Devotional - May 29, 2024
Scripture: Galatian 3: 1-5 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
Yep, fair to say Paul is still pretty miffed at what is going on in the church. Sad to say, it is still happening today in our churches. Churches that have access to this letter in their Bibles. Folks, we serve a loving God like it or not. Loving as well as just and righteous. A God who understands our lot, so have faith and rejoice! In some ways we have looped back to the beginning of the letter with this text. Paul uses his discourse with Peter as an example he will now build upon for the rest of his letter. I kept the first five verses in this chapter together for a couple reasons. One, it is a way of keeping Paul's angst together in one devotional. I like to be encouraging in my devotionals and sometimes it is hard to do when Paul is on one of his tirades, appropriate as they may be. The gist of his message here is fairly simple. Like us, many of them may have known little about the Jewish faith. What they knew fully, they knew through the experiences they received from Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit of God that opened their eyes, not the law the Judaizers were trying to impress upon them. The law could not save them from their sin. Not before they knew Christ or after. The only thing that could save them was their faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Keep that in mind when you get bogged down and depressed because of your life. We have a terrible habit of giving up because of our struggles or worse yet despairing. Yes, things happen, but move through it. Don't dwell on it, God will lead you onward. Will you get it right the next time, maybe...? Or, maybe you will learn a lot from this time. Maybe the Spirit will use this time to change your mind a bit. Getting it right or being right with God has gotten a lot of attention over the years. In the coming verses Paul will advise us to stay in step with the Spirit. It takes faith. You have to be honest. And, in the end it looks a lot like Michah 6:8, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Pray with me.., Holy God how we struggle sometimes. We struggle to receive Your grace, to take it in. We struggle allowing others to receive it too. May Your Spirit continue to work within us. We continue to ask your blessing upon our loved ones and upon our church. Help us to be the people You call us to be, in Jesus name, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
