Daily Devotions
The Book of Galatians
These devotions are based on a letter that Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians. You can read about how Paul planted these churches on his first missionary journey in Acts 13-14. Like in other letters Paul writes because of an issue that is disrupting the church. People were losing sight of the grace that gave them this new life of freedom in Christ. They were going back to a life of “slavery” to Judaistic legalism, with the act of circumcision becoming the indicator of discipleship instead of faith leading to transformed lives. The issue is relevant today because at risk here is the grace, or unmerited, surprising love of God in Jesus that is often missed in the pursuit of holiness (maintaining “God’s standards”) because of a reluctance to listen to the Spirit. I pray that through these devotions you will (re)discover that grace! For an overview of Galatians please watch: Watch Here
Remember, these are devotions – it is not a study. Please first pray asking God to speak to you, read the passage at least twice, then the devotion. Use the questions to help you think about how the passage relates to you, then pray the prayer I’ve written, it may be more important than the devotion! May I suggest you write your own prayer that is more relevant to your situation and add it to the comments for others to be encouraged? Or maybe you have a question/comment that others can respond to. If you have a personal question/comment please email me directly. I’ve also chosen a song for you to listen at the end of each devotion. Be blessed!
Week 1, Tuesday, Galatians
By Rev. Sunil Balasundaram
Tuesday, Galatians 1:2-5
“Grace and peace” is part of Paul’s greetings in all of his letters – in that order. We know that Grace is God’s unconditional, undeserved, surprising love – manifested most clearly in Jesus Christ – his life, death and resurrection – all for our sakes. There is no human element in God’s Grace – it is all his initiative and doing. We can experience this grace only when we open our lives to him, and allow him to flood in (because that’s the force of grace!). And here’s the thing: when we allow this love to flood into us, and keep filling us, we experience the fullness of the Almighty, his blessing, his abiding Presence. And that is the essence of shalom, peace. Maybe that’s why Paul wished “grace and peace” to all who received his letters – that is God’s will for every one of us.
Have you experienced grace, and continuing to do so? What about peace? Is God filling your life to fullness?
Prayer
Gracious and loving God: I need you – your unconditional, underserved love; not just once, but again and again. I know that when I am filled with your love I will be filled with YOU! I want to be so filled with your fullness my Jesus that there is no space for irritation, conflict, despair, hopelessness – they will all be pushed out by your Presence. I want to know your peace, the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), a peace that heals, that hopes. You said in your Word that that was your will for me. I yearn for that now. Amen.
Song: “Grace and Peace” (Fernando Ortega)
Read more...
Week 1, Monday, Galatians
By Rev. Sunil Balasundaram
Monday, Galatians 1:1
It is often argued that Paul was that twelfth apostle that replaced Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide. Paul himself says that his calling and commissioning came directly from Jesus and God the Father. He is referring of course to his “Damascus Road” experience in Acts 9. He also makes two other points about his calling and commissioning: there were no human intermediaries involved; and he was called by no less than the Resurrected One.
Why did Paul introduce himself so? How important is it that we know that we are specifically called and commissioned by God? What part do other humans play in that calling (after all Ananias did play a part cf. Acts 9:15-17)? How does the Resurrection effect what your purpose?
Prayer: Thank you Almighty God for making me “fearfully and wonderfully” (Psalm 139:14). You know me from the inside out; you know my strengths, but you know (more than even I) my weaknesses and failings. And yet you sent your Son Jesus to die for me; that I may be made new through believing in his death and resurrection for my sake. And even more than that you have chosen me to be a daughter, a son. And if that was not enough you called me, entrusted me with your gospel of grace to be shared with others, that same grace that saved me, made me your child, and called me to be a “sent one” myself. May I never minimize what you have given me O generous, loving God. Amen.
Song: “Abide” (Aaron Williams. One of my favorites that I sing every day)
Read more...
Week 6, Saturday, Ephesians 6:21-24
Saturday, May 30, 2020 – Ephesians 6:21-24
The Top Priorities of Our Lives
While I would love to provide a thorough explanation of who Tychicus was, I will simply say that he was one of the unsung heroes of the faith who made a big impact for the cause of Christ. I will also encourage you to research him for yourself, so as to see the depth of relationship he had with the Apostle Paul.
The reason Paul sent Tychicus to give a report on what he was doing and how he was, was because he was concerned that his brothers and sisters in Christ were worried about him. After all, he was in jail. But Paul had the peace of God, knew He was exactly where God wanted Him to be, and was continuing to spread the message of Jesus – even from behind bars.
Prayer:
God, grant us your peace, your love, and a greater faith. Most importantly, Lord, we ask that you continue to pour out your glorious grace upon us. Again, we don’t deserve it, but oh do we want and need it. Thank you!
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 6, Friday, Ephesians 6:14-20
Friday, May 29, 2020 – Ephesians 6:14-20
No Pants Needed?
“14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” – Ephesians 6:14-20 (New International Version)
In yesterday’s post (click HERE to read it), I mentioned that Paul was telling us that in order to stand our ground in spiritual warfare, we need to be prepared. To be prepared, we need supernatural power. Thankfully, God has provided this by giving us His Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us. In today’s passage, Paul lists each component of the armor of God that we must don if we want to “do everything” (verse 13) to be prepared. It’s not possible to be prepared without having first done these things.
The key to understanding the armor of God is found in Ephesians 6:10 – “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” All the pieces of the armor belong to – and are from – God. The pieces of armor are truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, and salvation – all of which are gifts of God to His people for their defense.
Just wanted to share that with you.
The reason there being no pants is likely because people did not wear pants back then – they wore ancient Hebrew clothing consisting of underwear and cloth skirts. When a man needed his legs free for battle, he would tuck his garment (i.e., cloth skirt) into his belt – thus, no pants. The belt of truth is the first part of the armor listed because, without truth, we are lost, and the schemes of the devil will certainly overpower us. And what is this truth? It’s Jesus, since He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Next is the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate shields a warrior’s vital organs during battle. The righteousness in this breastplate refers to the righteousness of Christ which guards our hearts against – and protects our innermost being from – the schemes of the enemy.
Up next: shoes. Having the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace as footwear suggests that we need to advance into enemy territory with the message of grace only found through Jesus. Satan has many obstacles laid out in the paths of followers of Jesus, and we’ll need this footwear to get through them.
After shoes comes the shield of faith, which has the purpose of blocking/deflecting the seeds of doubt the enemy hurls at us. After the shield of faith comes the helmet of salvation, which protects a critical part of our bodies – our heads/minds. This is meant to protect our minds from receiving false teaching and to help us stand firm in the assurance of our salvation.
Last – but not least – we have the sword of the Spirit. This is referring to the Word of God, which is the greatest spiritual weapon in existence. Jesus’ used the Word of God to resist the temptation of the devil, and we can – and should – do the same.
It’s important to note that we are told to pray in the Spirit in addition to wearing the full armor of God. Without relying on God and prayer, we will fail in our spiritual warfare fight. The full armor of God – plus prayer – are vital to our being spiritually victorious.
Finally – in verses nineteen and twenty – we see that Paul knew that unless people were praying for him, he wouldn’t be able to boldly go on preaching about Jesus, no matter what happened. And not only could he not do it without the prayers of others, it wouldn’t mean anything if he did. So having begun the letter with an extended prayer, and then an extensive report of his own prayers for the young Christians in the area, he finished with the urgent request that they join him in this ministry.
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for providing us these powerful tools with which we can combat the lies, deception, and other tactics of Satan. Without these, we know that we are exposed and do not stand a chance. Help us to wear these boldly, and to ask others boldly for prayer. We can’t do this without you, Lord, and I pray we don’t try.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 6, Thursday, Ephesians 6:10-13
Thursday, May 28, 2020 – Ephesians 6:10-13
A Battle Rages
Earlier in this epistle (Ephesians 4:22-24 – Click HERE for devotional on this passage), the Apostle Paul talked about putting off our old selves, renewing our minds, and putting on our new selves as we follow after God and try to live the life He has called us to live. As we do that, we must be cognizant of the fact that there is a battle for our souls going on. This battle is known as spiritual warfare, and whether we want to admit it or not, it does exist. If we live our lives for Jesus and play our part in sharing His love and furthering His Kingdom, the enemy – Satan – does not like it.
Author C.S. Lewis, in his famous Screwtape Letters, stated that, “The general public prefers either to ignore the forces of evil altogether or to take an unhealthy interest in everything demonic, which can be just as bad in the long run.”
When we realize/admit that we are engaged in a spiritual battle – against forces that seek to derail us from our relationship with/service for God – we need to rely on a strength that is not of our own to combat this evil. This strength comes from God, and it enables us to overcome.
In verse 13, Paul uses the phrase, “stand your ground.” This is a military term meaning either “to take over,” “to hold a watch post,” or “to hold out in a critical position on a battlefield.” Paul is telling us that in order to stand our ground, we need to be prepared. To be prepared, we need supernatural power. Thankfully, God has provided this by giving us His Holy Spirit within us and His armor surrounding us. In tomorrow’s post, we will look at the various pieces of the armor of God.
Prayer:
Father, we pray for the strength that we need in order to overcome the spiritual warfare that exists all around us. We know that there is a war going on for our souls, but we thank you that you have already won that war and that we are yours. Help us to stay focused on you, and help us to stay strong and diligent so that we remain close to you.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 6, Tuesday, Ephesians 6:1-4
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 – Ephesians 6:1-4
Parenting with Love
In yesterday’s passage, we saw the dynamics of a godly marriage and how husbands and wives are to treat – and relate to – one another. In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul continues to lay out what a Spirit-filled home looks like by focusing on the relationship between children and parents. Children and parents have a responsibility to each other. Children should honor their parents, and parents should care gently for their children.
Why did Paul single out the father as the one who should not exasperate his children, and who should bring his children up in the training and instruction of the Lord? That can be answered with one word: culture. In Paul’s culture, the father was the absolute head of the home, and as such, was responsible for the education and discipline of his children. Obviously, we do not live in the same culture as Paul did, so things are a little different for us today. Now, “father” – in verse 4 – can mean mothers and fathers, parents, and other guardians.
Parenting with love and discipline takes lots of patience and understanding. As a father of a five-year old and a two-year old, I can promise you that patience and understanding are vital. Frustration and anger should not be causes for discipline. Instead, parents should act in love, wisely treating their children as Jesus would treat them. Parents must also be diligent to give them the instruction and encouragement that is vital to their upbringing.
I would like to close with a set of questions. These questions are for you, and for me.
If you are a parent, do you read the Bible to your children? Do you tell them the great stories of the heroic men and women of the faith? Do you pray for and with them daily? Do you take them to worship services, small groups, Children’s Ministry, Sunday School, or youth group and let them see how important your involvement in church is to you? Can they see the difference Jesus makes in your life?
Prayer:
Father God,
We thank you for allowing us to influence the lives of children. At times it can be very hard, but being a Christ-like, loving example is the best gift that we can give them. So please help us to do just that. Help us to be more like you, and to love more like you. Allow us to make a difference in the lives of the young people in our lives.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 6, Monday, Ephesians 5:21-33
Monday, May 25, 2020 – Ephesians 5:21-33
Submitting to One Another
Some take this passage to mean that husbands are to control their wives and that the husbands are more important, and therefore have all of the authority in the relationship. What’s interesting, however, is that Paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives as he does to telling wives to submit to their husbands. What Paul is talking about in this passage is a unified submission out of love – one to another as husband and wife.
The Apostle Paul seems to have felt that any relationship would be abusive if a self-centered person were in it to seek control. Any relationship – no matter how outwardly authoritarian – benefits both persons if each views Jesus as Lord and has the other person’s best interest in mind.
While these verses focus on the dynamics of a marriage relationship, I also believe they can be for every follower of Jesus. Verse 21 tells us to, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” This describes the general attitude that Christians should have toward one another, and it all points back to how we are to love God and love people (Mark 12:30-31).
In Mark 10:45, we are told that “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As both men and women who are called to model the same heart and character as Jesus, we should always look to how we are to mutually serve one another. Paul’s main point is that relationships in a marriage and in Christian community should be modeled by Jesus’ relationship to His Church.
Prayer:
Lord, help us to submit to, care for, and love one another as you have loved your church. Strengthen our marriages and our relationships so that there can be great blessing among your people. As you have come to serve, help us to see the importance of serving one another. Let love, grace, and kindness be the founding principles of all our relationships.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 5, Saturday, Ephesians 5:15-20
Saturday, May 23, 2020 – Ephesians 5:15-20
Making Wise Decisions
People often complain that they don’t have enough time to do everything they need to do in a day, week, month, or year. I’m guilty of this as well and have jokingly said, “I’m trying to figure out a way to add more hours to a day and more days to a week.” The truth of the matter is that every person is given the same twenty-four hours every day. The difference is in how we choose to use our time. Here, the Apostle Paul is warning us to not waste our time doing things that are unproductive, or that are flat-out sinful. Instead, we should be looking for opportunities to do what God wants us to do every day.
Each of us has only one life, and no one knows how long we will live. We only get one chance to live each day, and unfortunately, we don’t get to add hours to days or days to weeks. Perhaps you’ve heard people talk about how they would live differently if they had another chance, or a redo. In these verses, the Apostle Paul is trying to help us live a Spirit-filled, godly life now – so we don’t have to get to the point where we wish we could go back and do things differently.
Prayer:
Father, we thank you that we can come to you when we are stressed out and burned out due to the things with which we have allowed to fill our lives. Help us to focus more on the main thing that should fill our lives – worshiping you and growing closer to you. Fill us more with your Holy Spirit so that there’s no room in us for the other unwise things.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 5, Friday, Ephesians 5:11-14
Friday, May 22, 2020 – Ephesians 5:11-14
In the World, Not of the World
In this passage, the Apostle Paul continues his thoughts on how followers of Jesus need to walk in the light of Jesus and please God. He is making it clear that living apart from the darkness (i.e., sin) does not mean we need to withdraw completely from the world. After all, Jesus – in John 17:14-19 – referred to both Himself and His followers as “not of the world” but in the world. In this passage in John’s Gospel, Jesus states, “My prayer is not that you (God) take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (verse 15). This tells us that we are in a world filled with sin and darkness, but that we have a protection from it, and that protection comes from God – via the Holy Spirit – in the form of a relationship with Jesus.
It is important for Jesus’ followers to avoid the “worthless deeds of evil and darkness” (i.e., anything that results in sin), but Paul – in today’s Ephesians passage – takes this one step further and states that we are to also expose these things. We are to prove them fruitless, definitely by our conduct, and not so much by private or public scolding. Unfortunately, some Christians focus more on the scolding and the publicly calling out of others who live lifestyles with which they disagree, which makes others view all Christians as judgmental.
Prayer:
Father God, thank you for allowing us to go from darkness to light – from a life of sin and separation from you, to a life that is lit up by your glory, grace, and goodness. Thank you for showing us a better way, and for providing us hope. Thank you also for allowing us to play a part in lighting up this dark world so that others can come into relationship with you.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
Week 5, Thursday, Ephesians 5:8-10
Thursday, May 21, 2020 – Ephesians 5:8-10
In the Light
In this passage, the Apostle Paul once again contrasts the lives of followers of Jesus both prior to, and after coming to faith in Jesus. Prior to, we were full of darkness (i.e., sin). After, we are full of light. Paul is continuing the emphasis he began back in verse one of chapter five by stating that followers of Jesus are to be imitators of God. The first way we are to imitate God is in His love, and the second way is in relation to light.
As is often the case, God brings songs to my mind when reading Scripture. As I have been reading and meditating on verses eight through ten, a song called “In the Light” by DC Talk has been running through my mind. Click here to listen to the song. Here are some of the lyrics:
I am the king of excuses…I’ve got one for every selfish thing I do
What’s going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior.
This only serves to confirm my suspicions that I’m still a man in need of a Savior
[chorus]
I wanna be in the Light, As You are in the Light
I wanna shine like the stars in the heavens
Oh, Lord be my Light and be my salvation
Cause all I want is to be in the Light
All I want is to be in the Light” A-Z Lyrics .
Prayer:
Father God, thank you for being our light and for allowing us to share your light with others. As children of light, help us to join together and light up the darkness in this world. And, Lord, if our light ever starts to fade due to the distractions we allow to creep into our lives, help us to be aware of it and to draw closer to You so that our light can be strengthened.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
Read more...
