Galatians 1:15-16
When God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.
It’s a difficult concept to grasp, that God has set us apart from birth and called us by His grace. We tend to think of the salvation “transaction” as one based upon our choosing Him, and neglect the fact that He has also chosen us. I will not even pretend to understand how that all works, and that is not the point here today.
What I love about this passage is how God makes it very clear that He reveals His Son to each and every person at just the right time – a time of His choosing. If you know the story of Paul’s conversion (his name was Saul at the time), you will know that he was converted after playing a vital role in the stoning to death of Steven, a Christian. Paul was taking it upon himself to persecute any and every Christian he could, all in the name of God! Finally, Jesus revealed Himself to him on the road to Damascus, at just the perfect time, exactly when it pleased Him to do so. He could have revealed Himself before the death of Steven, and yet He did not, for whatever reason. I wonder if Paul ever thought about that, wishing Jesus had revealed Himself to him earlier.
I think you and I are the same way. We spend a lot of time wishing our past had not happened. “If only I had known Jesus just 2 years sooner.” “If only my husband had shared with me before we were married.” “If only I had understood what Jesus meant by _______ last year.” “If only…” Speculation is not going to do us any good. What has past is past, and it has become a part of who we are today.
God can reveal Himself to us at any time, and yet He chose just the right time, in order that our experiences would come together with His great power and make us the person He desires us to be. Isn’t that a wonderful thought? I marvel at the idea that all the good stuff and the bad stuff go together to make me the exact person God wanted. Of course, He’s still working, but for now, I am who I need to be, and I trust that God will continue working to make me who I will need to be next week, next year, 10 years from now... And so it is with you. You are who you are today because of your past, and that is exactly who God wants you to be. Let’s grow from here, following Christ to do what each of us, alone, is equipped to do.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A Love Letter
Galatians 1:12
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Those of us who have never been to Bible college or seminary or any other such thing sometimes have trouble thinking that we can study the Word for ourselves. We cannot believe that God would ever reveal anything significant to us, or that we could ever understand what He is trying to say. So, we go to church, and we go to Bible study; we listen to the preacher tell us what it means, and we listen to the teacher tell us how to apply it to our lives. We read-along and wonder at their insight and passion.
Guess what. God has that for you and me, too! Yes, you and I can go directly to God and receive instruction, just as those who teach us do. God is not a respecter of persons – He will teach the lowliest and the highest, it does not matter to Him.
What does matter is our heart. Do we have a heart to seek Him? Do we long for Him? Are we driven to the Word in that deep longing to know Him? Are we letting Him speak to us there? Or are we reading the words and checking off “read Bible” on our list of “things-to-do”?
Simply reading the Bible will not produce a change in us. If I were to send you a letter from my husband, a deeply personal and passionate letter, you may read it and think “that’s nice,” but it will not mean anything to you, because it is devoid of the relationship. And so it is with the Word. We must go to Scripture and read it as the love letter that it is. We must read it in the context of our relationship with God and see it as a tool by which He is speaking to us, personally, privately, and passionately. We do not read the Word to simply read the words on the page, but to hear from our God, and to grow in our relationship with Him, expressed through faith.
Go to the Word today and let Him speak to you there. He has written it just for you, that you would get to know Him a little more each day.
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Those of us who have never been to Bible college or seminary or any other such thing sometimes have trouble thinking that we can study the Word for ourselves. We cannot believe that God would ever reveal anything significant to us, or that we could ever understand what He is trying to say. So, we go to church, and we go to Bible study; we listen to the preacher tell us what it means, and we listen to the teacher tell us how to apply it to our lives. We read-along and wonder at their insight and passion.
Guess what. God has that for you and me, too! Yes, you and I can go directly to God and receive instruction, just as those who teach us do. God is not a respecter of persons – He will teach the lowliest and the highest, it does not matter to Him.
What does matter is our heart. Do we have a heart to seek Him? Do we long for Him? Are we driven to the Word in that deep longing to know Him? Are we letting Him speak to us there? Or are we reading the words and checking off “read Bible” on our list of “things-to-do”?
Simply reading the Bible will not produce a change in us. If I were to send you a letter from my husband, a deeply personal and passionate letter, you may read it and think “that’s nice,” but it will not mean anything to you, because it is devoid of the relationship. And so it is with the Word. We must go to Scripture and read it as the love letter that it is. We must read it in the context of our relationship with God and see it as a tool by which He is speaking to us, personally, privately, and passionately. We do not read the Word to simply read the words on the page, but to hear from our God, and to grow in our relationship with Him, expressed through faith.
Go to the Word today and let Him speak to you there. He has written it just for you, that you would get to know Him a little more each day.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Pleasing to God
Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This is a verse that I have clung to and memorized as I step into a public ministry of writing and teaching. It would be very easy for me to slip into the habit of trying to please my leadership team, my Bible study, or those for whom I write. I like being liked, I really do, and so it would be easy to use this ministry as a platform for building my popularity. And yet, that is not really what I desire. I desire to be used of God as a catalyst in the lives of my fellow Christians (mainly women) to help them get to know Jesus ever more intimately, to love Him more passionately, and to become “radical and relevant Christians” in an evil and dying world. It’s a big dream, I know, and a dream that cannot be fulfilled even one little-bit by seeking to please the people I serve.
You and I must not worry about pleasing those around us. That is a fatal trap that will lead us no-where, and only end in the disappointment of someone – either us or them, probably both. Rather, we must seek to please God alone. He is our Master, therefore He gets to call the shots. I have discovered in my short-lived ministry life, that as I seek to please God and not men, I put myself out there, doing and saying some things that do not please some people. And so it must be with Christians who truly seek to serve and please God.
Look at the life of Jesus and the early church – they were not always liked. As a mater-of-fact, they were very frequently disliked! Many times, serving God with all that we are will mean losing the approval of men. It is dangerous ground, but I once had a good and wise friend tell me, “Dangerous ground isn’t always bad – Jesus walked on dangerous ground His entire ministry!”
However, I have noticed that the ones who usually disapprove the most are those already in the church. We have our set ways of doing things, sure that ours is the only right and Biblical way. When someone seeks to do things a little different, the religious sect screams “blasphemy” and goes running into their corners to pout and scheme.
Our God is a radical God, of radical means, who will do all He can to reach a dying world. Jesus, Himself, was radical – His ways, His thoughts, His words, His sacrifice – even the very idea of Jesus was radical. And look how the religious people of His time saw the whole thing. Actually, they missed it!! They missed all that God was trying to do for them, simply because they weren’t pleased with the way He was doing it.
Let’s not be those people. Let’s not be the ones trying to please men, and be popular. But let’s also not be the one’s who are concerned that we are not being pleased. God is working, friends, in His ways and His time, whether we like them or not. As the enemy steps it up, so does our God. Just like a chess match reaching its peak, God is setting it up to move His Man and proclaim “Check Mate!” Instead of looking on in a pout that He didn’t use the moves we would have, let’s step up and join Him, seeking to please Him in all that we do!
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This is a verse that I have clung to and memorized as I step into a public ministry of writing and teaching. It would be very easy for me to slip into the habit of trying to please my leadership team, my Bible study, or those for whom I write. I like being liked, I really do, and so it would be easy to use this ministry as a platform for building my popularity. And yet, that is not really what I desire. I desire to be used of God as a catalyst in the lives of my fellow Christians (mainly women) to help them get to know Jesus ever more intimately, to love Him more passionately, and to become “radical and relevant Christians” in an evil and dying world. It’s a big dream, I know, and a dream that cannot be fulfilled even one little-bit by seeking to please the people I serve.
You and I must not worry about pleasing those around us. That is a fatal trap that will lead us no-where, and only end in the disappointment of someone – either us or them, probably both. Rather, we must seek to please God alone. He is our Master, therefore He gets to call the shots. I have discovered in my short-lived ministry life, that as I seek to please God and not men, I put myself out there, doing and saying some things that do not please some people. And so it must be with Christians who truly seek to serve and please God.
Look at the life of Jesus and the early church – they were not always liked. As a mater-of-fact, they were very frequently disliked! Many times, serving God with all that we are will mean losing the approval of men. It is dangerous ground, but I once had a good and wise friend tell me, “Dangerous ground isn’t always bad – Jesus walked on dangerous ground His entire ministry!”
However, I have noticed that the ones who usually disapprove the most are those already in the church. We have our set ways of doing things, sure that ours is the only right and Biblical way. When someone seeks to do things a little different, the religious sect screams “blasphemy” and goes running into their corners to pout and scheme.
Our God is a radical God, of radical means, who will do all He can to reach a dying world. Jesus, Himself, was radical – His ways, His thoughts, His words, His sacrifice – even the very idea of Jesus was radical. And look how the religious people of His time saw the whole thing. Actually, they missed it!! They missed all that God was trying to do for them, simply because they weren’t pleased with the way He was doing it.
Let’s not be those people. Let’s not be the ones trying to please men, and be popular. But let’s also not be the one’s who are concerned that we are not being pleased. God is working, friends, in His ways and His time, whether we like them or not. As the enemy steps it up, so does our God. Just like a chess match reaching its peak, God is setting it up to move His Man and proclaim “Check Mate!” Instead of looking on in a pout that He didn’t use the moves we would have, let’s step up and join Him, seeking to please Him in all that we do!
The Gospel Truth
Galatians 1:8
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
Amen! I’m not sure there’s really that much I need to say here…the gospel is the gospel, truth is truth. We live in an age when people like to think that truth is relative. Relative to what, I’d like to know? Relative to our own experiences? Relative to what we want them to be? Seems a little too sketchy for me.
Truth, in its very essence must be absolute, or else it really isn’t truth, is it? Gravity is true – whether we believe it or not, it’s there, and if we jump from a tall building we will still fall at the same rate and go splat in the end! It is truly there. We cannot see it, but we can see the effects of it. Even those who do not know what to call it, or how to explain it, know, instinctively, it is there.
And so it is with God. He is there, whether we believe it or not. We cannot see Him, but we can see the effects of His presence (more than you or I could possibly imagine). And even those who do not know Him, still know He is there, whether they would admit it or not.
So, if someone comes along and tries to convince you that gravity is all in your mind, you would think he was nuts. However, we are so easily convinced to give ear to those who would teach us something other than the steadfast truth of God. We must not listen, dear friend, as we discussed yesterday. We see here what will happen to those who try to turn us from God’s truth, even if it’s little-ol’-me (may it never be so!).
Hold fast, dear one, and keep Jesus directly in front of you. Hold the course, and do not let anyone, no matter how convincing they are, turn you from the solid truth found in God’s Word. Meet Him there, and let Him teach you truth – His perfect, beautiful truth.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
Amen! I’m not sure there’s really that much I need to say here…the gospel is the gospel, truth is truth. We live in an age when people like to think that truth is relative. Relative to what, I’d like to know? Relative to our own experiences? Relative to what we want them to be? Seems a little too sketchy for me.
Truth, in its very essence must be absolute, or else it really isn’t truth, is it? Gravity is true – whether we believe it or not, it’s there, and if we jump from a tall building we will still fall at the same rate and go splat in the end! It is truly there. We cannot see it, but we can see the effects of it. Even those who do not know what to call it, or how to explain it, know, instinctively, it is there.
And so it is with God. He is there, whether we believe it or not. We cannot see Him, but we can see the effects of His presence (more than you or I could possibly imagine). And even those who do not know Him, still know He is there, whether they would admit it or not.
So, if someone comes along and tries to convince you that gravity is all in your mind, you would think he was nuts. However, we are so easily convinced to give ear to those who would teach us something other than the steadfast truth of God. We must not listen, dear friend, as we discussed yesterday. We see here what will happen to those who try to turn us from God’s truth, even if it’s little-ol’-me (may it never be so!).
Hold fast, dear one, and keep Jesus directly in front of you. Hold the course, and do not let anyone, no matter how convincing they are, turn you from the solid truth found in God’s Word. Meet Him there, and let Him teach you truth – His perfect, beautiful truth.
Monday, September 18, 2006
A Different Gospel...
Galatians 1:6
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
While I think most of us would not believe this verse to be talking about us, perhaps we need to take a closer look at ourselves. Paul is telling the Christians in Galatia that they are “turning to a different gospel.” What do you suppose he means? I wonder what kind of gospel they were turning to.The gospel, meaning good news, is Jesus – He is our good news, our focus (as we discussed yesterday), our everything. I think, perhaps, these Christians were looking else-where, to someone or something else to save them, to bring them some good news. Pshaw! We would never do that!! Or would we? In this society of free-thinking, and opinions around every turn, it would be hard not to start veering off from time-to-time. We hear something here that makes sense, are told something there that feels good, think up something in bed that makes our hearts soar, and VOILA! we have ourselves a “new gospel.” A wrong gospel. Saved by grace but made like Christ through works – wrong! Saved by grace, therefore we can go out and do as we please – wrong! Saved by grace, so that we can return to earth as a new person, reincarnated – wrong! Really, the list could be endless.
We must remain in the Word of God, friends, allowing God to shape our beliefs. He is truth, and He desires that we would worship Him, alone. We must take everything our pastors and our teachers tell us (yes, even me…especially me – I’m no one special!) and compare it to the timeless words of Scripture. And not just one or two verses – the whole thing. It’s easy to take a word here and another there and make the Bible say what we want it to. No, we must work past that temptation and see beyond all that to what it does say, whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, whether it makes sense or not.
Have some wrong beliefs crept into your heart and mind? It’s easy to let happen, little-by-little, bit-by-bit. Let’s start looking to Scripture, alone, and all that God teaches us there, what we know to be truth, to form our beliefs, and all that we live by.
Hurry, go open your Bible and make sure all of this holds up to the light of God’s Word!
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
While I think most of us would not believe this verse to be talking about us, perhaps we need to take a closer look at ourselves. Paul is telling the Christians in Galatia that they are “turning to a different gospel.” What do you suppose he means? I wonder what kind of gospel they were turning to.The gospel, meaning good news, is Jesus – He is our good news, our focus (as we discussed yesterday), our everything. I think, perhaps, these Christians were looking else-where, to someone or something else to save them, to bring them some good news. Pshaw! We would never do that!! Or would we? In this society of free-thinking, and opinions around every turn, it would be hard not to start veering off from time-to-time. We hear something here that makes sense, are told something there that feels good, think up something in bed that makes our hearts soar, and VOILA! we have ourselves a “new gospel.” A wrong gospel. Saved by grace but made like Christ through works – wrong! Saved by grace, therefore we can go out and do as we please – wrong! Saved by grace, so that we can return to earth as a new person, reincarnated – wrong! Really, the list could be endless.
We must remain in the Word of God, friends, allowing God to shape our beliefs. He is truth, and He desires that we would worship Him, alone. We must take everything our pastors and our teachers tell us (yes, even me…especially me – I’m no one special!) and compare it to the timeless words of Scripture. And not just one or two verses – the whole thing. It’s easy to take a word here and another there and make the Bible say what we want it to. No, we must work past that temptation and see beyond all that to what it does say, whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, whether it makes sense or not.
Have some wrong beliefs crept into your heart and mind? It’s easy to let happen, little-by-little, bit-by-bit. Let’s start looking to Scripture, alone, and all that God teaches us there, what we know to be truth, to form our beliefs, and all that we live by.
Hurry, go open your Bible and make sure all of this holds up to the light of God’s Word!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
This Present Evil Age
Galatians 1:4
[Jesus] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
When we think of the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us, we often think in terms of heaven and hell. He died so that we won’t have to suffer a “second death,” rising to new life so that you and I can also have new life for eternity. However, I think that we often over-look the fact that He has not saved us simply from an eternity in hell, He has also saved us from “the present evil age.”
What exactly does that mean? It means that He has given us a way out, a ray of hope, a protective shield against the evil this world flings at us daily. It means that He has given us that which we need when going through a divorce or bankruptcy; when dealing with the loss of a parent, a child, or a job; when wondering where our next meal will come from or how we will pay the mortgage payment that is now 3 months over-due. Jesus has rescued us from the turmoil and wreckage that the enemy of our souls would have us rot in.
We must keep our focus on Jesus and not our situations. There will always be something bad happening in our lives, to one degree or another, for that is how we are pruned, and strengthened, and brought to out knees. We cannot focus on that which desires to bring us down, and remove our hope. Rather we must focus on the One who offers us a hope that out-shines anything this “evil age” can muster.
Where is your focus today? Focus on Jesus. Focus on His passionate love for you. Focus on His desire to walk with you, and talk with you, and comfort you even in your suffering…especially in your suffering. Allow your pain to lift your chin and draw you close to the One who has come riding in on a white horse just to rescue you!
[Jesus] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
When we think of the sacrifice Jesus made for each of us, we often think in terms of heaven and hell. He died so that we won’t have to suffer a “second death,” rising to new life so that you and I can also have new life for eternity. However, I think that we often over-look the fact that He has not saved us simply from an eternity in hell, He has also saved us from “the present evil age.”
What exactly does that mean? It means that He has given us a way out, a ray of hope, a protective shield against the evil this world flings at us daily. It means that He has given us that which we need when going through a divorce or bankruptcy; when dealing with the loss of a parent, a child, or a job; when wondering where our next meal will come from or how we will pay the mortgage payment that is now 3 months over-due. Jesus has rescued us from the turmoil and wreckage that the enemy of our souls would have us rot in.
We must keep our focus on Jesus and not our situations. There will always be something bad happening in our lives, to one degree or another, for that is how we are pruned, and strengthened, and brought to out knees. We cannot focus on that which desires to bring us down, and remove our hope. Rather we must focus on the One who offers us a hope that out-shines anything this “evil age” can muster.
Where is your focus today? Focus on Jesus. Focus on His passionate love for you. Focus on His desire to walk with you, and talk with you, and comfort you even in your suffering…especially in your suffering. Allow your pain to lift your chin and draw you close to the One who has come riding in on a white horse just to rescue you!
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