October 13, 2011

Posted on October 15, 2011 by jgarrott

Exodus 36:2 Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work.

This whole story is a beautiful example of good stewardship of God’s provision, both in material supplies and in abilities. At least three things are operative in this particular verse. In the first place, Moses was exercising the leadership position and authority he had been given. In the second place, Bezalel and Oholiab and the others were acknowledging that God had given them ability, and work to do with that ability. In the third place, God had moved their hearts so that they wanted to do that work. When those three things fall into place, magnificent things get accomplished! These three factors are greatly to be desired in churches today, and problems arise when any one of them is missing. Much has been written in books on leadership about “projecting the vision,” but that by itself is insufficient: there have to be people with ability who catch and own that vision. People with ability, if unchallenged and unmotivated, can be just as unproductive as anyone else. And no amount of potential, in leadership or anything else, accomplishes much if people’s hearts aren’t moved. It is common for individuals or organizations to focus on one or two of these without a balanced approach, and a great deal of time, effort, and resources are wasted in the process. The first thing that is called for is wisdom from God, and that comes only with humble, grateful submission to Him.

I’m certainly preaching to myself here! I have made mistakes in each of these areas, and the church has suffered for them. I have operated in my own wisdom, what seemed right to me, instead of getting on my face before God to ask Him what needed to be done and my part in that. The good news is that in God’s economy, it’s never too late to change. Right now He has me in a time of teaching the believers that they really are gifted, whatever they have thought in the past. That needs to be coupled with the whole church grasping the vision of a genuinely Christian society, founded on a critical mass of genuine disciples of Jesus Christ. And all of that needs to be inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit, moving in me and in each believer. When that happens, God’s glory will be manifested.

Father, I don’t have words to thank You sufficiently for this Word to me this morning. You have given me a glimpse, not only of what You are doing here but how You are doing it, and I am deeply grateful. Help me be faithful in following through with my part in Your plan, so that nothing will be able to stand in the way of what You are doing for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 12, 2011

Posted on October 15, 2011 by jgarrott

Exodus 34:32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.

God gave the Law to Moses, but it certainly wasn’t for Moses alone. Even if he had followed the Law perfectly himself, if he had not communicated it to the others, it would have been essentially meaningless. God’s gifts are seldom, if ever, to stop with the immediate recipient. In our self-centeredness we have a hard time remembering that. Even the most individual of the things God gives, such as physical healing, for example, have a large effect on those around the person who receives them directly. We need to remember that God loves us individually, but He loves all of us individually, so His gifts are always for the blessing of many. In my father’s final letter to the family, written when he was facing the tests and surgery from which he would not wake up in this life, he said something profound. He said that his desire for each of us was that we would do God’s will perfectly, which would fit in perfectly with God’s will for everyone else. We cannot keep even a fraction of that much stuff straight in our minds, but God is personally concerned for every individual on earth, past, present, and future, and His plans leave no one out. That’s why He uses us to bless others, and vice versa. Failure to use what God has given us is depriving others of what God wants to give them through us.

This is something I have come to realize personally, and my father’s words were very helpful in that. However, as a pastor, this has been a very difficult thing to communicate effectively to the believers. People don’t see that their insisting, “God hasn’t gifted me in any way,” is depriving the Body of Christ of what God wants to pour through them. Churches are only healthy to the degree that each member is willing to be God’s agent and instrument of blessing to others. It’s the old problem of comparing. We see someone who is gifted in a particular area in which we aren’t, and we see ourselves as inferior. Or, we think others are insensitive and/or inept because they can’t see and do things as we do. We don’t distinguish well between unity and uniformity. In the Church, unity is one of the highest values, but uniformity is impossible! I cannot get this message across in my own wisdom, as I have demonstrated many times, so I have got to depend on the Holy Spirit to do so, perhaps using my words in the process.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your faithfulness to speak through me. I pray that all my hearers, and readers, would have hearts to receive what You are saying, so that hearts and lives may be transformed and the Body of Christ built up, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 11, 2011

Posted on October 15, 2011 by jgarrott

Exodus 31:1-3 Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts.”

We tend not to think of things like skills and craft in relation to being filled with the Spirit of God, but here we have that expressed explicitly. Genesis 1:2 makes it clear that the Holy Spirit was involved in Creation, so why should it be surprising that He is involved in creativity? Actually, being able to create things that didn’t exist before is part of our being created in the image of God, (Genesis 1:27) but all too often that is perverted by a lack of submission to God. We can’t express our full potential without such submission, because we were created by God for God, so rebellion perverts the very reason for our existence. It is interesting that “creative types” often live in violation of God’s moral laws, but that just demonstrates that our enemy is a liar. True freedom – to create or to do anything else – comes only by and through the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

This is something I’ve seen from various angles. Being fairly creative myself, with a very creative wife from a very creative family, I have associated with a vast number of of creative people. Those who have sought to serve the Lord with their lives, and specifically their creativity, have been at peace with themselves and the world, looking forward to the next day and the next challenge. Those who have been in rebellion against God have been bundles of conflicting emotions, generally unstable in all they did. That’s not to say that anyone has ever been perfectly in either camp; we are all fallen human beings who don’t seek God perfectly. However, that is clearly the pattern I have observed, and it certainly fits this passage. The list of abilities Bezalel had, and what he did with them, is nothing short of astounding, yet he is not the only “creative genius” mentioned in the Bible. Huram-Abi was likewise gifted at the time of the building of Solomon’s temple, as recorded in 1 Kings 7 and elsewhere. As a pastor, I am to be a good steward of my own creativity and I am to foster and encourage creativity in others. In every case, I am to strive to keep the focus on our Creator, because only then will His gifts be expressed to the blessing and satisfaction of all.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for pointing out the Scriptural underpinnings of something I’ve tried to express to various people over the years. Keep me from personal pride at anything You have placed in me. Rather, help me encourage those around me to look to You and so recognize what You have placed in them. May this church be a body of people who recognize that they are gifted and rejoice to use those gifts creatively, in obedience to You and for the sake of Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 10, 2011

Posted on October 10, 2011 by jgarrott

Exodus 16:28 Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?”

Human capacity for ignoring or going against God is virtually unlimited. It wasn’t that the Israelites had misunderstood their instructions, it was that they didn’t choose to follow them. Yesterday’s message made it clear that faith equals obedience. If we aren’t being obedient to God, that shows we don’t really believe Him where it matters. God wasn’t surprised by this behavior in the Israelites, but He used this turn of phrase to point out to them what they were doing. We not only have an immense capacity for ignoring God, we have an equally great capacity for fooling ourselves at the same time, thinking that we are being properly devout. James wrote about this at some length in his letter, pointing out the inconsistencies in insisting we have strong faith while failing to do the things Jesus told us to do. Such behavior harms no one more than it harms us, because walking in deception and disobedience cuts us off from the flow of God’s grace. That’s a loss any way you look at it!

I can never forget the years I walked in proud self-deception, and God’s great mercy in turning me around. At the same time, I have to recognize and admit that I haven’t been totally free of self-deception in the years since then. I have had moments of rebellion/weak faith with a frequency I hate to admit. Yesterday’s message was indeed very practical, and I need to apply it instead of just preaching it! When I have had such struggles myself, I have no room to look down on believers who are struggling in the same way, however exasperating dealing with them might be. I must remember God’s grace and patience toward me, and extend that same grace and patience toward them. God’s grace is big enough for us all!

Father, thank You indeed for the magnificence of Your grace. Thank You for all You did yesterday, not just in speaking through me but in working in various hearts and lives. Thank You for the assurance that You are indeed transforming us from glory to glory, growing us into the image of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May we trust You enough to participate fully in that process, choosing to obey You in all things at all times, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 9, 2011

Posted on October 10, 2011 by jgarrott

Eodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”

God already knows our tendency to disobey Him, but He allows circumstances to help us understand it as well. When we think we can follow God on our own, we get into terrible traps. It is when we follow Him in humility, depending on His guidance and His grace, that we indeed walk as He intends, in the victory that He has planned for us. God knew ahead of time that the Israelites would have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, but He also knew that telling them that, and why they would have to do that, from the outset would produce such a reaction that they wouldn’t set out in the first place. God understands our weakness and foolishness and loves us anyway. It is when we recognize and acknowledge that weakness and foolishness that we are enabled to walk in the fellowship with God for which we were created.

I have certainly experienced this big time. I was already a married Army veteran with a child when the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and showed me a mirror, and I understood the depth of foolish pride that I had been walking in. That experience was pivotal in my life, and I am deeply thankful for it. I hadn’t been fooling God in the least, but I had managed to fool myself into thinking I was a fine Christian, when my heart was very far from God. However, when I turned around, He was right there. It is painful to me now to see people who are doing as I did prior to that experience, and I see quite a few, but I know that God’s grace is as great toward them as it was toward me, and I pray that they would come to their senses sooner rather than later, for their own benefit and the benefit of everyone around them.

Father, thank You again for the magnificence of Your grace toward me. May I be a fully open channel of that grace toward those around me, teaching, admonishing, supporting and encouraging as You intend, so that the Body of Christ may be built up for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 8, 2011

Posted on October 10, 2011 by jgarrott

Exodus 4:11-12 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

We so often forget that everything we have is a gift from God, all the way down to our natural faculties that we so take for granted. That’s why it can be a real blessing to have those faculties impaired at times: it gives us far more appreciation for them! Probably my experience of being blind for a couple of days back in 1969 made me a much more observant person. A necessary corollary to that is that we are accountable to God for how we use the tools He gives us, which extends to letting Him use them through us. It is amazing to me how many people feel they have nothing to offer God, and could never be used by Him. I am reminded of a story a friend of mine told me of visiting a village in Central America to share the Gospel, and encountering a lot of resistance. Suddenly, moved by the Holy Spirit, my friend pointed to a young girl standing by and said, “Speak!” She responded with a torrent of beautiful praise to God, at which point everything in that village changed. She was 12 years old, and had been mute from birth. God had saved her voice for that moment, for His glory, and it resulted in the salvation of many. God is just as able to use our voices, if we will yield them to Him. This is what God was telling Moses, and it is what He is saying to us, if we will listen.

I get teary remembering this story, but yet I don’t always keep myself available to God. I need to remember gratefully that every ability I have, no matter how mundane, is a gift from Him, and allow Him to use whatever He likes however He likes. As a pastor, I earnestly desire that each of the believers have the same attitude, and work to overcome the various obstacles to that. In this culture, children are more likely to be told when they are inept than when they do something well, and that tends to create a “I can’t do it” mindset. I have talked myself blue in the face trying to help people understand that if they will offer themselves to God, He can do anything at all through them. If the need arose, God could even enable me to run! A major problem for me is that the more I allow God to do through me, the less the believers feel motivated to offer themselves to do things. I don’t have the wisdom to resolve that, but again, God can do it, so I need to trust Him and be obedient.

Father, thank You for Your faithfulness, despite my ignorance and stubbornness. Help me indeed stay available to You in every way, and to teach and encourage the believers to do likewise, so that You may be free to do all that You desire in and through us, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 7, 2011

Posted on October 7, 2011 by jgarrott

Genesis 39:23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Joseph is a prime example of faithfulness under pressure. He is also a prime example of Perceiver gifting, from the standpoint of the motivational gifts listed in Romans 12. This is shown by the prophetic dreams he had as a young boy and his black-and-white view of what was right and wrong, as was shown by his refusal to go to bed with his master’s wife, as in this chapter. Most other motivational gifts would have found a way to rationalize that! Joseph’s faith was not at all what we today would call sophisticated, because it would be four hundred years before the Law would be given to Moses, but he knew God and trusted Him, and that made all the difference. That made him what the New Testament calls a disciple, and as such he is very much an example for us today. He doubtless was unhappy at the unfairness of his treatment at the hands of his brothers, being sold as a slave, and then at the hands of Potiphar and his wife, but the point is that he continued to trust God and seek to be obedient to Him. Not surprisingly, God responded to that!

I’ve never been treated as badly as Joseph was, but neither have I been as faithful as Joseph was. If my motivation is simply to be successful, that is self-centered and not pleasing to God. However, if my motivation is simply that God is more than worthy of my total devotion, then He will respond to that and use me for His glory. As long as my focus is on me, I will not be open to all that God wants to pour through me. It all comes back to the underlying principle of seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) It’s nice to be successful, but if my focus is on being successful, I will miss the real success that only God can give. Joseph had to wait a few years, but God gave him more success than he could have imagined, even though he had dreamed some of it. I am of course far older than Joseph was, but God is more than able to bring me more success even at this point than I could imagine, but my focus must be on Him, and not even on what I do for Him.

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. To be honest, I’m not sure how to focus on You. I allow so many distractions in my heart! Help me cling to You indeed. Thank You for the opportunity to witness to a tender heart last night. I ask for wisdom as to when we should have services, so that people who must work on Sundays will not be excluded from the harvest. Keep me from drawing back from anything simply because it looks like a lot of work. Keep my focus on You so that I may wait expectantly for You, allowing You to replace my strength with Yours, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 6, 2011

Posted on October 7, 2011 by jgarrott

Genesis 35:12 “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

It never really struck me before how temporary almost all gifts are. God gave the same land to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, then to Jacob’s descendants. None of them continued to possess it, because they died. The same can be said of everything we have in this life, simply because this life isn’t forever. For a gift to be eternal, both the gift and the recipient have to be eternal, and that narrows the field immensely! Life in Christ is eternal, and the things that come with it are eternal, because once we have received eternal life, the love, joy, and all the rest cannot be taken away from us. Everything else is strictly temporary. Job had the right idea when he said, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Everything belongs to God, and when He gives us things they are indeed ours to do with as we please, but we are responsible to Him for it all, because actual ownership still resides with Him. The more clearly and firmly we grasp that, the less stress we will have about all the things we usually think of as ours.

This is extremely applicable to me right now. I have experienced a lot of stress the past few days over my computer situation, but I haven’t lost any data that I’m aware of, and God is still God. This morning when I came back to bed after a bathroom visit at 4, I wasn’t sure Cathy was alive, and the thought of that woke me up thoroughly. I am very thankful for my wife, and for the overwhelming abundance of other things the Lord has provided for me, but I must hold it all lightly, remembering that God is the owner and I am the steward, and He retains full rights to everything. Humanly speaking, that’s not always pleasant to think about, as I experienced this morning. However, my faith and trust need to grow to the point that nothing will shake me, because I know that God’s plans are always good, and I belong to Him.

Father, thank You indeed for Your overwhelming grace. Help me receive it all as I should, hanging on to nothing but Christ, allowing You to use me and the things You have placed in my hands as You please, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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October 5, 2011

Posted on October 7, 2011 by jgarrott

Genesis 26:22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

God will indeed provide each person who depends on Him a place to flourish. What that will mean will likely be different for each person, because we are indeed individuals, and our needs are different. God knows that better than we do, so the key to satisfaction and happiness is trusting Him with our past, present, and future. Many people are chained to their past, unable to believe that God can and will lift them our of what and where they were. Many more have trouble trusting God with the present, with the problems that stare them in the face. And certainly, many indeed struggle with trusting God for their future, being anxious about an almost unlimited range of things. The Bible states clearly, again and again, that all of such things are contrary to God’s plans for us, and as such are completely unnecessary and a waste of time and energy. As Paul said, if anyone is in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), so the past is no longer an issue. Paul and many others also pointed out that God is with us to deal with our present situations. (Philippians 4:13) And one of Jesus’ most famous teachings is about releasing our tomorrows to God. (Matthew 6:25-34) God desires that each of us flourish in the plans He has for us, and the more we believe and trust Him in that, the greater our joy, fulfillment, and peace will be.

I have known this intellectually for a long time, but I still trip up emotionally every once in a while. Actually, my current computer difficulties are further training in this area. I need to trust that God’s plans are good, whatever they are. I realize that He is teaching me how much I have been chained to the computer, so I need to use it as a productive tool instead of as a time consumer. More than that, I need to learn to walk in His peace regardless of my circumstances. I tell that to others, but that’s no good unless I’m doing it myself! I need to be quiet enough to listen to Him, allowing Him to teach me what I need to know, even when I don’t know what that is! He has certainly demonstrated His faithfulness to me in the past, and I need to keep growing in trusting Him with my present and my future.

Father, thank You for Your patience toward me, as well as Your gentleness in administering correction. I do ask for wisdom in correcting the computer problem, but more than that, I ask You to enable me to follow through with what You’re teaching me about my use of time. Help me be a good steward of all the things You have placed in my hands and my heart, not just so that I will flourish as You intend, but especially so that I will be fully available to You in building up the Body of Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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October 4, 2011

Posted on October 7, 2011 by jgarrott

Genesis 21:1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.

Throughout the Bible it keeps pointing out that God is true to His word. Some people might claim that’s a trivial thing, but actually it is of the utmost importance. If God were not trustworthy, we would have no real hope or peace, much less assurance. However, He is fully trustworthy, and we had better believe it. We have trouble trusting God because we ourselves are so untrustworthy, and in our thoughts we pull God down to our level. Just because we think of Him that way doesn’t change how He really is! The better we come to know Him, the more we trust Him. As Paul said, “For I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to keep what I’ve committed to Him until that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12) That too is part of becoming “as a little child.” (Mark 10:15) Small children believe whatever you tell them. In an adult, we call that being gullible, but if we lose the ability to believe and trust God, we have suffered a huge loss indeed. That’s why absolute honesty is such an important principle. Those who know they are God’s children should be, within the limits of their ability, as trustworthy as He is. That’s not to say that teasing or playing jokes is sinful in itself, but even there we need to be very careful. If people never know when we are joking, they will have trouble trusting anything we say.

That last point is one where I need to be careful. I don’t think puns invite mistrust (though they do sometimes invite confusion!), but deliberately misleading someone, even as a joke, is very risky. People tend to look at me as God’s representative. My life should give them an accurate picture of what He is like. I know I have no wisdom or power to accomplish that on my own, but the better I know Him, the more He will manifest His character through me. To know Him better, I need to choose to trust Him, in little things and in big. As a pastor, I am called to encourage others likewise to trust and obey Him. The more we do that, the better we will understand His absolute faithfulness, as we walk in all that He has promised.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You also for the further amplification of the message You started giving me yesterday. Thank You for the clear word yesterday that I am supposed to share that message this coming Sunday, rather than what I had been intending to do. Help me trust You enough to be fully responsive to whatever You say to me, whether it agrees with my previous plans or not. Keep me from using that as an excuse not to plan, but keep me flexible and available to You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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