Human Weakness; February 15, 2025

Posted on February 16, 2025 by jgarrott

John 2:24-25 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Jesus was in an interesting place. He loved people totally, but knew them too well to trust them. After all, He had to tell Peter, one of His closest disciples, that he would say he didn’t even know Him! This is why He wasn’t swayed by crowd size, but focused on the few who had been entrusted to Him. On one level this might be described as paranoia, and indeed He was accused of that when He talked about how the Jewish leaders were out to kill Him. However, He was the most self-aware person who has ever walked the earth. Being fully human, He was totally aware of all human weaknesses, but being fully divine, He didn’t yield to them. That had to be lonely! I think He did enjoy His time with His disciples, but the level of fellowship certainly wasn’t what He was used to with the Father and the Spirit. Had He not had the Spirit, as His direct line to the Father, He might have flipped out! It’s hardly surprising that He would sometimes get up very early to have time alone with the Father and the Spirit. We don’t have the same depth of fellowship with them that He did, but it is still available to us, and it can certainly be a lifesaver when we encounter all sorts of trials – particularly related to our fellow human beings. It can be a painful lesson at times, but God is the only one who is totally reliable. We entrust ourselves to others on a regular basis, whether it’s doctors or bus drivers or whomever, but we need to take a page from Jesus’ book and not let their failures tear us down. After all, we have failed others many times! When Jesus has extended His grace to us, we need to extend it to others as well.

This is something in which I keep getting painful lessons. Just yesterday there was an incident, and every time I think of it I have to choose forgiveness. The thing is, there was a third party involved, and the actions of one person but a barrier between that third party and me, and that’s not something I can control. That said, the offending party is still a child of God, and valuable in the Body of Christ. I talk about forgiveness a great deal, and now I’m being given an intense practicum in it! I must not back away, but operate in Christ’s love and grace, since He has extended it to me. There are many, many good things going on all around me, and I am not to let the negative things that will continue to go on distract me from and rob me of the good. As Jesus said, in this world I will have trouble, but I am to fix my heart on Him and rejoice! (John 16:33)

Father, thank You for this lesson, in all its facets. I ask for wisdom and strength as I get things set up in the sanctuary today, with its beautiful new floor! Help me know what I am to do today and what I should wait for people to show up tomorrow to help do. Delegation has never been my strong suit! Help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You throughout today, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Whole Bible; February 14, 2025

Posted on February 15, 2025 by jgarrott

Luke 24;26-27 “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

This was the ultimate class in Christology! Actually, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have attempted to recreate this talk, in a sense, writing a book they called Jesus a Theography, in which they indeed start with Genesis 1 and go all the way through the Bible, showing how it points to Jesus every step of the way. It’s over 400 pages long (at least in the electronic version I’m reading)! Jesus Himself probably gave a more compact presentation, but the material is certainly there. The thing is, Jesus was literally in God’s plan from before Creation, and the better we understand that, the more committed to Him we will be. Cleopas and his friend had the incredible privilege of hearing it directly from Jesus, but we can investigate it ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we have Bible scholars like Sweet and Viola who have done the heavy lifting for us. The important thing to remember is that God didn’t go, “Oh dear, now what will I do?” after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. No, God, being omniscient and outside of time, planned salvation for mankind before He ever created the universe. (Actually, that’s very difficult to express in human words, because time is a function of matter, so we speak of a “space-time continuum,” but God existed when there was no matter, so there was no “before” or “after.”) All such mental gymnastics aside, it is important to realize that the whole Bible is Jesus’ book, since none of the New Testament had been written at the point this story happened. Christians and churches that ignore the Old Testament miss out on a great deal, and have a very limited understanding of Christ and salvation at best.

I am grateful to have been raised in a family that loved the whole Bible. My father got his doctorate in Greek, but he got his masters in Hebrew, and he didn’t slight the Old Testament. I use the New Testament more in my preaching, but I often include Old Testament passages, and occasionally preach entirely from the Old Testament. The young man who puts bookmarks in Bibles for visitors, to indicate the passages I will be using, likes to hand out just New Testaments if that covers all the ones I’ve listed, but that isn’t too common. I dearly love Isaiah, and of course Psalms, and Deuteronomy has a special place in my heart as well. For that matter, a passage from Habakkuk has been given to this church on three  separate occasions, so I don’t slight the “minor prophets” either! The point is not just to love God’s Word but to do it, just as James pointed out. (James 1:22) My desire is to engender an obedient love for the Word in others, and it is a great joy that I seem to be succeeding in that with some.

Father, thank You for the whole Bible, and how You speak to us so clearly and faithfully. May I indeed be someone who does Your Word and doesn’t just talk about it, so that Your rule and reign may be established as Your will is done, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Angels; February 13, 2025

Posted on February 14, 2025 by jgarrott

Luke 24:5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?

I noticed many years ago that almost any time angels show up, people are scared witless. The only exception I can think of is when angels led Lot and family out of Sodom, in Genesis 19, but they might have done well to be a bit more scary, so that Lot’s wife would take them more seriously! Nowhere in the Bible do we see anything like the little Cupids that are popular imagery. That’s hardly surprising, because Cupid is from Greek and Roman mythology. On this occasion, the women were so scared they put their faces to the ground, which was a sign of total submission in those days. However, in the New Testament, and often in the Old, angels a bearers of good news from God. Revelation indicates that in the Last Days angels will again manifest some of their more fearsome characteristics and abilities, and that’s a far cry from Cupids! Here, their purpose is to deliver some astoundingly wonderful news: Jesus had risen. These women were among the few believers who stayed by Jesus through the whole crucifixion, so they had the most reason to believe He was positively dead. A spear through the heart will generally do the trick! It’s hard to even imagine their emotional and mental response to this news. They were doubtless so flustered that it’s not so surprising the apostles had trouble believing them. All that aside, the question the angels asked the women is valid even today. Many people do seek God through the writings of people long dead – and I’m not talking about the Biblical writers. The writings of philosophers can be interesting and helpful at times, but without the breath of the Holy Spirit behind them, they won’t lead you to life. Like the angels, we need to challenge people to seek the living God for who He is, and expect Him to answer. Only then will they find the eternal life for which they were created.

I’ve never seen an angel but my wife has, on multiple occasions. I suppose that on some level I envy her, but not really, because my focus isn’t on angels but on my Lord – and He meets with me daily through His Word. The writer of Hebrews was careful to stress that we aren’t to fixate on angels, but rather on the King of kings and Lord of lords. I think I have had some direct interactions with angels, like one time when a trick worthy of a professional stunt driver kept me out of a potentially fatal accident. I don’t think I was controlling that car! I’m deeply grateful, but like I said, I don’t fixate on such things – and I have had some traffic accidents since then. My point is to be obedient to my Lord, and trust Him to send angels if He thinks I need them. One thing I do know is that angels aren’t going to evangelize in my place. Even when an angel spoke to Cornelius, he told him to send for Peter, who had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with him and his household. (Acts 10) I am to be bold in asking people why they seek life among the dead, and proclaim life in Christ to them.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You’re doing in me as well as around me. Thank You that the sanctuary flooring went in so beautifully yesterday. I ask for wisdom, strength, and skill as I replace the baseboards and edging, so that this floor may indeed be inviting to people for many years to come. May the renewal of the building connect to a renewal of the people, the actual church, so that we may be active as Your agents in this area, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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God’s Kingdom; February 12, 2025

Posted on February 13, 2025 by jgarrott

Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”

Matthew’s record of this teaching on not being anxious, in Matthew 6, is more famous, but it doesn’t have this line. We get tied in knots over all sorts of things, but this particular issue is specific to those who genuinely want to see God’s kingdom manifested on this earth. That requires a certain level of faith and commitment before we would even care about it, so that’s why Jesus addressed this to His flock. Those who care about it already belong to Him! It’s very true that circumstances can look very different from how we imagine God’s kingdom to be, but things can turn around with remarkable speed. The current US government is a case in point. Changes are happening so fast that it’s difficult to keep up, and the direction of change is better than most conscientious analysts believed possible. Few if any pundits believed America could ever get out of debt, but even that looks to be within the realm of possibility at this point. The operations of a particular nation are a far cry from the kingdom of God, but current events are showing that things can turn around far faster than we imagine. Even in the various places where severe persecution is currently the norm, God is still God, and we need to fix our eyes expectantly on Him, trusting that in His time the rule and reign of Jesus Christ the Lord will be manifested, even as He told us to pray.

I frankly am not used to thinking in terms of kingdoms, but it is certainly Biblical terminology. I need to remember that in Biblical times, the king had absolute authority. That means that to operate in God’s kingdom, I’ve got to be committed to total obedience. I’m on my way, but I’m not completely there yet! I’ve got to remember that James’ famous promise that the devil would flee is predicated on submitting to God. (James 4:7) If I want to operate in God’s kingdom, I’ve got to live with Christ as my King. It has rightly been said that evangelism is persuading people to change citizenship, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Put that way it sounds like an easy choice, but the devil’s deceptions can be remarkably persuasive. I’m never to give up, but keep speaking the truth in love to all, so that God’s truth may indeed set people free (John 8:32) to change their citizenship to God’s kingdom, for their eternal salvation.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the operation of Your kingdom that we’ve seen over the past two days, with all the people gathered here to help us physically in various ways. I pray that the sanctuary flooring would be completed today without incident. Thank You for the people who worked on the yard. It was really somewhat overwhelming! I pray that each person who participated, and will participate today, would receive the blessings You intend for them, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Light; February 11, 2025

Posted on February 12, 2025 by jgarrott

Luke 11:34-35 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

You had to be on your toes around Jesus, because His teaching sometimes took completely unexpected turns. Here, after talking about physical vision, He suddenly changes gears to talk about spiritual perception. This is one reason He repeatedly talked about “ears to hear.” If we just consider the words at face value, we might not get very much out of them, and sometimes they don’t seem to make much sense, as here. How can our light be darkness? However, He was talking at the time to Pharisees, who thought they had a monopoly on spirituality. Immediately after this a Pharisee invited Him to dinner. We don’t know the motive. He may have genuinely wanted to hear more of what Jesus had to say, or he may have been thinking to get Him into a situation where he could trip Him up. Considering what Jesus said in the Pharisee’s house, the latter seems more likely. And Jesus was hardly politically correct in the things He said about the Pharisees! We read this and think, “Yeah, those were really bad guys,” without realizing we may be exactly in their shoes. That’s what Jesus is talking about here. When we are convinced we are right, without God’s Word and His Spirit confirming it, our “light” is all too prone to be darkness! We see examples of this all around us, but have a hard time recognizing when we are the guilty party. It is tragic that different interpretations of the same passage of Scripture can drive wedges, even build walls, between people who should all be children of God together. We need to remember that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) John follows that up with, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) Anything less, and the light in us is darkness.

I have been troubled most of my life by the barriers I have seen between Christians. The simple fact of the matter is, sometimes we love our opinions more than we love the Lord. I’m prone to that too. If I were to go around holier-than-thou, I would be no better than one of the Pharisees Jesus chews out in this chapter! Raised in a missionary home, reading the Bible through for the first time before I was 10, I had lots of light in me, but I let pride darken that light. After all, I hadn’t chosen my parents or my home environment, so what did I have to be proud of? Nevertheless, I got to the point that I felt that any church I walked into was blessed by my mere presence. And I wasn’t even going by the rules the way the Pharisees did! My light had indeed turned to darkness, and I didn’t know it. When I was 24, already a married father, the Lord in His amazing grace tapped me on the shoulder, and, when I turned, had a mirror to show me my soul, just for an instant. I literally collapsed on the floor, crying out, “My Lord and my God!” I saw how dark it all was, and I repented. In the 52 years since then I have grown, not always at an even pace, and I know I have plenty of room yet to grow. I want the light in me to be light indeed, shining out to draw others to the Lord who is the light, for their salvation and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the privilege of sharing Your light with others. May I always do it in full humility and gratitude, so that it won’t turn to darkness. Thank You. Praise God!

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Jesus’ Sacrifice; February 10, 2025

Posted on February 11, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

It has always struck me that Jesus didn’t simply die, the way just about everyone dies, with the pulse dropping and the like, He chose the moment of leaving His body. “Crying out in a loud voice” is not exactly common, because a dying person generally doesn’t have the strength to do that. That reinforces the reality that this was a willing sacrifice; Jesus chose to die for us. Paul expounded on this. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8) Pilate had no concept of this. “‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’” (John 19:10) Jesus was doing what He and the Father and the Spirit had agreed on before creation, when They knew that mankind would sin. This is the greatest mystery in the world, and calls for meditation and the help of the Holy Spirit to grasp it, because it is outside of human comprehension. That a Member of the Godhead would choose to die for us is the most astounding thing ever, and is posited in no other religion. People have said that Christianity is “a bloody religion,” meaning to put it down, but Jesus’ sacrifice is actually our pride and joy, because without it, we would have no hope. As it is, He not only died for our sins, He also rose on the third day to demonstrate the reality and the finality of His sacrifice, and the victory it gives us over physical and spiritual death.

I could write at considerable length on this, and indeed, many books have been written on the subject, including by a close family friend. (Interpreting the Atonement, by Robert H. Culpepper) What is more important is that I live each moment of my physical life in the awareness of what God has done for me in Christ, so that I will be properly prepared to live eternally in full fellowship with my Lord. I have ignored that reality more often than I care to think about, even after God brought me back to repentance in 1972, and even after He baptized me in His Spirit in 1974. Human free will is real, and I need to keep my commitment fresh and consistent. Jesus gave everything for me, and I in turn need to keep myself on the altar, and not crawl off! (Romans 12:1)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You did yesterday, and all You enabled me to do. Thank You for Your plans for today. I do ask Your healing for the cold Cathy seems to have, and for wisdom in whether she is to go to rehab this morning. I pray that as the team comes this afternoon to peel the old cushion flooring from the sanctuary that everyone will have the necessary strength and skill to do a good job, and that laying the new flooring tomorrow will likewise go smoothly. And I do pray for our Internet connection to be restored! Thank You. Praise God!

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Giving Your Body; February 9, 2025

Posted on February 10, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

This is certainly a familiar passage, read or recited (or alternatively, Paul’s version of the scene, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 11) at every Communion/Lord’s Supper. We seldom think deeply about anything that is so familiar! However, every part of Scripture is worthy of meditation; riches await us on every page. The idea of Jesus giving His body for us has different levels of meaning. In the first place, for something to be given it must be received, or else it is simply discarded. Here, Jesus explicitly tells His disciples to take the bread He was offering them. God’s salvation is freely offered to all but it must be received, taken, for it to be effective. I often tell people that salvation is like a fortune deposited in a bank for you. You have to believe it is there and then act to claim it for it to do you any good. The second thing that struck me is that giving one’s body is sometimes applied to sex, where each person gives themselves to the other – with the glaring exception of rape. In sex, each party receives pleasure on several levels. However, in the case of this passage, the only pleasure Jesus received was in knowing the good He was doing for mankind. This was sacrificial giving in the truest sense of the word. As in the marital relationship, life is given from Jesus to those who will receive it, and thus we become the Body of Christ. Nothing in God’s plan of salvation is coincidental; everything has meaning. The more we meditate on it and let it work into our awareness, the more we will love Him for all He has done for us, and the more we will fulfill every good purpose for which He created us.

This is an area I certainly didn’t understand as a young believer. I was baptized at seven, and so have been receiving the bread and the cup ever since. My understanding and appreciation for all that God has done for me in Christ has continued to deepen and strengthen. That said, I now know enough to realize that I don’t know very much! As I mentioned a few days ago, the Japanese term for physical commitment is kenshin, giving your body as an offering. Jesus certainly did that for me, and I should do no less for Him. How He will use me is His business, but I should have no hesitation or reservations in my obedience to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s interesting to need it, with such a familiar passage. Help me give myself to You through serving those around me as You desire, so that the Body of Christ may be built up indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Priorities; February 8, 2025

Posted on February 9, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 26:11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.

I don’t think I had ever made this connection before, but this can be applied to a number of close relationships, particularly parenting. We always have our work, our social commitments, our hobbies and the like, but we don’t always have our children close to us, and particularly not at whatever age they happen to be at the moment. As many people have noted, they change so fast! If we don’t prioritize being present for our children in the moment, that moment will be gone forever. This specifically applies to people in ministry. When a person is called by God to specific tasks, those naturally take precedence, but we often misunderstand, I think, exactly what God is saying to us. If we neglect our role as parents “for the sake of the ministry,” we, and our children, will regret it for the rest of our lives. It is sometimes heartbreaking to read the stories posted in a Missionary Kids Facebook group to which I belong, from people who were sent off to boarding school from 1st grade, even, because that was what was expected of missionary families. Home schooling by correspondence wasn’t even considered, even after it became a real possibility. To come back to the Scripture, Jesus wasn’t saying that we aren’t to help the poor, but he was saying that we have to ask God what His priorities are for us. Parents, and specifically ministers with children, have many valid things to be doing, but those things aren’t always primary in the moment.

When I was growing up as an MK in Japan, we were blessed to have a US Air Force base in commuting distance, so I and my siblings attended their dependents school. When we first got back to Japan after WWII, my oldest sister was the only one of school age, and my mother taught her at home for a while using the Calvert Course, one of the early correspondence schools, but her education was always something of an issue, and she suffered from some of the choices that were made. That was echoed in my generation, when our older daughter wasn’t able to catch up to written Japanese sufficiently to be a regular student as a 5th grader in a local school, and her personality made home schooling quite a battle. She has likewise suffered from some of the choices we made. I was the only child left at home when it hit my father that he hadn’t prioritized his family sufficiently, and he was in most ways an exemplary father. This isn’t just a parent/child issue. I have come to be very aware that my wife and I won’t have each other on earth forever, and I am to make the most of the time we are given. That doesn’t mean being together instead of doing ministry, but it does mean prioritizing the time God gives us. It was good that we were able to attend the conference this week together, but on the trip home yesterday I could have been more considerate of how she was feeling and reacting to circumstances. At the conference, during some free time in the schedule some friends came to see us because we were in the area, and the Lord gave me a magnificent opportunity to share the Gospel very clearly, but Cathy was there too, so it wasn’t an either/or situation. I am to seek the Lord at all times for His priorities, so that I won’t miss any of the work, or the blessings, He intends for me.

Father, thank You for this reminder, particularly in the context of the past four days. Help me recognize Your priorities and follow them, so that Your will may be done in and through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Human Rules; February 7, 2025

Posted on February 8, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 15:8-9 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”

I thought I would be quoting the New Testament, but this is Jesus quoting Isaiah! Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet are quite accurate in Jesus: a Theography in saying that Christ is the theme of the entire Bible, from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. Human nature hasn’t changed, and neither has God. What this passage says is precisely how new/false religions spring up. That might seem obvious, but Isaiah, and Jesus, were talking to people who knew Yahweh, or at least knew of Him, and they had the Law of Moses. Rules are necessary for a smoothly functioning society, but we have to be very careful not to put human rules on the plane of God’s commands, much less supplant God’s commands with human rules, as the Pharisees were doing here. On a lower level, this can be illustrated by what has been going on in the US, with the Bill of Rights being supplanted by “woke” policies. Thankfully that looks like it’s being reversed, but it really got to some absurd levels. That said, we are quick to recognize when others do this sort of thing but fail to see where we are doing it ourselves. A correct relationship with God requires a fundamental humility that is all too often lacking. Even in prayer, we are quick to come to God with a list of requests that are all too often demands, rather than expressing our heart to Him and listening for how He will respond. People who put down prayer have no concept of listening to God!

As I have commented many times, I grew up in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing, and I’m deeply grateful. That would not have been possible without a fundamental commitment to obedience on the part of my parents, but that commitment underlaid everything they said and did. I have certainly strayed from that more times than I like to remember, but I seek to have that commitment as my own guiding principle. That said, I still have the tendency to place my own opinions and preferences entirely too high in my priorities, desiring what feels good to me instead of what God is saying. That is entirely foolish, because I know full well that God is love, and His every command is for my benefit. This is most often an issue for me as a pastor, where my opinions can have the weight of law at times. I’ve got to be very careful of that, especially when God uses one of the church members to correct me! I do not want to be in the position of the Pharisees to whom Jesus was speaking, nor of the people Isaiah was addressing.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You have been doing in this conference, for the physical healing Cathy and I have experienced and for how You have spoken into our hearts. May we not let these things slide or fade away, but rather live out all that You desire of us, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Speaking for God; February 6, 2025

Posted on February 7, 2025 by jgarrott

Matthew 10:19-20 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Reading this, the recent images of Trump’s cabinet nominees in their Senate confirmation hearings came to mind. They weren’t as antagonistic as what Paul experienced in Antioch after he was arrested in Jerusalem, but the image seems very similar. This doesn’t mean we aren’t to prepare to speak, but it does mean we aren’t to be anxious about it, however antagonistic the setting. For example, the closest of the cases in the Senate hearings was Pete Hegseth. He had all of the information he needed at hand, and didn’t hesitate to respond respectfully and accurately to every question. Sermons aren’t generally a cross-examination situation, but we need to be very familiar with the material the Lord has indicated we are to cover, so that He will have no trouble pulling the right words out of us as we speak. The more we’re worried about it, that shows the more we’re focused on ourselves rather than on God, and the more likely we’ll just be speaking what’s in our head rather than what God has put in our heart. Speaking as God’s representative is a huge responsibility, but He’s up to it!

As someone with Teacher gifting, speaking in front of groups has never been that big an issue for me, for which I’m grateful. However, that doesn’t mean I’ve always been sensitive and yielded to the Holy Spirit on such occasions! I admire well-crafted sermons, but I have heard beautiful sermons that had no anointing, and I don’t want to deliver any such! At the same time, I don’t want to be lazy and unprepared. That is presuming on God, and it doesn’t please Him. I am to be thoroughly familiar with the Bible, so that I won’t hesitate when the Lord indicates I’m to include something that wasn’t in my original notes, and I am to consider my audience and let the Lord show me how to speak understandably to them. Again, I am to be a good steward of the resources God has provided to me, but know that it ultimately doesn’t depend on me, but on Him. Frankly, I enjoy sharing the riches of God’s truth, and will preach “in season and out of season,” as Paul told Timothy. (2 Timothy 4:2) I’m more likely to need brakes than encouragement! The danger there is in my saying things that sound good to me, instead of what the Lord wants me to speak at that time in that situation. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but the Lord is faithful, and I’ve known Him to use what I thought were my mistakes for blessing, and His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for speaking clearly to me yesterday about what I’m to speak on Sunday, and for enabling me to prepare those notes already. I’m a little concerned about how long it will go, since we also have a Gideons testimony that day, but that’s Your business. Help me indeed take my eyes off of myself, and off of the clock, and be fully obedient to You so that Your Word through me may accomplish everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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