Galatians 6:15-18
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Reminder: There will be no daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully, most of you will be in a House of Worship listening to God yourselves. Go prepared with open hearts, though!
How do you end your meetings or conversations with people that you really care about (who are not your biological family)? Paul ends this letter to the Galatians with encouragement, reminding them of what he has been saying again and again through the letter. God is making us who have trusted in Jesus, his new creation. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:10; New Living Translation). It is his ongoing work – beginning to end. The results of our own obedience (like the marks of persecution that Paul bore on his body), our traditions or rituals should reflect that, or else they are irrelevant. That is how grace works.

How have you encouraged someone you’ve disagreed with theologically, with love and humility? How can you point people to what God is doing in their lives, rather than what they themselves are doing?

Prayer: Give me grace, O Lord, to love as you love. Remind me that I cannot change people to think and believe as you have taught me to think and believe; that is your work, O Holy Spirit. Help me to encourage them to see you at work in their lives, making them your own unique masterpiece. Maybe then they’ll stop trying too hard, and just allow you to change and use their thinking, attitudes, and actions for your glory. Amen.

Song: Masterpiece (Danny Gokey)
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Galatians 6:14
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

“Because I believe Jesus died for me on the cross, the world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world – death as sacrificial, complete and visual as Jesus’ crucifixion.” Paul has already directly linked his Christ-following life to Jesus’ death on the cross twice (Galatians 2:20; 5:24). It wasn’t just his central reality, but it was something he publicly and repeatedly spoke (“boast”) about. The Cross of Christ was like the hinge on which a door (his life) moved. Your world needs to be seen through the lens of redemption – Jesus’ sacrificial death to “buy” its deliverance. Similarly, your life needs to be seen through that same lens of redemption. Maybe then you’ll be able to see the Kingdom possibilities of both your life and the world in the light of the Resurrection!

What is the central “boast” of your life – all the good that you have achieved (with or without Jesus), or the new creation that you are becoming because of Jesus’ sacrificial death (see Luke 10:20)? Do you see your life and the world through the eyes of fear, or through the eyes of hope?

Prayer: Loving Lord Jesus, your death meant everything to Paul – it was the hinge that his life moved on. Why is it not so in my life? I too want to constantly live my life in the light of your sacrificial death for me, with gratitude, hope, and faith. But I also want to see the world as you see it: “God so loved the world that he gave you, Jesus…” (John 3:16). Please take away the fear and anger I have against the world (and myself) and replace them with your love and hope. Yes, because of sin and brokenness, the world and I as well are dead or dying. But you are doing your Resurrection work in my life, and the life of the world. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

Song: O Praise The Name (Anástasis) - Hillsong Worship
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Galatians 6:11-13
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

There are some “religious” people who enforce traditional symbols and behavioral rules and standards in order to feel secure in their cultural identity, just like the Jews and circumcision. It is not like those symbols and rules are wrong, but the reason behind them is forgotten or ignored. The reason behind the Covenant ritual (circumcision) and the Covenant rule (the Law given to Moses) has always been God’s desire for an exclusive, unique love relationship with his people. That was only possible through a change of heart (see Romans 2:29), which God made possible through believing in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross. And having a “sacrificial love lifestyle” has always been unpopular – then and now!

How has having a Cross-inspired “sacrificial love lifestyle” made you misunderstood even in religious circles? How can you encourage new Christ-followers to grow in their faith based on the “Jesus way”?

Prayer: Thank you for reminding me, Lord Jesus, that my life in you is not based on what I have done, or do, for you; it is based on that sacrificial love you showed me on that Cross. Forgive me when I involuntarily default to traditional practices and codes of conduct in order to maintain my relationship with you. They may not be wrong, but I know you want me to live out my life as a result of your sacrificial love taking root in me. To be honest, Lord, I’m sometimes afraid because I may be misunderstood and even marginalized because of it. But that’s what you have called me to; please give me the grace and strength to live it. Amen.

Song: Make My Life a Prayer to You (Keith Green)
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Galatians 6:6-10
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

It is important to remember that as Christ-followers and Kingdom servants, we belong to a spiritual family. Like our natural (biological) families, where each member fulfills their role responsibly (not selfishly) for the well-being of the others, we need to be a constant source of Holy Spirit blessing to our spiritual sisters and brothers. This includes practically caring for our spiritual mentors like pastors and preachers, but really includes everyone. It is like making an investment with guaranteed high-yield returns – the more you invest, the more the returns! The same is true when we fulfill our responsibility to those in our spiritual family.
How do you “bless” those who minister to you spiritually – those that lead your small groups, your ministry staff, your pastors? (“Blessing” can be of different forms – practical physical ways, emotionally, little thoughtful gestures of recognition and appreciation.)

Prayer: Gracious God, give me the sensitivity to actually notice those who have blessed me in small and significant ways. I know that they have played a large part in where I am today in my spiritual maturity. Forgive me when I have selfishly concentrated on being the recipient of good things. Please show me, instead, ways I too can be a blessing to them in practical ways. I too want to contribute to the “rich harvest” you want to bring from their lives. Amen.

Song: Blessed to be a blessing (Lara Martin)
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Galatians 6:1-5
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Paul has previously spoken about “the law of Christ.” It is “love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14), and “faith expressing itself through love” (5:6). We do this when we show compassion to the person God calls us to be a neighbor to in two ways. One way is to help carry another’s burden because of our love for them. Another way, especially for those who are more spiritually mature, and again in love, is to gently help someone back to their relationship with Christ when a particular sinful behavior has taken them away from him. This must be done with humility and Holy Spirit-dependence, though, or else we may think ourselves better than those we help or, worse still, we fall into that sin ourselves! In the end, each of us will be held responsible for our own attitudes and actions.
How easy is it for you to help someone in a non-threatening situation of need? How difficult is it to be Jesus’ gentle forgiving presence in a potentially volatile circumstance of wrongdoing?

Prayer: Merciful God, I know you have taught me to show mercy as you have shown it to me. But it is easier to show that mercy and help another person in need when all that person needs is the help that I can give. But I find it so difficult, Lord, when their wrongful behavior has turned the other person away from you. Sometimes I wrestle with that. I fear that I too may fall into that sin if I get too close. At other times I feel a sense of pride that I did not “fall” that way and end up feeling condescending and judgmental towards that person. Please give me the faith to depend on you, and the strength to help carry the other’s burden so that your Name, Jesus, is glorified through my compassionate actions. Make me more like you. Amen.

Song: More Like You (Scott Wesley Brown)
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Galatians 5:22-26 (Mark 10:46-52)
BIBLE PASSAGE ONE
BIBLE PASSAGE TWO
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

The Mark reading is important for you to read to understand today’s Galatians passage. You will see that it is one thing for blind Bartimaeus to yearn for Jesus to step in and change his very life by healing him. It is quite a different thing for the now sighted Bartimaeus to step into Jesus’ way of living by following him. In the same way, when you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sin and heal your inner brokenness, it was the Holy Spirit, also called the Spirit of Christ, who came into your life and brought that healing, freedom, Life. But now it is up to you to keep listening to the Holy Spirit as he speaks to you through Scripture and prayer and follow his leading.

Have you become increasingly dependent on the Holy Spirit’s leading by obeying his/her leading? Does it show up in the way you treat other people – a steady stripping away of pride, irritation, and envy?

Prayer: Thank you, my Savior Jesus, for coming into my life and flooding me with your healing, freedom, Life. But I need your Presence to grow in me, Lord. I want that healing, freedom, Life to take over more and more of who I am. Only you can do it, O Spirit of Christ, who is in me. Keep speaking to me, keep showing me your way, keep correcting my course when I stray. I truly want to follow only the One who has changed me and given me Life. I want to be like Jesus in the way I treat my neighbors; indeed even myself. Amen.

Song: Here I Am (David Kauffman)
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Saturday
Galatians 5:22-24
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Reminder: There will be no daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully, most of you will be in a House of Worship listening to God yourselves. Go prepared with open hearts, though!

Doing a great many things for God isn’t proof of your closeness with Jesus. Neither is experiencing many blessings from him definitive proof of closeness (see Matthew 5:45). What does show a true proximity with Jesus is when you decisively and continually refuse to indulge your selfish appetites – to the point of ignoring them to “death”! – and instead you let the Holy Spirit take the lead in every part of your life. What happens is that, like a fruit tree that is rooted in rich soil, brings out its delicious fruit after a time, you too show your proximity to Jesus by your roots deep in him, and the Spirit growing extraordinary fruit in your life in due time. As you read about each fruit, understand that it is the Holy Spirit’s work in your life as you allow him.

Ask those closest to you, “What new fruit of the Spirit in my life have you noticed recently?” How have you allowed others – both those you like and those you don’t – to eat of that fruit? (After all, the tree doesn’t eat its own fruit!)

Prayer: God Almighty, I am so grateful that you make all things grow. Please grow those fruits of the Spirit in me – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and even those not listed. I want a hungry world to feed off you my Lord Jesus through the fruit you make available through my life. Thank you that you have drawn me so close to you that when they eat that fruit, people will really see you, not me. Amen.

Song: Less Like Me (Zach Williams)
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Galatians 5:18-21 (amended)
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Only a legitimate heir (usually a daughter or son) can inherit what belongs to the family – whether authority/power, assets/riches, or privileges. So it is with inheriting the Kingdom of God. When someone calls themselves a child of the King of kings – a child of God – but whose life does not reflect that kind of identity, behavior and responsibility, that “child” obviously does not belong to the King’s family and will not inherit anything. The behavioral traits listed in verses 19-21 are far from someone guided by the Holy Spirit; they belong to someone self-pleasing and living without boundaries. It does not show “faith working through love” (5:6). This is the kind of life of one that is either living on one extreme (complete freedom), or in violent reaction to the other (rigid legalism). [See Wednesday of this week] The answer, of course, is the Christ-follower “being led by the Spirit.”

Does your behavior show that you are a true princess/prince – a child of the King, who is led by his Spirit? How can we fall into the danger of thinking we are children of the King, but actually losing out on the inheritance (See Matthew 7:22-23)?

Prayer: Holy God, please forgive me when the way I live my life shows that I only live to please myself. Forgive me when I say I belong to the Kingdom of God family, but my attitudes and behavior reflect the kingdoms of this world. I repent: I turn back to you, gracious Lord Jesus. I want your Holy Spirit to fill me and lead me. I want the watching world to see how you have changed my life; that I am a beloved daughter/son who longs to please their Father, the King. Amen.

Song: Build My Life (Pat Barrett with Cory Asbury)
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Galatians 5:16-18
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

God gives himself to live in every Christ-follower as the Holy Spirit. Jesus made that Promise (John 14:17), and Paul states its fulfillment (3:2,3,5; 4:6). That is God’s gift par excellence! God wants us to allow his Spirit to give us direction in how to live the God-sized Life, the God-honoring Life, Life as his daughter/son (See Week 3, Wednesday; Galatians 2:19-21). The interesting thing is that when we allow the Spirit to guide our living, he facilitates that Life by empowering us as well. That is the antidote to being sucked into sensual living.

How have you allowed access to the Holy Spirit in your life – in your pleasures, in your plans and decisions, in your needs and wants? Where do you want the Spirit to empower you to live the God-Life?

Prayer: Spirit of the Living God, teach me how to allow you access into my thinking, desiring, and doing. I begin by offering my entire being as a living sacrifice to you, O God my Redeemer (Romans 12:1). I also choose to obey your Voice as your Spirit directs me through your Word. May I experience your joy as you empower me to live your God-sized Life. Thank you for giving me yourself. Amen.

Song: Holy Spirit, Living Breath of God (Stuart Townend)
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Wednesday (Again, please excuse this lateness; Pastor Sunil)
Galatians 5:7-15
BIBLE PASSAGE- CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Small and seemingly “harmless” errors and fallacies can lead to opposite extremes of distorted faith. On one extreme is a religion based on our own creditable actions, caused by the rigid following of traditional rituals after starting off on faith alone. On the other extreme is a religion of sensuality based on an “anything goes” understanding because of our so-called freedom through grace. The gospel does not call us to be rigidly legal, nor does it allow us to be indulgently selfish. The sure-fire proof that we have understood the gospel and are living it out is when we “Love our neighbor as ourselves.”

Do you feel more reassured about following Jesus when you have rigid rules that you can stick to? Or do you feel more comfortable living according to your now “Christianized” feelings? Is there any other way that will make you (more) uncomfortable?

Prayer: Teach me to love myself as you, Lord Jesus, love me. Maybe then I will learn to truly love my neighbor as you loved me. I know then I will no longer be preoccupied with indulging myself and then feeling guilty. Nor will I constantly try to keep doing things only to please you and those around me, resulting in bitterness and anger. I honestly desire to grow in my love for you, those around me, and yes, even the “me” that only you know. Amen.

Song: Loved (Shannon Adducci)
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Galatians 5:2-6
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

“You have fallen away from grace…but faith working through love does matter.” Scary as it sounds, it is possible to lose the experience of grace in our lives. It would be our doing, not God’s. The gospel of the Kingdom is about a loving God taking the initiative, sending Jesus, his Son, to identify with humanity and sacrifice his life for it. All we can do is receive, in faith, the forgiveness bought through that sacrifice, which puts us in a right relationship with God. Everything we do as a result of this relationship, as a response to this love experienced, becomes pleasing to God. His grace that saved us becomes the basis/fuel for our good works (see Ephesians 2:10). However, the moment that work becomes the focus, done in order to gain favor with God, done to make or even keep our relationship with God,* that’s when we “fall away from grace.” That is when we stop having faith in God and begin depending on our own abilities. Strangely, that is also when we begin to lose the love that is meant to saturate everything we do.

Are you doing things to get into God’s “good book,” or do you do them (almost without thinking) because of the love a child has for their heavenly Father? How much does love saturate your faith-prompted work?

* Circumcision is the “doing something to please God” issue here. But it could be anything – even giving huge amounts of money to charity/the church, or doing works of charity.

Prayer: Gracious God, thank you for loving me just for who I am. Your acceptance of and love for me is independent of anything I can and have done for you. I have come to notice, now that I know you as my Redeemer and Father, that the love that I experienced when you came into my life is the same love that saturates what I do for someone else. Please forgive me when I forget and revert to trying to do things because that’s the acceptable way of trying to win your approval. I never want to “fall away from (your) grace,” Lord. Amen.
 
Song: May the Words of my Mouth (Tim Hughes)
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Galatians 4:28-5:1
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

John 1:12-13 tells us that “those who believe(d) in Jesus, God authorized to become his children, born not from blood nor from human desire or passion, but born from God.” Just as Jesus himself was conceived by the Holy Spirit, we too through faith become God’s children of Promise conceived by his Spirit. We are born into a new life of freedom. We can now live as God wants his children to, if we continue to depend completely on Jesus and what he has done for us. The moment we return to depending on our own human ways of living our lives and trying to please God, we lose that freedom and slip into slavery again.

Why would anyone want that?

What are some ways that we can be tempted to lose our freedom in Christ by teachers and/or teaching that insist on “doing things the established way”? How can we “stand firm” as God’s children in the freedom he has bought us?

Prayer: It is so easy to slip into the old way(s) of trying to please you by doing all the good things I used to do before, Lord. I listen to this teacher, and to that teaching, and begin to convince myself that I need to do more, do better. I lose sight of what you have done for me Jesus, and when that happens I begin to be less grateful, and less dependent on you. Forgive me Lord. I do not want to lose that freedom you have bought me through the Cross. Here and now I commit myself to discovering and trusting what you alone have to tell me through your Word, and not depend on what others say. Amen.

Song: Abide/Gratitude (Aaron Williams)
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Galatians 4:21-27
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Reminder: There will be no daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully, most of you will be in a House of Worship listening to God yourselves. Go prepared with open hearts, though!
There is really no comparison between the Promise of God and the Law of God, when it comes to their results in human lives. True, both were God’s initiative, given by him, based on his love. The latter demanded a complete (even slavish) obedience to both the letter of the Law and the spirit behind it, and really tries to sustain an ongoing relationship – in a sense, nothing extraordinary. It is like the (normal) birth of Ishmael to Hagar, with Abraham trying to humanly do what God said he (God) would do. But the Promise depends entirely on God, and we just trust his Word of Promise. It is like the (extraordinary) gift of Isaac to the childless (menopausal) Sarah and the 100-year-old Abraham – all they did was believe! It is just like our believing in the amazing grace of God given through Jesus Christ.
What would you choose given the alternative; indeed, have you made that choice yet? How can you respond to this God of love that respects both his Promise and his Law?

Prayer: The choice is so clear, and you have made it so simple for me, for us humans, Lord God. Yet why do we make it so complicated, why do I still make the same (wrong) choice? When I keep doing things, good things I say that are for you, am I trying to prove myself to you, to my watching world, to myself? I know that nothing I do based on my own humanness will ever make me worthy of you and your love, even rigidly following your Law – your Word repeatedly says so. So please help me keep returning to trust your Promise, your Word, and your amazing grace. I know I will experience your kind of peace. And then when I do things, it won’t be just for you; it will be through your empowering Holy Spirit – only joy can result!

Song: Grace To Grace (Hillsong Worship)
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Galatians 4:8-20
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

The deepest yearning a mother can have for the child growing in her womb is for that child to be formed complete and whole in every way – physically and mentally. Seeing that beautifully formed baby that she delivered gives her a joy that makes the pain of her labor just a past memory. Mature Christians should have a similar yearning for younger in the faith Christ-followers – that the presence and nature of Jesus grows in their lives through the Holy Spirit. But this can happen only by surrendering totally to Christ and depending on him, not going back to the traditional forms of religion of do’s and don’ts. Paul wasn’t feeling hurt because the Galatian Christians were ignoring him (well, maybe a little!). He saw that they were ignoring his gospel teaching of grace and faith, and were being drawn to those who appeared to have their best interests but were actually taking them backward in their faith and knowledge of Christ. Paul’s love for the Galatians led him to speak the truth so they would turn back to Jesus. When have you noticed a fellow Christ-follower being drawn away by a teaching that actually diminished their faith walk with Jesus rather than grow it? What did you/could you do that was prompted by a Christ-like love for that person?

Prayer: It pains me, Lord, when I see friends and even loved ones who once trusted in your saving grace, now drawn away by the tide of “popular religion” that promotes a more visible show of piety. They would rather show what they can do for you than what you want to do through them. They’ve even begun to look at me strangely because I will not do what they do. Can some forms of worship become heartless – and even mindless – when it is devoid of faith and love, Lord? Help me to reach out in love to them. I don’t pretend to know everything, Lord Jesus, but don’t they see that they are going farther away from you? Please help me; give me the wisdom, courage, and love to call them back to you. I truly want you to be “formed in them,” as you are being formed in me. Amen.

Song: Love You With the Truth (Casting Crowns)
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Galatians 4:1-7
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Unimaginable as it sounds, God always wanted us humans to have direct access to him and all of his inheritance with the confidence and familiarity of his very dearly loved daughters and sons. True, we humans had given up that right of access because of our sin and brokenness (see Genesis 3). But God’s gift of the Law, which let us have some semblance of a relationship through obedience, allowed us to experience God indirectly and distantly. It was like we were foster children being looked after by a guardian (the Law of Moses), not knowing who our real parent (God) was. In a sense, we had as many rights as slaves! And then God broke into our history, participating in our humanity – Jesus, the Son of God, was born as a human, a “foster child” just like us. He fulfilled everything the Law required in his human life and death, and “bought” our access to God, our true Father. It’s amazing, but now just by trusting in who Jesus is, and what he has done for us, we can discover God as our true “Abba,” “Papa,” “Daddy!”

How has your experience of being God’s very dearly loved daughter or son been: in your prayer, or in times you worry, or when you feel alone, abandoned, and lost? How can you grow in your relationship with God as your true “Abba,” “Papa,” “Daddy”?

Prayer: Gracious and almighty God, all I want to do today is call you “Abba,” “Papa,” “Daddy.” “Abba,” “Papa,” “Daddy.” “Abba,” “Papa,” “Daddy.” Please never let me ever forget that I am your very dearly loved child; that you love me as much as your Son Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Song: No Longer Slaves (I Am They)
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Galatians 3:25-29
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

What a wonderful affirmation of our new identity that we have because of our relationship with Jesus Christ! We are God’s daughters and sons. We are now God’s “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In the original creation account of Genesis 1 & 2 there may have hinted a hierarchy with men and women. In the new creation, relationships as children of God are governed by complete equality within his family. When we surrender our lives to God (Week 3, Wednesday, Galatians 2:19-21), he puts his Holy Spirit in us (Ephesians 1:13). Paul’s imagery in this Galatians passage is that of Jesus Christ literally being every part of our clothing, identifying our belonging to him. And because of that, being spiritual heirs of Abraham and the Promise(s) given to him!

How has your relationship with Jesus changed the way you see yourself? How has your relationship with Jesus changed the way you see other people regardless of who they are?

Prayer: Praise God! Thank you, Jesus! Hallelujah! When I look into the mirror I may see myself, but I know it is you, my Lord. You have given me a new identity; you are giving me a new character, and you want to make me just like Jesus. May I never forget what you have done for me, always remembering that I am your work in progress. But may I also remember that you are doing the same thing in the lives of my sisters and brothers in my new “Jesus family”; that is why I need to see them no differently than you see me. Forgive me when I do not. Help me celebrate our “oneness in Christ Jesus,” looking towards bringing more into our new family. Amen.

Song: We Are One in the Spirit (Sounds Like Reign)
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Tuesday (please forgive me, Sunil, for the delay for this post)
Galatians 3:19-24
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Following the rules and regulations of the Law only sustained an existing relationship with God. But what if the relationship was broken, or was never there at all? The Law did nothing to make a person right with God; obeying it did not have the power to actually change the person whose relationship with God was broken because of sin. It offered a “temporary fix” (the sacrificial system), but it was never permanent. In fact, the Law “locked” the rule-follower into a never-ending sin-sacrifice-sin cycle. The answer was in the Promise given. Even the Law looked forward to the time when God's promise would be fully revealed through Jesus’ Calling. And Jesus faithfully fulfilled his Calling through his life and his sacrifice (not ours). By his resurrection, he “bought” our freedom from sin and death, its consequence. No more being “locked” into the sin-Law-sin cycle. Getting right with God is now possible – trusting Jesus, the Promise-fulfiller, his life and his sacrifice.
How has an understanding of, and trust in, the Promise of God freed you from your sin-Law-sin cycle? How has your experience of freedom from the Law helped you to appreciate Jesus and what he has done for you?

Prayer: I was tired, Lord. I was tired of following the rules, doing the right thing, and yet feeling far away from you. And then your love broke through! You freed me from the imprisonment of my own futile effort(s) that gained me nothing, especially when it came to knowing you any better. I now see that you have always loved me, even though I kept running in every direction but toward you. And when I stopped running and turned…there you were, welcoming me with open arms. You made me right with you; I just needed to fall into your arms. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Song: Your Love Broke Through (Keith Green)
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Galatians 3:15-18
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

God has always intended that humans base their relationship with him, and indeed their own lives, on the Promise(s) he gives us. But there is a big difference between the promises we humans make and the Promise that God gives. Human promises are based on the “promiser’s” own motivations, capabilities and commitment to implementing them as well as the “promisee’s/receiver’s” desires and needs. Love could be a motivation, but so could control. God’s Promise is always based on his love, and is always for the good of the receiver, and positively affects many others through the receiver. Therefore, it is essential that the receiver takes full advantage of God’s Promise and lives according to it. That is why the Promise (given to Abraham, to bless him and bless all the nations through him) precedes the Law (given to Moses) by 430 years. In fact, God also gave the Law in love, to make sure the Israelites kept the Promise central to their lives. Paul saw an even greater reason to hold on to God’s Promise to Abraham – he saw the Promise of Jesus within it (see Genesis 12:7).

Do you live depending on the Promise(s) of God, or by rigidly following his Law/commands? How successful are you by doing the latter? How fulfilled are you by doing the former?

Prayer: Thank you my God and Redeemer that I can depend on every Promise you give me through your Word. However, help me to be sensitive through your Holy Spirit to the particular Promise you have for me. I know that blindly/randomly choosing from your many promises is based more on my selfish desires or desperation than on faith, and it can lead to disappointment. Help me to constantly see your love behind the Promise that you have for me so that I will live my life patiently trusting you to fulfil that Promise. Amen.

Song: You Keep Your Promises (Charity Gayle)
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Galatians 3:10-14
BIBLE PASSAGE - CLICK HERE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Reminder: There will be no daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully, most of you will be in a House of Worship listening to God yourselves. Go prepared with open hearts, though!

What? All those who rely on doing what the Law says are under a curse (v.10)? Yes, because then we are doomed to failure. The way it works is that anyone who does anything less than 100% (= complete) obedience has to face the “curse” of God’s judgment. We are not graded on a curve! Either we are blameless before God (in thought/attitude, word, or deed), or we’re not. The exciting thing is that Jesus put himself in our place, and took the “curse” on himself, and bought us our freedom and forgiveness. When we believe/trust what he has done for us, and in faith accept that freedom and forgiveness for ourselves, he himself comes into our lives through the Holy Spirit. Remember that promise that God gave Abraham, that “all the nations will be blessed through him”? As recipients of his redemption, we become part of those nations blessed!

Are you still depending on what you can do for God, and still feeling something lacking (see the story of the rich young ruler; Mark 10:17-21)? How can you live your life depending on what God has done (and is doing) for you?

Prayer: Forgive me, Lord Jesus, when I’ve kept doing things for you because I wanted in some way to win your approval. I know that nothing I can do (or keep doing) by myself will ever change who I really am – broken by my own sin, a victim of others’ sin. Teach me the truth of “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, (you) Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). I don’t need to do anything to gain your favor. You love me, accept me, redeem me just as I am because of who you are – Love embodied. May I never stop singing “Hallelujahs” for what you have done for/in me, and for all that you have promised to do through me. Amen. Hallelujah!

Song: Amazing Love (Graham Kendrick)
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Galatians 3:6-9
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Abraham never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, or of his death and resurrection. All he heard was a promise given by God, “I will make of you a great nation and will bless you…I will bless those who bless you…all the families of the earth (both your own family, and those not biologically related to you, i.e. “Gentiles”; my addition) will be blessed because of you” (Genesis 12:2-3). All he had to do was leave his “family of origin” and go to an unknown place God would show later. And Abraham believed God at his Word and went – even though he and Sarah had no children at that time. And that was all God needed – simple belief and acting on it. Abraham was “put right with God” because of that simple faith. Our different theologies on how God does things don’t really matter to him. Anyway, whoever believes that Jesus is who he says he is, and will do what he says he’ll do, is like Abraham, and in fact is a spiritual descendant of his. And it's all based on simply taking God at his Word.

How simple has your faith been: Have you trusted only in what Jesus has done for you on the Cross – and not on your good, impressive deeds? Do you celebrate the fact that after trusting in Christ alone, you are now “descendant” of Abraham’s, and that he is making many more descendants around the world?

Prayer: How awesome it is, O God, that you would make me part of your family and a spiritual descendant of Abraham’s. And none of it was my work. All I did was trust in you, my Jesus. I am now one of many in the whole world whom you are making right with yourself. May that knowledge keep me humble in my relationship with others who don’t yet know you. Use me as a blessing in their lives. Amen.

Song: Way Maker (Leeland)
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Galatians 3:1-5
BIBLE - PASSAGE
[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

Nothing (good) can come about by abandoning our faith and choosing to revert to a ritualistic lifestyle of mind-less and heart-less activity because that is what is expected of us. Why try to undo the extraordinarily wonderful saving work that God has done in our lives through Jesus’ work of grace? There is absolutely no gain or advantage in trying to go back to doing things in our own strength in order to please God. It was God, through his Son Jesus, who redeemed us; then it was God, through his Holy Spirit, who worked that forgiveness into our lives so we could experience real freedom and joy. But that isn’t all; God continues, through his Holy Spirit living in us, to enable us to be and do more than we imagined. All that we have to do is believe and stay connected by obeying his Word.
How can you resist the temptation of focusing on rules and traditions, because they are familiar to your old way of living? How can you keep depending on the Holy Spirit to work through you, rather than working in your own strength?

Prayer: It is so easy, Lord, to forget that it was all you who worked my salvation; there was nothing of me involved except my trust. I frequently take back control of my life because of my old habit of self-dependence, or I just lose faith in your Holy Spirit working through me. Forgive me, Jesus, for my irrational faith-life. However good rules are for discipline, they don’t work miracles. And I want you to use me as a channel for those miracles to touch a needy world around me. Amen.

Song: Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me (CityAlight)
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Galatians 2:19-21
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

“…so that I could live for God” (v.19); “…so that those who are alive should live not for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Yes, trusting in what Jesus did for us on the Cross puts us in a right relationship with God. But what happens after? Living for God can only happen when we first surrender ourselves completely to him who died for us. The picture Paul paints is a surrender that is so complete that we identify ourselves with Jesus’ death on the Cross – it is emphatic and final. When we have a faith like that, that same faith allows the Risen Jesus to inhabit our being. (Warning: such faith grows over time depending on your desire and consistency.) Once again, it is Jesus’ faithfulness and his undeserved love for us (= grace) working in us that enables us to “live for God.”

Have you learned to daily surrender yourself to God; learned to say it is not my will but yours be done? Do you constantly ask Jesus, “Live in me, live through me, Lord, because only then will what I say and believe match what I do”?

Prayer: I surrender myself completely to you Lord – I want to live for you, and not for my own desires and pleasure. Deep down in me, I believe that your love for me is so faithful and great that the life you give will be much more complete and pleasurable – more than this world can ever give. Didn’t you once say that you came to give Life that overflows (John 10:10)? Teach me to give myself to you just as you gave yourself so completely to me. Amen.

Song: Crucified with Christ (Phillips, Craig, and Dean)
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Galatians 2:15-18
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[Please read the passage before (or after) reading the devotion.]

The world – including all the religions – and Satan cannot understand how grace works and what it does to the Christ-follower. God’s undeserved favor and redemption (= “buying” us back from sin and Satan with the price of Jesus, his death on the Cross) is all that is needed to make us righteous (= put us in a right relationship with God). God has made this grace available to anyone who abandons their own futile attempts to work their way into his favor, and simply trusts that what he has already done for us is all that is needed; that’s faith. That doesn’t mean that we’re made perfect (or complete) – we will still sin as long as we live this side of eternity. But that doesn’t mean that Christ will ever approve of our sin and failings. What it does mean is that we will constantly and intentionally need to depend on that same grace as he brings us closer to perfection/completion (= sanctification).
Have you taken that step of faith and trusted in God’s grace in your life yet? Do you keep trusting that that same grace will keep transforming you to be just like Jesus despite the times you fall/fail?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I know I cannot do this on my own. I cannot “save” myself, nor can I complete the work you’ve started in my life on my own. Forgive me when I’ve tried to. That “trying” has tired, discouraged, and defeated me. I put my full trust in you, my Savior and Lord. The world may write me off as a failure, but I know you never will. I trust in the way your salvation works: that you who have begun a good work in me will bring it to completion, through Jesus Christ (see Philippians 1:6). Amen. And Hallelujah!

Song: Salvation Song (Josh Baldwin)
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Galatians 2:11-14
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The scene: the exciting arrival of Jewish Christians from the Jerusalem Church. The result: Peter’s withdrawing from eating with the Galatian (non-Jewish) Christians. This was a perfect example of when practice doesn’t match preaching. Please don’t hurry to judge Peter. Peer pressure, our weaknesses (remember Peter under pressure denying knowing Jesus?) and circumstances can cause even the best to lapse. The consequences: the relatively younger-in-the-faith Paul feeling betrayed by his friend and mentor Barnabas, who joined Peter. His own understanding of the Good News of Jesus must have been shaken by what a stalwart like Peter did. And what about how the Galatian Christians felt? But Paul, now a zealous Christ-follower, saw clearly through the hypocrisy: “…they weren’t acting consistently with the truth of the gospel” (v.14). He did the courageous thing and confronted someone of known spiritual stature like Peter.

Can love and truth be the basis of standing up for the right thing as well as those who are marginalized (see Ephesians 4:15)? What can we do to surround ourselves with people who encourage us to live what we say we believe?

Prayer: Lord, please help me to understand the real “truth of the gospel” and act consistently with that truth. I know that is not always easy: I catch myself not doing what I say I believe because it is not convenient at the moment, or the peer pressure is too strong, or my own past weaknesses make me stumble. But I know that same undeserved love that saved me, healed my relationship with you, is the same grace that will give me the courage to be the Christ-follower you’ve called me to be…if only I depend on the Holy Spirit you have given me! O Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me…Amen.

Song: Spirit of the Living God (Voices of Praise)
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Galatians 2:9-10
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Reminder: There will be no daily devotion tomorrow, Sunday. Hopefully, most of you will be in a House of Worship listening to God yourselves. Go prepared with open hearts, though!
“Recognized the grace given to me” (v.9). Could this be the answer to our divisions and differences? We should make the effort to see how God’s unmerited favor, his undeserved love, works in each of us, changing us, calling us to be witnesses to the least, the last, and the lost. When we do so, we will see that God neither limits himself to whom he calls, nor to those we are sent to. His forgiving love is meant to overflow from its recipients – if only we can see that grace in each other! The Jerusalem leadership of James, Peter, and John saw that about Paul and Barnabas, and celebrated it. Maybe we should too…
How do you make the effort to “recognize the grace given to others” and celebrate it with them?

Prayer: Lord, help me to see that you are changing me to be different – different from what I was, different in the way I see others, different in the way I show your love to those that need you. Help me to recognize the grace you have given me, but also to recognize your grace that you give others who are so different to me. May we celebrate your working in each other's lives, so that the world may see that you make us one, even as you, Father, Son, and Spirit, are one. Amen

Song: Different (Micah Tyler) – Listen to his moving introduction as well
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