The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:11-21 (day two)  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” vs. 21

This verse provides a stark contrast to how we live out our faith. There can be no equivocating with regards to the power of the cross. Our identity in Christ is complete, lacking in nothing, with no need for further requirement of qualification. Why then do we always feel the need to add to the cross? Sure, it’s easy to point to other denominations who view grace differently than we do, but strip away the dogma of doctrinal differences and look at our lives. What are the things we needlessly attach to the cross? Righteousness, virtue, piety are all wonderful characteristics of a believer, but they follow the cross. They are not in addition to the cross. It will forever be a mystery to us while we struggle on this mortal coil. We feel we must ‘do’ something for this gift. Our daily reminder is a stark reality. Anything we add to the cross, diminishes the cross. Christ doesn’t need our help, he is our help. He doesn’t need our actions, he acted on our behalf. Christ is our requirement and he, and he alone, is sufficient.

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

They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do. Galatians 2:10

Even in the midst of dissension, we can usually see that we are on the same page. The end goal and purpose are usually the same and that is enough to keep us together. However, our culture would tell us that the dissension is irreparable. We have become so consumed with being right, that we can’t look through theological differences to join together for the greater good and the furtherment of the kingdom. I am right, you are wrong, so we can’t be friends. This is what the world is telling us.

This is not to say that we should compromise on our beliefs, but time is too short for us to waste time drawing lines in the sand when we could be drawing up battle plans. If there is opportunity to find unity in the midst of dissension, that is where our focus should be.

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

The Gospel is a revolutionary message with surprising results. No one could have imagined the depth of its redemptive power. No one imagined that Jesus could redeem a passionate persecutor of the earliest Christians, and yet he did. Or that non-Jewish pagans would embrace its truth.

Not everyone responded to this news with joy but with suspicion and jealousy. They questioned the man, his Gospel message, and these pagans’ “new freedom.”

Here’s the rub, they began to think the only true way to become children of God is to become like us. So they began to whisper and accuse, who is Paul not to demand that they become like a Jew!

But the Gospel revolted, busting through that twisting of the truth, demonstrating with surprising results that Jesus is enough!

Christian, let’s pray for the revolution; let’s be joyful revolutionaries of the redemptive power of the Gospel in San Antonio!

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 2:1-10 (day five)  What do you see and sense first/most in other church members?  What draws you to people in the church. Is it their personality?  Is it their sense of humor?  Is it their likes and dislikes? Is it the presence of Christ? It is something inward our outward about them?

In our Re:Verse text this week, it is worth noting how these believers saw and regarded one another. Paul, Peter, James, and John all sensed and saw the Lord at work in and thru each other. The affection and respect they have for each other is influenced by their “recognition” and regard for the Lord’s presence and activity. Oh to sense and see the Lord’s presence and activity in other believers in the Body of Christ. Makes me want to walk closely with the Lord so that others could see and sense that in me. Makes me want to recognize and affirm the presence of Christ in them.  Only the Holy Spirit can help and guide us in those ways. When we can’t or don’t, does that say more about them, or more about me?  “Lord, help us see your presence in all your saints as we worship, study, serve, and fellowship together”.

We should never leave our church meetings, having spent time surrounded by beloved, distinctive people of faith, without feeling encouraged! – John Piper

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.

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

“Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem…”

What happened to Paul in that interval of fourteen years? Scholarship is of several opinions. Timelines are sometimes notoriously thorny in biblical studies. But overall, one can see that a substantial amount of time elapsed between Paul’s cataclysmic life-rearrangement and his full engagement with the church. Why? Because change happens in one’s life at the speed of trust. What appear as instantaneous existential shifts have in fact been long in the making. Moses fearlessly faced Pharoah only after he had spent 40 years in desert exile contemplating his life (which prepared him for the burning bush encounter). Abraham ascended Moriah only after he had known God for the better part of a century. Whether 100 years, 40 years, or 14 years, change takes time in you. That doesn’t bother God.

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

(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles) vs. 8

This parenthetical statement is tucked in Paul’s clear statement that he had been clearly called to minister to the Gentiles with a clear recognition that Peter had been called to minister to the Jews. Paul will later write about being all things to all people, and the need to recognize your audience and the context in which you are speaking. Thinking globally, there are many different expressions of worship that occur each week. Some may look so completely different from our own expression that it may seem strange at best, and even wrong to some. Paul is very clear on this point. When we bring our own baggage, rules, traditions (however good they may be) and add them to the gospel…we diminish the gospel. Paul knows his audience, and he knows the gospel. Everything else is subordinate, and much is unnecessary. Think about this the next time you are in a conversation about differences in denominational difference,  culture, or tradition. Wrestle over the gospel, not over the guitar.

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

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace. Galatians 1:15

Paul is telling us about himself, but he is also giving us insight into our relationship with God:

You are chosen. The Psalmist uses similar language saying, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 119:13). Before the beginning of time, God had a plan for you. He created you unique and perfect. In that perfection, He set you apart for a specific purpose… or purposes.

You are called. God extends to you an invitation to join Him in this work that He has set you apart for. Every person has a calling. For some, it is to come into a relationship with Him, but His calling doesn’t stop at salvation. Being set apart is synonymous with sanctification, and we know that sanctification is the process of our spiritual maturation on this earth. The calling may be different, but it will never stop. He is always calling His chosen ones to join Him in His work.

When the prophet Isaiah heard this calling, He said , “Here I am. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) The Lord has chosen and called you for a specific purpose today. Will you be able to say, “Send me!”?