GALATIANS

Galatians 1
 
¹ Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), ²and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

Paul begins this letter to the Galatians by identifying who he is and what his calling is: an apostle.  An apostle is a “sent out” one. Paul had been sent by God to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the Gentile (non-Jewish) nations. His role as an apostle was also one of being an overseer to churches he had planted. He emphasizes that he had not been sent by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.

One of the things many Christians fail to recognize is just who they are in Jesus Christ. I believe with all my heart that every believer is called to minister for the Lord. Too often in our day and age we leave the ministering up to the so-called professionals. Don’t get me wrong. I greatly appreciate the Pastor of my church and the hard work he does. He strives hard to equip and prepare the congregation for works of service. It’s our job to utilize his equipping and move out to minister for the Lord. The question we must ask ourselves is: “What has God called me to do?” It might be surprising to know how many believers simply have no idea. If you’re in that place, my encouragement to you would be to begin praying and asking God what he wants you to do. It probably won’t be that of an Apostle, but it could be to minister in song, teach children, clean the church, feed the poor, intercessory prayer and the list goes on. All of these ministries are equally important and necessary for the vibrant growth of the church. Once we identify God’s call on our life we can truly begin moving in that realm of ministry.

The second part that I want to elaborate on is that we must know our calling is from God. Later in this 1^st chapter of Galatians, Paul talks about being a pleaser of God as opposed to men and I’ll talk more about that then. When it comes to our calling, who has called us? I’ve been guilty over the years of allowing well-meaning people to tell me what my calling is. God can use others to confirm your calling, but it’s my opinion and experience that the Lord will tell you first. People will often look at our talents and abilities as an indication of what our ministry should be. The Lord has different determining criteria. He looks at our heart. He looks at the needs around us. He looks at what He wants to gift us with so that we know it’s not a man given ability, but a God-given ability. This keeps us from trusting ourselves and keeps us in the place of trusting the Lord.

Have a blessed day!

Galatians 1
 
³Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

We’ll see in the book of Galatians that the Apostle Paul wasn’t very happy with some of the things he had heard was going on there. Yet he prefaces this letter by speaking a blessing to them. He speaks grace and peace to them. He reminds them of who Christ is and what he did for them on the cross.  He also focuses their attention on the fact that God’s will is for them to be delivered from evil.

There is so much we can learn in just these three verses alone. Last night I was really having a hard time dealing with some thoughts concerning my stepdaughter, Kayleigh. She recently had said some things about me and had done some things that I’m not happy with at all. As I laid in bed my mind was filled with all the bad things she had done and all her faults. It was really getting to me and keeping me from sleeping. My precious wife, Brenda, asked what was wrong and I shared with her some of my thoughts and about how I didn’t want to do anything for Kayleigh because she seemed unappreciative. Brenda wasn’t too happy with my negativity concerning our 14 year old. I really had to examine my heart and my thoughts.

The Lord began to remind me of the fact that I was far from perfect. I have many faults. However, the Lord sees me in all my potential. He has a good plan for my life and blesses me even though I fall short. Therefore, I needed to begin seeing Kayleigh in the same way. Not as one with numerous faults, but as one with abundant potential. I asked God to help me see Kayleigh the way He sees her. Once I began to have that mind set, I was able to start praying blessings on her. I spoke grace and peace over her. I prayed that the Lord would help me to be a good dad for her. God’s will for her is that she would be delivered from any evil in this present age that would come against her. I would much rather be a vessel for her deliverance instead of a hindrance.

My encouragement to you today is that you would really examine your heart and your thoughts about those around you. Is there someone in your life who has hurt you or disappointed you?  Ask God to help you see that individual the way He sees them. Pray for them and speak blessings on them. If necessary, and if the opportunity presents itself, share the good news of Jesus Christ with them. Maybe they simply need to know about a God who loves them so much that He gave to them His only Son to die on a cross for their sins just as he died for yours.

Have a blessed day!

Galatians 1
 
⁶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
¹⁰For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

The Apostle Paul is somewhat perplexed at the willingness of the Galatians to turn away from the truth of the gospel that had been preached to them. He emphasizes that it is not “another” gospel for there truly is only one gospel, only one way to get to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. Apparently, someone had come along and distorted the truth and was attempting to lead them astray. These deceivers were dragging the Galatians into a legalistic religion with only shades of the truth. Paul asks himself whether or not he was seeking to please others or please God. He definitely makes the point that pleasing God is most important.

I have a friend who accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior about 4 or 5 years ago. When I met her, she was definitely on fire for Jesus and a true inspiration to me. She was attending a well-established Bible believing church in our area and was growing spiritually in leaps and bounds. At the same time, however, her daughter was attending a church that I would consider to be a cult. It has shades of the truth, but ventures from the Bible to meet its own preconceived ideas about religion. Before my friend became a Christian, she really neglected her daughter. Most of it stemmed from my friends drug and gambling addictions. The Lord set her free from all of that, but she still had great feelings of guilt concerning her daughter. The people from her daughter’s church really began working on recruiting my friend over to their church. Eventually my friend gave in and left her church to begin attending the cult church.  This really pleased her daughter. And I believe it was the primary reason why she started attending the cult services.

Needless to say, I was deeply concerned about my friend’s spiritual condition. By using scripture I could have torn apart the cults beliefs, but the Lord had me deal with her patiently and wanted me to continue showing her love. Yes, I definitely let her know that I disagreed with the cults teachings and practices, but I did it gently.  I talked with another friend of mine and we began praying for her. I sincerely believed that above all, this was a spiritual battle to be won through prayer. So we prayed and continued to pray. We expected God to answer our prayer because we knew it was God’s will for her to be back in a Bible believing church. 

Well, before long, God brought a special Christian man into her life. The Lord used him in a very unique way to help bring about her deliverance from the cult. Praise the Lord! She is now back in her old church and loving Jesus like never before. Also, her daughter has severed ties with the cult and is attending church with her mom.

My point in sharing all of this is that we need to be so careful as to why we make certain decisions concerning our relationship with the Lord. Who are we setting out to please? Are we pleasing God or man? I’ve seen Pastors formulate their church services to please man rather than God. In all areas of ministry we must be careful.

This past Sunday I sang a special song at my church. Afterwards I received numerous comments from people telling me what a good job I did and what a great singer I am. Some were saying that I should sing a special every Sunday. All the nice comments really made me feel good and increased my desire to minister in music. However, my temptation is to now choose songs which would “wow” the congregation instead of pleasing God. I really have to be careful and ask the Lord which song He wants me to share. I want His approval in the choices I make concerning music and not man’s.

So my encouragement to you today is that you would ask yourself why you are doing the things you are doing in relation to the church you’re attending and the ministry in which you’re involved. Check yourself to make sure you’re pleasing God.

Have a blessed day!

Galatians 1
 
¹¹ But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. ¹²For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, ¹⁶to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

The Apostle Paul genuinely puts into perspective just who he is, what his calling is, and the origin of his message.  In the book of Acts it’s documented how Paul (then called Saul) stood by and watch with great approval the stoning of Stephen. At that time in his life he saw the church as the enemy of Judaism and took upon himself the task of persecuting the church, attempting to put a stop to the Christian movement. However, Paul had a “God-encounter” on his way to Damascus. He met Jesus Christ face to face and it radically changed his life. Now, he was no longer persecuting the church, but rather promoting the church.

The Part I want to emphasize from this passage though is the fact that Paul’s message was not according to man or from man, but by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Christianity today has a wealth of books, magazines, radio stations, and yes… web sites like this that teach us various principles and share insights from the Word of God. Many of these things are a tremendous blessing and encouragement to our lives. However, I have learned through experience that nothing compares to the revelation received directly from the throne room of God.

There have been times when I’ve meditated on one or two scriptures for several weeks because I knew the Holy Spirit wanted to reveal something to me. Sometimes it takes me that long to wash out of my brain the things I may have been taught by man from that particular passage of scripture. When the revelation comes, it’s like a light bulb turning on in my mind and illuminating my spirit, forever changing my preconceived ideas. It excites me and encourages me in my walk. It compels me to share with others what the Lord has shown me.

Too often I think we make the mistake of relying solely on what man has to say. Even when what they are sharing is scriptural, it will never quite sink into our spirit the way direct revelation from the Holy Spirit will. When I first became a Christian I would read study Bibles, which had lots of footnotes and commentaries throughout its pages. Every time I had a question about a verse of scripture I would immediately look down to the footnote and commentary for that passage and receive my “so-called” answer. As I matured in the Lord, I learned the commentaries really weren’t “scripture” per say, but man’s scholarly opinion on the particular verses. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, and I think it can be very helpful. What I do think is bad is for me to immediately look at the commentary instead of asking the Lord to reveal to me what I may not understand about a particular verse or passage of scripture. I now purposely steer clear of reading study Bibles.

My encouragement to you today is that you would spend time studying the Word of God and ask the Lord for direct revelation. You just might receive some life-changing instructions and insight.

Galatians 1
 
¹⁸ Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. ²⁰(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
²¹Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. ²³But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." ²⁴And they glorified God in me.

I placed in bold letters the 24^th verse of this chapter because I really want to dwell on that particular verse. The Apostle Paul was a bad dude concerning the church before he became a Christian. He spent a great deal of effort persecuting the church and even stood by and watched with approval as Stephen was stoned. I’m sure some of the Christians in his day were initially skeptical about his conversion, but once they began to spend time with him they saw the Lord in him.

There are two main points I want to bring out from this verse: (1) We need to be careful about being critical or overly skeptical about any brother or sister in the Lord. (2) We need to glorify God in the people of God instead of the people themselves.

I’ve often heard well meaning Christians being critical of a brother or sister in the Lord whom they have never even met or spent time with. Sometimes it’s a well-known minister and they’ve gone along with the secular media’s criticism of them. There was a fairly well known minister of whom I had heard a great deal of negativity. I had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with this individual and it was amazing how my opinion quickly changed. Not only did I find him to be extremely humble, but also there was little doubt in my mind that he genuinely loved the Lord with all his heart. At other times our wrong opinions might have to do with someone we knew before they became a Christian. We can sometimes be skeptical because we knew what a horrible evil person they were before and we find ourselves wondering how such a person could ever change.  Well, God is in the miracle working business. The greatest miracles I have seen are those of people having their lives radically changed by the power and grace of Jesus Christ. We should be quick to praise God for anyone who makes a new confession of Jesus as Lord. After all, God changed us at some point in our lives.

The other aspect of this verse is that we need to make sure we glorify God in the people of God. Sometimes we can get caught up in their abilities, talents and giftedness. It’s an easy thing to do, especially if they’re in the limelight so to speak.  This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t encourage them or tell them how much we appreciate them, but what it does mean is that we acknowledge the work of the Lord in and through them.  Therefore we glorify God in them and thank God for the good work HE has done in them.

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