Breath of Blessing
Opening Prayer
Today, Lord, by the Holy Spirit, I want to learn to delight in Your love and walk in Your ways.
Read Galatians 3:1-14
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Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“It is the foremost concern of the Holy Spirit to pour God’s love into the hearts of his people. Without that… we have nothing to offer a hungry world” (David C. K. Watson, 1933–1984).
Think Further
Orators in the ancient world liked to use “proofs”—arguments to support a speaker’s main point. Chapters 3 and 4 are Paul’s “proofs.” They back up his point that justification depends on Israel’s Messiah, Jesus, rather than on Israel’s ancient Law (Gal. 2:16). This first “proof” focuses on three important words: Abraham, blessing and Spirit.
Abraham was the founder of the Jewish people. God called him to travel in faith, as a beacon for generations to come. So
Abraham was the root of the idea that being right with God comes through believing (6, quoting Genesis 15:6). To take the path of faith is to follow his footsteps. Faith in Jesus—”believing what you heard” (2,5)—is part of Abraham’s heritage, and Gentiles can do this as surely as Jews can, for the blessing God gave Abraham was always intended to spread (8, drawing on Genesis 12:3 and 18:18). Genes and ancestry were never meant to be a permanent boundary around God’s grace. Now, in Jesus, God’s purpose is reaching wide. Promise is turning into possibility. Gentiles are blessed, on the basis of faith (14).
The sign of blessing is the Holy Spirit, who comes through the preaching of the Good News (2,5) to people of every race who believe (14). The Law picked out one nation, but the Spirit reaches out to all people. The Law did not deliver all that Israel hoped (we shall think tomorrow about the difficult word “curse”), yet the Spirit brings blessing and labels Gentile Christians as children of Abraham (7). Notice that Paul talks of “beginning with the Spirit” (3). Never think that God’s Holy Spirit comes only to seasoned Christians. This gift of God’s living presence is for new believers too.
Apply
“The Spirit comes in with the preaching of the crucified Christ… Seeking the Spirit, then, means returning in faith to the message” (Charles B. Cousar). What is your response to this quote? What does the Holy Spirit bring to your walk with the Lord?
Closing prayer
Blessed Holy Spirit, set my heart aflame with faith, hope and love. I release You anew in my life so that I may be used mightily by You.
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