Being Smart; September 16, 2024

Posted on September 17, 2024 by jgarrott

Nehemiah 9:20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Differing translations can be fascinating. Where the NIV and other English translations say, “to instruct them,” the Japanese says, “to seek to make them smart/wise.” That’s not a purpose of the Holy Spirit we often talk about! However, as Nehemiah goes on to express, the people so blessed didn’t accept God’s Spirit very well, and instead acted very foolishly. The thing is, God doesn’t force His blessings on us; we have to receive them. As Paul pointed out, it’s all too possible to grieve the Holy Spirit, and when we do, He withdraws. (Ephesians 4:30) I think most people would like to be smart, but we are all born with different “mental horsepower.” God’s way to even that up, so to speak, is to provide His Spirit, since God Himself is omniscient. A person with an IQ of 80 who is filled with and yielded to God’s Spirit expresses more genuine wisdom than a genius who denies God. Not to get political, but that’s a good illustration of equality versus “equity,” as it is used today. We all have different starting points when it comes to intelligence, but God gives us equal access to His Spirit, Who is all wisdom and knowledge. It is obvious we don’t all arrive at the same level, but the determining factor isn’t our starting point, but rather how yielded we are to God’s Spirit.

This is a point of great interest to me. I took my first IQ test in the 5th grade, and turned in a score of 150. Academics came easily to me, but I also made some very foolish decisions, and I descended into intellectual and spiritual pride. That was certainly not wise! God had to “take me to the woodshed,” so to speak, over that, but He was thankfully very gentle about it. A little after that He used someone who probably didn’t have an IQ like mine to help me understand how to open up to the Holy Spirit, and then another brother to open me up to spiritual gifts. As I have written recently, it was a real revelation to me to grasp, genuinely, that God’s smart and I’m not. It is only by His Spirit that I can act with His wisdom, and that is what I desire.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible grace toward me. Help me live not by my intellect but by Your Spirit, just as You said to Zechariah. (Zechariah 4:6) May I never think that anything human can come up to Your level, in wisdom, power, or anything else, so that I may be fully obedient to whatever You say, accomplishing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Speaking for God; September 15, 2024

Posted on September 16, 2024 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 23:2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
    his word was on my tongue.

From one perspective, this seems like a statement of incredible conceit. From another perspective, actively voiced by a TV personality about someone else not long ago, it seems like evidence of mental disorder. Both of those attitudes are actively promoted by the devil, because he doesn’t want people believing that God can and does speak through people, that He is actively concerned with our daily affairs to the point of doing such a thing. However, David had built up a track record with his Psalms, as is acknowledged in the verse before this. It would be impossible to number all the people who have heard from their Creator through David’s words, so this verse is a simple statement of fact. That said, not every word that came from David’s mouth was directly from God, nor can anyone on earth today make that claim. Jesus was the only person to live for whom that may have been true, but I would think that even for Him, many words were simply inconsequential. However, every word He spoke was spoken in love, and was in no way a violation of God’s character. God does call individuals to be His mouthpieces, so to speak, and He speaks through all of His children to some extent, but our response, any time we realize He is using us that way, is to be humble gratitude and not pride. Another angle to that is that any time God speaks through us, we must pay attention to it ourselves, and never assume that the message is just for “the other guy.” Every honest preacher, much less prophet, will acknowledge that their fulfillment of the truth they speak is imperfect. That isn’t necessarily hypocrisy, but rather the result of a perfect God speaking through an imperfect vessel. That’s why we must all walk in humility, particularly when God speaks through us.

I have become dependent on God speaking to me, and I seek to allow Him to speak through me whenever and however He chooses. That said, I get in the way all too often. My wife says that I tend to come across as angry, and I have certainly failed to praise people as much as I should have. Awareness that God does speak through me at times fills me with joy and a desire for it to happen more consistently, but I also need to be careful that my “inconsequential” words don’t close people’s ears to what God actually is speaking to them. I’m not right all the time, nor do I always hear correctly what God is saying. Humility is without question essential. I am at times in awe of things God has said through me, lyrics He has had me write, but I am never to let that puff me up, but rather inspire me to be more available to Him.

Father, thank You for this clear reminder on my birthday. You have indeed made me to be a wordsmith. May every word that comes from my mouth or my fingers be what You desire to be expressed, for the blessing of my hearers and readers and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Amazing Grace; September 14, 2024

Posted on September 15, 2024 by jgarrott

2 Samuel 22:36 You make your saving help my shield;
    your help has made me great.

God gave David some very interesting revelations about Himself. This particular one seems to be difficult to translate from the Hebrew. Where the NIV says, “your help,” the ESV says “your gentleness,” the Japanese says, “your humility,” and the Masoretic Hebrew text says, “You stoop down.” The thing is, God is the Creator of the universe. Why would He have anything to do with us? David had no real idea of the vastness of the universe, but he understood that the Creator cared about him and acted on his behalf. That is an earthshaking revelation. The devil tries to counter that revelation two ways. On the one hand, he tries to convince us that we are self-sufficient, that we don’t need a Creator and everything is by chance, by “natural processes.” This is atheism. On the other hand, he tries to convince us that human life is insignificant, that we don’t really matter. This is what leads to murder, abortion, and countless other evils. David knew better. He encountered his Creator as a young shepherd boy, sitting out under the stars with none of the modern light pollution and hearing God speak to his heart. He didn’t have to know what a tiny fraction of the universe his senses could perceive to know that God was great, yet he experienced in countless ways that God cared about him. We all need that revelation! We need to know, to the depth of our being, that God is indeed omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, and at the same time, that He cares so intensely about each one of us that He sent His Son to die in our place. (John 3:16) When we know, believe, trust that, then absolutely nothing can shake us.

I am thankfully more convinced of this each day I live, and I am grateful beyond words. I do experience things I don’t like, and at times can get pretty upset, but every time I come back to this assurance, I have peace and joy. John 16:33 has long been something of an anchor for me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” However, I’m not to be satisfied with just having peace myself; I need to share that with others. I don’t feel I’m terribly effective as an evangelist, but I have been a pastor in Japan for 43 years now, and I’m not through yet. Every moment of my life needs to be returned to my Lord in loving obedience, because He has done so much for me!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You indeed for stooping down, in gentle humility, to lift me up. May I respond as You desire, pleasing You however anyone else responds, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Trusting God; September 13, 2024

Posted on September 14, 2024 by jgarrott

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

This is a wonderful promise, but put a little differently, it’s a little amusing. “I’ve got this, so would you shut up?” Various cultures have traditions of loud verbal expression of emotion. Living in Japan, the Koreans come to mind. Even in Jesus’ day there were professional mourners, who would wail when the family was too exhausted to do so. (Luke 9:52-53) Here, it was more a matter of genuine terror at what the approaching Egyptian army was likely to do to them, and God was saying that was a totally unnecessary expenditure of emotional energy. We get all worked up about all sorts of things, and often in retrospect we realize that they were never more than a minor bump in the road. Jake Hess sang, “Death Ain’t No Big Deal,” and he was right! He has since experienced that for himself, and it’s a good thing for us all to remember. As Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) That’s precisely what God is saying here. Whether our immediate circumstances will pass like a bad dream, transform us to be more like Christ, or take us into the throne room of God is nothing to be worried about when we really grasp the love of God for us.

I will never forget the first time the Lord spoke to me in what seemed like an audible voice. I had been concerned about a particular issue and was beseeching God for guidance, praying nonstop, saying, “Lord, speak to me!” When I paused for breath, He did, saying, “Well then, shut up.” I was shocked into silence, and then I had to laugh, because I literally asked for that! At this point I have no idea what the original issue was that I was so concerned about, but I will never forget having God say that to me so clearly. I can’t say that I’ve never gotten worked up over issues since then, but they’ve been much easier to deal with because of the assurance that God is paying attention, and He really loves me. This is something I want all believers to know, and I’m sure God wants that too. We construct all sorts of scenarios in our minds, but in the final analysis, none of them are any big deal if we are in Christ, because God is God, period.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me remember it always, in practical terms, so that my life may lead others to the same awareness, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Guidance; September 12, 2024

Posted on September 13, 2024 by jgarrott

Exodus 13:22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

God gave the Israelites the guidance they needed, when and how they needed it. He had decided their route with an understanding of their weakness, that they might well run from battle, (verse 17) and He knew they weren’t spiritually sensitive either, so He gave them something obvious that everyone could see. If only Moses had seen the guidance, the people might well have not followed him. God doesn’t always do it this way, but it’s certainly easier on the human leader when He does! At this point the people needed something constant, or they might well have given up in the times the guidance wasn’t obvious. Again, God doesn’t always do it this way. He was doing it like this because of their extreme immaturity. They needed to get used to the idea that God really knew about and cared about them, so that their faith and obedience would be built up to the point that they would follow even when they couldn’t see the path at that moment. That certainly applies to us. As has been said, God is more interested in our character than our comfort. Sometimes He trains us to trust Him by not giving us fresh guidance until we’ve followed the previous guidance! On the physical plane, many people today have lost the ability to give and follow directions because they are too used to GPS systems. There have been cases of people doing totally stupid things like driving off of a washed-out bridge because their GPS indicated that was the route! We need to change “Global Positioning System” to “God Positioning System,” learning to listen to the Holy Spirit and so going forward with assurance, in obedience to Him.

I need this as much as anyone! At my age, some people might think it doesn’t much matter where I go, but I’m not at the end of the road yet – and I don’t want to run off of any washed-out bridges! I am grateful for my firm habit of morning devotions, because I often get clarification of what my activities of the day should be. Having retired from secular work, my schedule is far less fixed by external sources, but demands on my time come in from various directions, and I need to know what God’s schedule for me is. My calendar is completely blank for today, but there are a number of things that I have been needing to get done, so I’ve got to be sensitive and responsive. Sometimes a lack of pressure isn’t the best thing! I could well have another 20 years ahead of me, and I don’t want to waste a day of it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Procrastination has always been an issue for me, as it was for my father. However, he had an enormously accomplishful life, so I’m not to use such weaknesses as excuses. Help me listen accurately to what You want me to do, and follow through in punctual obedience, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Light vs. Darkness; September 11, 2024

Posted on September 12, 2024 by jgarrott

Exodus 10:21-23 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Each of the plagues that God brought upon Egypt through Moses had spiritual meaning as well as physical. This one had to be terrifying for the Egyptians, but it was simply a physical manifestation of their spiritual reality. Since “light” is the theme of our readings for the next several weeks, at least, we will be running into many passages that talk about spiritual illumination, “enlightenment.” We use that terminology fairly freely to describe flashes of understanding, but here God used the reverse to make His point. People who close the eyes of their hearts to God are very much in the dark, but for the most part they don’t realize it. In the world today it seems like the divide between light and darkness is getting sharper and more obvious. Sometimes we want to cry out, “How can they not see?” They are in darkness as real as what the Egyptians experienced here. It’s fascinating that it specifies, “darkness that can be felt.” Now, that’s dark! We don’t know how the Israelites had light, nor what form that took, but the contrast was certainly stark. The thing is, those who have light are not to lord it over those who don’t. We are to pray God’s grace and mercy for them, because as the story of Saul/Paul illustrates, sometimes those most in the dark are transformed into carriers of light! If you don’t recognize the darkness, you don’t know how wonderful the light is, and conversely, if you take the light for granted, you don’t know how terrible the dark can be. Several of the passages we’ll be reading as we progress through this theme come to mind, but I’ll just take each one as it comes.

I was raised in a home that had a great deal of light, I’m grateful to say. My parents were totally committed disciples of Jesus Christ, and they were also intellectually open and curious. As I grew up, I saw how different most people were from my family, and sadly, that helped trap me in pride – which is in the territory of darkness! God was more than gracious to me, showing me my spiritual and intellectual stupidity, and I came to a deep appreciation for C. S. Lewis’ observation that when we get to heaven, we will all discover that we were wrong somewhere. At this point, my task is in bringing light to all who will receive it, but I must never seek to do it from an attitude of pride, but always in gratitude for God’s grace.

Father, thank You indeed for Your light. Thank You for the many, many Scriptures that have come to mind as I have been writing this morning. I look forward to writing on each one when we get to it! May I indeed be a carrier of Your light to all I encounter, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Our Creator; September 10, 2024

Posted on September 11, 2024 by jgarrott

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

This is one of the most important verses in the whole Bible, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read Genesis 1. It wasn’t until the 19th Century that there was any concerted attempt at intellectual atheism. People saw the physical universe and knew that it had to come from somewhere, and a Creator was certainly the simplest answer. Then came the scientific discoveries of the Enlightenment Period, and though he wasn’t the first, Charles Darwin is held up as a god-like figure by current atheists, saying that “natural processes” could account for everything, and the Theory of Evolution was born. This actually was an illustration of the axiom, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Darwin himself said that if biological cells turned out to be complex, his whole theory fell apart. Well, current tools show us that cells are amazingly complex! Even if you allow for the purported trillions of years since the “Big Bang,” mathematical probability cannot account for the universe as we see it today. “Intelligent Design” becomes the only logical solution, even without subscribing to any specific religious tradition. The big problem with this, from the human standpoint, is that positing a Creator automatically leads to the question of accountability. If God created us, aren’t we accountable to Him to fulfill whatever purpose He had in doing so? But we hate accountability! And that’s behind the whole story of the Bible. God chose to give us free will, and we chose to use that to defy Him! The absurdity of that defiance is beyond words to express, but it is what we call “original sin.” God gave clear, simple instructions to Adam and Eve, with only one proscription, and they chose to violate that. We’ve been bearing the consequences ever since, but it’s no use blaming them, because we would do no better in their place. The great mercy is that, as God told Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) He is physically invisible to us, but He allows us to find Him when our hearts are turned to Him in humility. And that’s the issue: letting go of pride. It was pride that drove the early atheists to seek an explanation for the universe that didn’t require a Creator, and it is pride that draws us to try to rule our own lives today. We do in a sense rule our lives, but only in how we apply and make use of what God provides to us. The only route to genuine happiness and satisfaction is knowing we are created beings, and seeking to know and follow our Creator.

Of course, this applies to me as much as it does to anyone. I’ve certainly had my struggles with pride, to the point that God had to show me my own soul, just for a moment, to knock me off my high horse. God has had to teach me again and again that He’s smart and I’m not, that His plans, and His plans alone, are perfect. Just yesterday He brought about a resolution to a situation that distressed me but I couldn’t touch. Such things happen all the time, and I need to recognize them and be grateful. My task and commission in life is to help others recognize and know their Creator, believing that He knows and loves them as His children, to the point that He gave His Son to take the penalty for their rebellion against Him. That’s not something I can do in my own strength, because it seems impossibly good, so people don’t believe it. However, God’s Spirit indwells me, and nothing is impossible for Him. My focus is to be on humility and obedience, because that will clear the way for Him to do all that He wants to do in and through me, and that is very good indeed.

Father, thank You for this powerful reminder. May I indeed walk in the obedience of love, pleasing You and drawing many more to You by my words and my example, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Active Faith; September 9, 2024

Posted on September 10, 2024 by jgarrott

Jude 1:20-21 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

This little letter gets overlooked by perhaps the majority of Christians, yet it has a number of very interesting, and helpful, things about it. For one thing, the last two verses are an absolutely glorious doxology, memorably set to music by Don Francisco. It is also significant that though Jude was a half-brother of Jesus, he refers to Him only in the most respectful, worshipful terms, (as in that doxology) claiming kinship only with James in verse 1 to identify himself. The motivation for the letter was false teachers who were threatening the Church from the inside. That has been an issue throughout the history of the Church. And then we have this passage. In the early days of the Charismatic Movement it was often quoted to teach people that praying in tongues would build them up in faith. (The ESV translation seems to try to avoid that interpretation.) In my experience, praying in tongues does build you up, but “praying in the Holy Spirit” isn’t limited to praying in tongues. He can inspire and guide us in any language! The thing that strikes me, though, is that we can have an active part in our spiritual condition. We aren’t to be passive, but rather active in building ourselves up and keeping ourselves in the love of God. That’s not at all to say that we can save ourselves, because we certainly can’t, but we are to be active participants in all that God has provided for us in Christ. As Jesus Himself said, we are to abide in Him, by our own choice and will. (John 15:4) The tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will is actually beyond the capacity of human intellect to resolve, but properly applied, it can really build our faith, because there are so many things we can’t understand, humanly speaking.

This of course applies to me, as an individual believer and as a pastor. There is indeed much I can’t understand, much less explain! However, I know from Scripture and from experience that if I will press into God for more of Him, giving Him ever more of myself, He will respond gloriously. I seek to help everyone grasp this principle, but the responses are all over the place. Some dive in wholeheartedly, and some seem to want everything handed to them on a platter. I’m not to put anyone down, but I am to speak the truth in love at all times, so that the lies of the enemy may be exposed and people set free. And I must never forget to keep pressing in myself!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your anointing and guidance in the message yesterday. Several people seemed to receive fresh revelation from it. I pray that my life, in every facet, would draw people into Your life, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Love; September 8, 2024

Posted on September 9, 2024 by jgarrott

2 John 1:6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

John is sometimes called “The Apostle of Love,” because he talks about it so much. In his first letter he famously said, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Here he flips it around, in a sense, and says that our walking in obedience to God is love. It’s hardly surprising that he would say this, because he was the one who recorded Jesus as saying, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15) Love is indeed closely tied to emotion, but if we let the emotion take precedence, the love itself quickly becomes a cheap counterfeit. Don Francisco wrote a song with the powerful line, “Love is not a feeling, it’s an act of your will.” I think that puts it very well. Feelings invariably follow, but decision is at the root. Jesus didn’t “feel like” going to the cross, as His prayers in Gethsemane make very clear. Parents will tell you, if they’re honest, that there are moments when they feel like knocking their kids across the room, and it’s not that they don’t love them. Good parents don’t follow through with that, but you get the idea. If we obey God only when we feel like it, then we don’t really love Him. That would be narcissism, and narcissism never results in genuine happiness. That’s why the devil promotes narcissism in every way he can, because he doesn’t want us to be happy! He wants us to “have a good time” while we’re disobeying God! God always wants the best for us, and every one of His commands is to that end. Loving Him by walking in obedience to Him is the only truly logical course!

I seem to have had something of an instinctual understanding of this. I make that claim because I clearly decided to love my wife, and that has held up for over 55 years. I had already been attracted to her, but 11 days after our first date we were engaged, and just over three months later we were married. God’s amazing grace was certainly involved in that, because I had no idea of the many, many ways we fit together emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually, but it has definitely worked out. And that’s not to say that we always “obey” each other! We were at a similar place spiritually at that point, which is to say, not very mature, and we haven’t always grown at the same speed, but we have supported, encouraged, and admonished each other along the way. I don’t hesitate to point to our relationship as an example for others to follow. That said, my obedience to God hasn’t been perfect by any means, and I’m still learning there. I do love Him, more than I love anything else, even including my wife, but that love won’t be perfected until I stand before Him in heaven. I look forward to that day!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your love, and for growing my ability to receive and grasp it. May I respond to Your love more and more fully, more and more accurately, so that it may flow unhindered through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Spiritual Nourishment; September 7, 2024

Posted on September 8, 2024 by jgarrott

1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

This chapter is so rich, I was once again at a loss as to what part to write on. However, appreciation of all the other good stuff of life in Christ starts right here, with receiving the Word of God as our spiritual nourishment. The first thing a newborn infant needs to learn is how to latch onto a nipple, how to drink so as to receive the nourishment they need. It seems odd, but some infants really do have trouble learning this, and it’s a major issue. Also, the mother’s breast doesn’t produce milk at first, but a liquid called colostrum, which is even easier for the infant to absorb. However, that very quickly changes to the milk that we usually think of. Of course, Peter isn’t writing a treatise on breastfeeding, but rather on spiritual growth. This is actually a very good figure of speech for him to use, because new believers are very much on the level of infants, at first only able to absorb “colostrum” levels of truth. Likewise, some believers don’t seem to know how to “latch,” to focus on what God is saying to them so as to take it in and apply it. That causes as much trouble spiritually as the physical issue does for an infant, which is to say, leading even to death. Of course, we aren’t to be satisfied indefinitely with spiritual milk. Hebrews 5:12-14 deals with that issue. However, we’ve got to start somewhere! An infant will choke on solid food, so they’ve got to get plenty of milk to grow to the level of being able to handle more and more solid food. This calls for discernment in those who are in leadership, to know what to feed to whom, when. The Holy Spirit is the only reliable guide, but fortunately, He’s very dependable! He can and does illuminate the messages He inspires, enabling one hearer to get one thing out of it and another, something quite different. That said, those delivering the messages need to be humbly open to being used, because human motivation and intellect aren’t going to produce God’s results.

This couldn’t be any more applicable to me than it is! I have spent many years in the ministry of the Word, and God has delivered everything from colostrum to steak through me. At the same time, I’ve got to be taking all of that in and applying it myself, or I become a completely empty windbag. I haven’t always been wise in what I’ve fed to whom. The tenderest wagyu isn’t appropriate for someone who has no teeth! I continue to hang up on that from time to time, and it keeps me from being a very effective evangelist. Fried chicken isn’t appropriate for someone who can only absorb colostrum! I need to recognize and encourage those who are gifted at giving “spiritual colostrum,” so that everyone may have the opportunity to grow into the child of God that He designed them to be.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for how You’re continuing to grow me in feeding Your children. May I be the “chef” You want me to be, so that the Body of Christ may grow as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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