Devotional Fuel to Reboot Your Mind

Galatians 1:15-17, “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned to Damascus.”

So often, we want instant results and instant success, don’t we? We have a plan, we zealously do our research to substantiate the reality of our goals in our job and task at hand, and we enlist our team in support of the desired objective to be achieved. Paul, as highly intelligent as he was did not have instant notoriety in his ministry when he started out in being chosen by God to bring the gospel primarily to the Gentiles.

Paul shares his testimony with the Galatians in Galatians 1:11-24. Paul was one of the highest trained in Judaism. Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, was a highly educated teacher of the law within the Pharisee sect, and his religious school was mainly oral. His students spent much time in memorizing the Old Testament. Gamaliel was a brilliant thinker and one of the most influential teachers in all of Jewish history (Acts 5:34). “Jewish historians tell us that Gamaliel’s criticism of Paul was that it was impossible to find enough reading material for him. This is not surprising, since those who study Greek tell us Paul’s vocabulary and sentence structure is the most sophisticated of any Greek writer. The guy  was brilliant.” Jon Courson’s Application Commentary. New Testament.

God dramatically chose Paul and gave him direct revelation to bring the good news of the gospel of grace. But God trained Paul in the desert. He spent three days there without sight in the beginning. Paul then ministered in Tarsus and other cities in obscurity for seven to ten years. None of the churches knew his name. After that time period, God directed Barnabus and Paul to be a team together in bringing the gospel to the Greeks, the Gentiles. Barnabus sought out Paul for this purpose, and the rest is history and the major turning point in Paul’s life of ministering to the people he was supposed to as God opened up a different door for Paul than what Paul had originally intended.

Before Paul was saved, the emphasis was on what he had done. But after Paul was saved, the importance was all on what God had done. Are you in a time of waiting? I often feel I am, especially since COVID -19 restrictions were put in place. Do you feel as if you are going through a challenging time in having to wait for answers as various achievements are having to be delayed? I sure have. Paul had those times, too, as did many other patriarchs of the Bible. Maybe the purpose for you and me is to see Jesus Christ revealed to us in a fresh new way while being in a time of isolation or know a goal is temporarily having to be put on hold. Did you know the book of Revelation was not written until John was isolated on an island? Think about that.

Draw close to the Lord. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and to speak to you as you read verses in Scripture, giving you counsel, wisdom, and insight as no one else can. Be still and sit in quiet before His presence. Then thank the Lord for all of the things He has done in your life. You will see new things you would not have noticed in any other way.

There is a time not to consult with any of your friends  – just with the Lord and to be obedient in His call upon your life, as Paul did. and do it. God knows you intimately and chose you before you were born (Ps.139). Stay faithful. Do what God has told you to do. There is a time to seek advice and counsel, but there is also a time just to be obedient and go forth and do what God has purposed you to do for His glory. “OK, God, let’s go!”

Listen to Matt Maher, Alive & Breathing feat Ellie Limebear (lyric)

Galatians 1:10, “For I am now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Paul’s audience, in his speaking preparation and then delivery, was, first of all, to please God. That was his primary objective. He was more concerned about being faithful rather than popular. When Paul spoke, He first spoke to God rather than men. Paul’s purpose was solely to serve Christ and bring the divine gospel message to people he loved that were in danger of hell or were being endangered spiritually by wrong doctrine. Paul did not live for any audience’s approval but solely for God’s approval.

One of the most impactful books I have ever read on leadership is “Lead Like Jesus Revisited. Lessons From The Greatest Leadership Role Model Of All Time,” by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges, and Phyllis Hendry. They talk about EGO – Edging God Out  – that it is the biggest addiction of all and leads to all other addictions. EGO-Edging God Out, they explain, involves being driven by self-doubt and demons of false pride and fear and continuously looking at what will make ourselves feel better about ourselves. It is primarily centered on one’s success. The solution is simply to return to the unconditional love of God and seek His approval, rather than men. I think we all struggle with the EGO-Edging God Out factor in our journey in promoting our winning arguments and showing off our strengths. But Paul didn’t live simply to please himself or other people; he lived to please God – as he was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

The Greek word for approved, tested, and acceptable, is docimos – dok’-ee-mos (phonetic spelling), and has seven occurrences in the New Testament. One of these verses is, 2 Timothy 2:15, which states, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” So that tells me if I zealously pursue God’s approval by aligning my heart with His Word of truth, God gives me complete acceptance, and His unconditional love for me never stops, never falls short. I will then receive God’s applause. I found a note I had written in my ESV Study Bible, next to this verse that says “8/12/11 From my Dad, about himself.” That was nine years ago. That note and verse has special meaning to me. My Dad always taught me that one should not do things for others to expect to receive being thanked. One should do them because it is right and that should be thanks enough. But I would also say, saying “thank you” is just plain good manners and proper, by the receiver. But my Dad had a valid point.

How can God be visible with the people you encounter today by what you say and do?

Wait for God’s applause. Do you hear it? You are a genuine, approved, accepted, tried, by the LORD, daughter or son, of the living God. Well done!

Listen to Natalie Grant – My Weapon (Lyrics), 2/27/2020 YouTube.

Galatians 1:3-5, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Galatians has been called the “Declaration of Independence of Christian Liberty.”  It is Paul’s public proclamation of the necessity alone in standing in Christian liberty in the grace of God vs. those that taught religion was a set of laws, rules, rituals, and regulations. But the gospel of the grace of God centers on asking the question, “So what will you do and believe about Jesus Christ?” That is the question and purpose, instead of a list of denominational rules. I have used that question and statement when encountering a rebuttal or argument when trying to witness to someone. That is the important question.

It is said that Julius Caesar had been known for saying that the Galatians were “fickle, fond of change, and not to be trusted.” Have you had that painful experience firsthand yourself with someone? Haven’t we all? “Paul experienced the fickle nature of these people when, after he healed a lame man, the Galatians bowed before him and worshipped him as Jupiter. That was in the morning. In the evening, the same people picked up rocks, threw them at Paul, and left him for dead outside the city in response to a whispering campaign instigated by his enemies (Acts 14).” Jon Courson’s Application Commentary New Testament. Yet God had other plans for Paul, and that was to continue preaching the gospel of grace to the very people that had tried to kill him unjustly.

We will not be delivered from the presence of “the present evil age” until we go to be with Jesus. But we are delivered from the power of “the present evil age.” Colossians 1:13 declares, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

Therefore because of God’s grace, I can:

• Start each new day fresh, to begin again. Yesterday’s mistakes happened yesterday, and by God’s grace, I will learn lessons from them and go forward with new opportunities.
• Discern right from wrong from having my conscience sharpened from reading God’s Word.
• Because of my own sin, I have learned that forgiveness can and should be given.
• Not be enslaved by irritations, anxieties, and fears.
• Be full of joy, peace, love, gentleness, and goodness.
• Have confidence in the fact that God knows my name, Isaiah 43:1.
• Have freedom in not living only to please and impress others, but to please God first in all that I do and for God to say, “well done!”
• Commit my work plans and agendas unto God and He will establish it (put in place, initiate, bring into being). Proverbs 16:3.

Because of God’s grace I am delivered and rescued from the realm and powers of Satan and set free in the liberty of Christ’s sacrifice for my sin on the cross. Our world is temporary and is headed for destruction, by which God has redeemed us that He calls by name and says, “You are mine (Isa. 43:1b).”

Listen to The Blessing (Symphonic Version)-Passion City Church, YouTube.

2 Corinthians 13:11, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

The last chapter of 2 Corinthians is Paul’s final greeting and admonitions to the Corinthian Christians. His final closing words in his letter was his prayer and desire for them to do what is right and not what is wrong. He wanted them to be able to enjoy the joy of walking in a right relationship with God and with each other. I think we women long for our children, our nieces, and nephews, and those we lead with godly influence in our workplace, to live in peace and harmony.

Paul had a deep love for the Corinthians and was burdened for them to have a heart yielded to desiring to become complete in Christ – complete and mature in all that Christ purposed for them to be which the result then would produce living in peace with one another. Then the world would know Jesus was the son of God because they would see the power of transformation in their lives living out the power of the gospel and their love for one another, reflected by their identity in Christ.

How do we live in peace with one another during this unusual time of shelter-at-home?  “Resilience has now become a new skill to seek after and comes from hard work and perseverance in serving others (author, T.W. Lewis, Solid Ground).” I think it takes showing grace to others we may disagree with, as God has shown His grace and mercy to us over our own self-righteousness, pride, and judgment. It is not just being right on an issue that is the most crucial end.

Each morning as I have my time alone with God, I have the best of intentions. I study the verse or verses I am consecutively studying and seek to draw out the meaning God wants me to understand in them as He gives me instruction, correction, wisdom, and guidance for my day. Then the day begins, and by early afternoon or sooner, waves of problems and conflicts have dashed in upon my day like crashing tides barreling towards the shore like the ocean waves hitting over the rocks in the sand. Then a few trigger irritations with various people have barged in and taken root. Can you relate?

I hold the truths of God’s Word as my spiritual recalibration tools, for God is my rock of strength – my “El Sali.” My struggles and failures do not tell the whole story. I must keep the bigger picture in mind, for Romans 16:20 declares, “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you. Amen.”

So, the questions to myself are the following: Am I walking in the Spirit? Do I depend on God’s grace? Am I walking in the love of God? Am I guilty of blocking the Holy Spirit’s fellowship? Paul’s final benediction to the Corinthian believers fits even for today, 2 Cor. 13:11 NIV, “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.”

Listen to Matt Maher Your Love Defends Me (Acoustic) YouTube 8/4/2017 by mattmahermusic

2 Corinthians 12:9,10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I have been asking myself this week, am I living and holding onto God’s promise that His grace is sufficient for me? I would be the first to admit that I have many weaknesses and often fall into feeling insecure in my own abilities. I don’t know that I can always exude contentment as Paul was able to do, while undergoing harsh criticisms (which to me come off as insults), inconvenient adjustments in living right now, and the normal calamities of life. But I discovered Proverbs 12:16 this week, in my reading a chapter a day in Proverbs, which states, “The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.” Shrugs it off in other words. I find that verse amazing!

Paul lived before others a steadfast faith in the Lord’s power and grace and rejoiced in the “hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:2)” to sustain him. In Romans 5:3, Paul declares, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” I ask myself am I growing in endurance? Is my character being further produced and refined, and is this producing more hope in God’s sufficiency in these current times? Patience includes uncomplaining suffering. That seems like an oxymoron. But it comes from the power which God gives in the day of the trial to show His glory.

When problems occurred before Covid-19, our modern society believed in self-sufficiency in handling issues in life with slogans such as:

• “You have to have a positive mental attitude to meet this problem.”
• “The power lies within you to conquer any problem.”
• “Look deep within your inner resources for success.”

Maintaining a positive mental attitude will not take away the uncertainty of our current pandemic situation. But God’s promises will conquer the fears that creep in and can combat Satan’s ploys of defeat. We are instead, to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16). It might mean praying one hundred times or even three hundred times, until God takes away the difficulty, – until He supplies the answers to what you are asking or lets you know that His grace is sufficient for you to bear the pain or the disappointment, as he did with Paul.

Don’t allow your burdens to make you harden up and lose your purpose in going forward. James 4:10 states, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” The NIV says, “he will lift you up.” Every morning, lay it all out to God – all of your weaknesses, burdens, frustrations, etc.  Seek His approval. Then lay down your will and be quiet before the Lord. You will receive God’s sufficient grace and mercy for the day. The deepest struggles of our souls are just as great victories as any miracles found in the Bible. When we can control our temper, love others that have wronged us, having peace in the middle of a crisis, showing kindness without retaliation, having self-control with our mouth, all of these are just as great a victory as David slaying Goliath. Take limitations in stride and put your focus on knowing that God’s grace is sufficient despite weaknesses and gives strength through the power of His Word.

What lessons and rich nuggets of truth found in God’s Word, has God been teaching you? He may not give you an explanation in your suffering moment, but He has given you His promise, that His grace is never in short supply, is never on allocation, and is sufficient.

Listen to Casting Crowns, The Change In Me – YouTube.

2 Corinthians 11:28,29, “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall and I am not indignant?”

Paul had continual sufferings and mistreatment throughout his ministry, yet he never kept his eyes off of God’s calling upon his life and had a daily burden for those who were weak in their faith or were misled by false apostles.

Paul lists a summary of what he had endured for making the gospel known (2 Corinthians 11:23-27): Imprisonments, countless beatings resulting in often near death. Five times Paul was given the Jewish punishment by the synagogue of 39 lashes for preaching the gospel, especially to Gentiles. It was the most severe beating allowed. The Gentile’s punishment for disturbing the peace was beatings with rods, which he received unjustly three times. Once in Lystra, Paul was stoned, which was the most common form of execution. Three times he was shipwrecked. At least one of the shipwrecks was so severe that Paul waited an entire day to be rescued, while drifting and floating on the wreckage of the ship. Paul was often in danger of robbers, and from false teachers while traveling. Yet despite all of these trials upon his health and life, Paul continued to have compassion and love for Christ and the churches because God had made Heaven real in his heart. Paul knew first hand how God had changed a sinner like himself; therefore, Paul was a testimony of God’s mercy. That was the turning point in Paul’s life, found in Acts 9:4-6. His salvation is a great example of a life transformed by God.

As I was sitting in my car at the drive-up-pick-up spot at Ralph’s recently, I was viewing people going into the store with their mask’s on and that struck me differently than I had viewed them before. I was wondering if they knew Jesus, and did they have a relationship with Him? Did they think that just being a morally good person will be enough? Why didn’t I look at people like that before COVID-19? It was something about seeing the masks covering up people’s faces that caused me to have a change of perception.

Paul never allowed his sufferings, which were no doubt caused by the enemy in trying to hinder his work for the Lord, to deter Him in his faith and trust in the Lord, and personal time spent reading the Word of God and praying. Paul warned about being on guard of Satan’s continual efforts to derail local churches and ministries. Satan seeks to destroy unity by generating bitterness and unforgiveness, to create fears (that is a big one), and to blind the unbelievers’ mind to respond to the gospel (2 Cor. 11:14,15).

Paul, a true man of grace and grit, had learned immense patience and endurance from all of the sufferings he had experienced. His relationship with the Lord made him strong as he focused on Christ and eternity because Heaven was a real place, and Hell was a real place to Paul in his heart. That held Paul’s perception of life after his turning point time of salvation as Paul ministered for seven to ten years in obscurity in Tarsus. Nobody knew his name or who he was, yet the Lord had plans for Paul when Barnabas sought him out to go minister together to the Gentiles in the north and that was a significant pivotal point of the gospel being spread.

Wondering what God’s plan is for you during these odd times of having life on pause in various ways? Paul had many detours throughout his ministry, but God used Him in ways he wouldn’t have expected, and that fruit still remains today. God may be choosing this unclear and difficult time to understand, to become a turning point in your life and my life (think of that word “obscurity.”). Screen your thoughts and opinions through God’s Word. Search for God’s wisdom upon your life. Your perception may change, and it may become a new turning point in your life, even during this time of shelter-in-place, as you walk by faith for what’s next. Hold onto Ps. 48:14 NIV, “For this God is our God for ever and ever (Elohenu Olam); he will be our guide even to the end.”

What turning points in your life has God used for His glory?

Listen to KING & COUNTRY – TOGETHER (feat. Kirk Franklin & Tori Kelly) Official Music Video. It was just released this week.

2 Corinthians 10:17, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”

Paul was a superior model of a great faithful spiritual teacher, leader, and writer, that never boasted about his own abilities. He lived out Jeremiah 9:23,24, “Thus says the LORD, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness on earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” Paul quoted this text to the Corinthian Christians in 1 Cor. 1:31 and again in 2 Cor. 10:17. Yahweh, the God of Israel, understands and knows me. What a comfort that is!

It is interesting to note that Paul was not a trained spell bounding speaker. He was, however, a brilliant thinker. Paul had not had formal education in the Greek schools of oratory and speech making as no doubt many of the false teachers of that time had graduated from, that criticized his delivery in speaking (but Paul was one of the most educated of all of the apostles). In comparison, Paul’s ministry appeared small to these men. Yet look how God used Paul’s humble, obedient, and faithful, simple presentation of the gospel. Paul fulfilled God’s calling on his life in teaching the gospel of salvation and left the results to God, as Paul stated in 1 Cor. 1:25, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” Paul’s goal and purpose when he was preaching and teaching were two things: 1. One’s faith would be increased. 2. That the gospel message would be embraced and would then be given out by the hearers in the remoter parts of Achaia.

Paul had learned that all that he had was from the Lord. Presumed accomplishments are just that – assumed thinking. God just wants us to stay faithful in where He has placed us to serve Him, all for His glory. Statistics do not show the total picture and are often manipulated.

A parallel verse is found in Proverbs 27:1,2, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

Giving God credit for what He has done needs to be first out of our mouth, out of my mouth, despite our restrictive circumstances, frustrations, and at times anger with people that seem to be obstacles in our (my) life. God is sovereign. That will never change.

What lessons are you still learning about God – is it His love? His faithfulness? His power and justice?

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I can’t see when the end of all this quarantine will be for sure, but I do know God has given me today to live for Him, and to be a good steward in it. I rest in the name of the God of my life, El Hayyay. I have lessons still to be learned.

Listen to Danny Gokey-Give Me Jesus (Live), January 23, 2016 YouTube.