May 3, 2015

Posted on May 6, 2015 by jgarrott

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

The Bible has many beautiful expressions of the Fatherhood of God, but this is one of the most poignant. That He is Father is as important, if not more so, than that He is love, (1 John 4:8) though in recent years we seem to focus on that a lot. Part of that comes from the distorted image we have of just what a Father is, courtesy of our own very imperfect fathers. Today we have a famine of fatherhood, with a distressingly high percentage of biological fathers being absent from their children’s lives. Here Isaiah is saying that whatever our physical or social condition, God is never absent. We need to think about that and let it sink in. It should make us rejoice and be deeply grateful, and to the degree it does not, it shows us how distorted our image of Fatherhood really is. An ideal father is both affectionate and firm, loving in the true sense rather than spoiling, desiring and acting for the very best for his children. He is always ready to listen and to give advice, without being a micro-manager. Since we haven’t seen physical fathers who did that perfectly, we have trouble grasping that God really is that way. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the Fatherhood of God to us more and more, so that we may be better children.

I was blessed with a very good father, but he certainly wasn’t perfect. He was a very busy man, and I was the only one of his four children still at home when he realized how low on his priorities he had placed us. He was a deeply loving man, but he didn’t always know how to express that. My memories of him are often of his being there but not being there, so to speak, physically present but without a great deal of interaction. I am probably more like that than I would like to be. People see me as very busy, and they hesitate to ask me for my time. I need to be a good steward of my time, prioritizing by God’s guidance, but I do need to be available as a spiritual father. I must remember that people are always more important than things, and not slight the individual for the sake of the task, as I see it. My task is really to demonstrate the Fatherhood of God, imperfect though I am. If I will do that, more and more people will desire to be His children indeed, and will repent and believe to that end.

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. Thank You for how it fits in with what You had me writing yesterday. I pray that everything I write, everything I say, everything I do would be an undistorted expression of Your truth, filled with Your love, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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May 2, 2015

Posted on May 3, 2015 by jgarrott

Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55 is so loaded with deeply moving, highly important truth! This statement of God’s invitation to salvation is notable for three things. It starts off by pointing out that the invitation is not limitless in time; there is a window of opportunity. Many people are aware of their need of salvation but they have the feeling of “some day.” However, we never know when our window of opportunity will close. I have known several people who died very suddenly, either from accidents or from unrecognized medical problems. Some have been Christians, but more have not. One in particular haunts me, because she had been given multiple direct invitations to commit to Christ but had declined, not recognizing that she was in the place of the land owner in Luke 12: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.” (Luke 12:20) The second point is that repentance is essential. If we don’t forsake the old, we can’t receive the new. Too many people trip up on this point. The old is familiar at least, whether or not it is comfortable. We tend to love our sins! There can be no real forgiveness without repentance. That’s certainly not to say that we’ll never stumble again, but it is to say that the choice must be there to leave the sin behind and follow God in obedience. With those two points firmly established, this goes on to speak of the richness of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Sometimes we hold back because we can’t believe that He really will forgive us. If the repentance is there, the forgiveness is there. (1 John 1:9) That is truth we can, and must, bank on.

As a pastor in Japan, this is the message I am constantly trying to get across. I would dearly love to see a higher success rate! I see two things as being perhaps the biggest hindrances to Japanese coming to Christ. The first is the reluctance to accept a deal to which they contribute nothing, essentially. Japanese are very hard workers and they have a strong sense of obligation and duty. It’s very hard to give a gift in Japan, because you will almost always get something in return! We are indeed to give our bodies, our lives to Christ, (Romans 12:1) but this is in response to God’s gift of salvation, and not something to earn it. They have trouble wrapping their minds around that. Probably that is why the Jehovah’s Witnesses are more successful in Japan than most genuinely Christian denominations. The other barrier is the feeling that Christianity is a foreign religion. They don’t relate to this passage speaking of “our God.” Japanese have an intense cultural/racial identity, and they run from things that they fear will detract from that. That is even an obstacle to their learning foreign languages, because they have the subconscious feeling that thinking in another language will make them less Japanese. At the same time, they deeply admire foreign things/countries, particularly America, and that feeling has been widely used in evangelism. Though I was born and raised here, with one foot on either side of the cultural divide, I still have great difficulty getting through with the Gospel. I am totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to get the job done, but that’s actually not untrue anywhere in the world; it’s just more obvious in Japan.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for enabling me to put the issue into clear words. I continue to pray that You would pour a Spirit of repentance out on this nation, that all the barriers would be overcome and people be washed into Your kingdom by the tsunami of Your love, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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May 1, 2015

Posted on May 2, 2015 by jgarrott

Proverbs 28:9 If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law,
even his prayers are detestable.

This verse would not have jumped out at me had I not read, just yesterday, an article about a popular television personality who claims to be a Christian but has linked up with a New Age guru who doesn’t pretend to be Christian. She tells people that “The prayer of gratitude is the only prayer we need.” Gratitude is important, but it’s that sort of thinking that led to some things I read about a few months ago. Those included a gang of bank robbers (led by a woman) who prayed for success before heading out to hit the bank, and a different group of women who were praying outside a courtroom for acquittal of a young male thug relative who had been caught in his thuggery. They didn’t care that he was guilty, they just wanted him to get off Scot free. Such prayers, in their blatant disregard for God’s righteousness and holiness, are indeed detestable! We are certainly dependent on the grace and mercy of God, but we are responsible to at least try to be obedient to the rules He has laid out. Along with prayers of gratitude (though they are important) we need prayers of repentance and prayers of commitment to obedience. God’s rules are for our good and are not burdensome (1 John 5:3), and they are certainly not to be ignored. Legalism can be a trap, but flouting the rules is spitting in God’s face.

I can’t claim a perfect record here. I’ve done my share of ignoring rules I didn’t like, and often enough paying a real price for it, too. I’ve had to learn that repentance is ongoing, because in our humanity we stumble with distressing frequency. However, I’ve also learned that there is a huge difference between stumbling and saying you don’t need that rule in the first place. Anything can be forgiven, but genuine repentance is essential, and repentance means turning from sin. We can’t say we’ve repented and then jump right back into whatever it was we were doing. I’ve got to be careful that I don’t deceive myself on this issue, (James 1:22) because the devil is very crafty, and he plays us very well. I can’t outsmart him whatever my IQ, so I’ve got to depend on God and stand on His Word, committing myself afresh daily to obedience. God wants to use me, but He wants to use a pure vessel, and certainly deserves nothing less.

Father, You know the attacks and temptations I experience even better than I do. Thank You that Your grace is indeed sufficient for me in every area. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Help me never take that grace lightly, but walk in consistent holiness in thought and deed, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 30, 2015

Posted on May 2, 2015 by jgarrott

Proverbs 21:2 All a man’s ways seem right to him,
but the Lord weighs the heart.

This is one of those obvious truths that we forget in practice. Anytime someone quotes this we say, “right,” but then we turn around and ignore God yet again. It’s interesting that the Japanese, instead of just saying “weighs,” says, “measures the price/value” of the heart. The ancient Egyptians believed that sins made the heart heavy, and that after death they would have to appear before Osiris and their heart would be placed on a balance against a feather. If it was heavier than the feather, they went to hell. There’s actually some real truth to that, though of course Osiris is not the Judge. The image of the heart being weighed down by sin is quite accurate. However, the only solution to our sin problem is the atonement of the cross of Jesus Christ. As the old hymn says, “Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood!” However, going back to the idea of the value of the heart being measured, God says that value is huge. If it weren’t, He wouldn’t have sent His Son to redeem it! We are unspeakably valuable to Him, but He leaves the key to our eternal destiny in our hands. Will we repent and believe, and so receive eternal life, or will we hang onto our sin and so choose hell? God’s grace and mercy are available, but they must be received by faith.

I’ve been a textbook example of this verse. Thinking my ways were right, even though I was ignoring the God I knew, I was walking in rebellion that I didn’t even recognize as such. When the Lord in His mercy tapped me on the shoulder and then showed me a mirror, spiritually speaking, I was devastated. I realized the pride, the conceit, the hubris of my ways, and I repented in tears. I wish I could say that I never fell into that trap again after that dramatic experience, but that would hardly be accurate. I’ve got to keep watch over my heart, because I am all too prone to think I’m right and not even bother to check with God. That’s what “hiding His Word in my heart” (Psalm 119:11) is all about. The more grounded I am in the Word, the better I know what His way is so that I can measure things against it and come into line. As a pastor I am charged with correcting, admonishing, and encouraging the believers. However, I must always do so in love, on the basis of the Word and the Spirit, and never just “because I say so.” Parents, spiritual as well as physical, sometimes have to “lay down the law,” but I must never think I am above it myself. I’ve got to remember the value of each soul in God’s eyes, and act accordingly.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the opportunity You have given/are giving me right now to speak into someone’s life. May I speak only what You are saying, in love and not condemnation, so that they may be built up and strengthened to follow Your way with all assurance and boldness, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 29, 2015

Posted on April 30, 2015 by jgarrott

Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the Lord.

I checked various English translations and they all pretty much agreed with the NIV, but I personally like this Japanese translation very much: “He who finds a good wife finds happiness, and receives grace from the Lord.” The generic statement of “find a wife” has too many pitfalls. I’ve met lots of women of whom I have thought, “I’m glad I’m not married to her!” However, the definition of “a good wife” is going to be different to some degree for each man, because each man is different. At the same time, searching for “the perfect woman” is a bad idea, because there are no perfect men! It all goes back to Genesis: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” (Genesis 2:18) In English we have so misunderstood the King James English that we’ve thought “helpmeet” meant “wife,” when “meet” meant “suitable” back then. Even though modern translations are pretty consistent in straightening that out, we tend to stick with confused tradition in our minds. The question then becomes, what is suitable? Again, that will be different for each man. That said, there are no “perfect fits;” every couple has to do a good bit of adjusting to each other. Even so, a good marriage is indeed a huge avenue of God’s blessing. Some psychologists say, with good reason I think, that marriage and family are the greatest source of the psychological feeling of happiness. That’s what this verse says, in Japanese at any rate!

I do a lot of marriage counseling, mostly premarital but with a fair bit of conflict resolution as well. Thankfully, my own 46 years of experience help a great deal! It is possible to do marriage counseling on a theoretical basis, but that’s much like the Child Development teacher I had in seminary, who wasn’t even married, much less a mother. Her pronouncements had a lot of the parents in her class laughing, or disgusted or even angry. Theory alone doesn’t cut it in such intensely personal interaction. That’s certainly true of marriage, but there are principles that are good for every marriage. I shouldn’t try to include a marriage seminar here! I have been enormously blessed by a wife who is indeed suitable for me and I am deeply grateful, both to God and to her for her cooperation with His plan. There are many who look at our relationship enviously, often thinking that such a relationship would be impossible with their own spouse, but I disagree with that last point. As I am given opportunity, I am to speak God’s truth in love to everyone, including to those who have less-than-optimal marriages. God can do amazing things! We are called to destroy the devil’s works (1 John 3:8) and to be agents of God’s kingdom, doing His will. (Matthew 6:10) That includes in marriage! Good marriages always require adjustments, often major, on the part of both partners. God is the only one who is right all the time! I’ve got to be careful not to come across like I think I have all the answers personally, but I am to rest assured that God indeed has all the answers, even if they are not what we would expect.

Father, thank You indeed for your incredible grace in giving me my wife. May I be the husband suitable for her that she deserves, and may I be Your agent of blessing in many marriages through speaking Your truth, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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April 28, 2015

Posted on April 30, 2015 by jgarrott

Psalm 143:10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

Here we have yet another illustration of why David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22): he sought God’s heart, to be obedient to it. How many people today ask God to teach them to do His will? We can’t know that number, but God knows it! Oh, we complain about the rough road we have to travel and we ask for a smooth one, as David asks here, but the question is whether we are committed to obedience in the first place. David had plenty of flaws. I have no idea why the Lord didn’t teach him to be a better father, for example, but then he probably didn’t have good role models. However, God took him as he was and used him, flaws and all. We need to believe that God can and will do the same with us, and ask and submit ourselves to Him for that purpose. We have the huge advantage of the printed Bible, and we need to make full use of it. We have the examples of thousands of committed saints who have gone before us; no lack of role models for us! And the same Holy Spirit that David asked for is available to us, in far greater measure than it was available to him. We need to wake up to what God has provided and appropriate it fully, to be and do all that He intends for us, for His glory.

This is the message God is burning into my heart. It is the theme of the book he has had me start writing. I need to rise above the distractions and work on it more steadily. I do write better in the morning, but with some vacation time coming up I’ll have more opportunity to do that. That is part of the path He has laid out for me, and I had better stay on track! I have had some magnificent role models even in my own family, and I need to remember that they had no fewer distractions than I do, even if those distractions were different. I need to recognize the enemy’s attacks for what they are, even when they are subtle, and let the Holy Spirit indeed guide me in the path I am to take, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for this further expansion of what You are wanting me to write. Thank You for the good response to the publication of my first book. However, that too can be a distraction! Help me keep moving forward as You intend, always drawing closer to You and drawing others closer to You as well, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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April 27, 2015

Posted on April 30, 2015 by jgarrott

Psalm 142:3 When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.

I have always appreciated the unvarnished honesty in David’s Psalms. Here he is describing a situation most of us experience at some time or another, when we are so emotionally exhausted that we hardly know which way is up, much less which way is forward. The preface to this Psalm specifies it was composed when David was “in the cave.” 1 Samuel tells the tale of how Saul hounded David around the countryside so that he constantly feared for his life, but in that we have the magnificent incident in 1 Samuel 24 when Saul enters the cave where David is and David has the perfect opportunity to kill Saul in return, but he refuses to do so because Saul is God’s anointed. David vented his feelings in Psalms like this one, but he remembered the truth he recorded here and was obedient to God. When we are worn out on various levels it is easy to yield to our emotions, but that generally opens a door to the devil. Being aware of our own weaknesses is not a bad thing if it causes us to depend on God, but if we fail to focus on God then we wallow in those weaknesses and the result is not good at all.

I have found that I have the least resistance to some forms of temptation when I am physically or emotionally exhausted. That has taught me to be careful! I think this is one reason for moral failures in “successful” ministers: they are running so hard they don’t have the emotional resources to stand firm. I need to watch my health and watch my schedule so that I don’t open myself up needlessly to attacks of various sorts. God knows my way even when I’m not exhausted, so I need to keep my focus on Him at all times.

Father, thank You for the good day yesterday. Thank You for the gratifying responses to people finding out about my book. I continue to pray that the book would reach the people You intend it for, and that it would have Your impact in their lives. Thank You for the good attendance in the service, even though many of those were in transit. I pray that Your words through me would stay with them wherever they go, producing Your fruit in their lives. I pray that today and each day I would focus on You to hear and follow Your agenda, 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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April 26, 2015

Posted on April 27, 2015 by jgarrott

Psalm 140:8 Do not grant the wicked their desires, O Lord;
do not let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud.

David recognized that pride goes hand in hand with evil. (The Japanese here says, “They are proud,” while the NIV says, “They will become proud.”) Pride is actually a complicated subject, because a healthy self-image can look like pride to some people. However, it is good to have gratitude to God for what He has given us and enabled us to accomplish, but it isn’t good at all to take Him out of the equation. The pride that David is referring to is actually defiance against God, and that is the sin of Satan. We see it today in “gay pride,” which flaunts behavior that the Bible, from beginning to end, makes clear is a violation of God’s laws. However, it also comes up in much more subtle forms. Any time we ignore God in our plans and think we can “get ahead” on our own, we are operating in pride. Pride is perhaps the biggest obstacle to genuine repentance, and there is no salvation without repentance.

Pride has always been a snare to me, even though I was raised in a thoroughly Christian environment. I wasn’t deliberately intending to defy God, but by focusing on my desires and my abilities (which were gifts from Him in the first place) I was effectively cutting Him out of the equation. Some of my failures have been good lessons to me! Having been tripped up by pride myself, it’s not hard to see that sort of attitude and behavior in others. I don’t feel I have personal enemies, certainly not the way David did, but I see those who act as agents of evil all around me. I am to stand firm against them in prayer, while remembering that it is the grace of God that keeps me from being in their shoes. I am to pray for their repentance and salvation, certainly, but I am also to pray, as David did, that their plans not succeed. After all, I am to pray that God’s kingdom come as His will is done!

Father, thank You for the assurance that You are God and that You have a really good plan for the earth. Help me walk in consistent humility and gratitude so that I may be useful in that plan and not a hindrance. I pray for Your children around the world that they may be protected from the plans of the proud and the evil, to stand pure and tall in whatever circumstances they are in, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Book announcement

Posted on April 26, 2015 by jgarrott

I’ve been blessed to have a book published. If by any chance the link in the PDF doesn’t work, the website is www.mossycreekpress.com. May the Lord make the use He intends of this book.

Our New Release

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April 25, 2015

Posted on April 26, 2015 by jgarrott

Psalm 130:7-8 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

At the time this was written, probably no one in Israel even dreamed of how this would be fulfilled. That said, this Psalm as a whole expresses the New Covenant in Jesus Christ very clearly. The tragedy today is that so few Jews today recognize that this had indeed been fulfilled, and all they need to do is open their hearts to accept it. From the Garden of Eden on, mankind has shown a remarkable ability to hear what God is saying and then fail to apply it. Much of the time we fail to recognize that it is God speaking, but even when we have that straight we tend to misinterpret it, adding things He hasn’t said and overlooking things He has. Even Eve added the words “or touch it” to what God had said about eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 3:3) Having done that, she then proceeded to disobey the actual commandment, and we as a race have been disobedient ever since. We can read and even memorize the Bible, but until we apply it in our daily lives it is lifeless for us. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to explain it to us, but we still have to apply our wills to take it in and put it into practice. I continue to grow in my grasp of the depth of James 1:22, where it says that failing to apply the Word we hear is simply deceiving ourselves. In Jesus’ day there were many who were looking for the Messiah, but because they had such rigid ideas of what He was supposed to be like and to do, they didn’t recognize Him when He was talking to them. Even today there are those who honestly and devoutly worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet they fail to recognize that this Psalm, and so many other prophecies, were fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.

I had the great honor of being included, for reasons I still don’t understand, in the Messianic fellowship while I was in seminary. Some of the spouses were Gentiles, but neither Cathy nor I are Jewish, yet we were included on remarkably equal footing. Hearing the others talk about the struggles they went through with their own families, who were so adamant that Jesus couldn’t be the Messiah of promise, helped me understand the magnitude of the blessing I had received in being born and raised in a family that accepted and rejoiced in the Old and the New Covenants. Today I minister to people who have no idea that God ever made a covenant with mankind, and sometimes the disconnect is extreme. Even those who have accepted Christ as their Savior sometimes have great difficulty understanding the depth of what that means. I am to be patient and diligent in communicating God’s truth, but remember always that my words and my powers of persuasion won’t get the job done; it’s got to be the Holy Spirit.

Father, thank You for Your truly amazing grace. I haven’t earned any of the blessings You have poured out on me, yet there is no end to them. Help me be a faithful steward, applying what You have provided as You intend so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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