Author: Megan Langan

Finishing

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 3:1-14 (day four)

Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

I am great at starting things. I get excited about a new project or idea, and I spend time putting in the research, finding the right resources, and making a plan. These efforts normally get me about a third of the way through it, but then things seem to stall or fall apart. I get distracted with other ideas spurred on by the current project, I get discouraged by an unforeseen obstacle, or I lose sight of why I started this project in the first place and the work is no longer joyful.

Again, I am great at starting things. But when left to my own devices, I am terrible at finishing them. This happens in our faith, too. When we have an encounter with Jesus, we become so full of joy in the Spirit that we press forward with energy and hope, looking for how the Spirit is moving. Over time though, we might get distracted. We lose sight of what this gospel work is all about. We take into our own hands what was meant to be carried by Jesus and we pollute the gospel message with our own pride, just like the Galatians. What Christ began through the Spirit, we try to complete in the flesh.

The good news, though, is that this isn’t a lesson in learning to finish what we start, but rather humbly letting the one who started a good work in us bring it to completion in Christ Jesus. All that is required is faith. Faith like Abraham, the one by whom God’s promises were given to us. May we find renewed joy in surrendering to the Spirit.

Inner World

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:11-21 (day four)

There are times in life when we experience a profound grief that makes everything feel different. We go through our day and find ourselves confused when everyone else isn’t feeling the same way we are. The world carries on like normal, but our inner world has completely changed, and we don’t quite know how to proceed. This can happen with joyous moments as well – an exciting life event consumes our attention, and we can’t make sense of the person walking around frowning. Our inner world has changed, yet the outer world stays the same.

The same phenomenon occurs with salvation, too. When we accept Jesus and are saved by grace, we become a new creation and our whole inner world changes. The outer world, though, stays eerily the same. The world carries on with its difficulties, sin, and biases, and we have to figure out how to proceed now that our inner and outer worlds aren’t in sync anymore.

This seems to be what Peter was experiencing here. His inner world had been changed by Christ and he was continuously learning what this profound gospel freedom looked like, when he was suddenly confronted by characters in the outer world with their laws and expectations. He didn’t know what to do, and ended up bending to their way. We’ve all experienced that pang of regret that comes when we bend to the ways of the world.

There will always be such friction on this side of heaven, but when we make Christ our greatest pursuit, the things of the world will continue to grow dim, and we’ll be able to say with growing confidence, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

Messy

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:1-10 (day four)

This account of church life isn’t as rose-colored as Acts 2 is it? I’d be willing to bet that everyone in that room had an ego to lay down and personality differences to work through. They had to grapple with big, weighty questions, all while defending the gospel, which was still fairly new to them, from those trying to destroy it.

Life in the church is beautiful, but it is also hard. We’re all working out our salvation together, and that can get messy. In particularly hard moments, we might be tempted to think that it’s easier to go it alone. But there can be no lone wolf in gospel ministry. But what Paul knew, and what we must remember, is that the church is essential. Paul probably had his opinions about this group he met with, but he knew that unity among the body of Christ was the only way forward.

Participating in the gathered church is part of how we keep hold of this freedom the gospel provides us. When we’re called to a life with Christ, we’re called to his church. And when Christ, the good shepherd, is leading his church, we can have every confidence in it. Even when things get messy.

Sovereignty

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 1:11-24 (day four)

He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.

We most often notice God’s sovereignty when we’re out in creation, considering how he cares for the birds and the flowers, or when some sort of catastrophe is avoided, and we thank him for his protection. Paul shows us here, though, that we come face to face with the sovereignty of God every day when we interact with each other.

Paul had his whole life turned around by the revolutionary power of the gospel of Christ. And when he looks back, he sees that God was with him from the beginning – even in his mother’s womb, even when he was trying to destroy the Christian church – with a calling to bring the gospel to all the world. The power of the gospel in Paul’s life is the sovereignty of God on display.

When the people spoke with awe about the difference they saw in him, they were testifying to the power of God. He can and will use anyone he chooses to accomplish his purposes on the earth. That same sovereignty is revealed in us, too. When the redeemed of the Lord say so, we testify to his sovereign power. And when we think someone is too far gone, Paul reminds us that with God, nothing is impossible.

Determined

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 1:1-10 (day four)

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

We get a glimpse into Paul’s inner life here. Throughout the letter to the Galatians, Paul is clarifying and defending the freedom we have in Christ. He does this so fervently because he knew better than anyone the bondage that came with a life consumed with the law and pleasing men. While he was advancing in his career and accruing power, he was also sinking further under the weight of his own sin. When Christ broke those chains in his life, he was determined that he would never be bound by the things of the world again.

Paul asserts here that when we seek the favor of men, and spend our life striving to please others before pleasing God, we add constraints to our lives rather than living in the perfect freedom of the gospel. The more we do this, the more the gospel becomes obscured in our hearts, until we’re living by a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all, as Paul would say.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a recovering people-pleaser. When I look at my life, though, Paul is right. When I try to please other people and get the approval of men, my life quickly becomes constrained and heavy with sin. When I give all that up and pursue only God’s approval, I can enjoy the perfect freedom of Christ. Let us be determined to keep hold of the freedom we have in Jesus.

Character

Re:Verse passage – 1 John 5:14-15 (day four)

John states that we can have confidence that God hears us. But what gives us this confidence? What makes us sure that the God of the universe can hear what we have to say – or that he even wants to hear us? When things don’t happen the way we prayed they would, it’s easy to question if God can hear us, or if he has the desire to listen to us.

We know that God hears us because he did whatever it took to be united to us. He did what no other god would do – he became lowly and took on human flesh. He sent his son to carry the weight of sin for us, so that we would be united to him forever, living in perfect communion with him. He made a way to be united to us because he loves us. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. God’s disposition towards his children is one of love.

God didn’t do this miraculous work of love just to carelessly toss our prayers aside, only partially listening to us. He listens to us with his fullest attention because it is his character to do so. He is El Shama, the God who hears. When we have confidence in his character, we can have confidence that he hears us and will answer our prayers according to his will.

Keep Reading

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 9:1-23 (day four)

Daniel turned to the words of Jeremiah to find clarity about what was happening around him. He quickly realized that the nation of Israel was in such dire straits because God did exactly what he said he would. Israel sinned, and God delivered the consequences.

You can tell, though, that Daniel kept reading. It would be easy to get to the part in Jeremiah’s prophecy that explains the consequences for Israel’s sin, and throw the book aside in terror, panicking about the fate that awaited them. But Daniel read on, and found that Jeremiah also told of God’s compassion; that even after Israel had strayed so far away and suffered for it, God would once again look on them with compassion.

So Daniel, on his knees in prayer, appealed to God’s compassion. He was able to do this because he read about this characteristic of God in Scripture, he had learned of God’s compassion for the Israelites throughout their history, and he had witnessed it in his own life. He knew that the compassion of God was their only hope, and that this hope was sure.

And how much more can we be assured of this? We, who live on the other side of the resurrection and know that Compassion walked this earth? When you feel like all hope is lost, keep reading. Compassion is on the very next page.

Holy

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:1-4 (day four)

Jesus dictated to the disciples what many of his prayers consisted of, but it’s not just a stream of consciousness or a few nice thoughts strung together. Jesus gave these instructions on prayer with intentionality in every word. He begins with, “Father, hallowed be your name.” He instructs us to begin our time in prayer by declaring that God is holy.

Of course, we know that God is holy. But when we declare it in prayer, it does something in our hearts. It orients us to who we’re praying to. It helps us remember that while we are finite, limited, and sinful, God is infinite, boundless, and perfect. At first it may seem intimidating to approach a perfect God, but Scripture reminds us that God in his perfect holiness is also perfect in grace. He invites us to approach him boldly in prayer because he is a perfect Father, who sent his son as a perfect sacrifice to reconcile us to God. This is perfect grace.

When we begin by declaring God’s holiness, we can then pray in confidence for our daily needs, for forgiveness, for freedom, because we already know the One we’re praying to is perfectly able to do all these things for us. Let God’s holiness draw you into his presence.

Return

Re:Verse passage – Nehemiah 1:1-11 (day four)

One of the best ways to know that your prayers line up with the Lord’s will is to pray Scripture. That’s what Nehemiah is doing here – he is remembering the covenant God made with Moses, and believing in faith that what God had said long ago still holds true for him and his people. Nehemiah remembered that God made a promise for scattered people: if they return to the Lord, he will gather them up again into his presence.

But what does it mean to “return to the Lord”? We often convince ourselves that returning to the Lord means a long, hard journey, or that it would be like returning to a disappointed parent, ready to scold us. When this is what we imagine lying ahead of us, it feels too daunting to take a step towards the Lord. But Scripture paints a different picture. Returning to the Lord means doing just as Nehemiah did here – bowing before him in prayer, and standing on his promises. It only takes a moment to return, and in that moment, you won’t be greeted by a disappointed parent, but a good Father rejoicing over his child.

Pass the Peace

Re:Verse passage – Mark 11:22-25 (day four)

Do you enjoy the greeting time during church on Sunday? Some of us love to walk around the sanctuary shaking hands, while the introverts among us probably wish that we could just skip that part. Other church traditions refer to this time as “passing the peace,” where, just like in our congregation, the intention is that we greet one another with the peace of Christ in our hearts.

This brief moment on Sunday morning feels routine – but it’s an important part of the liturgy that is filled with significance. Before we continue on in worship, before we receive the sermon, before we take the Lord’s Supper, we actively extend peace to the members of the body of Christ that are around us. But this is hard to do when we haven’t made forgiveness a spiritual discipline in our lives.

Forgiveness is one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith, but this radical forgiveness Christ calls us to isn’t easy. It makes no sense by earthly logic, it only makes sense in light of Christ. We can forgive others because we have been forgiven first, and because the Spirit strengthens us to offer that same forgiveness to others. Here, Jesus is asking us to make this a regular occurrence in our prayer life. He’s asking us to include forgiveness in the daily liturgy of our lives.

What if we really lived out this command? What if, when we arrive at church with unforgiveness towards a fellow church member, we seek the Lord in prayer, asking the Spirit to strengthen us, so that we can pass that person genuine peace when the time comes? I believe the effects would reverberate throughout the entire sanctuary.