Focus on Christ; May 10, 2024

Posted on May 11, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk?

This was in a number of ways the perfect thing for Peter to say here. He acknowledged the interest of the people, to make full use of the opportunity this was, (Colossians 4:5) but shifted the focus from himself and John to Jesus. We need to learn from this! It can be difficult to do this gracefully, but God will give wisdom to those who seek it. (James 1:5) The essential thing is personal humility and the desire that God be glorified as His will is done. We are all too prone to let our own ego get in the way, to seek glory for ourselves, and thus directly block the flow of God’s power. We care about whether we will look foolish, what people will think of us and whether they will appreciate us. That in itself is the height of foolishness! Peter was totally aware that any power manifested wasn’t his personally, but that of Christ Jesus his Lord, and we need to have that same awareness. It’s much like the revelation Paul had when he asked the Lord three times to be delivered from a “thorn in the flesh.” “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) We sometimes see the opposite of this in “Christian celebrities,” and it’s sad. The world and the devil tell us to put ourselves forward, to “get the credit we deserve,” but that is stealing the glory from God, and we must never do that. Like Peter, we must keep the focus on Jesus.

People have focused on me numbers of times over the years, and frankly, it has felt good to my flesh. I still get a kick out of remembering one time when I was interpreting for the city of Omura and the mayor introduced me as “Garrott, whom everyone knows.” The look on the faces of the out-of-town guests was amusing! It was better yesterday, when after the program several people thanked me for the accuracy and smoothness of my interpreting. I had not known ahead of time that I would be asked to interpret, but that was fine too. I want to be used by God however He pleases, but I must be careful to keep the focus on Christ, just as Peter did.

Father, thank You for the time yesterday of meeting with the group from Singapore, and particularly for the good fellowship with them and with the Japanese at the meeting. Thank You especially for how You are drawing Singaporeans, from churches large and small, to be concerned for the Gospel in Japan. I pray that this “3rd wave” of missionaries would indeed bring Your revival to this nation, for the salvation of multitudes and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Evangelistic Imperative; May 9, 2024

Posted on May 10, 2024 by jgarrott

Acts 2:38-39 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – to all whom the Lord our God will call.”

This is an absolutely magnificent statement of the evangelistic imperative. That it was prophetic, rather than something Peter had thought up, is clear from the very universalism of it, since it was at least a year or two later that God got it through to him that Gentiles were as much candidates for salvation as Jews. (Acts 10) It is significant that the Holy Spirit is part of the “salvation package,” since Peter had only just been baptized in the Spirit himself. That’s more confirmation that this was prophetic! The only awkward thing about this is that it specifies “everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.” There have been many arguments as to whether God actually calls everyone on earth, but I think Paul states the issue pretty clearly: “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) God knows who will respond and who won’t, but everyone should be given the opportunity to respond to God’s invitation. We tend to be satisfied with “salvation for me and mine,” but that is ignoring the character and will of God our Creator. He doesn’t create anyone for the purpose of their going to hell, even though He knows many will. The whole issue is huge, to the point of being beyond our “mental horsepower” to sort it out, but at the very least we can understand that everyone is to be told the Gospel and given the opportunity to accept it.

I will never forget the time, about 30 years ago, that I was talking with a Japanese pastor who was so convinced of predestination that he insisted the Church had no responsibility to evangelize, because “God will save those He wants to.” I was blown out of the water, because as a child of missionaries and a missionary myself, my whole world view was predicated on God desiring people to be saved. I am happy to say that after a couple of years of my friendship, that pastor made a 180 degree shift in his position, wanting the whole nation to hear the Gospel and receive it! (Incidentally, he and I are still good friends, though long-distance at this point, since he now lives in a very different part of the country.) I am not personally gifted as an evangelist, but I must not let that be an excuse not to share the Gospel with all who will receive it. As a pastor, it is my desire and aim that everyone in this church likewise recognize what a privilege they have to share the Gospel with those who don’t yet know it. We can’t force anyone to accept it and be saved, but we can “set the table” so that all who are hungry may feast, for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the meeting I’ll be attending today, with people having come from Singapore because of their desire that Japan be saved. Thank You for the people You are drawing here from many nations, particularly those that are not traditionally “missionary sending” nations. Thank You for answering our prayers for laborers for the harvest! (Luke 10:2) May Your will be done indeed, not just in Japan but around the world, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Priorities; May 8, 2024

Posted on May 9, 2024 by jgarrott

John 12:43 For they love praise from men more than praise from God.

What a sad, yet common, commentary. This is indeed common everywhere around us, and we are prone to it ourselves. Social media feeds into this a great deal, with people caring more about the comments on their social media than they do about what their Creator says about them. For that matter, many people have no idea what their Creator says about them! To get out of this trap, the first thing that is needed is a relationship with God. The average person on the street has no idea how to acquire such a thing, so those who do know Him have the privilege and responsibility to share that information. We can’t save anyone in our own strength, but we can share with them what they need to know to turn their heart toward God and open up to Him. However, it doesn’t stop there. It really is a matter of values and priorities. Many people who know of God don’t value that knowledge enough to want to know Him personally, and sadly, that includes many Christians. That’s what John is saying here. We tend to care more about the people we can see and hear physically than we do about the God who created us and loved us enough to send His Son to die for us, and that is tragic. We need to be honest about the priorities we actually live by, rather than the theoretical priorities we know we should have, and repent when they are wrong. God is indeed merciful, but we generally need to ask for that mercy!

And this certainly applies to me. Having retired from school teaching, my priorities are much more in evidence, because they govern my daily schedule. Thankfully, this morning devotional time is my first priority, schedule-wise, and I certainly intend to keep it that way. The question then becomes, what do I do with the rest of my day? I still haven’t gotten into a writing schedule for my autobiography, and that fact bothers me. Many things insert themselves into my day, but often enough they are actually divine appointments, so I’m not to complain. This morning is a case in point, since a demand/request was made of me that I resented at first, but which will enable me to do something else I know I really need to do. I’m manifestly not good at planning, so I need to be all the more careful to recognize and follow the plans God has for me, I really do want to hear Him say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your absolute faithfulness toward me. Help me be faithful in Your service, valuing Your opinion of me more than anything else, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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The Believer’s Joy; May 7, 2024

Posted on May 8, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 24:52-53 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

We can do no more than imagine the depth – and breadth and height – of the disciples’ joy at this point. We have not seen the one we were sure was the Messiah be horribly mistreated and killed, and then have Him show up again, alive. If they had not gone through all the events leading up to it, having Him taken from them into heaven, as Matthew talks about in more detail, would have left them very upset. As it was, they probably felt like their own feet hardly touched ground, they were so joyful! This was what prepared them for the persecution that would soon come upon them, as well as for the frustrations of dealing with all the human interactions of daily life, such as what necessitated the appointment of deacons, in Acts 6. It is those who have been through deep suffering, of one sort or another, who are prepared to deal with all the lesser stuff, because they know that since God brought them through the deep water, the “kiddie pool” is nothing to get upset about. Many of us feel we are over our heads in the “kiddie pool!” That comes from failing to fix our minds and hearts on Jesus our Lord, as the Bible tells us to do many times. As the writer of Hebrews put it, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3) We shake our heads at the deceived young people today who are supporting terrorists without really understanding what is going on, but we ourselves are sometimes just as disconnected from reality when we feel like our own immediate problem is so great as to negate everything else. We need to remember that we serve a risen Savior, and that should fill us with enough joy to get through anything!

It’s easy for me to sermonize on this, but I need to hear it too! I was just called down by my daughter for responding poorly to people to whom I should be expressing appreciation, and she was right. I too need to keep everything in context, remembering that Jesus took on our humanity, so He knows all our weaknesses, and then He let his human body be nailed to a cross, wiping out our sins, and then rose from the grave, leaving our weaknesses in the dust. With that assurance I should be living each day in unshakable joy and gratitude. I’m not there 100% yet, by a good measure, so I have no room for spiritual pride, and I need people like my daughter to remind me of that! I can’t tell others to “Look to Jesus” and fail to do so myself! After all, that was what Peter cried out to his wife as she was being crucified. My faith needs to be that strong!

Father, thank You for this Word, both through the reading and through my daughter. May I not just agree, but actually follow through and put this into practice, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Entitlement; May 6, 2024

Posted on May 7, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'”

It’s been many years since I was first struck by this verse. It is the exact antidote to the entitlement mentality that has captured so many people today. The big problem with luxury is that we expect things to always be that way, when that’s not how the world works. The absurdity of the demands of some of the students who have been protesting on university campuses in support of Hamas, a vile, terrorist organization, are absolutely laughable, as well as pathetic. When I saw video of some complaining that being given bananas was emotional abuse, I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears! That people in temperate climates can eat tropical fruits freely is a luxury unimaginable as recently as 150 years ago. There is a picture circulating on the Internet of the first time bananas ever arrived in Norway, for example. It would be total comedy if we weren’t talking about real human beings, reduced to essentially useless, unhappy puppets. Those who still have some sense in their heads need to learn from the absurdity and take Jesus’ words here to heart. The problem is, we all suffer from a sense of entitlement to some degree, and it robs us of gratitude, which numerous studies, as well as personal experience, show is the absolute key to happiness. Inflated expectations are poison to peace and contentment. It’s not that we aren’t to strive to improve conditions, for ourselves and others, but it is very much to say that we aren’t to expect the world to be handed to us on a silver platter. (Some people seem to be demanding a gold platter!) We need to combine this verse with another famous saying of Jesus: “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.” (John 16:33) If we remember these two verses, we will have peace and even joy as we navigate this life.

This certainly applies to me. I grew up rather privileged in a number of ways, as a Caucasian in post-war Japan and the son of a high-status university administrator. We lived in that was a very large house by the standards of the day (though today it would be called a “modest ranch”) and rode in an imported car. I don’t think any of my friends, either Japanese or American, had a tree in their yard big enough to build a treehouse in it, but we did. I don’t think my parents went to any special lengths to protect me from a sense of entitlement, and sure enough, I had one! I am as vulnerable to taking things for granted as anyone. Getting married right after college embarked me on a crash course in my real education. It was a very blessed time, but hardly an easy one, with getting drafted, having a car repossessed for late payments, and a number of other things. After getting out of the Army I literally worked for anyone who would hire me, in order to support my wife and children. I learned a lot, and the reality of what Jesus says here was one of the most important of those things. Just last night I was able to pass some of that on to a child in the faith who is infected by some of the lies of the devil. He is actually very blessed, in a number of ways far more than I was at his stage in life, but his expectations are unrealistic. I need to help him recognize the blessings he has been given and be grateful, just as I need to do myself. Jesus wasn’t being mean, He was being realistic, and that is the way of greatest blessing.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You for blessing me incredibly throughout my life. May I indeed live in gratitude, making the use of Your blessings that You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Hearing Ears; May 5, 2024

Posted on May 6, 2024 by jgarrott

Luke 16:31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'”

This goes directly to something Jesus said many times, about hearing ears. It also brings up the saying, “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” The issue was brought up widely during the COVID business, when it became imperative who you listened to, and why. At this very moment, we have quantities of young Americans who are agitating in defense of a terrorist organization, because their minds have been poisoned by years of brain washing. Human nature hasn’t changed! Perhaps the most important prayer we can pray has been expressed in a song: “O Dear Lord, three things I pray: to hear You more clearly, love You more dearly, follow You more nearly day by day.” If that is our honest prayer, then we will indeed have hearing ears. However, we are all too prone to get set in our ways and close our ears to anything that would deter us from the path we have chosen. That’s why repentance is essential for every in­dividual, regardless of how we are seen by society. Sometimes the issue isn’t being presented to us in love, and that is something we have to be very careful about in sharing God’s truth with others. If we get up on a high horse, all holier-than-thou, we will close their ears for sure. At the same time, it’s entirely possible for someone to be “so open-minded their brains fall out.” We are to ask and allow the Holy Spirit to be a filter on our minds and hearts, so that the devil’s lies won’t shake us from the truth we have from God.

This is again something I have personal experience with. It has been said that the higher a person’s IQ, the more gullible they are likely to be, all the while convinced that they are “the adult in the room.” I have had to learn that just because I want something to be a certain way, that’s not necessarily how it is. I have also learned that a major prerequisite to hearing God consistently is the commitment to do whatever He says. He has graciously trained me in this area while I have been driving. If He nudges me to change lanes, I will do so, and if He nudges me to not, I will refrain. As a result, I move down the road much more smoothly. When I try to make those decisions on my own, there’s a high probability I will be delayed, and I’ve even had a few traffic accidents. I’ve got to walk in consistent humility, listening to Him even when He chooses to speak to me through someone I don’t think is very bright! I cannot accuse others of lacking hearing ears if I close my own.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There are various things I haven’t wanted to hear about the upcoming 40th anniversary celebration. Help me indeed hear everything You say about it, whoever is the current mouthpiece, so that Your plans may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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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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