December 21, 2015

Posted on December 24, 2015 by jgarrott

Luke 1:63-64 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.

Zechariah had learned his lesson! He obviously had communicated his experience with Gabriel to Elizabeth, because they were in agreement on the baby’s name, but I doubt that many, if any, of the neighbors knew the details. We have the record of what Zechariah said in his praise to God in the following verses, and it is clear that the nine months of being unable to speak had drawn him closer to God and better able to hear Him. As I tell people frequently, God never picks on us; everything He allows in our lives has the potential for blessing. Sometimes that includes some pretty horrible stuff, but if it draws us into a closer, better relationship with our Creator and Lord, it’s worth it. Joni Tada has spoken and written extensively on that, having broken her neck as a teenager and lived in a wheelchair ever since. However, she has blessed countless people and her own relationship with God is sweet indeed. Zechariah’s nine months of silence were trivial in comparison! The whole question is whether we accept and learn whatever it is that God is wanting to do and teach us in what we experience. We have the freedom to either accept or reject it, but it’s pretty obvious which gives the better result!

I’ve not had major health issues myself, and I tend to feel I haven’t had many trials. However, looking back objectively, I realize I’ve been through quite a few things that felt like pretty severe trials at the time! The thing is, the blessings they have brought have erased the pain, and sometimes even the memory, of the trials. I doubt very much whether Zechariah dwelt on how long he had been unable to speak, as he was raising his son John. When we focus on the negatives, we often miss the positives! At this point my wife is still recovering from major back surgery, and she faces brain surgery in February. Actually, she has quite a “rap sheet” when it comes to medical problems! However, God has grown and blessed her, and me too, in the process of it all, and we know that everything on this earth is just a process and a prelude to prepare us for eternity with our Lord. When our Lord is Himself love, (1 John 4:8) that’s a good thing indeed!

Father, thank You for all You allow us to experience, whether it feels good at the moment or not. Thank You for getting us through the day yesterday, including the programs at the nursing home. Thank You for the privilege of being Your representatives to those people. I pray that the words we spoke and sang would continue to work in their hearts and minds and draw them to You. Thank You for all that this week holds. I look forward to the end of the busyness, but keep me from missing any of Your blessings because of the poison of resentment. May I be Your agent for Your will to be done, every moment and in every situation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 20, 2015

Posted on December 21, 2015 by jgarrott

Luke 1:51 “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.”

As Jesus said, everything bad starts in our hearts, in our minds. (Matthew 15:18-18) That’s why we need to be most careful of what we take in, to fill our hearts and minds. A lot of the filth that the devil heaps on us through the world is easy to recognize but some is not, and pride can be one of the most subtle of those, especially for Christians. After all, it’s possible to be proud of your humility! Two things in particular are necessary, from our standpoint. The first is simply attitude, choosing to submit to God and seeking Him at every turn. The second comes from that, and is more action-oriented: taking in the Word of God. As Psalm 119:11 so famously says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The best way to protect our minds and hearts is to fill them with the Word of God. The more full we are of the Word, the less room there will be for the devil’s junk. Thinking we’re OK without it is the most dangerous of attitudes. As Paul said, “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:12) He is a good example for us, because he had his struggles with pride, (and apparently other things too, to read Romans 7) but his final attitude is expressed quite eloquently in Philippians 3:7-14, of never thinking he had “arrived” but always pressing in for more of God. That is the opposite of the attitude Mary was talking about, and when we have it, rather than being scattered we are drawn close to God and enjoy fellowship with Him.

I have certainly experienced this truth from both sides. Growing up in the home I did, I was given quite a foundation of Bible knowledge from an early age, but even so, pride almost completely derailed me. Having Bible knowledge doesn’t do much good if you don’t acknowledge that you need it! I thought I was a great Christian, when I was indeed “proud in my inmost thoughts” and felt I could get along just fine on my own. How foolish! I won’t try to list all that got me into, but I was on very dangerous ground indeed. However God, in His incredible grace and mercy, tapped me on the shoulder, and when I turned around He had a mirror, and I saw the blackness of my soul. All I could do was fall to my knees and cry out, “My Lord and my God!” I am eternally grateful that He did that for me, rather than just discarding me as I deserved. Today I seek to draw others to the repentance and faith that bring salvation, but I know full well that I can’t do it on my own. I desire to be drawn closer myself, and be used by Him for His purposes and His glory.

Father, when I think back over all You have brought me through I am amazed at Your grace and patience. Just as You didn’t give up on me because You knew what You would eventually do with me, help me not give up on others, but rather entrust them to You and be Your agent of grace, truth, and love to them, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 19, 2015

Posted on December 21, 2015 by jgarrott

Luke 1:45 “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

The Japanese for this verse brings out two nuances that are missing from the English, or the NIV at least. The first (going from the word order in the English) is the degree of blessing; it is literally, “How blessed!” We really don’t know the magnitude of the blessings we receive by faith, and probably won’t really grasp them until we look back from before the Throne to praise God for all He has done for us. The second nuance is the degree of faith. The expression in the Japanese indicates a fully settled and completed matter, and is used for such things as when you have used something up completely. Mary held nothing back in her faith, even though at this point she probably had no objective physical indication of her pregnancy. This degree of faith really is a gift from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9) but it is more available than most of us realize. Faith is ultimately a choice; we choose to believe. If that were not the case, then unbelievers would have no responsibility for their lack of faith. The more faith is exercised, in little details as well as big ones, the stronger it gets, and as this verse indicates the blessings are limitless. So, what about situations where what we believed for didn’t happen? We are very prone to decide what God should do, instead of asking Him what we should do, in genuine humility. God is under no obligation to fulfill our wish lists! Recently I’ve run into the phrase, “unintended consequences,” several times in relation to the situation in the Middle East. That’s an appropriate phrase for every area of life, actually. We don’t know what will happen down the line if a particular thing happens (or doesn’t happen) right now. We need to let the Holy Spirit guide our prayers (Romans 8:26) so that we ask for, and receive, God’s best for us. Mary actually didn’t ask for her pregnancy, but when God said it was hers, she received it, and what a huge thing it was. It included incredible heartache and difficulty, but those were far outweighed by the blessings, for her and for all humanity.

I’ve prayed for enough things over the years to be able to look back and be thankful many of them weren’t granted! Rather than trying to work up faith for a wish list, I need to be quiet enough before God to hear what He is saying to me, and then be absolutely sure that everything He has said is going to be as He has said it. I’ll never forget the time, quite a few years ago, now, that I was lying in bed, not consciously praying, but thinking, “There are so many things I wish were different.” To my great surprise, the Lord spoke to me, in one of only two times (so far) I have heard Him so clearly, and He said, “How do you think I feel?” That certainly put a new perspective on things, and I must not forget it. We live in a fallen world, and until the Lord makes all things new, (Revelation 21:5) stuff is going to happen that is far from optimal. I need to trust Him to bring blessing even out of those less-than-optimal things, (Romans 8:28) and walk in His peace that passes human understanding. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Father, You’ve been taking us through a training course in this, and there’s more to come. Thank You. Help me not miss the blessings You have for me, and for those around me, by insisting in my own heart how things are supposed to be. Help me indeed pray as Jesus taught us with my whole heart, that Your kingdom would come through Your will being done perfectly, whatever that means, especially when I have no idea what it means. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 18, 2015

Posted on December 21, 2015 by jgarrott

Luke 1:37-38 “For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

What a contrast to Gabriel’s interaction with Zechariah! I’m sure he enjoyed this one a lot more! The simple reminder that nothing is impossible with God was enough for Mary, and she made a commitment of faith that has blessed all mankind, and indeed all of creation. We have trouble grasping just how big an issue this was for her. Today “unwed motherhood” is so common as to be beneath notice, but back then marriage and purity really meant something, and consequences for violation could be severe. We tend to express faith and love toward God when it feels good and doesn’t cost us anything, but draw back when we feel the cost is getting high. Jesus later said a good bit about “counting the cost,” and He had His own mother’s example to help Him know what He was talking about. Mary’s response was tantamount to accepting martyrdom, and we should never forget that. We need to believe what Gabriel told her, that nothing is impossible with God, and offer ourselves to Him completely, holding nothing back, just as Mary did. I forget which famous Christian once said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is completely committed to Him.” However, we have indeed seen what God can do with a woman who is completely committed to Him, because Mary is that example.

I would honestly like to be completely committed/submitted to God, but I recognize areas in myself that call for repeated repentance. I want to believe completely that nothing is impossible with God, but too often my faith seems flimsy and shrunken. I have lived with myself long enough to know that “nothing good lives in me,” as Paul said (Romans 7:18) However, I have learned that God can use even me, and I desire to be available to Him. In the past I have been ambitious for miracles, but I have come to the place that I will rejoice if He chooses to do them through me, however, I seek Him more than I seek His hand. “May Your Name be acknowledged as holy; may Your kingdom come and Your will be done perfectly right here,” is increasingly the cry of my heart. I see so many things that I know are not pleasing to Him, and He once even told me personally that He wants many things to be different. I don’t know God’s timing, nor why he allows these things right now, but as it says in Hebrews, “But we see Jesus.” (Hebrews 2:9) I am to walk in faithful obedience, and trust Him.

Father, thank You for all You have done, are doing, and will do. Thank You that I can trust You to give me the faith I need at any moment, if I will accept it. Help me accept it! May I be Your agent in every area of my life, however You want to use me, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 17, 2015

Posted on December 18, 2015 by jgarrott

Luke 1:18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years.”

When you come right down to it, Zechariah had a lot of gall, questioning Gabriel like that! However, you could say he was a typical Christian, looking at, and evaluating things by, himself and his circumstances rather than by what God was saying. He was devout, but had no faith for anything beyond what his own senses and intellect told him. We might laugh at him for having such an attitude in the middle of a personal visitation from Gabriel, but I doubt that we are much better. Believing that Jesus died for our sins and rose again is enough for salvation, but too often it leaves us short of victory in our daily lives. The Bible is filled with examples of God doing the seemingly impossible, as well as with statements like what God said to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27) All too often we act as though the answer to that were yes! It is interesting to me that in the somewhat esoteric area of physics called quantum mechanics, even atheistic scientists say essentially that nothing is impossible. Some have postulated that nothing is “real,” as we think of reality, so all bets are off. For someone who believes in the Creator, that particular attitude isn’t an option. However, the more we discover how much we don’t know about the universe and reality, the less difficulty we should have with God doing whatever He likes. Even ancient Greek philosophers realized that the physical world is no better than a reflection of something deeper. As Paul was quick to point out, that doesn’t mean the physical world, and our interactions with it, have no meaning, but it underlies his famous statement that “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Zechariah’s problem here was that he was depending on sight.

Looking back over what I have just written, it might seem that I am some giant of faith, always doing exactly what God says regardless of what the world or my mind might say. I wish! Just last night in prayer meeting we were wrestling with the perceived reality of Japan being so resistant to the Gospel. I know without question that God loves Japan and the Japanese, and yet I see the current state of affairs. One Japanese pastor who works with people of many nationalities said to me that Japanese are good illustrations of the first three kinds of soil in Jesus’ parable of the seed and the sower in Luke 8! He also has a congregation of Japanese, and he is amazed at the differences in ministering to them and to people of other nationalities. Growing up in a missionary family in Japan and ministering here myself since 1981, I have seen more than enough of the sort of thing that prompted that pastor’s statement. However, I must not be like Zechariah, personally pious but not believing God for anything more. I need a “faith transfusion,” so to speak, so that my eyes may be lifted above what my senses and my experience tell me and really expect great things of God.

Father, as You well know, this is exactly the sort of thing I tell people all the time, that they need to lift their eyes to the Lord and off of themselves and their circumstances, and yet here I realize that I need exactly the same message! Thank You for the reality check. Help me truly walk by faith and not by sight, in Your reality rather than the merely physical, so that all of Your plans involving me may be fulfilled, on Your schedule and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 16, 2015

Posted on December 18, 2015 by jgarrott

Micah 4:2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

The Japanese makes one detail of this verse clear that might be overlooked in the way every English translation I’ve seen expresses this verse, and that is that the “many nations” mentioned here are all Gentiles. When you think about it that might go without saying, but I know that I personally don’t think about, “I’m a Gentile.” The more egalitarian, you might say modern, our upbringing, the less we tend to think about such distinctions. However, differing people-groups were evidently God’s idea, and there are reasons they exist. Just as Paul goes to some lengths to express differences between individuals and giftings in 1 Corinthians 12, comparing them to the different parts of a human body, even so different people-groups have different characteristics that together add to the richness of humanity. This isn’t currently a politically correct line of thinking, but it is practical reality. God’s goal has never been sameness, but rather unity, and there is a huge difference. These days people tend to get all up in arms over race, when every human being alive needs to get humble before God and repent and seek His ways, just as this verse says. Racial differences are real, just as gender differences and a lot of other differences are real, but we need to realize they are not differences in value. We all have different characteristics and different lives, yet God loves each of us individually enough to die for us. As the familiar English carol says, He “calls you one and calls you all to gain His everlasting hall.” The fulfillment of this verse is found in the Christian Church, which gathers from every people-group to the God of Jacob.

This is of course what I am all about, as someone of English/Scotch-Irish ancestry ministering the Gospel in Japan. My task is to teach people the ways of God, regardless of their ethnic background: His love, His grace, His holiness. I’ve lost track of how many different ethnic backgrounds have been represented in this church over the years, but it’s quite an assortment. Each one has brought a different “spice” to the mix, with differing strengths and weaknesses. The point, as this verse says, is that we are each to walk in the path – not highway – that God has prepared for us. Those paths intertwine, and all of His paths indeed go to the same place, but they aren’t identical. As a pastor/teacher I need to help people understand both the universal truths of God’s Word and the individual paths God has prepared for them. That is obviously beyond my personal ability, but God can use me to get the job done if I will be yielded to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I’m not sure I’ve ever expressed it quite this way before. Help me be faithful to express Your truth in Your words all the time, as I speak to the prayer breakfast this morning and in my every interaction with people, so that Your Word may accomplish that for which You send it, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 15, 2015

Posted on December 18, 2015 by jgarrott

Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

The inclusion of this passage is one reason I am convinced of the inspiration by the Holy Spirit of Handel’s librettist. This is a passage quite a few people would prefer were not in the Bible! We think of Jesus as all “sweetness and light,” particularly at Christmas with images of the Baby in the manger being serenaded by angels. However, this is talking about His second coming, and the focus is on purity. We can imagine what “refiner’s fire” might be like, but at the time Malachi was writing, laundry was primitive to say the least. What the NIV expresses as “launderer’s soap” was lye soap at best. (The Japanese just says lye, period.) This was strong enough to raise blisters, and certainly wasn’t something you wanted to apply to your body with any regularity. However, it did kill germs and remove grease, so it was used on fabric, but using a stick to avoid contact with the skin. To Malachi’s hearers, this was hardly any gentler than a blazing furnace to remove impurities from precious metals! The whole point is, Christ is going to return for a spotless bride, and the closer we are to that condition when the time comes, the easier it will be on us. Too many of us are comfortable with our sins, and that is dangerous in the extreme. By God’s amazing grace He has provided something far gentler than fire and lye, and that is the blood of Christ. As the hymn says, “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” Some people seek a “bloodless” Christianity, but that choice leaves only fire and lye. The choice should be pretty clear!

The purity/holiness of God and the repentance required to receive it are constant themes in my ministry, not just to preach to others but because I’ve got to walk that way myself. The devil never gives up in trying to trip us up, so we’ve got to walk in the truth expressed in the first letter of John, just as I preached this past Sunday. When we keep our repentance up to date, we don’t have to fear the fire and the lye. I want to be one who serves the Lord in righteousness indeed, just as Malachi goes on to say in the following verses. Failing to deliver a clear message of repentance isn’t kind to anyone. I’m sorry to say that I have indeed failed in that more times than I like to think about. I am to share with all not just the love and grace, but also the holiness of God, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, You know my heart better than I do myself. Keep me true to You at all times in all ways, so that I may accurately represent Christ to all I encounter, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 14, 2015

Posted on December 18, 2015 by jgarrott

Zechariah 9:12 Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

I know that I’ve written on this verse several times in the past, most recently when the general theme was Hope, but it still speaks to me strongly, particularly in my present circumstances. We get taken prisoner by all sorts of things, almost always because we fail to keep our focus on God and His grace. However, we must not lose hope. The English, “prisoners of hope,” seems quite cryptic, but the Japanese renders it as “prisoners who have hope,” which makes a lot more sense. It is impossible to overstate the importance of hope. We had several months of daily Scriptures on the theme of hope. However, in most situations it is impossible to have hope without faith. Trying to do so is no more than wishful thinking. That’s why Paul so famously declared, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) The love in question there is agape, God’s love, and that is what makes faith and hope not only possible but practical. If it is impossible to overstate the importance of hope, that seems downright trivial compared to God’s love! It is His love that prompts Him to give us so many encouragements to hope, including this one. Our inattention and disobedience allow the devil to steal many things from us, but here God is saying that He will restore double to us, just as He did to Job. (Job 42:10) Sometimes we don’t realize exactly what it is that we have lost, and so we don’t recognize when it is restored double, but when we allow God to open our eyes and set our priorities it all becomes clear.

This could hardly be more applicable to me than it is right now. I have been in quite a funk, with emotional resources badly depleted, but God has brought me through. Yesterday’s joint Christmas celebration, for which I was the MC/linchpin, was more of a burden on me than even I realized, and I was quite aware of the burden! However, it is not only past, it went well, and there was opportunity for real ministry in the process. The busy season isn’t over yet, but I have peace and actual anticipation for the next two weeks, and that is a MAJOR change! There remain many challenges of various sorts, and new ones continue to be added, but my God is more than able to handle them, and He may even use me in the process.

Father, thank You indeed for all You did yesterday, and for all that You are continuing to do. May I indeed abide in Christ, my Fortress, recognizing Your provision of double everything the enemy has stolen, serving faithfully as Your agent in every situation so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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December 13, 2015

Posted on December 14, 2015 by jgarrott

Haggai 2:7 “‘I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

Well! Reading this verse in the Japanese just removed it from my personal list of Messianic prophecies! Going with the King James Version, influenced by its use in The Messiah, I had always thought of “the desired of all nations” as being Christ, but the Japanese here renders that as “the treasures of all nations.” In context, that makes a lot more sense, particularly when the next verse focuses on silver and gold. It is interesting and at the same time sad when we build theology on such mis-translations. I recall my response to realizing that Isaiah 19:17, dearly loved by Pentecostals because the KJV says “the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing,” popularly rendered as, “the anointing breaks the yoke,” actually is talking about oxen becoming so fat and strong that their yokes break. The Bible has plenty of glorious truth in it without our twisting it to make it say what we want it to! I am reminded of C. S. Lewis’ famous line from The Great Divorce, to the effect that when we get to heaven, one thing we can be sure of is that we will all discover we were wrong somewhere! Trevor Chandler, a friend who was mightily used by the Lord in his native Australia but also came many times to minister in Japan, once shared with me that he discovered he had been wrong on a point of theology that he had taught in many churches. He didn’t tell me what that point was, but he said that he had to spend the next several years correcting that point and apologizing for it. Now he is before the Throne and has all his misunderstandings removed, but his example of humility is one I want to emulate.

The danger for me at the moment, when we are in the Christmas season that is filled with totally familiar Scriptures and images, is cynicism, particularly when I make such discoveries as I did just now about this Haggai passage. I remember with amusement the total shock of some nuns who were so sure there were three magi, but were counted wrong in a quiz that was part of an interdenominational Christmas program because the correct option was, “We don’t know the number.” The fact that there were three gifts has had us jumping to the conclusion that there were three magi for over a thousand years, but the actual text doesn’t make it clear. I must not be amused at the assumptions of others and dogmatic about my own! Today I will be leading this year’s interdenominational Christmas service, and I must not let familiarity block the flow of of the Spirit, the joy of the Lord, through me. That’s a real danger. The same thing applies as I bring the message at the interdenominational prayer breakfast on Wednesday. I am in need of the message of Christmas myself, even as I feel burned out at all the trappings of Christmas traditions. I need to be quiet enough before the Lord to allow Him to fill me with His Spirit, replacing my strength with His as I wait on Him, (Isaiah 40:31) so that His will may be done in and through me for His glory.

Father, thank You for all the opportunities You give me to share Your truth with others. May I always do so with joy and humility, never thinking that I’ve got it all together but depending on You, so that nothing will get in the way of what You want to do, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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December 12, 2015

Posted on December 14, 2015 by jgarrott

Jeremiah 33:15-16 “‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness.'”

The most important thing about this passage to me is that the Lord is quoting Jeremiah to himself. These two verses are almost word-for-word the same as Jeremiah 23:5-6. Of course, they were words the Lord had put in Jeremiah’s mouth the first time, but he needed to be reminded of them. When he said them the first time, I’m sure he spoke them with great assurance, having just condemned the unfaithful shepherds/leaders of the nation, and that was something of his forte. However here, he is facing the utter destruction of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians, and this prophecy that he himself had spoken probably seemed like a complete fantasy even to him. That’s a major reason God has us record the things He says to us: we forget them. Sometimes God repeats prophecy through another individual. In terms of Messianic prophecy, Micah 4:1-3 seems like a direct quote of Isaiah 2:2-4. What God says often bears repeating, because we are so slow to take it to heart. That’s a major reason to read and re-read the Bible, because it simply does not work down to the depths of our souls with anything less. We are slow to learn! That even such a major prophet of God as Jeremiah would have to be reminded of prophecy he himself had delivered should be an encouragement to us, both to keep taking in the Word of God and not to put ourselves down that we need to do so.

This of course applies to me in the terms I have just expressed, but the Lord also brought to mind a prophecy He expressed through me. To my current distress, I am unable to locate the file in my computer, and I feel I need to be reminded of that in detail right now! However, God is more than able to resurrect it in me one way or another, and I need to let go and trust Him with it. If Jeremiah needed to be reminded, then there is no shame in my needing reminding from time to time! The thing is, we may hear or read a Word from the Lord and be totally unable to imagine how it could be fulfilled. Paul specifically referred to that, reminding us that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20) I am not to get worked up over how God might fulfill prophecy, but rather rest secure in the assurance that He will fulfill His Word.

Father, You’ve already given me a message for tomorrow based on Jeremiah 23:5-6, and here I have the repeat of that truth. Help me walk in Your truth at all times, not deceiving myself but living out what You have placed in me, so that Your will may be done in and through me on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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