I’m deliberately going to keep this brief… because while there is loads that could be said about this wonderful passage, I want to give you plenty of space to reflect, confess and pray. These verses speak of the struggle that’s evident in each of our lives. Our flesh is in conflict with the Holy Spirit. That is, too often our selfish desires clash with the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and in this world. Paul says these selfish desires are obvious. Check out what he lists in v19-21. Recognise any of these in your life? Be honest. This is a time just between you and God. Allow the Holy Spirit to convict you.  Read More

There are certain verses in scripture that I believe I know so well that I don’t need to look them up. I thought Galatians 5:1 was one of those verses. I have sung it, quoted it in sermons and prayed it in prayer meetings. It rolls off the tongue – “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free!” Firstly I know that is not the whole verse – it goes on to say Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. But that is not my point, my point is this – I have remembered it wrong. You see I learnt the verse, or thought I had learnt the verse, from the NIV translation. In the NIV (New International Version) it actually says – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”  Read More

Isaac was a result of God's promise, while Ishmael was a result of Abraham and Sarah trying to help God out, doing it their way. And how easily can't we fall into the same trap? How easily don't we take things into our own hands. It might even be things that we have already given to God, certain areas of our lives where we have given God the control, we have said we just want His way. But then just like Abraham we come to places in our lives where we can't see how God is working, or even if He is even working at all - and we end up taking the control back again.  Read More

Galatians 4:8-20 - Paul's Concern For The Galatians Taken in isolation, we might be forgiven for thinking that Paul is being a bit heavy-handed or bossy with his choice of words in these verses. But lets not forget that verses 8-20, sit within the middle of a letter written to a group of people who Paul has invested huge amounts of time, love and energy into. He’s not just firing shots here, or at...  Read More

My sermon this week is on Galatians 3.26-4.7, and in my talk we looked at 5 awe-striking truths from this text, but in this devotion I've chosen to focus on the last bit of one sentence from Chapter 3 verse 27b; ... put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. If you heard the message you'll have heard me sharing an experience I had recently while praying to salvation with a friend. It was a beautiful moment as any moment of salvation is, but as I mention in the talk, it was also for me a bit of an aha-moment. As we were talking just before she invited Jesus into her life, my friend told me how it felt like she was dressed in a dress that was too small, as she was dressed in wrong clothes.  Read More

Our passage this week is right in the middle of a larger argument Paul is weaving through Galatians 3:1-4:7. Verses 15-25 can feel quite technical at times. But stick with them. Let them fuel your gratitude that God our Father has made us righteous through faith in his perfect son Jesus! Following a longer autobiographical section Paul is consider our relationship to the Law as believers in Christ. In our passage this week Paul emphasising to us the importance of God’s promise to Abraham, and he is exploring the purpose of the Law.  Read More