The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day five)

But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.

It’s one of the things I love about the scriptures. Honesty and integrity when telling the narratives of the Bible Heroes.  The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. Abraham (the father of God’s promised nation) acted out of fear and impatience. He didn’t wait and/or completely trust the Lord to fulfill His promise of a son to him (Abraham) and Sarah. So, he finds his own solution to fulfill God’s promise.  Abraham acted in faith- faith in himself and his own efforts. Wasn’t that he forgot the promise. He lacked patience and complete trust. Sounds like… me (us) sometimes. We do well to be reminded and remember God’s promises to us (in the scriptures). We must also trust God to fulfill His promises in His timing and His through His supernatural grace and power. It is difficult and exhausting at times. Paul says “Work out your salvation with fear and rambling”. Requires energy and dedication. Our faith must be focused on Him not in our own abilities.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day four)

When we think of Biblical lessons that teach us about courage, we often think of the Israelite army going into battle, or David facing Goliath, or even the prophets speaking out against the sins of Israel. But often, being courageous simply means staying steadfast and waiting on the Lord. Waiting on God’s timing is an act of immense courage.

Abraham received a promise from God that he would have a child in his old age, but he tried to bring it to fulfillment in his own power and his own timing. To be fair, the promise God gave to Abraham didn’t make logical sense – he and Sarah were well passed child-bearing years. But that’s part of what makes faith an act of courage – it defies logic.

We have all attempted to rush-order the fulfillment of a promise we received from God. And just like Abraham, we’ve seen the consequences that come with our lack of patience. When Abraham chose to take matters into his own hands, it caused grief for Hagar, Ishmael, and for Abraham. There are always consequences on the other side of disobedience. Thankfully, despite our disobedience, the promises of God will never return void.

We can have courage to wait on the Lord because we know that his Word is good. Sometimes the most courageous thing to do is to be still.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day three)

“Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law?”

Paul’s question here presupposes a crucial point: it is not the law that is the enemy of the gospel, but rather an abuse of the law. The law is the word of God. It proceeds from the mouth of God. It is altogether lovely. It is God’s revelation to human beings. But what is the law’s rightful function? It takes us to Christ who fulfills it. There is then nothing left for the law to do because Christ has done all that the law requires —and he is the only one who could do so. The law’s magnificence and brilliance now emanate from its wonderful accomplishment of having heralded the Christ. To declare that it has any other purpose is to misread it. Its work is done.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day two) 

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. vs 22

Hopefully you are familiar with the story of Abraham and his two sons. If you need a reminder, please read Genesis 21. Abraham was in a tough place. He had heard from the Lord, had been faithful to trust him in the past, and was promised a great legacy. The problem? Time. Abraham could not figure out how all these things could come about. His age was a factor, and his wife’s age was well past child-bearing time. The solution? Bring in a surrogate. This would accomplish the goal of bearing a child, but it wasn’t what God had instructed. It didn’t invalidate the promise, but it did have consequences. Refer back to the beginning of Galatians 4 when Paul reminds them that at the perfect time, Christ came. The same can be said for the birth of Isaac, or whatever God has purposed for your life. The Galatians moved from the truth of the Gospel backwards. They laid claim to the law, or the parts of the law they thought they understood. They, and we, have been called forward. To trust in the promise of God’s perfect timing. Not yet is a perfect answer.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day seven) 

 I beg of you, brethren, become as I am. Galatians 4:12

Comments like this from Paul used to unnerve me. In my naivety as a young bible college student, I did not understand how Paul could be so arrogant as to tell us to act more like him. Why doesn’t he just tell me to act more like Jesus? Now that I am wiser (a little bit at least), I get it. Paul was a walking example of Jesus to people who never saw Jesus in real life. He got to be Jesus to them through the Holy Spirit working inside him. The truth is, the young Rick was not as unnerved by Paul as he was his own lukewarm faith. I was not confident that if people became like me that they would look more like Christ.

No matter where we are at in our faith journey, we get to be Jesus to people who have never seen Him. That cashier at the grocery store, the waitress at the restaurant, the co-worker in the break room; this week, maybe even today, someone will cross your path who has never met Jesus. Will you have the confidence to say, “Be like me”? Will your actions point them to Jesus?

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day six)

 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.  -Jesus, John 15:15

Jesus was describing Kingdom friendship. What bound them as friends was an eternal perspective, giving them a shared purpose. This is the same kind of friendship that shaped the relationship between Paul and many of the church leaders in Galatia. Kingdom friendship is what allowed him to step in when things were hard and call them back to the simplicity of the Gospel.

In a world that majors in superficiality and personal pursuits, Kingdom friendship calls us to something (and someone!) bigger than ourselves. More than ever, we need to forge this kind of friendship!

What is one way you can build Kingdom friendship today?

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day five) “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—”

What is it that you wish for in your relationships? To be liked and loved. To find acceptance and community. To train and equip. To grow and develop. To love and be loved. To have peace. To bring and experience joy. Think about those relationships/those people for a second: children, spouses, friends, family, co-workers, church family.
Paul’s words to the Galatians can be seen as words of caution and wisdom. His goal… more than being loved, liked, included, encouraged… is for Christ to be formed in them as He is being formed in Paul.  It demands that pride, insecurity, and ego be replaced with a stronger desire and determination for the spiritual and eternal work of Christ (through the Holy Spirit) be the highest priority (in them in him). Willing to risk those things? Paul was.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day four)

“So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

As a child going through school, I used to loathe when the teacher would arrange a debate. This was partly because I tend to be conflict-avoidant, but mainly because I would always leave the debate feeling dumb or gullible. I would hear the arguments of one side, and think to myself, “Well, that makes sense. I agree with this team.” But then the other side would present their case, and I would think to myself, “Well…they make some good points. Maybe I agree with them now.” My views would change in a moment and I would leave feeling confused. The debate teams trying to convince me of their way of thinking began to feel like my enemies.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized this wasn’t a matter of intelligence, but of patience and steadfastness, and a grounding in God’s Word. I learned that rather than getting sweet-talked into the latest way of thinking, I could take the time to sit with the Holy Spirit and hold arguments and new ideas up to the light of Scripture. As the Word of God began to take root in me, I began to feel less anxious about determining my beliefs, and more confident that the Spirit would guide me into truth.

The Galatians accepted the truth of Christ, but they were still young in their faith. A different truth claim was presented to them, and they were swept away by it in a moment. In their confusion, the Biblical truth that Paul presented to them now felt harsh, like it was coming from an enemy. If we have witnessed the truth of Christ, may we let it settle in out hearts. Let’s learn from the Galatians so that when the wind and the waves come, or in this case, the arguments and debates, we will have a firm foundation on which to stand.

 

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day three)

“I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.”

What Paul proposes here suggests something more beautiful than a meeting of the minds. He sets forth a vision of oneness, a knitting together of hearts that will open up a way to see the way of Christ together. Paul stands in a place of humility in conveying such a vision. He has no need to prevail if by prevailing one means winning the argument. Paul speaks against a false gospel, but he does not champion his perspective as if he’s battling the Galatians. Rather, his concern is that they become one. That’s how powerful Paul knows unity is. That’s why the Lord made it the centerpiece of his prayer in John 17. God is one, and when we are one, we will see God together.