God, rather than allowing them to linger, so that I may have the emotional stability I need to bless those around me.

Father, thank You for all that You allow me to experience, to grow and train me in the likeness of Your Son. (Romans 8:29) May I be Your agent in every area of my life, speaking Your words and doing Your will in Your way, so that people may know that You are holy and that You love them, so that they may repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 22, 2016

Posted on August 24, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 37:20 “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Hezekiah is definitely one of the better kings recorded in the Bible! We have little idea what his contemporaries thought of him, but the record shows that for the most part he operated with genuine humility toward God, aware not only of his own weakness but also of God’s strength. He did make a boneheaded mistake, recorded in chapter 39, but that was if anything from bragging on God’s goodness to him. Here we find him in a genuinely dangerous situation. Sennacherib was a big enough “baddie” that we read about him in our history books, and he certainly had a reputation for ruthlessness, much as ISIS does today. He had indeed conquered kingdom after kingdom, and had every reason to hold their gods in contempt. He thought he could do the same with Judah, but Hezekiah knew that his God was very different from the idols of other nations. Judah was later conquered, but not from any deficiency on the part of Yahweh. Rather, it was from their own practice of giving Him lip service only, ignoring Him in every area of their lives. America was founded on a deep awareness of “Creation’s God,” and a majority of the Founding Fathers were committed to His Son, Jesus Christ. Today the majority of the population pays Him little or no attention, and current leadership seems committed to removing all mention of Him from the public square. We need people in leadership who, like Hezekiah, will seek God and strive to be obedient to Him. However, if that doesn’t reach down into the general population, destruction will be as inevitable as it turned out to be for Judah.

In thinking about America I have the advantage of physical perspective, since I live in Japan, but I have as much need to live in daily personal humility and righteousness as anyone. I live in a land that is filled with physical idols and inhabited by people who are deceived by them, or rather by the liar who is behind them. I am not to look down on the people who are deceived, but rather speak the truth to them in love so that their eyes may be opened. Japan has an amazing track record of spiritual blindness, but nothing is impossible for God. I am to keep myself available to Him, declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that as many as will may repent and believe for their salvation.

Father, everywhere I look I see spiritual chaos, but I also see Your hand at work. Help me focus on You and not the junk, not losing hope but rather extending hope to those around me, so that Your house may indeed be full, (Luke 14:23) for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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August 21, 2016

Posted on August 23, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 33:5-6 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.

Reading these verses in context, it is obvious these were tumultuous times, with political confusion and natural disasters. Isaiah is reminding us that we should not allow such circumstances to distract us from the underlying reality that God is God, and He will supply everything we need and more, if we will cling to Him in obedience. What a timely Word for today! I am particularly aware of the US and Japan, but political unrest seems almost universal at this point, and there is no end to natural disasters. The point is to let these things remind us to keep our focus on God. With advances in technology we tend to think the world is an extremely different place from just a few generations ago. In some ways that’s true, but human nature and this globe we live on haven’t changes essentially since the dawn of history. Technology and advances in medicine don’t eliminate greed and lust for power. If anything, they amplify the effects those vices have. Rather than be seduced by all that the devil waves in front of us, we need to be humble before our Creator and let Him show us what is really important, and apply ourselves accordingly.

This is of course as true for me as it is for anyone else. I have long been a fan of knowledge and technology, but the only knowledge that matters ultimately is knowing God, and technology will never take us to heaven. I’ve got to remember that the only things I’ll be able to take with me into eternity are people who have joined me in repentance and faith, and so submit everything else to the goal of winning as many of those as possible. I am not a natural evangelist; I am much more comfortable teaching those who have already entered God’s family. I am not to look down on the ministry of “perfecting the saints,” but I’ve got to remember that people have to be born before they can grow. I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason some church members never manifest any spiritual growth is that they were never born again in the first place. I am to keep myself fully available to the Holy Spirit, not judging people on my own but allowing God to speak His Word through me to accomplish what needs to be done in people’s hearts and lives.

Father, as I work with others, keep me from being blind to my own faults and inconsistencies. Help me keep my own repentance up to date, not allowing anything to dull the fellowship I have with You. May I fear You properly and value You completely, above and beyond anything and everything else, so that I may be the child You desire, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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August 20, 2016

Posted on August 23, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 26:19 But your dead will live;
their bodies will rise.
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.

This is about as clear a declaration of resurrection as you could ask for, and it was given hundreds of years before Jesus demonstrated that death was conquered. My first thought in reading the NIV was that it wasn’t clear whether this was Isaiah speaking or perhaps the Lord speaking directly through Isaiah, but in the Japanese, where the NIV says “their bodies will rise,” it says, “my corpse will rise,” making it very clear that the whole thing is Isaiah’s declaration. However, he could never have made such a declaration without a revelation from the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit speaks this into our hearts we really can be fearless. Natural man is naturally afraid of death, but with this assurance, we can understand that death is no more than a temporary inconvenience. On this note, some people are against cremation because of the promise of resurrection, but that shows how little understanding they have. We are not resurrected as zombies, with the old body; we are given new bodies, and that is no more difficult for God after cremation than it is for people who were martyred by being fed to lions, not to mention the Christians who were vaporized by the atomic bomb in Nagasaki. Paul discussed this in 1 Corinthians 15, and specifies that “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53) Bodily resurrection is a very real promise, but we won’t be stuck with the bodies we have now.

Growing up in Japan, cremation has always seemed very natural to me, and having lived in Nagasaki Prefecture for 35 years I’ve certainly thought about vaporized Christians. (The hypo-center of the bomb was right over a Catholic girls school, and very close to a Protestant boys school.) My parents both chose cremation, which was certainly convenient when they died in the US and wanted to be buried in Japan. The whole matter of bodily resurrection seems a little bit of a mystery to me, because my wife and others have had glimpses of heaven, and once there, why would we want to return to the earth? Jesus certainly rose physically, and his resurrected body obviously had abilities, like walking through locked doors, that our bodies don’t currently have. When physics tells us that solid matter is mostly empty space, such an ability would come very naturally if we were in perfect harmony with everything else, and that is certainly something we might expect in the resurrection. Until I experience it personally, I’m not going to be anxious about it. Rather, I am to minister hope to those who fear death, whether that means talking about resurrection or simply eternity with our Lord and Savior.

Father, many people are freaked out by my lack of fear of death. May I indeed “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks [me] to give the reason for the hope that [I] have,” (1 Peter 3:15) so that as many as possible may be brought from death to life, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 19, 2016

Posted on August 21, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you.

There are several very powerful verses in today’s reading, but this very familiar one echoes in my spirit most at the moment. Everyone would like to live in perfect peace, but this verse expresses what is necessary for that: trusting God. Trust is fundamentally a choice, an act of the will. From our temporal human perspective we can’t see what is ahead, however much we would like to, or are afraid we do, actually. Prognosticators abound, especially in election season! We make projections based on past experience and statistics, but there are simply too many factors to calculate it all. The biggest super-computers are used for things like modeling world weather patterns or simulating nuclear reactions, but those things are simplicity itself compared to all the possible factors in a normal human life. It’s not at all bad to plan ahead based on past experience, but we aren’t going to have peace in doing that unless we trust the only One who sees it all and is over it all. The devil is out to steal, kill, and destroy, (John 10:10) and one of the first things he aims for is our peace. Because God wanted children and not robots, or even pets, He created us with free will, the ability to make real, consequential choices. It is when we exercise that will to trust Him that we lay firm hold of the peace that He intends for us.

This couldn’t be any more applicable or pertinent to me! I face an unlimited number of unknowns, and some of them have real potential for anxiety. If I dwell on those things, I am throwing open the door for the devil to come and steal my peace, for starters, and a number of other things as well. As each thing comes up I need to acknowledge that it’s a real possibility and ask the Lord if there’s anything I am to do to prepare, but whether there is or there isn’t, I need to yield control to Him, since I couldn’t do it right in the first place. The Verse for the Year for this church is Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” We say that every Sunday morning, but I’ve got to lead the way for all the believers to put it into practice. It is when we do that, that we gain the perfect peace that so many desperately desire.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for getting us through the day yesterday. It had a lot of anxiety-producing factors, but You got us through them all, beautifully. There were moments of real danger, like when I was at risk of falling asleep at the wheel on the expressway, but You protected us. There are risk factors today, and there will continue to be such every day for the rest of our lives. Help us indeed refuse anxiety, and rather choose to trust You fully rather than trying to hang onto the illusion of control, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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August 18, 2016

Posted on August 20, 2016 by jgarrott

Isaiah 25:7-8 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

It is astounding that this clear prophecy of Christ’s victory over death appears in Isaiah, hundreds of years before Jesus was born. The terminology is very similar to that used by John in Revelation 7:17 and 21:4, and Paul quotes Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 15:54. The thing is, God had planned all this from Creation, as Paul points out repeatedly. God wasn’t going to allow the devil to destroy His children through death. As Hebrews 2:15 points out, the fear of death binds all mankind, but in Christ there is liberation from that. The fulfillment of this prophecy by Isaiah is present reality for those who will receive it by faith.

This is particularly important here in Japan. Even the Japanese sometimes describe Japanese society as a “death culture,” greatly encouraged by the extreme focus on death found in Japanese Buddhism. Japanese Buddhists go through a seemingly endless sequence of memorial ceremonies after someone dies, at 7 and 49 days and then annually. Buddhist temples don’t much care how many people show up for actual religious functions, because they make all their money from funerals and the ceremonies that follow. The Festival of the Dead (August 13-15) isn’t a legal holiday but it is still one of the two biggest holidays of the year (the other being New Years). Death is big business in Japan! A major event in confirming my calling to minister in Japan was listening to the sounds of that festival. The emptiness, the hopelessness of it all was overwhelming, and I knew I had to share the hope that is found in Christ alone. I think that Americans tend to ignore death, to pretend it doesn’t or won’t happen, but it is inevitable for all flesh. If it weren’t for Christ, the Japanese obsession with it would be quite understandable! I am to proclaim the hope of eternal life in Christ faithfully and consistently, letting the Holy Spirit take His words through me and use them to lead people into life. I am not to fear physical death myself, but rather rest, relax, and rejoice in my Lord, who has conquered death.

Father, right now we’re in an awkward situation about the ashes of a church member, whose Buddhist relatives want those ashes to be in a Buddhist mausoleum rather than in the church columbarium. I ask for Your wisdom and Your resolution to that, as the strongest possible witness to those family members. Help me navigate the minefield of Japanese society, not in fear but in close obedience to You, so that I may lead as many as possible out of the traps of the enemy, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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