Day 161: June 12, 2016 Walk by Faith

June 12, 2016       Walk by Faith
Day 161

Every book of the bible has such an incredible message. Currently a bunch of us are
nose deep (better yet knee) into Galatians. We are expecting change, big time, but only in ourselves. For this is why we come to Scripture. Many come to amass more knowledge, more insights, more understanding as if they are collecting for a museum; you can see but DO NOT TOUCH. But when we study God's word we are coming to see, hear, touch, see and feel (yes, I just said feel) and be CHANGED.

The first read through was full of blur. It takes a number of read throughs to see the obvious elements. The more we read the more we see and the more we see the more we understand. It is an all out treasure hunt for meaning, for understanding, and for intimacy with our Saviour.

Galatians takes our face and points it back to faith. We become believers by faith in His grace. We continue as believers by faith in His grace. We enter heaven by faith in His grace. Our works gets us bloody nowhere. It is all faith. But we must recognize those within our midst who try to careen us off the path suggesting that it is also what we do, how we do it, when we do it, where we do it, why we do it, and what we do. This takes discernment on our part especially if the people are making a big deal about us, showering us with love, accepting us completely, providing us with what we need. But there was an ulterior motive at play and the Galatians were too swooned to notice.

These folks were making a big deal about the Galatians so that the Galatians would make a big deal about them! They were being moved toward a "to do" list attitude by people who were, in essence, flattering them. Some good ole christian back scratching was in process. These folks were wooing them further into deception and the result was the Galatians were falling away from grace and towards a worship of people. Deception is always so rampant because it is so deceiving and it caters to our need to be loved.  Christ calls us to walk by the Spirit not by what THEY SAY. He desires for us to be intimate with Him. He calls us to uphold the Gospel even when someone is steering us toward the "to do" list while making us feel really good. We must beware.

How do we know we are deceived? Good question. Make sure you know the answer!