January 14, 2015

Posted on January 16, 2015 by jgarrott

2 Chronicles 12:12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger turned from him, and he was not totally destroyed. Indeed, there was some good in Judah.

I have a message on tape, preached by a friend, about all the reasons to submit yourself to the Lord, and one of those reasons comes to mind here: it will save your bacon. Rehoboam and all of Judah was in genuine danger of being destroyed, and the one thing that saved them was the choice to humble themselves before the Lord. Verse 1 of this chapter records that they had abandoned the law of the Lord, and it didn’t take long for Shishak to show up. The consequences of ignoring God may be swift or they may be slow, but they can’t be avoided. There are those who deliberately disobey God, but by far the most common problem is simply leaving Him out of the equation. Society today teaches us to rely on ourselves or rely on the government, but it doesn’t teach us to rely on God. I read recently that church attendance is down, even among stronger Christians. There are so many distractions! However, honest humility will tell us we can’t get by without God, and church attendance is an open recognition of that reality. It’s not at all that we have to earn points with God by going to His house, it’s that we need all the help we can get to keep Him in focus, and regular corporate worship is invaluable for that.

I frequently point out that we can’t take a single breath without the support and grace of God. We tend to forget that, so God allows things in our lives to remind us of it. Sometimes when such things happen we try to rebuke the devil, but often enough he’s not in the picture at all. He is definitely out to steal, kill, and destroy, but he is far from omnipotent or even omnipresent. He delights to seize on and make use of our mistakes and our foolishness, but he really has no more power than we give him. Our focus needs to be on God, in full humility and gratitude. As a pastor I deal with all sorts of crazy attitudes about God. I’ve got to start by making sure my own is right, in full love, humility, and obedience. Only then will I be His instrument to dispel the clouds of misinformation and confusion that keep so many from seeing Him correctly.

Father, I am seeing this year take shape as a time when I will be speaking on a much wider scale. I’ll be speaking at a conference this Saturday, and I just got asked to speak at another church in the near future. I had expected this sort of thing 33 years ago when I came to Omura, but it didn’t happen because I wasn’t ready. Keep me from thinking for a moment even now that I can do in my own strength what You are planning, but only by Your grace and power. May I be humble and submitted enough for You to use me freely, to build up the Body of Christ and bring You glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 13, 2015

Posted on January 16, 2015 by jgarrott

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

This verse was very popular in some circles back around 1978, pushed particularly by Rock Church of Virginia Beach, but it’s obvious it wasn’t taken seriously back then. I heard it again after the 9/11 attack in New York. This time the response was more widespread, but certainly no more lasting. We tend to want God to protect and bless us, getting us out of our messes, without paying much if any attention to what He has said about how we are to live. A speaker at this conference yesterday said that bank robbers don’t hold a prayer meeting for success before going to rob a bank, but I have read recently of things just about that absurd. One example was relatives praying for a guilty criminal to be acquitted in court, even though there had been no repentance on the part of the perpetrator, or really remorse on the part of those praying. That’s spitting in God’s face! America is at a turning point right now, and in some areas of society (not necessarily geographical) is evidently under judgment. If the nation will actually take this verse to heart, there is hope, because God is indeed a God of mercy. However, He is also perfectly holy and just, and He cannot be ignored. Ezekiel 18:33 and various other passages make it clear that God takes no delight in squashing people. The ultimate example of that is, of course, expressed in John 3:16. However, God is not interested in lip service; He is after repentance.

I have had times of true repentance that were very needed; I do know what it looks like. However, I have also had times when I said the right things but didn’t change my behavior; that isn’t repentance. As a pastor I seek to lead people to repentance, but I can’t force it on anyone. Sadly, I have baptized a few people who hadn’t really repented. Instead of getting born again, they just got wet. I am to speak the truth in love, and above all I am to pray. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment, and it is foolish for me to try to do His job, but I can be His instrument, His mouthpiece at times. Above all, I must be careful that my own repentance is up to date, not letting any unconfessed sin fester, but walking in the light at all times, because my Lord is worthy of nothing less.

Father, thank You for Your grace. I have taken it lightly more times than I like to think about, and really, more times than I know. Help me be an instrument of grace, walking in personal holiness and leading others to do the same, so that You may indeed have a spotless bride for Your Son, as You desire and intend. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 12, 2015

Posted on January 16, 2015 by jgarrott

2 Kings 22:19 “‘Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord.'”

Josiah is one of the good kings, actually one of the best after David. This story shows that, like his ancestor David, his heart was humble before God. In our day of Bibles being so readily available it’s hard to imagine the circumstances here, but Josiah really had never heard the Bible before. (Probably what had been found was a Torah scroll, containing the five books of Moses.) When his ignorance was dealt with, his heart responded, and God responded in turn. He knew from what the scroll said that they deserved destruction, and he didn’t try to claim otherwise. Rather, in genuine, honest humility he threw himself on the grace of God. God likes that! Josiah proved what was in his heart by launching into some massive national reforms immediately after this, but the people responded only on the surface; they didn’t have any depth of understanding of God and His Word. That actually is much the case in many churches today. The average person on the church rolls doesn’t read the Bible any time but in church, if then, and doesn’t attend church all that regularly either. They don’t much know what the Bible says, and the saddest thing is, many don’t really care. In contrast to Josiah, they don’t act on what they do know, and that explains the state of the world today. What happens in government is important, certainly, but for the most part, people get the government they deserve. If the nominal Christians of “Christian” countries were to suddenly start living like true disciples of Christ, the world would be transformed virtually overnight!

I have long said that if the Christians of Japan wake up to who they are in Christ, they will transform not only the nation but the world. That’s true for any country, not just Japan, but it’s got to start somewhere. Yesterday the Lord issued a challenge through me to my church to ask God what concrete steps He wants us to take, as individuals and as a church, toward fulfilling the magnificent vision He has given us. I need to accept that challenge myself, and encourage the believers to do likewise, so that we won’t just drag along in the status quo but start moving into all that He intends for us. I’ve got to walk in the humility and decisiveness of Josiah, knowing that God will enable me to do whatever He directs me to do. I am not to be limited by the past, but joyfully anticipate the future, being fully, actively obedient in the present, so that God may do in and through me all that He desires.

Father, thank You for this strong Word of encouragement. Thank You indeed for what You are doing. Help me cooperate fully, not holding back in any way, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 11, 2015

Posted on January 16, 2015 by jgarrott

1 Kings 21:28-29 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son.”

Actions matter. This is the perennial argument between “works” and “grace,” which is actually a false argument to begin with. What goes on inside us, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, will be manifested in what we do. Ahab knew he was in the wrong, and he expressed his contrition openly. He couldn’t “make things right,” because Naboth had been killed, but he did what he could. That is repentance, and genuine repentance always has good results. What happened to him after he died is between him and God, but as it is, he left us an object lesson. Current society doesn’t have stylized forms of grief the way they did back then. Today if you went around with your clothes torn and your hair disheveled people might think you were homeless, but they wouldn’t recognize you were in mourning. However, God recognizes why we do things, actually better than we do ourselves, so He is the perfect judge of motives, of our hearts. It is not enough to “put on a show.” We have all seen “drama queens” who acted in order to manipulate people and/or circumstances, rather than from sincerity. That doesn’t cut it with God, which is interesting, because we often see such “drama queens” in church! Particularly in Charismatic/Pentecostal circles, some use “manifestations of the Spirit” as excuses to draw admiration, or at least attention, to themselves. The Holy Spirit does manifest Himself in various ways, and all His gifts are as valid today as they were in the 1st Century, but I’m talking about people who are essentially faking it. That will only bring about correction/discipline from God, not blessings and glory.

Well, I didn’t expect to write on this! Having been a drama major in college I’m a pretty fair actor, but thankfully I was raised by a father who had absolute honesty as one of his foundational principles. I often act more social than I feel, because I know the value of people and consider that it’s worth the effort. However, I don’t ever want to be untrue to my Lord and what He tells me. I think I do have a reputation for honesty, as I should, and I must not do anything to mess with that. As I’ve already said, God knows our true motives better than we do, so I must be open to let Him show me when I am being less than honest, with myself or with anyone else. I must walk in humility before Him, not in stylized forms like Ahab, but in moment- by-moment faithfulness.

Father, Thank You for Your faithfulness. May my life be a reflection of that back to You. Thank You for all You’ve enabled me to do in recent weeks, and for all You will enable me to do in the week ahead. The schedule is certainly packed! Help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You so that my responses to people will reflect Your love and grace, rather than my stress. May I be Your agent of blessing in every way, in true sincerity, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 10, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by jgarrott

1 Kings 11:38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.

What an awesome promise! However, Jeroboam missed one word: if. He was familiar with God’s promises to David, and being offered the same sort of thing was doubtless a huge rush, but he failed to recognize and fulfill the conditions. He was told clearly that it was Solomon’s idolatry with the gods of his foreign wives that cost his son the 10 tribes, so he didn’t claim any of those, but he still set up idols, making the humanistic calculation that the people needed something to distract them from the temple in Jerusalem. That cost his descendants the lasting kingdom that might have been theirs. We are so prone to rejoice at God’s promises and blithely ignore the conditions that are clearly stated. It would be very easy to compile a list of such promises that are frequently “claimed,” but the the one that comes to mind first is James 4:7. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” People run around trying to “resist the devil,” and complain when he just laughs at them, when they aren’t really submitted to God in the first place. When we are genuinely submitted to God, temptations indeed lose their power, but if we try to work up resistance to temptation without humble submission to God, we will fall flat sooner rather than later. I couldn’t begin to count how many times people have said to me that God’s promises aren’t really reliable, but I can say without hesitation that they either misunderstood the promise or they ignored the conditions, or both. God’s word stands forever! (Isaiah 40:8)

I’ve done my share of ignoring conditions, and/or misunderstanding promises in the first place, but I have certainly experienced an abundance of God being true to His word. If God said it, that settles it whether I believe it or not! I am very aware that God’s promises don’t operate like a vending machine, to be called on whenever convenient, and also that God’s time frame is very different from ours. Peter had to deal with that, and reminded us of it very clearly: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) I try to help people understand this, but we are very much in an “instant” culture, and seem to have forgotten how to wait. I am to walk in obedient trust myself, waiting expectantly on Him, (Isaiah 40:28-31) so that others too may learn to trust Him and so that His will may be accomplished on His schedule for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your perfect faithfulness. Help me be faithful in response, walking in full obedience so that I may be available to You at all times in all ways, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 9, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 22:36 You give me your shield of victory;
you stoop down to make me great.

Psalm 18 was pulled into this account of David’s life, and rightly so, because it is a glorious recitation of his experience of God’s faithfulness. As much as I have loved this particular verse (it is a shining gem of the NIV, which doesn’t have too many of those) I still got something new just now, reading it in the Japanese. Where the NIV says, “You give me your shield of victory,” The Japanese says, “You give me the shield of Your salvation.” It’s a small thing, but the English seems to put the focus on the shield being God’s, whereas the Japanese says the victory/salvation is God’s. When we put our focus on the tools, it’s easier to divorce them from the One who provides them. We’ve got to remember that no matter what victories we experience, they are actually God’s victories. That said, it is the last part of this verse that blew me away the first time I read through the NIV, back in 1979, if my memory serves me. The image of God stooping down to lift us up grabbed me and has stayed with me. The Japanese says “Your humility makes me big.” Who would have thought of God as humble? However, as Paul expressed so beautifully in Philippians 2:5-11, Jesus indeed humbled Himself to come to earth as a human baby. Such a God is worthy of all our love, adoration, and obedience!

From time to time it strikes me that I cannot love God enough, as much as He deserves. My human love is completely inadequate, so I’ve got to open my heart to let His love flow into me to enable me to love Him. Isn’t that an interesting paradox? Here too Paul could only pray that believers would be given the gift of grasping and appreciating God’s love. (Ephesians 3:14-19) I pray that for the believers under my care as well, though not consistently enough or often enough. All of the behavior problems I deal with would be settled if that prayer were answered! I need to have a growing grasp of that love myself, so that I may in turn be a more effective conduit of that love to those around me.

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming, incredible love. May I respond to it more and more, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled, in Your way and on Your schedule, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 8, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 6:21-22 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

This incident is an important clue in understanding the character of “a man after God’s own heart.” (Acts 13:22) David’s focus wasn’t on himself, it was on God, and he wasn’t afraid to look ridiculous for the sake of God. That attitude is sadly not very common. Jesus Himself exemplified it the night before His crucifixion when like David He disrobed, and taking the posture of a slave, washed His disciples’ feet. (John 13:1-17) Too many leaders in the organized Church demand honor and respect, instead of willingly giving all honor and respect to the Lord they say they serve. Following the theme of humility through the Bible, it is clear that God delights to use those who recognize, and aren’t afraid to acknowledge, their own insignificance apart from God. There are stories of Abraham Lincoln, for example, doing things that showed a disregard for whether people thought he was polished and refined, yet he spent time in prayer seeking God’s mercy on America. He was far from a perfect man, but then David too made some drastic mistakes. The point is whether the focus is on personal aggrandizement or on doing the job God has assigned. We would all do well to learn from David, and not be afraid to be undignified because of our devotion to the Lord.

Like every teenager I went through a period of desperately wanting to look good to my peers, but thankfully that passed. It was tremendously liberating when I got married, because I knew my wife would love me no matter how ridiculous I might seem sometimes (in contrast to one of David’s wives). However, that wasn’t directly related to serving God. I learned from my father not to take myself too seriously, and that was a generational blessing. When taking a group picture, he was known to lift one leg and waggle it off to the side to make people laugh, so he could get a good picture. I have never hesitated to follow that example. However, I have hesitated at times to speak out what I felt the Lord was saying, for fear I was wrong and would be ridiculed for what I said. That is focusing on myself instead of my Lord! I’ve got room to grow in getting myself out of the picture, which interestingly enough means being increasingly available for God to put me into the picture, doing His will for His glory.

Father, I feel like You are saying that You are going to do things this year that will put me into the spotlight. Help me not seek the spotlight but not run from it either, being fully focused on obedience to You whether anyone else is watching or not. May Your will be done in and through me, on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 7, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by jgarrott

1 Samuel 2:1 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.

This is a fairly remarkable prayer for a number of reasons. In the first place, Hannah was probably illiterate, so it seems likely that she composed this in the months before she took little Samuel to offer him to the Lord to serve in the tabernacle at Shiloh, committing each line fully to memory. That said, this seems more like a prophetic declaration than a prayer, though it certainly starts out addressed to God. With a mother like this, it’s no wonder Samuel turned out the way he did! It took immense commitment for Hannah to surrender her son, whom she had desired so desperately, to serve the Lord from a young age, separated from her, to see him only once a year. They didn’t have Skype or Face Time back then! However, she was able to trust that the God who had healed her infertility was able to do anything. Indeed, verse 21 records that she had three sons and two daughters after Samuel. The point here, though is her fierce devotion to God. We tend to have a distorted view of God’s servants as people who live as doormats, when the Biblical record is quite the opposite. Even Jesus made a whip and drove the merchants out of the house of God! (John 2:15) God calls us to strong commitment and strong obedience, and He will supply the strength if our hearts are submitted to Him.

I’ve never been called to quite the same circumstances as Hannah, but being raised in a missionary family and now serving in Japan myself, there are actually a number of parallels. Someone once spoke to my mother about “all the sacrifices she had made to be a missionary.” Her response was that she had really made only one sacrifice, that that was proximity to family. I grew up seeing relatives only once every several years, if then, so some of my cousins are little more than names to me. That makes it seem natural enough to have physical separation right now, and at least we have the Internet for communication. The question is whether my commitment to the Lord is on the level of Hannah’s. I would like it to be so, but He is the judge.

Father, thank You for the record of so many saints who have gone before me, testing Your faithfulness and finding it absolutely reliable, just as it talks about in Hebrews 12:1. May my testimony likewise point and draw people to You, leading them to salvation and giving You the glory that You deserve. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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January 6, 2015

Posted on January 7, 2015 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

This is a perennial problem. We are so prone to think we have accomplished things entirely on our own, and leave God out of our thinking. Then we have politicians telling us that no, we didn’t do it on our own, it was the government that enabled us to do things. That too leaves God out, or rather tries to put government into the place of God. The fact of the matter is, God gives each of us various abilities and various opportunities, but it is up to each individual what they do with what God has provided. We can have real satisfaction in good stewardship, but we must never think that the good things originated with us. As James says so clearly, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17) That includes every ability we have, and even life itself. Those who try to posit abiogenesis (life from not-life) are simply, and deliberately, trying to cut God out of the picture, because they don’t like the accountability inherent in the Creator/created relationship. I don’t care for the nihilism Solomon expressed in Ecclesiastes, but there are some gems in the book, including the advice to “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) It is from our teenage years on that we are prone to think we have, or at least desire, independence from God. Establishing a pattern of remembering God early on is a great blessing, and opens us up to receive all that God has for us.

Even though I was raised in as Christian an atmosphere as you could ask for, I still tended to think that the abilities I had were mine, rather than being on loan from God. I think I was more grateful than many people are, but I still overlooked a huge swath of my existence in terms of it being from God. God even gave me the experience of being blind for three days (because of sleeping with hard contact lenses in), but I still tended to forget that the ability to see is a gift from Him. As I was reminded just a few days ago, associating with families that have Cockayne Syndrome children has taught me the preciousness of things we normally take for granted, as those children gradually lose their physical abilities. I’ve never been particularly focused on generating wealth, so the recent start of pension payments has been something of a paradigm shift for me. Even so, it is not the government as such that is the source of that supply, but God who is using that channel to bless me. I am never to think that I am independent of God in any way, but walk in gratitude and obedience at all times, for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your plans for my life. Thank You for what You enabled me to do yesterday, and for what You will enable me to do today. Help me be a good steward of every ability, every opportunity, so that Your will may be accomplished in and through me on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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January 5, 2015

Posted on January 7, 2015 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 8:1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers.

God’s laws aren’t arbitrary. Actually, they’re very analogous to the rules on a submarine or a space station: disobey them to your own peril and the peril of those around you. This planet has been called “Spaceship Earth” for good reason. The close confines of a submarine or a space station intensify the circumstances we all experience, though we might not be aware of them. The US Navy allowing women on submarines (as well as other military branches allowing them in combat situations) is opening up all sorts of problems that frankly, we don’t handle all that well under normal situations. If everyone on a submarine, for example, were perfectly committed to obeying God’s laws, there would be no problems. That’s the irony of man’s rebelliousness toward any rules whatsoever. You can imagine what that attitude would do on a space station! As Moses says here, God’s rules are so that we can get the best out of our environment, enjoying all that God has provided and intends for us. Physical rules are fairly obvious, but moral rules can be less so. Those who try to deny that there is a Lawgiver remove all basis for moral laws. If we are nothing more than the chance results of impersonal processes, then “nature, red in tooth and claw” would apply just as well to us as to any animal. God’s laws are precisely so that we can rise above that plane to fulfill that for which we were created.

I’ve done my share of rebelling at regulations of all sorts. I have real problems with unnecessary and/or arbitrary human regulations, because they teach people to ignore regulations, and that can quickly spread to ignoring God’s laws. As a pastor I am often in situations of letting people know what God’s laws are, and the challenge is helping them understand that those laws are for their good. I have seen situation where people got into terrible messes for ignoring, or even deliberately violating, those laws, but I have also seen people turn their lives around as they grew to understand how good God’s laws of grace are for them. I need to keep growing in my own familiarity with and application of the Instruction Manual – the Bible – and lead others to do the same.

Father, thank You for giving us the Bible, and not just turning us loose with no direction. Thank You especially for the Holy Spirit, to live in us and give us specific direction. Help me be increasingly sensitive to Your Spirit, neither quenching nor grieving Him but enjoying His fellowship, so that I may walk in all that You intend and lead others to do the same, for our blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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