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Category Archives: Galatians

Galatians 5:16-26; Luke 11:42-52

14 Oct

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Mark 5:16-26

42 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.

43 “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you love to sit in the seats of honor in the synagogues and receive respectful greetings as you walk in the marketplaces. 44 Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”

45 “Teacher,” said an expert in religious law, “you have insulted us, too, in what you just said.”

46 “Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden. 47 What sorrow awaits you! For you build monuments for the prophets your own ancestors killed long ago. 48 But in fact, you stand as witnesses who agree with what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you join in their crime by building the monuments! 49 This is what God in his wisdom said about you: ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others.’

50 “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world— 51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, it will certainly be charged against this generation.

52 “What sorrow awaits you experts in religious law! For you remove the key to knowledge from the people. You don’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering.”

Luke 11:42-52

Dear God, these are the New Testament and Gospel readings for the church today (although I did add a couple of verses around the original selections just for added context. Here’s what struck me as I read both of them together. It’s the first verses above from Galatians 5:16-18.

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

That last sentence in verse 18 is powerful. Paul is saying that if I’m directed by your Holy Spirit then I am not under the law of Moses. I am free to let the Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control grow in me and move me however it will.

I was listening to a debate this morning about the government’s decision to publicly execute someone via firing squad. The Catholic church has come out against both the capital punishment nature of the execution (they believe in the sancity of life from conception to natural death) as well as the public display of it. Some evangelical leaders who are nationally known have come out saying that Genesis 9 commands us to shed blood if blood was shed. Hmmm. I’ll come back to that.

Then there is Jesus’s interaction with the Pharisees in Luke 11. He’s telling them how they are focused on the law but have no relation to tapping into being led by your Spirit.

When thinking about the death penalty, for example, I was thinking this morning about the parable of the wheat and the weeds, which has become one of my favorites over the last few months. We cannot tell what is a weed and what is wheat at this point in any human’s life. What might look like a weed we should pull might turn out to be wheat that will bear fruit. Some biblical examples of murderers whose lives you used later: Levi and Simeon. Moses. David. Saul/Paul. What if these men had been weeded out of this life after they committed their murders. What if Moses had never made it to the wilderness and eventually found the burning bush? What if David were killed after he killed Uriah and never fathered Solomon who was part of Jesus’s lineage? What if Paul had been killed for his participation in Stephen’s stoning and had never found you on the road to Damascus? What if your Holy Spirit is still active for our entire lives, and it’s up to you to separate the wheat from the weeds at the final harvest?

Father, the death penalty is just one example. I used to be a believer in it, but I’ve changed my mind over the years. I’d like to think the Holy Spirit’s fruit growing in me changed my mind, but some in the conservative Evangelical sphere would probably just call me “woke” because of it. Whatever the case may be, regardless of how I might selfishly want to see the world, I pray that your Spirit will counsel me and guide me. That you will grow your fruit in me. That the things of earth, the wisdom of this earth, and my attraction to the desires of my sinful nature will grow strangely dim in the light of your glory and grace.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 14, 2026 in Galatians, Luke

 

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Galatians 5:1-15

13 Oct

5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. 6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

7 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

11 Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. 12 I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves.

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Galatians 5:1-15

Dear God, I think I don’t appreciate enough the big deal circumcision was for Jewish people back then. Maybe it is now. I don’t know. But there was apparently a big movement within the new Christians that Gentiles be circumcised in order to be “in the club.” And I want to say that Paul might have been the first (and only?) one to preach that Jesus’s grace through his resurrection and the New Covenant he brought with the power of the resurrection would supersede the Old Covenant, including circumcision. What if Paul had not explicitly made this such a big deal in his writing? Would we still require Christians to be circumcised. to this day?

I actually know an adult man who was in his 50s when he was circumcised, but it was for health reasons and to avoid repeated infections and not for religious/Christian reasons. He loves you and has followed you for a long time. His lack of circumcision had no bearing on whether or not he was devoted to you. Your grace was enough.

So what are some of the things that I might be holding onto that are really “Old Covenant?” Are there freedoms offered through Jesus that I’ve missed? The first thing that comes to mind are LGBTQ+ issues. Some Christians are adamant on this one. Frankly, I’m a little squishy on it. If Paul were here today, what would he say? Some would say that if you don’t vote one way or another in an election then you aren’t a Christian. If Paul were here today and actually had a vote to use, how would he cast it?

Father, I just got a song from the 80s going in my head. I think it might have been called “Just Like Him” (I think). I tried to find it a minute ago and couldn’t. But the chorus says, “I want to be just like him faithful and true, I want to just like him in everything I do. I want to be just like him in every single way, I want to be like him every single day.” At least that’s how I think it goes. Either way, It’s the song of my heart right now. I want to be just like you today. Help me to do that. Help me to love well. Help me to lead others to you and in peace. Help me to be your child.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 4:21-5:1

12 Oct

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,

“Rejoice, O childless woman,
    you who have never given birth!
Break into a joyful shout,
    you who have never been in labor!
For the desolate woman now has more children
    than the woman who lives with her husband!”

28 And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. 29 But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit.

30 But what do the Scriptures say about that? “Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” 31 So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.

5 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

Galatians 4:21-5:1

Dear God, I have to admit that I was tracking with Paul until he got to verse 30. I know I’m not supposed to disagree with scripture in this way so I’m not saying I’m right, but I don’t like the idea that Sarah did the right thing when she said, “Get rid of the slave and her son…” It seemed petty and insecure to me when she did this. At the same time, as I sit and think about it, I can imagine that it would have been hard to have a “free” family with this cloud of Hagar and Ishmael hanging around. Maybe the problem was with both the sin of using the slave to have a child in a human attempt to bring about your will (verse 4:23) and then Abraham sending them away in such a ruthless manner.

I think this is a reminder for me to wait on your timing. Last week, I was praying through the Matthias story and being reminded to not force things in my own wisdom and power but wait to wait on you and your timing. Now, I have this reminder of Abraham’s and Sarah’s mistake with Hagar. Now, I am trying to find a new doctor at work, and I am trying to ensure we have good coverage for our patients. My temptation is to glom onto the first lifeboat I see go by and not prayerfully wait for you to act.

Then there’s the freedom aspect of this passage. It reminds me of the book The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. The two lessons I learned from that book are that we ALL pick and choose what we want to follow out of the Bible and that there’s no way to do it and experience freedom and joy. In the end, I think the fruit of following it is the fruit that comes from attaching my branch to your vine.

Father, I have a lot of decisions to make today. Help me to make them well. I love you, Lord. I want to do all of the things in front of me the right way, depending upon you. Help me to do that well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 12, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 3:1-5

08 Oct

3 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

Galatians 3:1-5

Dear God, the Catholic translation being read in churches today for this passage uses the word stupid instead of foolish. It’s certainly more provocative than foolish. Foolish intimates hastiness and being unwise. Stupid seems more harsh and insulting. So it got my attention this morning when I was reading the passages today from the Catholic website I use.

I have to admit that I thought about taking the verses and talking about some of the concerns I have in the American Evangelical church. It feels like so many of them have left the new lives they started in the Spirit and are not trying to become perfect (and make our nation perfect) by their own human effort. Where is their faith? Where is their love? Where are the fruits of the Spirit (which Paul will talk about two chapters later)?

Ah, but what about me? Do I remember to keep my life in the Spirit? I have some real challenges at work. Am I really bringing them to you or am I trying to do it by my own human effort? The answer is both. I’m remembering to pray. I’m praying now. And I’m praying about the situation and the people involved now. But I’m not as intense about it as I should be. And I do sit at my desk or drive in my car, think about the problems in front of me, and try to come up with a solution on my own without tapping into your Holy Spirit. It’s a continual battle, I suppose. And it’s a narrow path to walk. It’s a hard path to find, and it can be a hard path to not accidentally wander from if we allow ourselves to slip out of your light and into the darkness.

Father, I just had a Twila Paris song come to mind, “Keeping My Eyes On You.” The chorus: “Lord, I’m keeping my eyes on you. Following you. Following you, my Lord.” That takes me to another Twila Paris song: “Do I Trust You, Lord?” This one deserves the whole chorus:

Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the river flow?
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the north wind blow?
You can see my heart
You can read my mind
And You got to know
That I would rather die
Than to lose my faith
In the One I love
Do I trust You, Lord?
Do I trust You?

Father, I believe. Help my unbelief.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 2:1-2

07 Oct

2 Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. 

Galatians 2:1-2

Dear God, I’m going to start with this passage because I have something that struck me when I read it this morning, but I want to move after that into something that is vexing me. A problem I don’t know how to resolve.

First, with this passage, I like the fact that Paul subjected himself to authority and the leaders of the church while he was in Jerusalem. The last sentence of verse two is great: “I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing.” This makes it sound like Paul went into his meetings with them with an open mind and prepared to hear from you through them that he was doing it wrong. Now, he wasn’t and all was well, but I appreciate what he’s doing there.

I guess that leads me into my dilemma. I have someone in crisis whom I want to help, but I don’t know how to reasonably do it. There are some psychological needs here that are beyond what I know how to address. There are also physical needs. I also have responsibilities for others that are impacted by my response to this situation. Holy Spirit, I really need your counsel right now. I need you. This person needs you. Actually, I’ve got a few people who need you right now. I have a couple of friends who are really struggling as well, and I think their problems are psychological and deep.

Father, I’ve got these situations that need your sovereignty. Holy Spirit, I need you to whisper in my ear and tell me what to do. Jesus, we all need your mercy and grace. We need your teaching and example. Move in all these situations beyond what I’m able to see or understand. Move through me, even if it unintentional or by accident.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 1:3-10

05 Oct

3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.

10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

Galatians 1:3-10

Dear God, I wonder what the false teaching was. What was someone telling them that was wrong? The New Testament reading for today starts with verse 6, but I wanted to go back to verse 3 because I think that’s the summary of the Good News: Jesus brings you grace and peace. Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as you planned. This sacrifice rescues us from the evil world in which we live. That’s the thesis of this whole book. This is the Good News, but people are adding to it and changing it.

Of course, that is still happening today. People add a prosperity aspect to it. People use it to motivate others so they can reach for power. In a huge irony, there are those, even though they display all of the “desires of the flesh” which Paul describes in chapter 5, verses 19-21, will lead others and say they are defending you and defending those who believe in you. As if you need a rescuer and a lecherous hero. On the other side of the table, there are those who say there is no justice from you. You make no demands of us. We can just exist and you will accept us no matter what we do. I will admit that my nature draws me to this heresy more than the other. I don’t want anyone to suffer. I want to be merciful. I want you to drop any standard you might have and be merciful. But that just simply cannot be. We cannot have an afterlife in your presence full of people who are simply there without having some amount of character and willingness to submit to you.

Father, once again, I don’t want to just sit here are point to others and talk about how they are wrong and I am right. The point of sitting here with the Holy Spirit and praying to you is that I will let the Holy Spirit examine me and reveal my sin and errors to me. I’m having breakfast later with a friend who is part new believer and part seeker. He has been hurt by the church in the past, and my temptation is to make you something you’re not–a big softee. At the same time, I could also make you something you’re not the other way–a tyrant ready to destroy. The truth is, you are a God who beckons us to come to you for what Paul describes in verse 3 as grace and peace. But we do have to accept Jesus, walk the narrow path, and then, like I am doing now, leave ourselves open to conviction. None of us will get it perfect. I have sins in my life that I still commit. Some I’m aware of. Some I’m not aware of. And some I’ve just settled into and become numb to. But I ask you to show me where they are and slowly, deliberately, draw me out of them and towards yourself. And help me know how to represent you this morning to my friend.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 2:15-21

07 Apr

15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Galatians 2:15-21

Dear God, the last sentence of verse 16 is what is really catching me this morning: “For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” It’s a reminder for me that the law is for me and not you. I am disconnected from you because of the sin of my heart, and that sin is the decisions I make to be my own God, not love you with everything I have and not love my neighbors. All of the little pieces of the law are for my good and my benefit, but what disconnects me from you is something much more in my core. It is my selfishness that simply walks away from you (notice I kept “walks” in the present tense and not the past tense because I still do it continuously).

I think about Peter’s denial of Jesus, which I spent a lot of time with last week. But what I’m thinking about isn’t the sin of self-preservation over loving you. I’m thinking about Jesus telling him in Luke 22:31-31, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have burned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus’s sacrifice and forgiveness would keep Peter whole with you. Jesus was calling on Peter to take that humility from the moment and use that, not his pride or strength, to strengthen the others disciples.

Father, I make many mistakes. I fail a lot. I’ve failed others many times. Be glorified in me. Help me, Father, to show your love to others through my weakness so that you might be glorified. I offer this simple life. And I also ask for your mercy on some friends I saw yesterday in a retirement home. It was sad. It was sad to see some really competent people from earlier in life look so frail and diminished. I don’t know the path for them, but please be merciful in it. My heart is heavy for what will happen in the world today. Be merciful in that as well. Please guide the leaders of the world and hold us close to yourself even though we sin so greatly.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 7, 2026 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 6:4-5

24 Jan

4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Galatians 6:4-5

Dear God, I really need good work to do. I need to be productive. And when I say “need,” I don’t mean that others need me to be this way. I don’t mean that I need to get something done for the sake of the job getting done. I mean that my soul needs productivity. My soul needs to know that I worked and accomplished something. You created me for work, and I find that too much free time and lethargy is absolutely not healthy for me.

Case in point was earlier this week. I had a three-day weekend with the holiday Monday for MLK, but then I had a surprise snow-day on Tuesday. So I ended up with a four-day weekend and not much productive to do. It was a real struggle emotionally. I watched too many YouTube videos. I took a couple of naps. About the most productive thing I did was take the dog to the dog park to play.

After returning to work on Wednesday and getting back into the groove, my wife noticed the difference in me as soon as I got home that night. Even last night (Thursday) when I got home she said she could see the energy back in my eyes that was gone on Tuesday.

So all of this is to say that even on days when I don’t have my vocational work, I need to be intent on prayerfully figuring out what you would have me to do. Not that I don’t need a Sabbath and times of rest. But I proved that four days was too much rest. As Paul said in this passage to the Galatians, it’s about getting the satisfaction of a job well done. I don’t need to compare myself to anyone else. I just need to worship you through my work.

Father, I have work to do today. Help me to do it with great joy. Not trying to impress anyone, but just worshipping you with my work. Loving my neighbor as myself through my work. I love you, Lord. I know you love me and you have good work for me to do. I only get so many years here, and I’ve already used at least more than half of them. Maybe all of them for all I know. Help me to wisely use what I have left under your direction.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2025 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 5:16

16 Jan

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 

Galatians 5:16

Dear God, this made me think of a blog post I read this morning from Fred Smith. If I read it right, I think I actually disagreed with Fred, which I almost never do. He talked about a distance between yourself and individuals in the Old Testament and how we sometimes expect too much of you now. At least that’s how I interpreted what he said. Maybe I misread what he wrote. But if that’s what he said, I disagree, and I think it’s because Jesus came and then sent the Holy Spirit after he left. That was a game-changer. I’m honestly not even sure about Fred’s interpretation of you in the Old Testament, but if he is right then the sending of your Holy Spirit to live within us is possibly the biggest change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Now, with that said, do I sometimes expect too much of you when it comes to what I want you to do and the prayers I want you to answer? Maybe. I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was complain to you about a couple of prayers you weren’t answering how I hoped you would. In the midst of the prayers I acknowledged that you have your own timing, and I trust you, and it’s not about me, and you know better than I do, etc., but I was still expressing my frustration to you. And I think your Holy Spirit was there with me. Comforting me. Reminding me that you are God and you know better. Encouraging me in my faith. Interceding for me with you. It was actually a beautiful moment, and I think it is real. Just because you haven’t brought about what I think I want doesn’t mean you have forgotten me or are not omnipresent in my life. It just means…well, I don’t know what it means, but it doesn’t mean that.

Father, thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for comforting me this morning. Thank you that you sent a piece of you, Jesus, to be with us, teach us, suffer for us, die for us, and the rise again for us. Thank you for his ascension into heaven. Thank you that there is power in his blood. Thank you for the New Covenant. Thank you for including Gentiles in your plan. Thank you that you are present with me even now.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 16, 2025 in Galatians

 

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Galatians 1:13-24

08 Oct

13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. 14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.

When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. 17 Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.

18 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.

21 After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. 23 All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Galatians 1:13-24

Dear God, what strikes me about this passage this morning is the end in verses 23 and 24. It intimates the struggle of Christians in Syria and Cilicia of the time. They were being persecuted for their beliefs. They knew there were people they shouldn’t trust. They were pressed but not crushed (2 Corinthians 4:8). They were worshiping you. They were figuring out their faith. And then they heard about this miracle. One of the people they would have been told to fear in the past was now not only safe to be around, but was also being persecuted himself.

I think this gave these people two things. First, it showed them how powerful you are. They God they were worshiping was amazing. Second, it taught them that if someone who had worked so hard to destroy belief in Jesus had so thoroughly had his mind changed, then it must be real. Paul had an incredible testimony to share.

Frankly, everything you do really is amazing. I finally finished the A.J. Jacobs’s book, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible. It took me a while, but I really feel like I savored it. It was interesting to see where he came to at the end of it. I look forward to listening to some of his talks about the book on YouTube now that I’ve finished it. By the end, a Jewish man who considered himself agnostic before the project ended the project still agnostic, but maybe a little less so. Here’s what he said about his belief in you at the end of his year:

“Do I believe in a traditional biblical God? Well, not in the sense that the ancient Israelites believed in Him. I could never make the full leap to accepting a God who rolls up His sleeves and fiddles with our lives like a novelist does his characters. I’m still agnostic. But in the words of Elton Richards, I’m not a reverent agnostic. Which isn’t an oxymoron, I swear. I now believe that whether or not there’s a God, there is such a thing as sacredness. Life is sacred. The Sabbath can be a sacred day. Prayer can be a sacred ritual. There is something transcendent, beyond the everyday. it’s possible that humans created this sacredness ourselves, but that doesn’t take away from its power or importance.”

Father, I don’t know where I’m really going with this prayer this morning except to say that I really appreciate the journey you have us all on. I can appreciate my own journey. It is a mixture of success and sorrow. I do know that the closer I get to you the more I have love in my heart for others and the less I judge. I also realize there is less and less I feel like I know for sure. You are so much bigger than me. Life is so much bigger than me. My job today is to simply love you and then love others. You’ll figure out the rest.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2024 in Galatians

 

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