From the Kitchen Table
Victorious Living Day 44
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. Galatians 3:1-9
We can never forget that this life in Jesus arises from faith in Jesus, not from what we can do in our own flesh. To live in the flesh is to live from my own human judgment, strength and ambition. To live by faith in Jesus is to live in His judgment, strength and ambition. It’s so easy to begin with Jesus but it can become challenging to stay with Jesus. He calls us to live by faith in what He did, what we said, and who He is. That’s not how we learned to live. Paul asks, “who has bewitched you?” So much of the world operates in witchcraft: intimidating, manipulating and dominating each other. The children of Abraham are the children of promise because they are the children of God. They live by faith in God’s promises, perspective and power. The flesh without the faith is foolish, it just is. The life God gives us comes from the Spirit who works miracles among us as we live by faith in His judgment, strength and ambition of love. Did you receive the Spirit by works… or by hearing with faith? Don’t leave God at home, He doesn’t live in houses built by man but in hearts built by His Spirit. We learn to live with Him by listening to Him and that’s what makes all the difference every day of our lives. It’s called living blessed.
From the Kitchen Table 