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Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Prayer to Live Today in Obedience

Almighty God, who is the Father of light and who has promised by your dear Son that all who do your will shall know your doctrine: give me grace this day, to live by sincere obedience, that I may increase in faith and in the understanding of your Holy Word; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mason Barge 4/24/2015

Prayer for the Angry

Dear heavenly Father, I pray this day for all angry, hostile people, all those filled with hate for their fellow creatures; for violent criminals who harm the body, for those who hurt their family members, for bullies on playgrounds and sadists in charge of others; and for the many more who, through their angry words, ideas, and grudges, promote discord, misunderstanding and violence, and especially all those who contribute to the great wars that kill and hurt so many.

Dear God, show them the beauty of your peace and grant that they may love others so much that they cannot bear to harm them, both for their own sake and that of those they hurt. And help their many victims, saving them, comforting them, and granting them to know your Son Jesus Christ so well that they can forgive. In whose name I pray,

Mason Barge 8/11/2014

Meditation — Defining Who We Are

“When you judge another, you do not define them. You define yourself.”

~ Wayne Dyer

Dedication

I  dedicate this day to you, mighty God. I pray that your Spirit will lift me up this day, and that your face may shine upon me all the day long, that I might do your will and lead a new life in Christ, reborn in the Spirit.

Think of the day ahead in terms of God with you, and visualize health, strength, guidance, purity, calm confidence, and victory as the gifts of His presence.

Proverbs 8:6-7 (NASB)

Galatians 3:1 (BSB)

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

DP Parallel Bible (3-Column) - Galatians 3

Notes on the Scripture

Are You Bewitched? (Galatians #23)

Chapter 3 begins a new section of Galatians. Although Paul wove theological arguments into his description of the incident where he corrected Peter’s lapse, it was still part of the first primary point of Galatians: That Paul’s gospel — Paul’s teaching about Christ — was inspired by God. Paul's teachings were not the product of his own mind or something he learned from others (in particular from Peter, John, or James). He received it by revelation, directly from Christ.

Chapter 3 is a meaningful break point. Paul's argument of divine inspiration concludes at the end of Ch. 2 and he begins to address the primary purpose of the letter. Some members of the Galatian churches had begun to follow aberrant and incorrect teaching. He has not identified the specific error (as he will later in Ch. 3), but he considers it serious; he seems to imply that following these false teachers will deprive their followers of salvation altogether. But even if not, the false teachings are “cursed,” certainly detrimental to growth in the faith.

Paul wastes no time. He really lights into them. His first words are “ignorant Galatians,” which is hardly flattering, but the implications of “what (or who) has bewitched you” is even more dire. Those promoting the false teachings are witches, people using magic to work supernatural corruption on the Galatians' minds.

The connotation of “bewitched” is much more serious than it sounds to us now. Witches were not a harmless Halloween legend, silly crones riding brooms and turning people into frogs for children's stories; they were people doing Satan's work, by his dark power. Exodus 22:18 required the Jews to put witches to death. The implication is that the false teachers are not innocent and misinformed; they are evil. They are actively fighting for the forces of hell.

Paul goes on to argue that the Galatians must understand the crucifixion, because it has been clearly represented to them (either in words or in pictures). There could conceivably have been witnesses to the actual crucifixion who visited Galatian churches -- the Bible does not tell us. But Paul brings an important point home: Jesus was crucified in public, his body put on display for the world to see. Nobody (even today) can argue credibly that the crucifixion did not occur.

There are people who say that the crucifixion was invented, of course. People also say that the earth is flat. But the execution of Christ on a cross is historical fact, even to honest atheist historians. Tacitus, a renown secular Roman historian, relates the event, as does the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus. Neither mention is flattering — Tacitus called Christians “hideous” and “shameful” — so there is no suspicion of a Christian forgery.

Paul thus begins his argument in Chapter 3 with a point that any church member must concede. Christ was crucified and died; people were alive who had seen it with their own eyes. A reader who had put the fact out of his mind might well be disturbed by Paul's words. “Why have I not been thinking about the crucifixion?” “Was it not the most important event of all time, to me?”

And it is just as disturbing to most of us, when we ask ourselves the same question. Most Christians have the experience of doing something (or many things!) not totally consistent with their faith, in response to an un-Christian message: a post on social media, a tv commercial, a suggestion from a nonbeliever, etc. They might not be using black magic; but they “bewitch” us, for the image of Jesus on the cross recedes from our minds, and the image of a car with Napa leather seats or a tight bare midriff replaces Him. Perhaps we look at our horoscope “just for fun.” And a man hanging in agony on a Roman cross, to pay for our sins, fades from our thought.

Daily Inspiration

“A God to be Desired”

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