Notice on a slight format change:

Except for July 2012, these are mostly a collection of current devotional notes.

July 2012 is a re-write of old quiet times. My second child was born Nov 11, 1987 with multiple birth defects. I've been re-reading my QT notes from that time in my life, and have included them here. They cover the time before the birth and the few years immediately after the birth. They are tagged "historical." I added new insights and labeled them: ((TODAY, dd mmm yy)).

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

QT 9/21/2022 Gal 3:2-5, Beloved

Galatians 3:2–5 (ESV) —

2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—

 

NOTE: Well, technically Paul asked five things, but it was really only about one thing -- was your new birth by faith or by works of the law? And the point is that the Christian life starts by faith, is lived by faith, and translates to heaven by that original faith. When you add things to it, it really changes everything. It is no longer the Christian gospel but some new idol you have created in your mind. When we add a human component, it is no longer a work of God. The only human part is the choice to believe and receive. God did everything. Now, it is true that the sanctification process, becoming like Christ and a witness to humanity, that part is work. Sanctification involves lots of choices and actions, but the purpose IS NOT TO GAIN FAVOR WITH GOD, you cannot do any better than what Jesus did on the cross! You cannot gain any more favor with God than you have at the point of belief. You cannot lose God's favor either, unless you never really believed.

 

PONDER:

  1. Do we truly believe in the Christian gospel? Or are we pursuing an idol created in our own mind of what we think Christianity should be? There is ONLY ONE gospel. Woe to the person who tries to add to that gospel.

 

PRAYER: Father, it is so freeing when you know that you are completely loved. I am part of the beloved. My position is secure, despite myself. Father, as I write this today, I want to pray for my brother in Christ, Phil. I hurt for him. It is so terrible to see injustice and to see innocent people terrorized and destroyed by the enemy. Free him. Give him a new ministry among those who are around him. Let his light so shine that others cannot ignore it but have to look at Jesus. Turn Satan's plans upside down. In Jesus name I pray.

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