EXPAND TO READ: GALATIANS 1 (HCSB)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 10): For so many years of my life, bother before coming to faith and since coming to faith, I have tried to be a people pleaser in some respects. Instead of seeking and yearning for the favor of God, I have had a deep want and need for the favor of those around me. You don’t call us to be people pleasers; in reality You actually call us to be the exact opposite. By following You and truly doing things that You favor, we will cause some turmoil amongst people around us. Please forgive me for not truly understanding this until now, Father. Forgive me for living in a way to gain favor from those around me instead of You. Help me to recognize when I am doing this in the future, so that I may quickly change my way of thinking in the moment to be realigned with Your will for my life, Father.
PROMISE (verse 11): At the tail end of this verse, Paul writes that the gospel he preaches is not from human thought nor any human source by teachings. He assures us, through You, that all of his teachings are directly Christ via a revelation put on his spirit. We are all given this as a promise. If we lean on You and truly are “slaves of Christ,” then slowly but surely You will begin to give our spirit revelations that we never knew of before. Help me to really live in and embrace this promise, Father, so that I too may live out my faith through revelations and not through human thought or teachings. Help me to accept this promise deep in my heart and soul, so that when the spirit does reveal something to me I am listening to and understanding what is being revealed to me.
ATTITUDE (verse 10): This is such a powerful verse to me personally. I used it as my sin confession verse, but I also feel it’s an attitude I need to be better at embracing in my life. I do struggle with being a “people pleaser” at times, unfortunately. I do struggle with truly being a slave to Christ in my life at times as well. These are not things I’m proud of, rather things I know I need to continue to work on in my spiritual journey. Please help me to embrace an attitude that yearns for favor from You, Father—a righteous life type of attitude. Remind me that the way of the world is flawed and broken; that all of the people of the world are simply broken sinners like me trying their best to figure this life out. Unfortunately, many of the ways we live our lives in this world contradict Your will for our lives and I need to get better at recognizing those moments in my life so that all that I am and all that I do is for Your favor and not other people!
COMMAND (verse 9): Such a powerful command in this verse that I often neglect. It’s kind of two commands in one. The first is to be aware of false gospel preaching out there, as it is rampant and does infiltrate even the holiest of grounds such as churches. The second is that a curse be put on those who preach a false gospel that is contrary to what we receive from the Christ through the Spirit. Help me to be better at both of these, Father. Help me to be better at righteous discernment so that I can identify when false gospel is being preached to me, but also help me to be better at sending those that do preach false gospel to You so that You may deal with them as You deem fit.
EXAMPLE (verses 13-24): Paul’s testimony here is such an amazing one. He reveals his past to us through this scripture, but then continues on with how Jesus gave him a new, born-again identity through Christ. His old self is no longer what defined him and his new self is receiving spiritual revelations that are bringing glory and praise to God! What a powerful example to live by here. I should not let my past define who I am today because God gave me a clean slate to work on when I accepted Christ into my heart. Paul knew this, embraced this, and ran full speed with it. Unfortunately, I also knew this, but I didn’t truly embrace it until recently. Thank You for the reminder here on our spiritual identity and how our past no longer defines us, Father!
*DAILY NOTE: The book of Galatians is already starting off strong for me personally, right off the get-go. Paul’s introduction and personal testimony to the Galatians is absolutely amazing and I see a lot of myself in this scripture. I live in a horrible way for so long, just as Paul did. When coming to faith through Christ, I knew I was a born-again Christian, but I didn’t fully embrace and accept it like Paul did. Far too often I have allowed people in this world to influence my beliefs and ways of living for their favor instead of for Yours. Thank You for a timely, relevant, and needed lesson today, Father. I am looking forward to what the rest of Galatians will reveal to me in my quiet times.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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