October 17, 2014

Posted on October 18, 2014 by jgarrott

1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

This whole passage, from verse 9 on, is under vigorous attack today. The saying that Paul quotes about the stomach and food seems completely modern, because it references genitals and sex, and it is no longer politically correct to imply that there should be any restraints on sexual activity. Even medically speaking, if husbands and wives have their first-ever sexual encounter with each other and then remain faithful to each other for life, STIs (they want to call them “sexually transmitted infections” now, because “diseases” seems condemnatory somehow) would disappear from the planet. And that doesn’t begin to take into account the emotional and psychological damage brought about by casual sex. Paul is very even-handed here, making no distinction between heterosexual immorality and homosexual immorality. The point is, immorality is ultimately destructive on every level, however exciting or physically enjoyable it might be at the moment. Our bodies were created by God for our responsible use and His glory. Anything else is destructive to us and to those around us, and is sin against our Creator.

It would be nice if I could say I had never strayed from the Biblical guidelines, but that would not be honest. However, the Lord has been remarkably faithful in protecting me in spite of myself, giving me a wife who has been suited to me in every way at the ripe old age of 20. I shudder to think how I might have gone had He not done so. However, I deal with people all the time who do not seem to have the same hedge of protection as I have had. I am not to be holier-than- thou toward them, but neither am I to gloss over the clear Biblical statements on the issue. As a pastor and counselor I am dealing with human weakness all the time, my own and that of others. I don’t have sufficient wisdom for the task but God does, and He will supply all I need if I will depend on Him. (James 1:5)

Father thank You for this reminder. As I tell couples in premarital counseling, society today is saturated with sex, and the pressures are unrelenting. Help me not only stand firm myself but also be a strength, guide and encouragement to others, so that the devices of the devil may be overcome and people set free to live as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 16, 2014

Posted on October 18, 2014 by jgarrott

1 Cor 1:30-31 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Human pride and boasting are really amazing. God does give assorted abilities to people, and some of those are quite remarkable. With those abilities, people do all sorts of things, some of them quite praise-worthy, at least in our eyes. However, the moment we forget that it is God who has made all of it possible, we lose most of the benefit. It is at times laughable to see people trying to leave God out of the equation, but it is also quite sad. Paul, to his blessing and ours, realized that all he had came from God and was to go back to God in obedience and praise. However, he didn’t have an easy road to get to that settled understanding. As a star pupil of Gamaliel, he was quite full of himself and was quite active in persecuting the early Church, until God quite literally knocked him off of his high horse. (Acts 9) One of the chief things he had to learn in the next few years after that was humility, and God arranged the necessary circumstances for that. Before he died, he had come to the place where he could say that everything apart from knowing Christ was junk, when compared to the glory of fellowship with the Son of God. (Philippians 3:7-11) The more we cling to this, that, or the other point of pride, the less we are able to receive the true riches that are found in Christ Jesus alone.

I have fought with pride all my life. It seems like I was blessed with everything but athletic ability, and in retrospect it is amazing to me that I was so conceited about things that I had received. Gratitude is appropriate, but not pride. One of the most convicting verses in the whole Bible for me is Luke 12:48. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” I have abilities in a wide variety of areas, and what have I done with them? God is my judge, but to me it feels like, not much. I have an IQ of something over 150, but it was very liberating when God really got through to me, not so many years ago, that He’s smart and I’m not. There is far, far more that I don’t know than I do know, and far, far more that I can’t do than I can, but God has no such limitations. When and if I am totally yielded and obedient to Him, He can do remarkable things through me. When I’m trying to be in control, wielding instead of submitting the gifts He has given me, I make a total mess of things. As He told me a few years ago, I need to rest, relax, and rejoice. Only then will I fulfill the role He has for me in His kingdom, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As you know, I woke up this morning and was unable to go back to sleep because of all the negative things running through my mind. I’ve still got lots of room to grow in trusting You and releasing things to You. Thank You for all You allow me to experience to help me along that path. May I be fully available to You, held back neither by pride nor by unbelief, so that all of Your purposes for me may be fulfilled for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 15, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Once again we are reminded that whereas Christ died for each individual, He didn’t do so for us to be self-centered and isolated. The Body of Christ is a community, an organism, and we are all interrelated with one another. We are to seek peace, that is, to minimize friction and conflict, and we are to help one another grow spiritually. (That’s what “edification” means. In some churches, with church dinners and the like, it seems like they help one another grow fat!) The tension comes when spiritual growth calls for confrontation. That feels like a violation of “seeking peace,” but in reality it isn’t, because unconfronted problems fester and grow. We are to love one another enough to say and do even the hard things, but always in love. True community isn’t easy, but it’s certainly worth it. We live in an increasingly narcissistic, self-centered society, and that directly contradicts true community. The other day I was at Universal Studios Japan, and I couldn’t count all the people taking “selfies,” even having a special pole to hold their phone at a good distance and angle for the purpose. Narcissism never leads to either happiness or spiritual growth. We speak of “selflessness” as though it were an impossibly high and noble thing, when in reality we don’t really aim for it. It is when we realize how selfless Jesus was for us that we become able to give ourselves for others, and so taste the joy that He knew. (Hebrews 12:2)

In marriage counseling I always bring up the truth that when we are focused on our own happiness, that happiness becomes ever more ephemeral, but when we focus on the happiness of our partner, our own happiness become ever more solid and real. That is of course the most intimate of all human relationships, but the same principle applies to some extent to all our interactions. I have always despised conflict, and still tend to run from it, but that is seldom the route to spiritual growth and real peace. The difficulty lies in expressing what needs to be said in a way that will be received as love, rather than an attack. That’s where relationship-building comes in. If my actions and attitudes have demonstrated love consistently, then even strong words will be received as love. If that foundation isn’t there, then even mild correction can produce a violent reaction. I’ve had it happen! I need to love people enough to do whatever is necessary for their good, so that the Body of Christ may be built up.

Father, thank You for the various opportunities You give me as Your agent of blessing, in word and in deed. Thank You for the opportunities I know I’ll have today. Help me make full use of them as You intend, so that my brothers and sisters may be built up as the disciples that You created them to be, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 14, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 10:14-15 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

This is a justly famous exposition of the logic of evangelism, yet many Christians exclude themselves from the sequence at one point or another. For most, the biggest problem is that they don’t understand that they have been sent. However, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) that Jesus delivered before His ascension was not just to those present, but to all believers. Many people relegate that to missionaries and the like, but Jesus made no such distinction. When He was talking with the 11 disciples, Jesus specified starting in Jerusalem, that is, right where they were, before expanding the field to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) There are Christians who grasp that much, at least intellectually, but they receive it only as a guilt trip, thinking themselves unqualified for the task. Well, big secret: nobody’s qualified in their own strength, but God’s Holy Spirit is available to all who will receive Him. (again, Acts 1:8) When we think we have to make people believe, we have every reason to give up before we start. Our job is simply to present the message as clearly and winningly as possible, to give people the opportunity to believe. You could paraphrase what Paul said here as, “How can people believe if they don’t have the opportunity?” Those who make themselves available to God as carriers of His good news are to be commended indeed. I find it interesting that the Japanese renders the quote from Isaiah 52:7 as, “How splendid are the feet of those who communicate good news.” We don’t have to be pretty to be splendid!

This is of course a call I have answered, as a pastor in Japan, but it is my earnest desire that as many others as possible accept the call as well. Relatively few are called as pastors, where they are or in some distant place, but all are called to be witnesses. Some exclude themselves on the basis of verbal gifts, but you don’t have to have a silver tongue to be an effective witness. The most important thing is congruity between what you say and what you do. Some exclude themselves at precisely that point, citing their imperfections, but none of us are perfect. Actually, the desire to be a better representative of Jesus is one of the best motives for living closer to Him! Japan is certainly not the easiest place to communicate the Gospel, but Jesus didn’t say, “Go to the easy places,” He said, “Go to the ends of the earth.” I am never to give up, but remember that He can use even me to tell others about Him, so that they may have the opportunity to believe.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the opportunities You’ve given me to share Your truth over the past few days. May I be available and responsive all the time, so that I may indeed make the most of every opportunity, (Ephesians 5:16) so that as many as possible may believe and be saved, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 13, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 10:2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.

The world is seeing plenty of zealots these days! We call them fundamentalists or extremists, and they are killing others and themselves at a great rate. Zeal by itself is not necessarily a virtue! Jesus warned us about such people, saying that those who kill those who follow Him will do so thinking they are pleasing God, (John 16:2) when their actions prove they know nothing of the Creator, but only the one who tried to usurp His throne and got thrown out of heaven. (Ezekiel 28:13-16, Revelation 12:9) We are to apply ourselves fully to serving God, but that means applying ourselves first to knowing Him. The Bible says “Let him who boasts boast of this, that he knows Me.” (1 Corinthians 1:31) We get to know God by immersing ourselves in His Word (which is the Bible and not any other book) and spending time daily in fellowship with Him, not just praying to Him but actively seeking to hear what He is saying. When a person’s zeal makes them do that with the Koran, the voice they will hear won’t be that of their Creator! However, there are Christian zealots who miss God as well, because they are married to a rigid subset of Scripture instead of grasping the whole. That includes people all over the political and theological spectrum! The first thing God asks for is a teachable heart. When our zeal makes us lose that, we’re in trouble.

I’ve run into people of all stripes who had uninformed zeal, but I’ve never had that problem. (! That is, of course, extreme irony.) I am to apply myself to knowing God in ever-deepening fellowship, but never think that I know everything. After all, even Paul knew enough to know he didn’t know enough. (Philippians 3:12-14) As Paul said, I am to be unflagging in zeal, (Romans 12:11) but I must do so on the basis of genuinely knowing God. As a pastor, I am called not only to introduce people to God, which is the work of an evangelist, but to grow and mature them in knowing Him. (Colossians 1:28) It is when people know Him indeed that they become true disciples, and that is what Jesus commanded us to make for Him. (Matthew 28:18-20) It is a real comfort that He is with us to accomplish that purpose!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me apply myself fully both to introducing people to You and helping them know You better. May our church be a place of well-informed zeal, fully pleasing to You and drawing many into Your kingdom, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 12, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 9:30-32 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.

Here we have a very clear, very logical explanation of why legalism never works. We don’t like not having the opportunity for pride of accomplishment, so we try to accomplish righteousness/salvation on our own by following rules. Even when those rules are Biblically based, that’s never going to work because we can never be good enough. There are many “Jewish Christians” today, and I don’t mean Messianic Jews. “Jewish Christians” would be those who, like Paul is describing the Jews here, act like righteousness/salvation is by works rather than by faith. Paul wrote the whole letter to the Galatians to counter that way of thinking! It is never that we shouldn’t seek to act righteously, it is that we must acknowledge that we can’t do the job on our own, and therefore trust God to do it in and through us by His Spirit.

I’ve had to get this straight in my own thinking and living. I have had too many times when I have thought that if something seemed good and desirable to me, that was enough reason to do it, with no thought of what was making me see it that way. There have been other times when I have known I was in the wrong, and couldn’t seem to get out from under the condemnation I felt. Both of those are traps of the devil. I am to seek God’s will through His Word and His Spirit at every turn, but when I miss it, which will continue to happen from time to time (at least) as long as I inhabit this body, I am to acknowledge it, repent, ask for and receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing. (1 John 1:9) As a pastor, I seek to impart that way of thinking to all the believers, but I have had varying success. That isn’t an easy position for most of us to come to. That’s why Jesus spoke repeatedly of needing to be/become as little children. Adults tend to over-think things, when what we need is a childlike trust of our heavenly Daddy.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for this time of being with Cockayne Syndrome kids and their families. Thank You for the lessons in trust that they give us constantly. I pray that through these next two days of the gathering that we would be open channels of blessing to them as they are to us, so that Your purposes in allowing them to have this genetic disease may be fulfilled, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 11, 2014

Posted on October 16, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans is loaded with familiar, wonderful verses, and chapter 8 is particularly loaded. Even so, this verse is certainly glorious! Fear is a prime weapon of the devil; he is the original terrorist. That’s one indication that terrorists today are serving him. What they do is bad enough, but their main purpose, and damage, is the fear they inflict. That’s why this verse is so important. There is much in the world today to make us afraid: political turmoil, fearsome diseases, a collapsing economy, and more. However, those who are in Christ, though not ignoring the difficulties, aren’t enslaved by the fear that all these circumstances can generate. When the Holy Spirit within us enables us to call God, “Daddy,” then all temporal fears fade to insignificance. That’s a very necessary message today! Many try to counter their fears by ignoring them, or particularly by distracting themselves with physical pleasures, but that does no more good than the mythical ostrich behavior (which they don’t really do) of sticking your head in the sand. Those who are in Christ can afford to recognize all the dangers out there because they know their Daddy will get them through it all. Verse 28 of this chapter reminds us that God can and will use anything, no matter how horrible it is in itself, for ultimate good, so we have nothing to fear.

I’m on a business trip as I write, with a major typhoon slated to come right over here the day before I’m to return home. I honestly have no idea what might happen, but I know that nothing is out of my Daddy’s hands. Courtesy of the Internet, I’m aware of things all around the world that are certainly less than desirable. There too, I am not to get tied in knots, but use each item of information as a seed for prayer. I don’t know exactly how God uses prayer to accomplish His ends, but I know that He does, and I am to keep myself available. I will never forget the time I was thinking, not praying, “I would sure like things to be different,” and God spoke clearly to my heart, “How do you think I feel?” I am never to be afraid, but I am to pray as Jesus taught us, that my Daddy’s kingdom would come and His will be done perfectly, in every corner and every detail of this world.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for getting us to this hotel safely last night, and for the rest we got. Thank You for all that today holds, though we don’t know what all that will be. Thank You that we can trust You with every detail. I do ask for physical and emotional strength in navigating an unfamiliar city with luggage. I ask for wisdom in the various choices of the day, that we may receive all the blessings You have in store as well as be open channels for You to bless others through us. May today indeed be as You desire, in every detail, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 10, 2014

Posted on October 10, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 8:6-8 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Here we have the clearest possible statement of the condition of “natural man.” The thing is, people aren’t concerned about the last part of this statement because they don’t believe the first part. That is, they don’t believe that the mind of the flesh is death. That’s why it’s so important for believers to “let your light so shine before men,” as Jesus said, (Matthew 5:16) so that they can see that “the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace,” as it says here. This is the explanation for the existential frustration Paul talked about in the last of Romans 7, and it also makes it very clear that the solution to that frustration is submission to the Holy Spirit. Jesus made salvation available by His sacrificial death on the cross, but it is the Holy Spirit who indwells us to enable us to work that out on a daily, continual basis. (John 14:16-17) It is only when we are submitted to Him that we have the full life and peace that Jesus paid for with His body and blood.

This is a truth that I continue to grow in living out. I won’t know its ultimate expression until I am out of this body and with my Lord, (2 Corinthians 5:6) but I continue to taste it more and more. There are those who look at me and think they could never be as I am now, not understanding that I am far from perfect, but I am also far from what I once was. There are those who see the life and peace in me and become envious, and that’s a good thing. My task then becomes helping them understand that same life and peace are equally available to them. (1 Peter 3:15) I’ll be with a gathering of a support group for a genetic disease for the next few days, and many of those parents are desperate for the life and peace that are only available in Christ by His Spirit. They see the life and peace in Cathy and me, but they don’t want to make the commitment that is called for to receive it for themselves. My task is to speak the truth gently and with respect, as Peter said, so that as many as will may accept God’s free offer, and be born again into His family.

Father, thank You for this opportunity You are giving Cathy and me. Some of those we will be with will be new to us, but most have seen us before. May we not be holier-than-thou, but gentle and humble toward them, just as Jesus was, so that nothing may interfere with Your Spirit drawing them through us, for their salvation and Your glory Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 9, 2014

Posted on October 10, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Christ Jesus our Lord.
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

This is one place I, and a lot of other people, wish Paul had been a little more clear. We understand that He was describing the common human condition, which is totally hopeless without Christ, but he could have said a little more than just, “Thanks be to God” in terms of the salvation that genuinely is available! The point of this chapter, in the context of all his other writing, is that it’s absolutely no use depending on our flesh, our “natural man,” in trying to please God. However, we do have victory available in Christ. There are legions of people who are still trying to be good enough for God by their own efforts, and that is indeed hopeless. The more they know of how to please God, legalistically speaking, the more hopeless they become. However, it is the experience of saints through the ages that when we cease our striving and receive by faith what Christ has already done for us, we discover that it is gloriously possible to live in harmony and fellowship with our heavenly Father. Righteousness by our own effort is a contradiction in terms, but righteousness by grace through faith is the inheritance of all who trust in Christ alone.

I’ve experienced both sides of this, and I can certainly say that faith is the better course! Even knowing that Jesus was the Savior, and even acknowledging Him as my Lord intellectually, didn’t give me all I needed to stand against my own flesh without a gut-level understanding that His cross was for me, for everything I had done and everything I ever would do that was against God’s law. Forgiveness is incredibly powerful, but it must be received to be effective. It is only when we receive God’s forgiveness with full understanding that we need it, that we are truly set free from what caused us to need it in the first place. That’s why the very next verse, Romans 8:1, says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Once I made the jump from Chapter 7 to Chapter 8, I had, and have, every reason to give thanks to God through Christ Jesus my Lord!

Father, thank You for Your grace, and for all You allow me to experience in order to grasp that grace more fully. At the moment I am in the middle of a computer hiccup that has more than stressed me out, as You well know, but You are teaching me to rejoice in You regardless of my circumstances. It’s not an easy lesson! Help me rest, relax, and rejoice in You whatever fix my”natural man” has gotten me into, so that I may grow as Your agent in all circumstances, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 8, 2014

Posted on October 10, 2014 by jgarrott

Romans 6:16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey – whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

This is a very logical point, but many people don’t want to recognize it. They even find “BDSM” exciting and sexy, when it is a terrible deception of the devil. We were given free will by our Creator, but that free will is really to choose whom we will obey. When we are rebellious toward God, we are choosing to be obedient to the devil. When we resist the devil and refuse to give in to his schemes, we are choosing to be obedient to God. (James 4:7) Actually the order is backward, because it is when we choose to be obedient to God that we are able to resist the devil and not give in to his schemes. Much of the time we give the devil too much credit, and in so doing we give him power. He really only has as much power as we allow him, if we are committed to Jesus Christ as Lord. As the Bible says clearly, the One who is in us is greater than the devil by any measure. (1 John 4:4) We have a very perverse tendency that the minute something is forbidden, we want it. We see that in little children all the time, and if we’re honest, we see it in ourselves. It’s the origin of the proverb, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” It is only in Christ that we are set free to no longer feel compelled to disobey God. That doesn’t mean we won’t have the impulse at times, but rather that we become able to resist it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) We don’t like Paul’s terminology here – slavery is certainly not politically correct – but honesty should compel us to acknowledge its accuracy.

Again, this is the story of my life. There have been times when I have offered myself to obey sin, and the result has never been good. Offering myself to God is much more satisfying! I try to share this truth with others, but much of the time I get push-back. I must be careful not to come across as the one requiring the obedience. There are legalistic churches that seem very much that way. I am also to make it as clear as I can that God’s commands are for our good, and they are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3) The devil is forever telling us that God’s requirements are a pain and/or impossible, but that’s just another of his lies. I am to seek the wisdom of God and the anointing of His Spirit to communicate His truth to as many as will receive it, so that they may be set free. (John 8:32)

P: Father, thank You for Your incredible patience and mercy toward me. Help me extend that patience and mercy toward those around me so that they too may be drawn into Your family, to walk in daily intimacy with you as Your children as well as Your servants, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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