Introduction
Welcome to a 40 day journey toward understanding God's grace. The word "grace" means "gift". And a gift, by definition, is something that you don't deserve and you can't earn. That's what God's love for us is; a gift.

To learn about God's grace we are going to reflect on Paul's words to the Galatian church. Galatians is the earliest written letter in the New Testament, written about 20 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Paul wrote to the Galatian churches to correct them(Galatia is a region of Turkey, not a city). After he had preached to them about the unconditional love of Jesus a band of Jewish Christians traveled to the same area preaching Jesus + the need to obey Jewish Law.

In his letter, Paul passionately makes a case for our being accepted by God based on what Jesus did for us, not what we do for God. I hope you will read these devotions with an open heart and allow God's unconditional love to penetrate you to your core.

Please make use of the links at the bottom of each devotion to add your own thoughts.

Day 1
Now Playing: A SIMPLE MESSAGE

The first words of a letter are always telling. The writer's intention is often revealed in the opening tone and choice of words. This is true with Paul in his letter to the Galatians. In the first four verses, he mentions the death of Jesus twice.

1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group or by human authority. My call is from Jesus Christ himself and from God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
2All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending greetings to the churches of Galatia.
3May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4He died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5That is why all glory belongs to God through all the ages of eternity. Amen.

The death and resurrection of Jesus was central to Paul's thinking and message. He said- For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 1 Corinthians 2:2

Paul was often attacked for the simplicity of his message. Greeks, known for their deep wisdom, mocked Paul for telling about the God that died. Jews were offended to think that God's Messiah would humble himself and die at the hands of Romans. But Paul clung to this message. He said,

I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

People decide to call themselves "Christian" for many reasons; because their parents were Christians, because they believe it's a moral lifestyle, because it's the "religion of choice' in America, etc. but Jesus' death and resurrection means little to them. It's not central to why they call themselves Christian. What about you? Is Jesus' death and resurrection central to your faith? If not, let's ask God to make it central over the next 40 days.

Prayer: Father God, I don't appreciate the death and resurrection of Jesus like I know I should. There is more there than I understand. As I start this journey in grace, please open my eyes to see what it is you want me to know and soften my heart so that what I learn will transform my being. Amen.

Day 2
Now Playing: TURNING AWAY FROM GOD

Paul gives us a big clue about what the problem was in the cities of Galatia in verse 6.

6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way 7that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.

Jewish leaders had followed Paul to tell the churches of Galatia that faith in Jesus alone wasn't enough. They needed to follow all the Jewish traditions like; circumcision, the Sabbath and the Jewish holy days. Not knowing any better, these new Christians complied.

I'm sure the Galatians were shocked to hear that Paul thought they were turning away from God. They were probably saying to each other, "Is he crazy? We are busting our buns to please God more than ever, and we've got the scars (from circumcision) to prove it!"

Isn't that the way it is? In an attempt to please God we do more and more, not realizing that all of our religious activity is actually distancing ourselves from God, not drawing us closer. Instead of feeling inspired we feel overworked, exhausted and spiritually dry.

Years ago Lisa and I had this same problem in marriage. I was working full time as a sales person and half-time as a pastor. I spent my nights going through my business in-basket so I could use more time at work making sales. PLUS, I was working on my MBA! On the weekends I studied for my teachings at church and worked on my "honey-do" list around the house. I thought I was giving 110% to my marriage by all that I did. But Lisa felt like I had abandoned her, or in Paul's words "turned away" from her.

When she suggested this was true I was stunned and mad. How dare she say this, after all that I was doing? It took me another ten years to understand what she was saying. My activity was investing in everything BUT our relationship. As a man, I thought that my activity proved my DEDICATION to our relationship. As a woman, Lisa was looking for me to work at BUILDING the relationship.

God is more like a woman in this respect. He's less interested in our activity and more interested in our knowing him, talking to him, reflecting on his goodness and love, and thanking him for all that he's done for us.

How do you relate to God? Are you busy running down a checklist, trying to prove to him your dedication? Or are you seeking to know him by spending time reflecting, talking to him and thanking him?

Prayer: Father, forgive me for turning away from you by my religious activity. I see now that you aren't looking for me to perform as much as you are looking for me to experience you relationally. Help me make this transition. Relating to humans is hard enough. Relating to an invisible God seems almost impossible. But I know your Spirit lives inside of me to help me do this. Thank you.

Day 3
Now Playing: MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE
Let's stick with verse six. It's rich.

Today, I want to consider what it was that Paul said the Galatians had turned away from. Can you see it in this verse?

6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ.

Paul is saying...

God loved you guys so much that he chose to share the SAME LIFE with you that existed in Jesus. You know, that LIFE of victory in the midst of suffering? That LIFE of joy in the midst of hardship? That LIFE of optimism in the midst of evil? It's a LIFE that doesn't end in death but overcomes death. It's indestructible. It's infinite. It's eternal LIFE.

God offered you THIS life as a gift and you chose to trivialize your religion, reducing it to a mere religious performance like circumcision, not working on the Sabbath and checking your calendar to make sure you light candles on every holy day. Is that foolish or what!!!!!!!????"

Oh my. We believers sell both God and ourselves so short! God offers us the moon and we settle for bible studies and church services thinking we are living the Christian life! C.S. Lewis compared it to your uncle offering to take you to the ocean and you choose to stay in your back yard making mud pies.

Paul must have been so frustrated knowing what he knew about God and being unable to communicate it to his fellow believers. But if we are willing to slow down and pick up his hints, we can see that there are riches in Christ that we haven't even begun to imagine. I hope you will start to imagine them today!

Prayer: Dear God, forgive me for settling for mere religiosity when you have offered me the indestructible life of Christ. Help me to see what Paul saw. Help me to know what Paul knew about You. Take me to another level in my faith and experience with you. I realize now that I've barely gotten my feet wet in your Spirit and I long for so much more! Amen.

Day 4
Now Playing: Trusting in Human Effort

Whenever I see someone act out in anger, I try to get into their head. What made them react that way? Let's do that with Paul. His response to the Galatians was over-the-top. (see Gal. 1:8,9, 3:1-3 and 5:12). He didn't even try to "act Christian". It's like he saw them teetering on the edge of a tall building and he spoke as passionately as he possibly could to save them from falling. He clearly saw something about the Galatians faith that put them in danger. It's not that the Galatians "just got a little off track". He said they were jeopardizing their salvation.

Maybe his clarity and passion came from having been in that place himself. I've heard it said that the biggest critics of smokers are ex-smokers! They know better than anyone what smoking does to your health and they want to spread the message.

I think Paul was that way, only with his past legalism. Listen to how he described it...

2 Watch out for those dogs, those wicked men and their evil deeds, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship God in the Spirit are the only ones who are truly circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us. [note contrast between human effort vs. what Christ has done.]
4 Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 For I was...
* circumcised when I was eight days old,
* having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one!
* What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
* 6 And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church.
* And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault.
7 I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ. Philippians 3 (New Living Translation)

The translators were gentle with the word "garbage". It was actually "manure", which too is a gentle translation. Farmers have an earthier name for it! THAT's how he viewed his religious activity. It was only good for flushing down the toilet!

Didn't circumcision have rich meaning? Wasn't it okay to be proud of his Jewish heritage or his zeal for God? Of course it was. But Paul was viewing these things as reasons why God had to save him. I remember my dad saying once, "I went to Catholic school for 12 years. If that doesn't get me in to heaven, then God isn't fair." His Catholic schooling may have been great, but when he starts looking to it as his means for salvation he's missed the point.

Is there any activity that you think automatically connects you with God or gains your entrance into heaven? ( Church attendance, giving money, diligent volunteerism, acts of compassion, Bible knowledge, etc.). Think again. Paul said that everything other than knowing Jesus is worthless.

Prayer: Father, help me to see the things in my life that I do to "earn points" in your eyes. Help me to see them for what they truly are; stumbling blocks to knowing you. Might I reject them and cling to Jesus as my only hope. Amen.

Day 5
Now Playing: RECEIVING THE GIFT
Paul said that the Galatians had "turned away from God" by trusting in their religious activities to save them. So what was the message they had turned from?

Put simply, Paul said this in the book of Romans...

5For Moses wrote that the Law's way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands... 8Salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is the message we preach--is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, "The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart."
9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed, " 12Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. 13For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Chapter 10

The message of salvation (acceptance with God) doesn't have to do with your hands or feet (doing something) but with your lips and heart. That is, what you believe and what you say about your belief (true belief will always be expressed). But just because your acceptance with God doesn't require your religious performance that doesn't mean nothing is required from you. You do need to receive what was given - otherwise it is like an unopened gift.

How do you receive God's gift?

First, Paul says you need to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. This implies believing that Jesus died on your behalf. That's what he means in verse eight when he says that "Salvation ...comes from trusting Christ" - trusting that HIS performance, not YOURS, will save you.

Second, you need to call Jesus your Lord. In a slave culture, this is a monumental confession. For a slave to say that someone was their Lord was to say that they took all their orders from that person. No part of their day went unnoticed or undirected. For good or evil, their life was in the hand of their Master.

The believer does the same with Jesus. If they believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead that means that he's still alive and available to direct their life.

So, your salvation is unearned, yes. There is nothing you can do to obtain it. But it still requires receiving what God offers to experience and benefit from His gift.

Prayer: Father, help me to not cheapen my salvation just because it is free. In giving me eternal life, I want to respond by giving you all that I have, nothing held in reserve. Please show me the areas of my life that I have not allowed you to control and then give me the courage to lay them at your feet in worship.

Day 6
Now Playing: WHY DO WE TURN TO ANOTHER GOSPEL ?
6I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who in his love and mercy called you to share the eternal life he gives through Christ. You are already following a different way 7that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who twist and change the truth concerning Christ.

What is it that makes us even consider another gospel? I mentioned yesterday that it has to do with our zeal for God. We want to prove to God our dedication. But then our performing slips from acting out of love and passion to acting to earn God's acceptance. That's when things get toxic.

But are there other reasons for straying from grace? Here are three...

* Grace is too good to be true. My dad used to say to me, "Remy, just remember there's no free lunch. If someone is offering you something for free, there's always a catch." I think of that often when I read or hear about some ad that is too good to be true. And my dad was right. The fine print always has the catch. But with God, there is no catch, and that's just hard to believe. So, even though we immediately accept God's free offer, we find ourselves "paying" for it later. We just can't believe that God's love doesn't have to be earned.

* Grace is foreign. Have you ever known someone who was in an abusive relationship? It's painful to watch, and confusing. You just can't understand why they would subject themselves to such pain and humiliation. Then, they finally leave the abuse. But before you know it, they are either back with the abuser or they've found another one just as bad. What's going on? Why do they treat themselves so poorly? They don't think they deserve to be treated well. In fact, being treated well makes them uncomfortable. In their mind, it's not right. The person who is being nice to them is a fool. They don't see how defective they really are. If they did, they wouldn't treat them well. That's what people do with God too. They hear the message of grace and they won't let themselves receive it because they are convinced they aren't worthy.

* Grace requires relationship and relationships are hard. I referred to this early this week when I mentioned my tension with Lisa years ago. She wanted me to be engaged in our relationship and I wanted to perform: work hard, make money, do ministry. Relationships are fuzzy. They take work to listen, understand, show compassion, ask and offer forgiveness, express humility. The same is true with God. It's much easier to do religious tasks. You can count them and categorize them. It's much "cleaner". Trying to relate to an invisible God is too intangible for some of us.

Do any of these sound familiar?

Prayer: Father, I see now that I can easily stray from grace and turn to another gospel. Forgive me for that. I fear that I am missing out on a lot of your goodness either because I can't believe it's true or I just feel inadequate to relate to you. Help me in my weakness. Thanks.

Day 7
Now Playing: THE FRUIT OF TOXIC FAITH

You can't turn away from grace without it affecting you. We'll learn more about the effects of toxic faith later in Galatians. But for now, here are five things that happen to us when we stray from grace.

1. We focus on performing for God instead of relating to God. What you do, what you say, the size of your Bible, the bumper stickers on your car. Toxic faith is convinced that what you do determines how close you are to God.

2. But if that's true, then what do you do if your performance stinks? You've worked so hard to show others that you are sold out for God. So now you need to exaggerate, lie and keep secrets to keep up your sold-out image. In other words, you have to fake it until you make it. In your mind, you can't share your failures or weaknesses because then people will realize that you aren't as close to God as you said you were. And that would be too embarrassing.

3. When you start living a lie, when you start falling short in every area that you had high expectations for, you experience continual guilt and condemnation. And then a whole series of things happen. You are constantly plagued by how you fail God. You are convinced that he doesn't love you. Then you get mad at God for expecting so much and that leads to depression. You may even fall away from God.

4. And because you are so harsh with yourself, you tend to judge and condemn others. You spend your time critiquing how well everyone is following your rules.

5. And finally, when you are busy judging and condemning, you become very exclusive. There are so few people that do it the way you want them to that you end up all alone.

One note, if you suffer from insecurity and low self-esteem, you are susceptible to a toxic faith (see Day 5) and so you may well see the above in your life. But don't beat yourself up! There is mercy and grace for this too!

Prayer: Father I see now where my performance- oriented faith leads - not to a place of love but a place of anger, blaming, depression and loneliness. I condemn myself and others and slowly isolate myself from the world. Forgive me for my error and help me get on the path of grace. Thank you that you are more than willing to help me in this.

Day 8
Now Playing: ARE YOU PLEASING MEN OR GOD ?

Okay, let's move on from verse six!

Paul is about to launch into an extended section where he seeks to prove his calling to the Galatians. He senses that he has lost their respect and feels the need to retell them how God called him into ministry.

Remember that Jewish church leaders had followed Paul, preaching "another gospel" - adding Jewish customs to the message of Christ. Along with their preaching, I'm sure they trashed Paul to the Galatians, telling them that he didn't tell them about the Jewish customs because he was simply trying to win more converts. He was preaching an "easy believe-ism" that let anyone come to Christ. He wasn't called by God. He was a self-proclaimed prophet leading people astray.

This obviously incensed Paul. If he was trying to please men, he wasn't doing a very good job! He had most of the church leadership up in arms with his message. That's why he said...

10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

And the opening verse says...1Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God...

There are a few things for us to look at here. But today, let's just focus on the idea of pleasing men vs. God. Paul said that if he was trying to please men then he wouldn't be a servant of Christ. That's a challenging thought - a sobering thought. It should make us pause and reflect, who are we trying to please in our daily decision-making, Jesus or other people?

It's so easy to seek to please the person in front of us - to become for them who we think they want us to be. That's what the Jews were accusing Paul of doing. But Paul said that he was committed to doing only what God told him to do.

In another letter, Paul wrote:
... just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4

As God examines your heart today, what does he see...someone who is faithful to his/her calling, or someone who is double-minded, trying to please both God and people?

Prayer: Father, I confess that I'm not as single-minded as I know I should be. I respect Paul's faithfulness to his calling and I desire to do the same. Forgive me for being weak willed, for bending to the opinions and pressure of others. I look to your Spirit within to give me the courage to follow you, to speak and live the truth, no matter what that may cost me. Amen.

Day 9
Now Playing: GOD LOOKS ON YOUR HEART
Let's look at the same verses from yesterday again but this time, count the number of times Paul uses the word "man" or "men".

10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

And the opening verse says...1Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God...

I count seven times. How is that significant? How much we focus on the thoughts of other people has a lot to do with the quality of our faith. It can be tempting to do what we do purely to satisfy the religious expectations of others, not God.

I'm embarrassed to admit that it's not uncommon to catch myself "clocking" my time in prayer or Bible reading. That means I'll check my watch to see if I've been praying or reading "long enough" to be acceptable to God. Why do I do that? Is God looking for a certain timeframe? No, it comes from my earliest years as a Christian when I learned that every serious believer will read their Bible and pray at least a half hour every morning. So, whether I was engaged mentally in prayer/reading or disengaged, I would "put in my time" with God. You see, when I do that, I'm living to please men and not God. I'm trying to live up to the expectations of my early leaders who told me what a good Christian should do.

How about you? Have you ever done something like that? I'm thankful to know from Samuel that "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7. God is less concerned with what or how I'm doing something and more concerned with why I'm doing it.

Prayer: Father, I admit that my faith is often mixed. Sometimes I do things out of love for you and sometimes I do things just to appear to be a good Christian for others. But thanks that you look on my heart and not at just my actions. Purify my heart. Free me from that inner desire to do things to please others to earn their acceptance. That you that you accept me no matter what the quality or quanity of my performance is. Amen.