Commitment; August 24, 2023

Posted on August 25, 2023 by jgarrott

John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It has struck me in the past, and it still seems remarkable, that Jesus said all the things following this, including accusing people of being children of the devil, (verse 44) to people who believed him! It is clear, particularly reading John, that Jesus wasn’t out for numbers for the sake of numbers. He wanted – and still wants – everyone to be saved, but lowering the standards has never been part of the picture. Quite a few times Jesus said things that seemed designed to chase people away. Jesus wasn’t interested in merely social followers, which is particularly pointed in this era of social media and people seeking as many followers as possible. Like Jesus, we need to be focused on genuine commitment, and not, like was said at the time of the American Revolution, the “summer soldier and sunshine patriot.” And of course, that requires that we examine ourselves as well. If we are critical of others and yet excuse our own sins, it will not go well for us! That’s why we should rejoice at challenges to our faith, because they allow us to see ourselves more accurately, to evaluate our own priorities and our commitment to the Lord. Frankly, such rejoicing isn’t easy! Also, we are not to give up on ourselves, even when we realize we have been less than faithful. We need to remember Peter, who denied three times that he even knew Jesus, but after repentance, went on to become one of the pillars of the early Church. As Paul said, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) The fact that we’re concerned about it is a good sign! We need always to walk in humility, remembering that in ourselves we don’t have the strength of will to be fully faithful, but being grateful that God is more than able to bring it about even in spite of us, if that is the choice of our heart.

A few years ago I had someone complain to me that I had been preaching too much on commitment, and “they didn’t find that word in the Bible,” and they wanted to hear more of “the Gospel.” A job change moved them out of our area not long after that, and I was frankly a little relieved! I need always to speak the truth in love, but I am not to coddle people with platitudes. Just within the past couple of days I was talking with a friend who is not yet a Christian, but they have obviously absorbed things from us over the years. They are dealing with a very painful case of shingles, and I said something about they should look forward to how nice it will be when the pain is gone. They replied, to my surprise, “And I should be grateful for how I have lived my life up until now without this pain.” I look forward to the day that they openly confess Jesus as Lord, but I can rejoice at the evidence that even now God is getting through to them! As I have shared many times, God has made my imperfections clear to me, but that makes me all the more grateful for His grace. I am to exercise the faith that He has given me, submitting my will to Him as He enables me to do so, and leave the results to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all that You are doing in these days. Help me indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, focused on You and Your kingdom above and before all else, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Receiving God’s Word; August 23, 2023

Posted on August 24, 2023 by jgarrott

John 8:30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

Jesus wasn’t being quite as direct here as He was with the woman at the well, (John 4) but this certainly reminds me of that. Jesus spoke in such a way that those whose hearts were open heard and understood what He was saying, but those whose hearts weren’t ready were just confused. That sort of thing happens all the time, and I don’t think we should get uptight about it. The Bible is absolutely loaded with God’s truth, but people whose hearts aren’t open can read it and get nothing, while someone who is tuned to God rejoices in every bit of it. I once heard a British gentleman who was trying to turn people on to the richness of the Bible, and he asked them to give him a verse, any verse, and he would tell them why he delighted in it. He was being honest enough, but he came across as mostly weird, because it’s not so much a matter of the words as it is the heart attitude to receive them, and few in the congregation, sadly enough, had his level of openness to the Lord. That’s why we need to pray for people for the eyes and ears of their hearts to be opened. What we say to them is important, but it’s only half the story.

I have experienced this both in the people to whom I have ministered and in my own heart. It is always a delight when I encounter a hungry heart, but from my side, as many times as I’ve read through the Bible there are still moments when I feel like I’m reading a verse for the first time. As I tell people all the time, that’s another reason why we all need to read the Bible daily: our hearts grow to be able to receive what God is saying, when we couldn’t receive it before. I don’t have huge chunks of the Bible memorized, as some people do, but I’m grateful to say that there’s a good bit of it written on my heart. My seminary professor grandfather used to ask his students how big their Bible was. When they would respond in terms of the printed matter in their hands, he would say, “No, I’m talking about how much is in your heart.” That sort of spiritual heritage is a blessing indeed.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the awareness that James 1:22 was written for me! Help me indeed apply, live out, Your Word that is in me, so that I may continue to grow to receive, and live out, more and more, for the blessing of all around me and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Elitism; August 22, 2023

Posted on August 23, 2023 by jgarrott

John 7:47-49 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law–there is a curse on them.”

Ah, the tyranny of the elite! We see this sort of thing all the time, with people being dismissed as “deplorables” or “Walmart shoppers” and the like. In America today the operative term is “coastal elite,” but we might as well call them Pharisees – except for the fact that for the most part they are actively anti-religion. That’s very ironic, when from its founding America has intentionally not had a hereditary “nobility.” The impulse is very much there, however, with “legacy” admissions to the elite schools, which crank out the next generation of elites. The biggest problem is, today’s elites are just as likely to be wrong as were the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Deciding what to believe on the basis of what famous person declares it is pathetic foolishness. We are all individually accountable before God, and as Paul said, we need to “continue to work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12) That doesn’t mean we are to ignore what we hear from others, be they high or low, but it does mean that we are to evaluate their reliability by their lives. Do they demonstrate an active, healthy relationship with Christ? If they do, they are worth listening to. As Jesus said, “by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:20)

My problem has been that I have tended to think of myself in the “elite” category, particularly in the area of religion and spirituality, because of my family pedigree. God had to come down pretty hard on me about that! I still have that tendency, and God has to keep reminding me that a high IQ doesn’t guarantee I’m hearing Him accurately. I am very aware that all such comparisons fit the Japanese expression, “acorns comparing height.” Einstein and a barely-func­tioning handicapped person aren’t very different when viewed from God’s scale. Humility is absolutely essential! My task is to draw people to repentance and faith, and I will never do so if, in attitude even if not in words, I am talking down to them. The only human being who is “above” is Christ Jesus my Lord, who is also God.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for getting us through the gallery show, and that we’re back to a more normal schedule. I ask for physical strength today as I get the pictures out of the frames and the frames back up into the attic, and I ask for wisdom in what to do when. I pray that Cathy would have a good report as we go back to the doctor this morning for her broken elbow, and that she would have fewer irritating restrictions on her arm. Give her patience to allow the bone to heal fully, and give her peace and joy in the process. Thank You. Praise God!

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Springs of Living Water; August 21, 2023

Posted on August 22, 2023 by jgarrott

John 7:37-38 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

This is an extremely famous passage that has been preached on countless times, but we should not let familiarity breed contempt. The first thing we need to pay attention to is the matter of thirst: no one will receive anything gladly without feeling a need for it. We have the expression, “a white elephant,” meaning something that is ostensibly valuable but for which we have no particular use and will be a problem to maintain. Frankly, some people feel like that about God’s spiritual gifts! However, water is in a different category, as it is essential for life itself. This is the second time Jesus talked about “living water,” having used the expression with the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4:13-14) In the Aramaic of the day, a bubbling spring was sometimes referred to as “living water,” in contrast to a well, so the expression wasn’t strange to His hearers. However, here He is obviously not talking about a physical spring, as John is careful to explain in the next verse. Countless Christians, not to mention non-Christians, spend their days parched and dry, and there is no need for that! One of the saddest branches of theology is that of cessationism, saying that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were only for the period of the original 12 apostles. It arose from people who weren’t manifesting such gifts, so they concluded that the time for such gifts was over, rather than seeking God for more of Himself. That’s the most pathetic kind of circular reasoning. Just yesterday in the message I said that one reason some people don’t hear from God is that they don’t believe He loves them enough to talk to them, and I believe God was saying that through me. If we really believe that God loves us as much as He does, then we will be totally open to what­ever He wants to pour onto, into, and through us. After all, He already demonstrated His love by sending His son! (Romans 8:32) Jesus Himself said the Father would give the Spirit to those who ask. (Luke 11:13) God wants His children to be bubbling springs of life, and we should desire that as well.

When I first heard of the tenets of the Charismatic Movement back in 1973 I immediately recognized them as Biblical, and started seeking to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. However, everything I read connected that baptism so closely with the gift of tongues that I was essentially seeking the gift, rather than Holy Spirit Himself. It wasn’t until about a year later that someone pointed out to me that we receive all of God’s gifts by grace through faith, and I should thank Him for being true to His Word and stop placing conditions on what it was supposed to look like. I tried that, and felt nothing. However, two days later I realized with a shock that I was talking to a total stranger about Jesus, Acts 1:8 came to mind, and I knew that God had poured His Spirit out on me. Various spiritual gifts did follow, as in 1 Corinthians 12, but not immediately. I have learned that I am to seek the Giver, and rejoice in whatever gifts He chooses to give me. I desire that my life be a bubbling, refreshing spring for all I encounter, drawing them to recognize their own thirst and come to Christ.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I rejoice to recount the stories of Your grace to me. I’m getting more and more push from various directions to write it all down in order. I will certainly need Your help in laying it out and sticking with it. I pray that I would be totally faithful in whatever You want me to do, so that what flows from me will not be polluted in any way but will represent You accurately, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Choosing to Do God’s Will; August 20, 2023

Posted on August 21, 2023 by jgarrott

John 7:17 “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.”

Reception to the Gospel, and to the Bible in general, greatly depends on heart attitude. Jesus’ words here are very telling: “If anyone chooses to do God’s will.” I have known people who were actively set on NOT doing God’s will! It is when our hearts are tender toward our heavenly Father that the Bible becomes delicious, so to speak, a never-ending feast that nourishes and encourages and directs and uplifts and any of a number of other good things. However, the fact that it also convicts of sin makes some people shy away from it, because they love their sin. Jesus famously stated that very clearly in John 3:19-21. The Pharisees who wanted to kill Jesus, and ultimately succeeded, loved their traditions because those traditions didn’t touch their hearts, and their hearts had become shut off from God. We have been given free will, but we choose rebellion against God to our own destruction. The only logical, good choice is to seek the will of our Creator to do it, and not try to circumvent it for some perverted pleasure.

I have known this as fact all my life, but I haven’t always lived by it. I’m as human as anyone else! However, over the years I have indeed learned that God’s will is indeed “good, acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) The longer I have walked with Him, the easier it has become to recognize His will and to choose to do it. That is a huge blessing! As it says in Hebrews, “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:14) The more I choose to do God’s will, the easier it is to do it.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s appropriate in the very hectic day this promises to be! I do pray that everything would go exactly according to Your plan, and that everyone involved would be relaxed and rejoice to flow with Your Spirit, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Jesus’ Suffering; August 19, 2023

Posted on August 20, 2023 by jgarrott

John 7:5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

It took Jesus rising from the dead to convince His brothers that He hadn’t simply flipped out. However, that encounter indeed convinced them, and two of them contributed to the New Testament, and James was a leader in the Jerusalem Church. This fits Jesus’ observation that “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” (Mark 6:4) The fact that it wasn’t surprising probably didn’t make it much less painful, however. We all have an innate need to be accepted, to be believed, and Jesus didn’t get that from His brothers. We tend to think of Jesus’ sacrifice in terms of the cross, but it began long before that. At Christmas we talk about what He laid aside to be born as a human baby, but most of the time we don’t think about everything involved in His being fully human. He took on not only our physical frailties but our emotional vulnerabilities too. That’s why it says in Hebrews, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) Those temptations include not only sex, gluttony and the like, but also such things as resentment, envy, and self-pity. Jesus endured all of that for us and came out on top, proving that in Him we can do so as well. We don’t usually include those things when we think about “the passion of the Christ!”

I have had my attention called to this issue several times in my life. Just yesterday I was talking with someone about the issue of being born in Japan and wanting to be fully accepted, but it hardly ever happening because of my being Caucasian. I don’t have room to complain when Jesus wasn’t accepted even by His own brothers! I have learned from experience that admiration isn’t the same as acceptance, and acceptance is the far deeper need. Many entertainers and the like are confused on that point, and discover the hard way that fame doesn’t equal acceptance. I need to remember that Jesus really did go through everything I encounter, in one way or another, and rest, relax, and rejoice in Him, allowing Him to carry me through and mature me in the process, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the gallery show and all the people who are coming to it. Some people I would really like to come haven’t, but there have been some pleasant surprises as well. Thank You particularly for the recent and long-past students of both Cathy and me who have come, and for the appreciation they have expressed for having been in our classes. I pray that today and every day I would look for and recognize Your blessings and discount all the rest, with proper gratitude for Your amazing grace. Thank You. Praise God!

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Staying On Track; August 18, 2023

Posted on August 19, 2023 by jgarrott

John 6:68-69 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

We don’t think about how difficult it was at times to keep following Jesus. Jesus didn’t always make it easy! However, it isn’t always easy to follow Him today. There are always pressures of one sort or another to try to get us off the track, and for some people they are successful. I’m reminded of a railway train. The wheels are steel, and have an essential shape. Not only is there the flat surface that bears the weight of the train, there is also a flange that extends down beside the rail to keep the flat surface on it. If that flange wears down for any reason, the train can derail very easily. Peter here expressed the “flange” that kept them on the rail, and that was the conviction that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Our faith needs to keep growing and deepening, to be the “flange” that protects us from wandering. This isn’t an absolute metaphor, because Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus, but God got him back onto the track through repentance, and he then stayed true to the end. We need to remember that “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13) We aren’t to be anxious, but we are to be on our guard against the lies of the enemy.

I well remember something my father used to do when I was a child. We had a major street in Fukuoka that, though it had double streetcar tracks running down the middle, was not paved. That’s hard for me to picture now, really, because even that streetcar line has been superseded by a subway, but in the hectic years of the 1950s such things existed. We took that street often, and my father discovered that the width of our Chevrolet matched the gauge of the tracks, so with very skillful driving we could get a very smooth ride on the tracks, instead of on the gravel. However, our car naturally didn’t have flanges on the wheels to keep us on the tracks! For some of my spiritual life I have tried to do that, rejoicing in the smooth ride but all too prone to leaving the tracks. However, that should give me empathy for those to whom I minister who don’t have “the flange of faith” developed very well. I am to have patience with them, but always speak the truth in love, not pampering their deceptions. I am to remember always that only in Christ do we have eternal life, and that applies both to me and to everyone to whom I minister.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for the very clear picture of how to apply it. Help me be a good “flange grower” for the people under my care, so that we may indeed submit to You and resist the devil, (James 4:7) for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Coming to God; August 17, 2023

Posted on August 18, 2023 by jgarrott

John 6:44-45 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

Jesus was laying some really heavy stuff on His audience here. In verse 59 it specifies that He said all this in Capernaum, which is close to Nazareth where He was raised, and in verse 42 the people indicate that they were familiar with Him and His family. We can imagine how outlandish some of this sounded to them, with Jesus essentially offering Himself as the main course at a cannibalistic dinner. That’s why this section is so pertinent. For someone in that group to really hear and receive what He was saying, God had to be drawing and teaching him! However, this applies more broadly even today. God extends His invitation to all mankind, but we have to decide to accept it, to come to Him and learn from Him. That’s another of many reasons why there’s no room for pride in salvation, only gratitude for God’s grace and mercy. We cannot dictate who will accept God’s invitation and come to Him in repentance and faith, but we can do two things: we can pray for people, and we can share the Gospel with them. Whether they receive it and act on it is between them and God, but our part is in loving and sharing.

This is central to my life as a pastor in Japan. Just yesterday I was able to give my wife’s Care Manager two pamphlets I have written, one explaining what we do in church and why, and the other titled, “Foundations of Faith in Christ.” He is the son of a Buddhist priest and lives at the temple, and so is very familiar with religion. However, my experience with similar people tells me that he likely doesn’t have a deep personal faith. I’m praying that he will be hungry and thirsty enough for spiritual reality that he will want more, and I will be more than happy to supply it! There are actually lots of nominal Christians who are in his same situation, relying on little more than family tradition. That is certainly tragic, and I am to pray for them as well. I’m a member of a Facebook group of Missionary Kids, and sadly, numbers of them fit into that category as well. The whole balance of God’s sovereignty and our personal accountability is actually “above my pay grade,” as the saying goes, but I do know God’s gracious, loving character, and I am to seek to be an expression of that toward all.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all the people You are bringing to the gallery show. I pray that today too I would be Your agent to them, expressing Your love and grace in ways they can receive it, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Doing God’s Works; August 16, 2023

Posted on August 17, 2023 by jgarrott

John 6:28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

I’m sure Jesus felt like He was beating His head against a wall in all of this. The people talking to Him were totally fixated on physical, material things, having eaten the bread that He had multiplied in the first part of this chapter, and that made them unable to really hear and understand what He was saying to them. We are actually much the same way, getting all wrapped up in temporal issues and totally losing sight of eternity. Jesus’ famous answer to that is, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) We give that verse lip service, but turn around and ignore it in daily living. It seems like virtually all of mankind is divided into either a total works mentality or a complete entitlement mentality. Neither of those fits what Jesus says here. If we really believe in Him, then we will know that our work is never sufficient, but His grace is all we need. (2 Corinthians 12:9) At the same time, our response to His loving grace will be to submit everything we have and are to Him so that His purposes may be accomplished through us. (Ephesians 2:10) Anything less is not really believing in Him.

And may I say, Ouch! Any time I declare God’s truth I have to recognize that I fall short in fulfilling it. That’s never to be an excuse for giving up, because He is continually working in me, and what I cannot do, He certainly can. (Philippians 2:13) However, I am to keep watch over my heart and seek to root out all the thoughts and motivations that are unworthy of Him who died for me. And I’ve got plenty of those left! The power is all God’s, but I am accountable for how I cooperate with what He is doing in and through me. I need to remember Paul’s admonition: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9) That is what faith is all about.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the good first day of the gallery show yesterday, and for getting us through it. Thank You that we can go to the hospital this morning for the check on Cathy’s broken elbow, before then going back to the gallery. Help us remember that just as You got us through everything yesterday, You will get us through everything today. Thank You that You always supply enough time to do everything You want us to do. Help us remember that in practical terms, and indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Self-deception; August 15, 2023

Posted on August 16, 2023 by jgarrott

John 5:38-40 “Nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

To be honest, it pains me to write on this passage, because it is a strong word against devout Jews who reject Jesus as the Messiah. I have written many times about my admiration and respect for Dennis Prager, who is as fine a Jew as you could hope to find. His commentary on the Pentateuch, The Rational Bible, has actually won numbers of people to faith in Jesus! He is totally convinced of the reality of God and the validity of the Bible, specifically the Old Testament and especially the Pentateuch, but he has real trouble grasping that God loves him and that he should love God. Jesus said in verse 42, “I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.” He concludes this section with, “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5:45-47) Jesus’ love for His hearers did not make Him, did not allow Him to, shut up. He spoke the truth to them not to condemn them, but to shock them into looking at themselves and at the Bible honestly. I’ve completely lost track of how many times I’ve heard of Jews whose eyes were opened by Isaiah 53, which is as clear an explanation of the atoning work of the Messiah as you could ask for, and is very clearly descriptive of the life and ministry of Jesus. This is all illustrative of the ironic saying, “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Human beings have an amazing capacity for self-deception! That’s why James wrote so pointedly, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22) That applies to the Old Testament as well as the New! There are indeed dietary restrictions and the like from which we have been set free, but even there we are not to take it casually. We need to let Holy Spirit be the filter on our eyes and ears at all times, including when we’re reading the Bible, so that we will perceive things as God knows them to be, and not be stuck in our preconceptions.

I have plenty of background on which to be convinced of this, because I was well-versed in the Bible and at the same time largely blind to it, because I was looking at the world through the filter of pride. Also, I deal constantly with Japanese, who view the world through a distinctly non-Christian filter, since Shinto has no moral content and Buddhism is originally atheist philosophy. I can only pray for eyes to be opened, and keep speaking the truth in love. I have the opportunity this week to impact many people who have never stepped foot in a church because of my photo show in the City Gallery. I’ll be interviewed about it at 11 this morning by the local cable TV station. My theme, “Living Things,” is intended to make people think of their own mortality and so open them up to the Gospel. I’m not to be deliberately offensive, but neither am I to be politically correct. My concern is not to be whether people like me, but whether they know and respond to their Creator, who loves them enough that He sent His Son to die for their sins. I can’t force anyone to believe, but they have no chance to believe if no one gives them the facts and the opportunity to believe.

Father, thank You for this opportunity You’ve given me. It’s been an annual event for quite a few years now, and there have indeed been people who have been drawn to You through it. Thank You that this year I’ve been better prepared than most years in the past! I do pray that my every word and action would be directed by Your Spirit to accomplish Your purposes, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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