O. Addison Gethers e-mail address [email protected] [email protected]
twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 10:11 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Tuesday December 1 > Day 335 > > Galatians 1 > 1-5 I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the > Galatian churches. My authority > for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor > does it come through the > appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the > Messiah and God the Father, > who raised him from the dead. I'm God-commissioned. So I greet you with > the great words, grace and > peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us > from this evil world we're > in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we > all experience that > rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes! > The Message > 6-9I can't believe your fickleness-how easily you have turned traitor to > him who called you by the > grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor > variation, you know; it is > completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those > who are provoking this > agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me > be blunt: If one of > us-even if an angel from heaven!-were to preach something other than what > we preached originally, > let him be cursed. I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, > regardless of reputation or > credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, > let him be cursed. > 10-12Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or > curry favor with God? Or > get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being > Christ's slave. Know this-I > am most emphatic here, friends-this great Message I delivered to you is > not mere human optimism. I > didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some > school. I got it straight > from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ. > > 13-16I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived > in the Jewish way. In > those days I went all out in persecuting God's church. I was > systematically destroying it. I was so > enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and > shoulders above my peers > in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my > mother's womb he chose > and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed > his Son to me so that I > might joyfully tell non-Jews about him. > > 16-20Immediately after my calling-without consulting anyone around me and > without going up to > Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was-I got > away to Arabia. Later I > returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem > to compare stories with > Peter. I was there only fifteen days-but what days they were! Except for > our Master's brother James, > I saw no other apostles. (I'm telling you the absolute truth in this.) > > 21-24Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After > all that time and activity > I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea. There > was only this report: "That > man who once persecuted us is now preaching the very message he used to > try to destroy." Their > response was to recognize and worship God because of me! > > Galatians 2 > What Is Central? > 1-5Fourteen years after that first visit, Barnabas and I went up to > Jerusalem and took Titus with > us. I went to clarify with them what had been revealed to me. At that time > I placed before them > exactly what I was preaching to the non-Jews. I did this in private with > the leaders, those held in > esteem by the church, so that our concern would not become a controversial > public issue, marred by > ethnic tensions, exposing my years of work to denigration and endangering > my present ministry. > Significantly, Titus, non-Jewish though he was, was not required to be > circumcised. While we were in > conference we were infiltrated by spies pretending to be Christians, who > slipped in to find out just > how free true Christians are. Their ulterior motive was to reduce us to > their brand of servitude. We > didn't give them the time of day. We were determined to preserve the truth > of the Message for you. > 6-10As for those who were considered important in the church, their > reputation doesn't concern me. > God isn't impressed with mere appearances, and neither am I. And of course > these leaders were able > to add nothing to the message I had been preaching. It was soon evident > that God had entrusted me > with the same message to the non-Jews as Peter had been preaching to the > Jews. Recognizing that my > calling had been given by God, James, Peter, and John-the pillars of the > church-shook hands with me > and Barnabas, assigning us to a ministry to the non-Jews, while they > continued to be responsible for > reaching out to the Jews. The only additional thing they asked was that we > remember the poor, and I > was already eager to do that. > > 11-13Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation > with him because he was > clearly out of line. Here's the situation. Earlier, before certain persons > had come from James, > Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group > came from Jerusalem, he > cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between > himself and his > non-Jewish friends. That's how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish > clique that's been pushing > the old system of circumcision. Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the > Antioch church joined in > that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade. > > 14But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course > according to the Message, > I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: "If you, a Jew, live like a > non-Jew when you're not being > observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to > require non-Jews to conform to > Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem > cronies?" > > 15-16We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish > sinners." We know very well > that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through > personal faith in Jesus Christ. > How do we know? We tried it-and we had the best system of rules the world > has ever seen! Convinced > that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in > Jesus as the Messiah so that > we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying > to be good. > > 17-18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great > surprise, right?) And are you > ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through > Christ in order to get things > right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an > accessory to sin? The > accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be > rebuilding the same old barn that > I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan. > > 19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working > my head off to please God, > and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's > man. Christ's life showed > me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. > Indeed, I have been > crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer > important that I appear > righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven > to impress God. Christ > lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by > faith in the Son of God, > who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. > > Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, > peer-pleasing religion would be > an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with > God? I refuse to do that, to > repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by > rule-keeping, then Christ > died unnecessarily. > > Galatians 3 > Trust in Christ, Not the Law > 1 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave > of your senses? Something > crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified > Jesus in clear focus in > your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you > clearly enough. > 2-4Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by > working your heads off > to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you > going to continue this > craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their > own efforts what was begun > by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do > you suppose you could > perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for > nothing? It is not yet a > total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! > > 5-6Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his > own presence, his Holy > Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, > does he do these things > because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do > them in you? Don't these > things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed > God, and that act of belief > was turned into a life that was right with God. > > 7-8Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ > (not persons who put their > trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid > out beforehand in Scripture > that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture > anticipated this in the promise to > Abraham: "All nations will be blessed in you." > > 9-10So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who > lived by faith-this is no > new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own > effort, independent of God, is > doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every > person who fails to carry out > every detail written in the Book of the law." > > 11-12The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should > make it plain that no > one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in > right relationship with > God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God > is the opposite of entering > into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who > believes God, is set right by > God-and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into > living by faith, but only > perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in > Scripture: "The one who does > these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them." > > 13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing > it completely into > himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who > hangs on a tree"? That is > what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and > at the same time dissolved > the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see > that Abraham's blessing is > present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's > life, his Spirit, in and > with us by believing-just the way Abraham received it. > > 15-18Friends, let me give you an example from everyday affairs of the free > life I am talking about. > Once a person's will has been ratified, no one else can annul it or add to > it. Now, the promises > were made to Abraham and to his descendant. You will observe that > Scripture, in the careful language > of a legal document, does not say "to descendants," referring to everybody > in general, but "to your > descendant" (the noun, note, is singular), referring to Christ. This is > the way I interpret this: A > will, earlier ratified by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 > years later, thereby > negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions > and regulations, has > nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will. > > 18-20What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a > thoughtful addition to > the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was > to keep a sinful people > in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the > promises and distributing > them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It > was arranged by angelic > messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as > there was at Sinai, then the > people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original > promise is the direct blessing > of God, received by faith. > > 21-22If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of > God's will for us? Not > at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in > ourselves, out of right > relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising > some religious system for > getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for > God to complete his promise. > For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would > certainly have gotten it by > this time. > > 23-24Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith > to the living God, we > were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was > like those Greek tutors, with > which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them > from danger or distraction, > making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for. > > 25-27But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you > are in direct > relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up > for a fresh start. It also > involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe-Christ's life, the > fulfillment of God's original > promise. > > In Christ's Family > 28-29In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, > slave and free, male and > female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common > relationship with Jesus Christ. > Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous > "descendant," heirs according to > the covenant promises. > > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > Also, follow my tweets on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Donnie1261 > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/dbilg?hl=en.
