April 16, 2016

Posted on April 17, 2016 by jgarrott

2 Kings 20:6 “‘I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'”

We view things through the lens of time, but God sees everything all at once. David had no idea that his faithfulness would bring an extra 15 years of life to one of his descendants and delay the downfall of Jerusalem. We tend to think we are living for ourselves and that our choices and actions affect only ourselves, but nothing could be further from the truth. We especially have no idea what effect our failures to act have on the world. That child we didn’t have might have been an inventor or a doctor or simply a really good, kind person who helped many. That word of warning we didn’t speak might have prevented a whole train of heartbreak. Of course we have the possibility of seeing the ripples of the words and actions we do take, but often they too escape our notice. Several years ago I was talking with a pastor whom I didn’t remember meeting before, and he said that some years previously I had said something to him in private conversation that had impacted his entire ministry since then, and he was grateful. Right now I don’t even remember what he said I told him! If we get paranoid about this sort of thing it can paralyze us, but steering clear of that, it is good to remember that God can and will use us in ways we can’t imagine, if we will be available and yielded to Him.

My own life is an echo of generations of people who loved and served God, and I am deeply grateful. Like David and Hezekiah, God has protected and blessed me on account of them. At the same time, I am fully responsible for the use I make of the opportunities I am given, so that they too may echo down through time. I recently got a call asking me to participate in the Centennial celebrations for Seinan University in Fukuoka on May 14th. I checked my calendar and found I had a wedding scheduled for that day, but since I haven’t done the counseling for it yet, I was able to call and cancel. I will be participating in the Centennial not for my own sake, but to honor my parents. The school as a whole was founded in 1916 by C. K. Dozier, but after WWII my father founded the University Department. I was an infant at the time, but I will be going to the ceremonies for my parents rather than for myself. Since my parents were very clear about their own commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and to sharing Him with the Japanese people, it is possible my presence will trigger memories in someone to draw them to Christ, or else the Lord may allow me to speak words, either in public or in private, that will have that effect. In any case, my task is to be available. Of course, that isn’t limited to special events like the Centennial; I am to be available at all times. It is God’s business what He does with the ripples from my words and actions, but I’ve got to be willing to make the splash.

Father, this isn’t something I’ve been thinking about, but it’s certainly important. I see so many people who think they are living only for themselves, with no grasp at all of the ripple effect they are having. I ask You to use me to open the eyes of the Christians especially, so that they may broaden their hearts to be intentional as Your agents, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 15, 2016

Posted on April 17, 2016 by jgarrott

2 Kings 19:19 “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 had his head and his heart on straight. Faced with an existential threat from one of the major tyrants of world history, he turned fully to God. He didn’t ignore circumstances: he acknowledged that Sennacherib in his conquests had destroyed numbers of local deities, just as the letter boasted, but his focus was on the Creator of the universe, not some human creation. We don’t have a very good grasp of his situation emotionally, because few of us are in that sort of a polytheistic society. However, we also tend to fail to have as complete trust in God as Hezekiah did. As came up in yesterday’s reading, we tend to turn to anything but God, and we certainly suffer for it. If God’s people would depend more fully and clearly on Him, then those who don’t yet know Him would be more likely to pay attention when we tell them about Him. As it is, much of the world considers religion peripheral to life at best, which is why they are so mystified at Muslim extremists: they can’t imagine why anyone would take any religion that seriously. Christians serve a very different God from terrorists, but their dedication should be no less.

I had a very interesting “wake-up call” on this issue just last night. At 9:26 I discovered that my cell phone’s emergency warning system works, when it suddenly gave off a siren noise and then a voice said, “This is an earthquake. This is an earthquake.” That removed any question as to what the shaking I was feeling might be! I had been in the middle of writing an email, so I completed that and then went to turn on the TV to check the news, discovering that it had been a magnitude 6.4, centered a few hundred kilometers away from us. We had some after-shocks, and then at 10:06 another pretty strong one. We did go to bed after that, but experienced several more after-shocks, as well as a text message from a friend checking on us that woke us up. All in all an interesting night! That certainly wasn’t in the class of Sennacherib threatening to wipe out the nation, but it was a reminder that our trust must be in God, the Maker of heaven and earth, rather than in anything less. Thankfully there seems to have been very little real damage from this earthquake, but it could easily have been otherwise. I need to remember, and to tell others, that we are all totally dependent on the grace of God, so that more people may turn to Him in repentance and faith.

Father, thank You for last night. It’s the strongest I’ve ever felt, even though it wasn’t damaging around here. Help me make full use of everything You allow us to experience to point others to You, so that they may have every opportunity to receive Your salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 14, 2016

Posted on April 17, 2016 by jgarrott

2 Kings 19:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord.

Hezekiah’s first response to the devastating threats of the Assyrians was to humble himself before God. As events bore out, that was definitely the right thing to do! We don’t have the custom of tearing garments and wearing sackcloth as signs of distress today, so the idea of going to church wearing burlap seems pretty strange to us, but it was the culture of that day, and the Lord received it. Hezekiah needed a specific, and not just a general, word of encouragement, so it is also very appropriate that he sent people to Isaiah. Isaiah obviously had a pretty well established reputation as a prophet at this time, and as such was an appropriate intermediary between the king and God. How different history would be if even Christian national leaders called on tested pastors in times of national emergency! However, even in England, where there isn’t any legal separation of Church and State, that hasn’t happened very often. We tend to rely on merely human solutions as we desperately try to figure things out, and the result is never as good as if we had acted as Hezekiah did. The world is in a real mess right now, with predictions of economic collapse in every corner of the globe, on top of the huge problem of Islamic activity on every side. Human solutions just don’t work, as all the machinations of the IMF and the Federal Reserve Bank demonstrate. What is called for is the faith and humility Hezekiah demonstrated, so God’s people need to get serious about praying for that to happen.

Of course I’m talking to myself here. I’ve experienced God’s provision so thoroughly that the “economic collapse” business doesn’t worry me so much, but there’s plenty of stuff to stir me up. I myself need to be humble before God, and I need to pray consistently and persistently for a spirit of humility and repentance to come on national and world leaders. Such a spirit doesn’t come naturally to them! I need to pray for God’s people to wake up, stand up, and live as God’s agents, His representatives, in all purity and power, instead of being thoroughly compromised with the world, as the majority are now. In military terms, when an installation has been compromised it means that the enemy has gotten in and the defenses are nullified. That is exactly what has happened to the Church. As we pray for leaders who are submitted to God, we need to check our own level of submission and obedience. As Jesus said, genuine love for Him means doing what He has said. (John 14:15) Rather than just saying we love God, we need to live it out every day, in every area of our lives.

Father, I have grown in my obedience, but I’m certainly not perfect, as You know better than I do. Help me walk in consistent humility and loving obedience to You at all times, not relying on human solutions to things, especially not my own, but seeking Your plan, Your solution to everything, so that Your will may be done on every level, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 13, 2016

Posted on April 14, 2016 by jgarrott

2 Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha.

Reading this story again, I really think the Star Wars people may have gotten some of their inspiration from it, because what follows this seems like a “Jedi mind trick” to me! The whole point of this story is that spiritual reality is not usually visible to the natural eye, and that’s important to remember. I have a feeling that from the point he saw Elijah taken up to heaven (2 Kings 2) Elisha operated more and more in the spirit realm, and not just in the natural. As such, he should be a model and an inspiration to all believers today, because we are to walk by the Holy Spirit, and not by the merely natural. (Romans 8:4) However, it goes without saying that such living doesn’t “come naturally” to us! Rather, we need to be active in our pursuit of God, choosing Him in preference to other things, filling our minds and hearts with His Word and listening humbly to Him. If we will do that, our eyes too will be opened, and we will see what is really going on around us, just as Elisha’s young servant did.

I find that I pray for people’s eyes to be opened at least as much as I pray for anything else, because I am constantly astonished at how blind people are to spiritual reality. I’m not talking about horses and chariots of fire, but rather of the very fundamental issues of right and wrong, of light and darkness, of life and death. That sometimes creates a real communication gap, because I’ll be talking about things that seem perfectly obvious to me and get blank stares in return. That makes me cry out, Lord, open their eyes! However such “enlightenment” (for once the Buddhists have a pretty good word for it) seldom happens as instantly as it did in this story. I need to remember the path that I have come and exercise toward others the patience that has been shown to me, aware that I continue to have areas of blindness myself. This has been the experience of God’s people down through the ages, and I’ve got to trust Him with the process. That’s not at all to say that I’m to be passive, but rather that I must remember that I can’t force anyone to open their eyes; I’ve got to speak the truth in love and allow the Holy Spirit to do the illuminating.

Father, it is so encouraging to me when people say things that show they are starting to see. Keep me from being discouraged at how far between such incidents can be, but rather stay faithful to You myself, continuing to press into You to be available for however You desire to use me, for the salvation of others and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 12, 2016

Posted on April 14, 2016 by jgarrott

2 Kings 4:30 But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.

This is a very touching story, and an instructive one to us today. The woman being given a child in the first place was a response to her generosity that really wasn’t seeking a reward. That should be an encouragement to us all that, though we aren’t to serve God for the sake of the rewards, our labor won’t go unrewarded. (1 Corinthians 15:58) The second point in the story is that God didn’t tell Elisha immediately what the woman’s immediate problem was right here; he had to deduce it himself from what she said. God does expect us to use the brains he gives us! The third point is in this verse itself: This woman knew she had no solution to her problem, but that if God could give her a child miraculously, then He should be able to raise him from the dead, and Elisha was His servant. He was her only hope. That’s actually pretty clear thinking. Today we tend to cling to medicine or to any of a number of other things rather than to God Himself, who might or might not make use of any or all of those things. What Elisha did for the boy when he got to him has been described as “CPR” by some people, but the time lapse was too great for science alone to account for his recovery; it had to be God. I have read stories just recently of several people who medically had been dead too long to be resuscitated without major brain damage, but who came through without a hitch. God is still in the miracle business!

I’ve seen some miracles, but not a resurrection – yet! Recently my wife has been experiencing rapid recovery from multiple major surgeries, but nothing that would be called miraculous as such. However, I found out just yesterday that her rapid recovery has been discussed among the staff at the rehabilitation center where she goes for her Parkinson’s Disease, and the man who has known us longest said, “It’s because God is with her.” It made me very happy to hear that! Unfortunately, since Japan describes itself as “the land of 8 million gods,” the average Japanese might take that as, “A god is with her.” That wouldn’t do them very much good. However, most of the miracles in the Bible were in a polytheistic context, so I shouldn’t let it discourage me. I need to remain faithful, and make it clear that every good thing that people see in me is because of the Creator of the universe, who loved us all enough to send His Son to die for our sins so that we might live in Him.

Father, I do have the reputation of being Your servant, but I still haven’t seen many people committing themselves to You in faith. I have no idea what the solution is, but I offer myself to You for You to use me however You like, to draw as many as possible into Your family, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 11, 2016

Posted on April 12, 2016 by jgarrott

1 Kings 19:4 He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

This should be an enormously comforting passage to every true servant of God. Elijah was one of the greatest prophets, who appeared with Moses to consult with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, (Matthew 17:1-9) and yet he was so human as to be subject to a depressed pity party. Thankfully he wasn’t to the point of actively taking his own life, but he certainly wanted to die. The cause was very simple: he had relaxed his guard and taken his eyes off of God, putting them instead on himself and his circumstances. Even the situation was common enough: right after a major triumph. Some might try to peg him as bipolar, but I think such labels are greatly overused; everyone has ups and downs. One of his problems was that he didn’t have a real support structure, people to come alongside and keep him from the emotional isolation that can be so deadly. The story as a whole shows us that despite all these things, the Lord got through to him, encouraged him, and continued to use him. The solution to such problems is always to shift our focus from ourselves and our circumstances onto God. Sometimes that’s not easy, but habit can be a big help. If we make it a regular practice to start each day focused on God rather than on all we have to do, correcting focus when we get distracted becomes much easier. We are no better than Elijah, certainly, and even Jesus got up early to spend time with His Father. Regular devotional time with God is not an obligation, it is a privilege and a necessity, and often a life saver.

I am definitely personally familiar with depression. When I was a teenager I called such episodes “pink-and-purple-polka-dotted-funks,” to distinguish them from normal “blue funks.” In college I tried to commit suicide through auto-hypnosis (I had become quite proficient in hypnosis in high school) but the Lord stopped me. Since I have no fear of death itself, suicidal thoughts have come to me many times over the years. However, I have come to realize that suicide is the ultimate self-centered act, which is what makes it sinful. Everyone is born essentially self-centered (though recent studies have shown that altruism is also innate). Perhaps that’s a component in “original sin.” At any rate, yielding to that impulse eventually deprives us of everything genuinely good in life, but we are generally slow to realize that. According to Jesus, both the first and the second Great Commandments are other-centered, loving God first and then loving our neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-40) As a pastor I try to get this across to people, but I have very mixed success at it. Yesterday one person gave me feedback from the message that was encouraging. I must never give up, but keep my own focus first on God and then on those to whom He allows me to minister, so that He may use me to draw them to Himself as well.

Father, thank You for loving and using us in spite of our weaknesses. I pray that Your Spirit through me would cause more and more people to wake up and see through the deceptions of the devil, to walk in all that You intend for them, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 10, 2016

Posted on April 12, 2016 by jgarrott

1 Kings 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.

This story is one of the most dramatic scenes in the whole Bible, and that’s really saying something. However, the question that Elijah asked the people is one that really needs to be put to a lot of people today. In traditionally Christian countries, vast numbers of people go through the motions without having any real faith, and so are easily distracted by their flesh and the world. I personally know someone who became a missionary, and then discarded Christianity and is now a Buddhist priest. He knew the culture well enough to fool the mission board, saying all the right words, but he didn’t, and doesn’t, have a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord. I won’t go into what I think induced him to abandon true life, which is found in Christ alone, but sadly, he has a lot of company. The devil is a skilled liar, and he plays on human weaknesses all too well. The saddest thing is, though the people Elijah addressed came back to the Lord after fire fell from heaven, Revelation indicates that many will refuse to do so even with such signs as that. God is incredibly patient and merciful, but we must still face the consequences of our choices.

One of the biggest heartaches for any pastor is when people who have seemed to be genuine turn their backs on Christ. One particular young man stands out in my memory. He seemed very much on fire for the Lord, but when his father developed cancer and was not completely healed (though he lived several years despite having been given six months from the original diagnosis) the son decided it was all a lie (under the strong influence of his mother). We tend to do what he did, setting up tests for God and then if He doesn’t pass them, in our judgment, we abandon Him. How incredibly foolish! However, I know I am capable of that or worse, so I must not look down on people who are so deceived. I am to welcome whatever signs God provides and give Him glory for them, but not make my faith and obedience dependent on signs I set up in my mind. I need to be like Daniel’s friends, who proclaimed, “The God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18) They literally put their lives on the line, and I should do no less.

Father, You know better than I do that I haven’t been fully faithful to You even without major “excuses.” Thank You for Your patience and Your grace. Help me extend that patience and that grace to those around me, but at the same time be fully forceful and effective in drawing them to You. May their eyes be opened to see themselves and their situations accurately because they see You, so that they may repent and believe, and receive Your full salvation. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 9, 2016

Posted on April 12, 2016 by jgarrott

1 Kings 13:2 He cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ”

Wow! This prophecy had it all, so to speak. It was bold, politically incorrect, detailed, and as was later born out, accurate. (2 Kings 23:15-16) At the same time, it was at the risk of the prophet’s life, because Jeroboam would have had him seized and probably killed, had the Lord not interfered. (verse 4) It is very interesting that this prophet is anonymous to history even today, despite his faithfulness. He was indeed human and open to deception, as comes out a little later in the story. I think the whole thing points up two important things to remember. The first is that our purpose is to be faithful to God, not to make a name for ourselves. It strokes the ego to have human acclaim, but that doesn’t count for much. Rather, we are to be working for God’s “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21) The second is that no matter how obedient we might be one minute, or how dramatically God might use us, we are still in danger of falling the next minute. As Paul said, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12) Having assurance of God’s protection and power is good, but being cocky and self-confident is not.

I have only been used once in something approaching this for drama and detail. I don’t need to go into detail, but I prophesied something in a small prayer meeting that was not only detailed, it was medically impossible (which I didn’t know at the time). However, it came to pass, in a way that was not at all obvious to those hearing it at the time, and when it did, they remembered that it had been prophesied, and gave God glory. I say that only to point out that God is still in the business of letting His people know what is going on, as they need to know it. Prophecy is to direct, encourage, admonish, and comfort. Genuine prophecy is never for the purpose of inflating the prophet! There are many examples in the Bible of genuine prophecy that did not come to pass, because those hearing it received the warning it contained and mended their ways. As Paul said, we are not to despise prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:20) but neither are we to swallow them whole, without careful examination. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Those who insist that valid prophecy ended with the first 12 apostles miss out on a great deal!

Father, I haven’t delivered many overt prophecies for quite a while now, but You have been directive through me from time to time, and the results have been good. Thank You. Help me stay available to You whatever or however You want to speak through me, with no thought of risk to me, social or otherwise, so that Your Word may go forth indeed to accomplish all that You desire, for Your glory. (Isaiah 55:11) Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 8, 2016

Posted on April 10, 2016 by jgarrott

1 Kings 9:6-7 “But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.”

It is incredible to me that God warned Solomon this clearly and this bluntly, and yet he still committed idolatry with his foreign wives. Thinking about it, he had to have told someone about this vision for it to have been recorded like this, which should have cemented it in his heart and mind. As Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Solomon was blessed incredibly in every area, more than anyone else of his day, and yet he descended into taking all that for granted, as though he had earned and deserved it, and didn’t walk in humble gratitude. This warning from God was fulfilled to the letter, and even today antisemitism is all too common. We must remember that God’s warnings are just as valid as His other promises and fear Him enough to be obedient.

I have always taken Solomon as a very personal bad example, because I too have been incredibly blessed in many areas, and have been tempted to think I deserved at least some of it all. That is a temptation from the devil, because it is all grace; I haven’t earned any of it. I am not to deny what God has placed in me, because that doesn’t give Him the glory He deserves. However, I am to use it all in grateful humility, serving Him through serving those around me, so that they too may be drawn closer to Him in His family. I am to walk in full assurance of His provision in every area, again not because I’ve got it all together but because He does. I am not to seek anything material or temporal for its own sake, but rather receive such things as tools for spiritual purposes, to accomplish what He intends for me. Everything about Him is supreme, and I am to walk in the obedience of love and gratitude. Even there I have to depend on Him, because I am not capable of being fully faithful on my own; only He can enable me to do so.

Father, thank You yet again for Your grace. Thank You that my head cold is much improved. Thank You for solving the mystery of my tablet computer not booting. Thank You that we’ll be able to get our visas transferred to our new passports today. Thank You for the awareness that I can get nothing right by myself, but that You are always there to do it through me if I will trust and obey You. May every detail of today be as You desire and intend, destroying the works of the devil and drawing people to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 7, 2016

Posted on April 10, 2016 by jgarrott

1 Kings 8:56 “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”

God’s faithfulness is one of the strongest themes running throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. You could say that the whole saga of mankind is of God’s faithfulness and man’s unfaithfulness, or at least his weakness. That comes into particularly sharp focus with the physical descendants of Abraham, to whom Solomon is speaking here. From our perspective today we tend to think, how could they do that? Actually, we are no more reliable than they were. We all need to keep a clear understanding and grasp of our own inability to get it right on our own, so that we will turn to God to receive the help we need to follow Him. Human free will has got to be the most valuable thing in the created universe, because God sacrificed His own Son rather than violate that free will. We are able to choose to follow God in obedience, but we don’t really have the strength to follow through on that choice on our own. That’s one of the mysteries of salvation. Just about the only thing we contribute to our salvation is the choice to accept it. However, that acceptance isn’t passive, it is actively following through to receive and act on all that God has provided for us in Christ. As keeps coming up throughout the Bible, God’s promises are generally conditional, and that condition is very simply, our choosing to believe and act on what He has said. If we will do that, we will find that He is every bit as faithful as Solomon here proclaims He is.

My life is a testimony to the faithfulness of God and a demonstration of the unreliability of man. More blessings have been poured out on me that I could possibly count. Some of those I have recognized and appreciated, and some I have squandered. Some I have realized how precious they were, and some I have taken for granted. I can say without hesitation that God’s grace is indeed amazing! The past three days have been packed with blessings, some of which will send ripples out far beyond what I can see now. My heart is full. At the same time, I am currently rather miserable physically from a head cold. This is further training in not ignoring the physical but certainly not fixating on it. God will get me through everything that’s on my plate today (and there’s a lot of it). I am to be active in fulfilling all my responsibilities, but at the same time rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, because, though my strength is not up to the task, His certainly is, and He is indeed faithful.

Father, thank You indeed for all You did in this trip. There were a number of distractions, but You enabled me to get my focus back on You. Help me keep my focus on You throughout today, and not on how I feel physically. May I have good first classes with my speech therapy students, as a good start to the school year. May I have good interaction with those I go visit this afternoon, to make up for my not having been here for my usual Wednesday morning rounds. May I have good understanding when the lady comes here after that for help with her mother’s tax affairs. May I indeed give Your glory by my obedience, for You are certainly worthy of all glory, honor, and power. Thank You. Praise God!

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