The Joy of Repentance; May 4, 2024

Posted on May 5, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 15:10 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Do you want to make heaven happy? Repent! We have such trouble imagining what it is like in heaven. We tend to go to one of two extremes in our thinking. Either we see God as delighting to “smite the sinners,” or we see Him as a Santa Claus figure, excusing everyone and everything. Both of those are lies from the devil. As God told Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32) At the same time, He is perfectly holy, and unrepented sin earns and receives destruction. (Romans 6:23) This is no game. We aren’t to sin so that we can repent of it! The Bible is clear throughout that human beings need no encouragement to sin. The Gospel is good news precisely because it recognizes that, but proclaims that there is an answer for it: Jesus Christ the Righteous, who died to take the penalty for our sins. When we realize that the Son of God really loved us that much, and John 3:16 becomes more than just a platitude to us, then repentance comes completely naturally. That said, we still have to make the choice to repent, because repentance always includes changed behavior. That’s not to say that if we stumble again we never really repented in the first place, but that is a possibility if the stumbling becomes habitual. As David famously realized, what pleases God most is a humble and contrite heart. (Psalm 51:7) It is when we come to that place that the angels rejoice!

I have had times of wallowing in sin, and I have had times of repentance. Sin has no pleasures that can compare with the smile of God! As I have shared before, I was once in a small prayer meeting in which the Presence of God was so strong and the joy of the Lord so intense in me that I literally said to Him, “If you have anything more for me to do on earth you had better back off a little, because my physical body can’t take this!” It really felt like one more drop of joy and I would be transported to heaven! That gives me some idea of the joy of the angels mentioned here. The “joy” that the world and the devil offer are entirely counterfeit. I am to walk in repentance myself and lead as many as will to do likewise, because when God gives me so much joy, I want to do the same for Him!  

Father, thank You for Your overwhelming grace. Help me be an effective channel of that grace, so that as many as will may repent and believe, for their salvation and Your joy and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Spiritual Humility; May 3, 2024

Posted on May 4, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 13:2-3 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

This was a shocker of an unexpected response! This was in terms of people being deliberately killed, and then Jesus doubled down and said the same thing about what could be called an accidental disaster. This is hardly the sort of “sweetness and light” that many people today seem to be demanding of Christians and the Bible! At times, Jesus could be as blunt as anything, but never without love. He used these incidents to call people to repentance, which we tend to forget He did from the very start of His ministry. (Mark 1:15) It is a sad fact of human nature that when bad things happen to other people, part of our response is relief that it didn’t happen to us, and we are quick to morph that into feeling we are somehow better than they are or were. Jesus is clearly saying here that’s not the case. The point is to have compassion on those suffering and gratitude that we don’t all get precisely what we deserve. Conceit is dangerous at any time, but it is particularly so in moral terms. Jesus’ biggest fights were with the Pharisees, precisely because they thought they were better than others because they kept specific external rules, all the while ignoring the state of their own hearts. That’s exactly what Jesus was warning against here. Every one of us needs the humility to let God be our judge, knowing that we have no real claim to innocence apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The message of the cross is good news precisely because it proclaims that our debt is paid, but that applies only when we acknowledge that we had the debt in the first place.

I am all too familiar with spiritual pride, having wallowed in it more than I care to remember. I remember thinking specifically that any church I walked into was blessed, because I had come! That degree of hubris is amazing even for me to remember! Any humility I have now, and for that matter, anything commendable, is only by the grace of God, because on my own, I’m a mess. I have countless blessings and advantages, but I can’t take personal credit for any of them. I didn’t choose my genetics, my home environment, or really, the vast majority of my life experiences, but I am accountable for what I do with who they have made me to be. Another person with the same opportunities could well have done far better! As has been said many times, we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our response to it. I need to respond in humility and gratitude to everything, because only then will it all be the blessing God intends it to be, for me and for those around me.

Father, thank You for Your truly amazing grace. Thank You for the skill of the doctor two days ago who took the four samples for biopsies, and, and for the good report yesterday when those bandages were changed. Thank You that my healing is so rapid that I was able to work in the yard and garden yesterday afternoon. I do pray for accurate results from the biopsies, and for Your health for me for as long as You intend to keep me here. It is just over two weeks until our 40th anniversary of the church, and there are various things I should already have taken care of. Help me follow through with each one, so that everything will happen as You intend, blessing all participants and giving You glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Blessings of Obedience; May 2, 2024

Posted on May 3, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 11:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Many people were deeply touched by hearing Jesus, which is why large crowds often followed Him. The woman who cried out, prompting this response, was probably meaning, “I wish you were my son!” However, Jesus’ response is perfectly in line with what His half-brother James later wrote: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) In the Upper Room just before His crucifixion, Jesus said, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17) Lip service doesn’t cut it! To the crowds and to His closest disciples, Jesus stressed the importance of follow-through. We all have the tendency to say, “That’s wonderful,” and then never do anything about what we have heard. The devil will do all he can to distract us from the truth we hear, but he really doesn’t have to work very hard at it. We all need to be on our guard against our own tendencies, not just hearing or reading the Word but actively applying it in every area of our lives. It is when we do that, that we can look forward to hearing our Lord say, “’Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)

This issue has always been very close to home for me, because I was raised in a home that was steeped in the Bible, and I essentially could never say, “I didn’t know that” about any Biblical principle. And that’s not at all to say that I have always lived consistently by Biblical principles! I immediately latched onto and started practicing this SOAP system of personal devotions after I heard Wayne Cordeiro explain it at a conference here in Japan, not just because it is effective in generating an expectation of hearing from God, but because it stresses the application of what we hear. The acronym stands for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. The Scripture is whatever part of that day’s reading particularly resonated. The Observation is a restating of what God has spoken to you through that passage. The Application is, what am I going to do about it? We all tend to fall down on that point, and I am very grateful to Wayne for expressing it so clearly and simply. And of course, the Prayer is a response to God for what He has just said, because we don’t have the ability to follow through without His help. I’ve been using this system for quite a few years now, and around nine years ago I started editing and posting my devotions as a blog, with the prayer that others would discover that God speaks to them as much as He does to me, but we’ve all got to be careful with our obedience.

Father, thank You for Wayne and His faithfulness to You. Thank You for the opportunity to share what You say to me. I do pray that all of Your children would grow in receiving the blessings of obedience, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Speaking for God; May 1, 2024

Posted on May 2, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 10:16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

When you come right down to it, this is a very remarkable state­ment. It totally backs up Paul’s remarks in 2 Corinthians 5 about being Christ’s ambassadors and speaking for Him, even though Paul was not one of the 72 being commissioned here. We are not to get delusions of grandeur here, running around making pronouncements and feeling like we are God, but it does make the responsibility pretty heavy. It also brings to mind Jesus’ strong word of warning: “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36) That word, “careless,” is sometimes translated “unprofitable,” and the implication is that we aren’t to just go blowing off at the mouth. If people’s response to us governs their response to God, then we want to be very careful we don’t misrepresent God! That’s not to say we are never to say things we know people won’t receive. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, not to mention most of the Old Testament prophets, are excellent examples of people given messages to proclaim that wouldn’t be received. We aren’t to draw back if that’s the case with us, but we are to be very careful that our words don’t alienate needlessly. At the same time, we aren’t to take rejection personally. We aren’t to be surprised at it, and it can certainly be disappointing, but if we are being faithful to speak what the Lord gives us to say, we are little more than the Bluetooth speakers you might connect to your cellphone. If those speakers are damaged you will get unwanted distortion, and we want to avoid that if at all possible. God’s words have infinite power behind them, (Isaiah 55:10-11) but our words on their own are essentially powerless, and we must never forget that.

I have always been a person of words, and it was recognized very early that I was gifted in that way. That creates extra dangers for me, because I am tempted to generate words on my own, and that never ends well. Going back to my earlier metaphor, I am actually not just an inanimate speaker. Everyone who speaks or writes imparts their own flavor to the words. I need to strive to make my words as tasty as possible, particularly when I am speaking for God. I don’t want anyone to reject God because of my stupidity! I just ordered a book from someone who does writers’ workshops, hoping for good pointers on how to get my autobiography done. I think that was probably wise, but at the same time, God is my ultimate writing Coach! I am to rejoice at the ways God uses me, but never take personal pride in any of it. Everything good is from Him!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the very good contact with one of my spiritual children yesterday. I do pray for him as he starts a new job today. May he do so as Your representative to each person he encounters, so that many will be brought out of the lies of enemy and into Your kingdom of light and life, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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New and Old; April 30, 2024

Posted on May 1, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 5:37-39 “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.'”

This is a very famous parable, prompting a book I read in seminary: The Problem of Wineskins. The book is about church structure and organization, particularly in light of the Charismatic Movement that was still new in those days. However, what struck me in reading this just now is the last statement, that those who are used to the old don’t want the new. We are indeed very prone to get set in our ways. The problem with that is that Christ in His glory says, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5) Also, as Paul famously pointed out, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) I have known churches that weren’t comfortable with lots of new converts, because they disturbed the set order of things! Traditions and the like aren’t necessarily bad, but we must be very careful we don’t refuse what God is giving us or doing in us and around us, just because it’s unfamiliar. At the same time, some people want to throw out everything “old” and start over, and that almost always destroys much that is good. There are hymns that are largely forgotten in many churches today that convey deep, valuable, spiritual truth, for example. However, we need to remember that just singing those hymns doesn’t mean we’re living in that truth. It really is a balancing act, and one for which we must have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or we’re guaranteed to get it wrong. Many Psalms encourage us to sing new songs to the Lord, and that is certainly a good thing. However, not all songs are equal, and focusing always on the latest or most popular is seldom a good idea. We need to let God continuously renew our minds, (Romans 12:2) so that we will be able to perceive and follow what He is doing and not be led astray.

Recently this has been driven home to me by a dear friend joining this church. He certainly loves the Lord, but he is very used to a particular denominational format and ways of “doing church,” and he struggles at times with how we are different from that. I must not shut him out, because sometimes his ideas have real validity, but I must also not allow him to force this church into the forms he is used to. I have had to realize that in 40 years this church has developed various traditions, or you could just call them habits. That Cathy and I are used to them doesn’t automatically make them good, but it doesn’t make them bad, either. We all need to be submitted and obedient to the Lord, allowing Him to show us what we are to be doing, and when and how to do it, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this clear Word, particularly as we are preparing for the 40th anniversary of this church. On the one hand that seems like a long time, but it’s just a moment in eternity. Help us have both the flexibility and the firmness You desire, standing strong in Christ to destroy the devil’s works (1 John 3:8) and bring many into Your kingdom, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Good News; April 29, 2024

Posted on April 30, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 3:18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

I think it’s important to note that John, who was famous for his tart tongue, calling people vipers in verse seven, was preaching good news to the people. We don’t often think of a call to repentance as good news! He also wasn’t preaching what they wanted and expected to hear, because they were looking for the Messiah, and he very clearly said that wasn’t him. However, he did say the Messiah was coming, and so was preparing the people for Jesus, just as Isaiah had prophesied (verse four) and had been specifically prophesied about him before his conception. (Luke 1:17) From this, we need to learn that soft and gentle words aren’t always the most loving. The term, tough love, comes to mind. Truth is always better than falsehood, even when that truth hurts. When we forget that repentance is essential to salvation, we lose the whole point of evangelism. We make a big deal of “gospel” being the same as “good news,” but we forget that the very first step of the Gospel is, “You’re lost and headed for hell.” That was John’s message, and it was just as much good news as, “Heaven is wonderful.”

As I’ve commented many times, I’ve never been much of a “hellfire and brimstone” preacher, but I must not hold back from speaking the truth, particularly not to make people like me. I am always to speak in love, (Ephesians 4:15) but never draw back from whatever the Lord wants to say through me. At the same time, I need to remember that just because something is true doesn’t mean I have to say it. Even so, words of correction are often genuinely good news, because without them we won’t grow. I well remember what Cornelius Iida said to me almost 30 years ago, telling me I was treating my God-given ministry like a hobby. It was devastating to me at the time, but he was right, and it was an extremely necessary word of correction, and as such, good news! As I was recounting to someone just yesterday, it was painful to me to have to tell a “transgender” person that no, God didn’t accept him as a woman, regardless of his surgeries and hormone treatments, but He did accept him as a person. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was what he needed to hear. I still pray for him every time I remember him, and we will welcome him with open arms if he comes to us as a detransitioner.

Father, thank You for the person I was talking to yesterday. She had come because we were having a Gospel music practice, and her first visit last week had given her a thirst for more. Thank You for the various things You said to her through me. I pray that she would be quick to realize that she is indeed hopeless without Christ, but that in Christ she can have eternal life, and so repent and believe for her salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Heart Attitude; April 28, 2024

Posted on April 29, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 1:16-17 “Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous–to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Here we have John the Baptist’s commission, delivered before he was even conceived. Not only is it a magnificent commission, it is also a clear demonstration that no embryo, or even blastocyst (which applies to when the fertilized egg first starts dividing) is without value or meaning in God’s sight. The whole idea of aborting a baby because it is “just a clump of cells” is not just a lie, it’s blasphemy against our Creator. I think the devil probably delights in blasphemy more than in anything else, just because of who and what he is. We can’t change that, but we can be on our guard and refuse and reject blasphemy in all its forms. To get back to John himself, his commission was to prepare the people for Jesus, and he was to do that by “turning the hearts of the father to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous.” That sound very timely for society as we experience it right now! For quite a few years we have been in a “fatherhood crisis,” with men not knowing how to be men, much less fathers, and being put down at every turn by militant, deceived women. That is a major characteristic of the Left, because they start with denying the Fatherhood of God. That makes it obvious who’s guiding them! It is well known that John’s ministry was calling people to repentance, but we tend to relegate that term to specific sins, when this passage indicates it’s more a matter of heart attitude. No human father, for example, is perfect, but if their heart is turned toward their children, they will do a far better job than otherwise. Likewise, disobedience starts with heart attitude, before it ever blossoms into specific actions. It’s not that God doesn’t care about our actions, but He knows they come from our heart, so that’s where the emphasis lies.

I have certainly experienced this, more times than I could count! I still stumble at times, but at this point my heart’s desire is to be fully obedient to my Lord. The “major sins” of my life have all come from an attitude of pride, of thinking and feeling that I was in control, and that whatever felt good to me was right. Such foolishness! I am deeply grateful that my parents taught and modeled the attitude of placing God first and listening to Him, before and above any other voice. I can’t say I have followed that perfectly by any means, but it is still the goal of my life.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I pray that I too would be useful to you in “turn[ing] the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous,” for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Apostles; April 27, 2024

Posted on April 28, 2024 by jgarrott

Mark 6:12-13 They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

We sometimes forget that Jesus’ disciples did what He did, both in word and in deed. We are astonished that, in the Upper Room before His crucifixion, Jesus told these same disciples, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father,” (John 14:12) but it probably wasn’t such a shock to them, because they’d already been doing some of it. As to “greater things,” we have no record that anyone was healed by Jesus’ shadow, but it happened with Peter. (Acts 5:15) That Jesus’ promise wasn’t limited to the original 12 apostles is illustrated by people being healed by Paul’s sweat cloths. (Acts 19:11-12) God isn’t stingy with His pow­er, but He is strict about being given credit. The minute we start talking or acting like the power is ours, we are in deep trouble. The problem is that this runs into human pride. We so want to take credit for anything good! However, we’ve got to remember that an ambassador’s credentials depend on the one who sent them. We are indeed ambassadors for Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:20) but we are nothing without Him. At the time of this verse, “apostle” wasn’t that special a title. It just meant someone who was sent on behalf of another. By the time the New Testament was written, the word had acquired much of the meaning we give it, but in the world at large it wasn’t a strictly religious word at all. Every believer needs to realize that, to some extent at least, they represent Christ to the world around them, and hold themselves available to Him to be sent and used whenever, wherever, and however He directs. Like “saints,” which we make a very special category but the New Testament applies to all believers, we need to understand that apostles are an ongoing office and function in the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11)

This is something I have thought about quite a few times over the years. It has been pointed out by numbers of scholars that the closest modern equivalent to “apostle” in contemporary language is “missionary,” and I am the son of missionaries and am a missionary myself. I’m not to run from that, nor to let it puff me up. After all, I have never had a “sending organization,” not even a local church, so I have often described myself as simply a Caucasian pastor in Japan. While we were in seminary, butting heads with the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board, my wife stated clearly, “I’d rather be Lord sent than Board sent.” That is absolutely spot on. Human credentials mean very little indeed, but I am deeply honored and grateful that my Lord has seen fit to send me, and I am to live each moment appropriately to that commission.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for Your grace to me. Thank You for using me in spite of my many weaknesses and failures. You are in the process of changing my job description, and I don’t yet see what shape that will take. Help me be fully humble and available at all times and in all ways, so that Your purposes may be accomplished on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Authority; April 26, 2024

Posted on April 27, 2024 by jgarrott

Mark 1:22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

I find this a fascinating comment. Jesus not only taught as someone with authority, He demonstrated that authority by casting out evil spirits and healing people. The “teachers of the law” didn’t do that, because they had no such authority! Today, we should be operating in the delegated authority of Jesus, (Matthew 28:18-20) based on the Scriptures. The problem is, the devil has tricked many current “teachers of the law” into teaching that the Bible isn’t reliable, and is merely a source of truth, instead of the inspired Word of God. They not only relinquish their own authority, they teach that such authority is unavailable to men. No wonder the Church has lost power in society! A young man I was involved in discipling who is currently pastoring a denominational church called me yesterday, asking, “When and how did this denomination become so liberal? I thought they were Bible-based!” I was able to point out some specific individuals and influences to him, and he was encouraged to stand firm on the Word, despite denominational influences. When the Church loses its mooring on the Bible, it has lost just about everything, and becomes no more than another human organization.

I am well aware of the difficulties of translation, being bilingual myself, and my father and one of my grandfathers were both actively involved in that issue. I also know about textual criticism and the like, but I also know that God is in control of His Word, and He sees to it that the essential truths get preserved. Truth is not just a matter of opinion, whatever anyone might say! Just yesterday I ran across two or three articles that specifically touched on that, and the chaos that attitude engenders. There is no “my truth” and “your truth!” I shouldn’t be surprised at this current confusion, because there have been signs of its coming for a long time. Even when I was in seminary, from 1976-78, I was required to quote commentaries in the sermons I wrote for Preaching class. The opinions of men were being placed on the same level as the Bible! A Japanese pastor, now a close friend, confessed to me over 30 years ago that he was more familiar with Barth than with the Bible. I feel sure that’s changed now, but he still struggles with assurance about what God is saying to him. I can have no authority apart from what God delegates to me, and I won’t have that if I take His Word lightly, or particularly, place the opinions of men over it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for that call yesterday, and that I have generated such an opinion of my theological position and grounding. Help me indeed be faithful to You and Your Word, proclaiming Your Word so that it may accomplish everything for which You send it, (Isaiah 55:11) for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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War; April 25, 2024

Posted on April 26, 2024 by jgarrott

Matthew 24:6 “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

Human history is in many ways a sequence of wars. Just yesterday I was reading an article that talked about how “peace” was a very strange concept in most places throughout history. The Bible even includes a phrase that we find shocking today: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war!” (2 Samuel 11:1) In a sense, war was a method of population control. Specifically, polygamy was unsustainable without killing off a lot of young men, and war is a way of doing that. That actually is a major factor in various Islamic countries today. As Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The human lust for power is amazing. That’s why the difference between a politician and a statesman can be so striking, even though we all too often don’t recognize it until after the person is gone. The current state of affairs in the world, including but not limited to Ukraine and the Israel, is regrettable but hardly surprising, and the people who are stoking the conflict are despicable but hardly unusual. Human beings are sadly bloodthirsty! That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9) Those who know Jesus as Lord are already children of God, and we need to act like it, not stoking conflict but actually promoting peace. At the same time, there is the sad reality that justice often requires a forceful response to aggression. The reality that Russia made an unprovoked attack on Ukraine is complicated by the undeniable corruption of Ukrainian society. What’s going on in Gaza is generated by the genocidal hatred of Jews by Hamas and others, to the utter disregard for the safety and good of their own people. Answers are not easy to come by! What Jesus is saying in this verse is that this is how the world is, so don’t get all stirred up about it. The vast majority of people aren’t in positions to do much about international conflict, but we can control our personal attitudes and actions. We can recognize that we are ambassadors for Christ, (2 Corinthians 5:20) and so represent Him in drawing people to repentance and faith, which is peace indeed.

I’ve never been a particularly combative person, but I was drafted in 1970 and spent 2 years in the Army, thankfully stationed in Hawaii rather than Vietnam. I’ve known lots of people who have known far more about war than they ever wanted to. From my training, I know that I am quite capable of killing people, and it’s not a nice feeling. Even in Basic Training I almost got myself court martialed for writing and performing an anti-war poem. At the same time, I have a strong desire for justice, and that kicks in when I think about Ukraine and Israel. The only real answer I can come to is prayer, that God’s rule and reign may be established and His will be done, as perfectly on earth as it is in heaven. That may seem like a copout, but I don’t think it is. I am to strive to bring that prayer to pass in my own life, and trust God with everything else. I need to be sure that Jesus is the Victor in my own heart!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for telling me many years ago that You aren’t happy with much of what goes on. Help me indeed trust You with the resolution to it all, so that I won’t get in the way of Your answering the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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