DAY 30 - GALATIANS

April 7, 2023

Galatians 6:11-18 (NLT)

NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING. Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples. As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God. From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Thought:

It was Paul’s custom, after dictating a letter, to take the pen and write his own farewell. His standard signature was “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you” (2 Thessalonians 3:17-18). But so concerned was Paul that the Galatians understood the message of his letter that he took the pen and wrote the entire concluding paragraph with his own hand. Paul sums up his timeless message by writing in big letters that circumcision (legalism) does not matter, only being made a new creation by faith in Christ matters. ( “...What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation” – Galatians 6:15).

Paul boasted only in the crucified and risen Savior. Jesus Christ is mentioned at least forty-five times in the Galatian letter, which means that one third of the verses contain some reference to Him. The person of Jesus Christ captivated Paul, and it was Christ who made the cross glorious to him. In his early years as Jewish rabbi, Paul had much to glory in. But after he met Christ, all his self-glory became worthless. For Paul, the cross meant liberty: from self (Galatians 2:20), the law (Galatians 5:1), the flesh (Galatians 5:24), and the world (Galatians 6:14). And it means the same for us today!

Paul comes to the end of his letter, and he closes the way he began: GRACE. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you…”

Application:

1. How can you live as if what counts is the new creation?

2. The messages in Galatians include grace vs. law, liberty vs. license, and Spirit vs. flesh. Thank God for the specific things He has taught you and changed you through your study of Galatians.

DAY 29 - GALATIANS

April 6, 2023

Galatians 6:9-10 (NLT)

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Thought:

The principle is “a man reaps what he sows,” and now the promise is “In due season we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Behind this promise is a peril: getting weary in the work of the Lord and then eventually fainting and stopping our ministry. How easy it is for us to work for the Lord but permit the spiritual motivation to die. Like the priests of Israel that Malachi addressed, we serve the Lord but complain “Behold, what a weariness is it” (Malachi 1:13). So what can cause us to become weary? It is possible to “faint” because of lack of nourishment and prayer. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). If we try to keep going without proper food and rest and time with the Spirit, we will lose the spiritual motivation that comes from the Spirit.

The promise Paul gives here in Galatians 6:9 also helps us to keep going. The seed planted does not bear fruit immediately. There are seasons to the soul just as there are seasons to nature, and we must give the seed time to take root and bear fruit. The Lord of the harvest is in charge of the harvest!

And then in verse 10 Paul reminds the church: as we do good to all people, we must give priority to the “family of believers.” Essentially, we share with other believers so that all of us might be able to share Jesus with a needy world. As we abound in love for one another, we overflow in love for all men (1 Thessalonians 3:12). This is how the local church is designed (by God) to function.

Application:

1. Are you becoming weary in doing good or have you lost the spiritual motivation to do good? Ask the Holy Spirit to sustain you and strengthen you and provide His power.

2. Ask God to prompt you and use you to do good for your “family of believers."

DAY 28 - GALATIANS

April 5, 2023

Galatians 6:6-8 (NLT)

Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

Thought:

The basic principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the Bible. God has ordained that we reap what we sow. It’s a natural law. In this text, Paul is also telling us to be careful where we sow. He sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit. All we do is either an investment in the flesh or an investment in the things of God. And once we have finished sowing, we cannot change the harvest. A person who plants to please their own desires will reap a crop of sorrow and destruction and death. But be encouraged that the believer who walks in the Spirit and “sows'' in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest. If his sowing has been generous, the harvest will be bountiful – if not in this life, certainly in the life to come.

With Galatians 6:6, Paul is simply saying: If we think of our material possessions as “seed,” money sown to the Spirit (such as sharing with those who teach the Word) will produce life, and in that harvest will be seeds that can be planted again for another harvest...and on and on into eternity.

Application:

1. What kind of seeds are you sowing?

2. Take inventory of where your time and resources are being “planted.” (You may want to select one category, such as “weekend time” or “personal expenses.”) What areas do not reflect the harvest you want?