Week Thirteen

Ahh.. our last verses of Galatians!  How does it feel to have completed this study?  I hope you are all finishing well + are looking forward to next week's review time.  We've received quite an arsenal of mini-sermons that we can be speaking to our hearts as we live out our lives.  It can do our souls good to hear the primary truths of Galatians:  For my freedom Christ came!

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I am not looking forward to this week.  I'm losing my best friend of the last three and a half years to grad school in Iowa + it has really caused me to think back on life four years ago.  As a rule, I'm not a fan of change but this friendship {+ my 2 other close friendships} was a result of it.  These three girls were freshmen at overflow + in my girls' Bible study at the time + I didn't really like them!  For the three years of my undergrad, we had our girl friend group set + tight + awesome.  Then, graduation hit + some left, some got married, some stopped coming to overflow.. + these girls came in.  I totally held off on getting to know them + just went on wishing after the way things used to be.  We joke about it now, but I was just not okay with them taking over + being the new batch of leaders at overflow.

I should have known.. God had a different plan. Spring of 2010, they joined me in creating overflow's annual "social justice weeks" which required Friday lunches and afternoons at my house + I joined the overflow leadership team.  Before we knew it, those Friday afternoons were a staple, we were staying after the LT meetings until the UNK student union kicked us out... + we were tight friends.  Since then, we have gone through some very difficult + very exciting times together, which brings us to this week: we're sending Leslie off to the greater purpose God has for her.

In the midst of the everyday mundane, it can be challenging to stay focused on the purpose of why we are here.  Oftentimes I question if I am where I'm supposed to be, doing what I am purposed to do.  Then, a week like this comes + I realize that four years ago in the midst of living for others, God brought three lovely women into my life to regain my focus.  How true this is: "Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can't you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life!" {gal. 6:15+16 | msg}

As I read these last verses in Galatians, I feel like God is gently whispering to me: "See?  It's not about you, not about them.  It's about Me.  Lean into what I am doing."  From three years ago when He opened my hands to build into the lives of these women to now, losing the daily connection with one of them, God is creating our lives anew.  I don't want to live my life with my eyes pointed in front of me.  I want to live my life with my eyes lifted to God, so that I recognize the significance of Him moving around us.  Confident that Christ came for our freedom, I encourage you to scoop up the many lessons in Galatians + live in freedom to what God has for you.  I expect the ride to be hard + joyful at times - but more than that, I expect it to be fully freeing!

Justine

Week 12: Doing Good to All

Hello everyone! Week 12 already! School is winding down, plans for summer are gearing up...and our Galatians study is coming to an end. This week we focus on the first 10 verses of the last chapter in Galatians. While working my way through this passage, several truths stand out to me.

Growing up in Chicagoland, I never knew any farming families. I never really thought about farms or the people who farm for a living. Living here has changed that. Now I'm blessed with several "farmer friends." :) Some of you are farmers! Where am I going with this? Well, this city girl has learned that this time of year is planting season for farmers. Along those lines, God has some timely words for us this week.

Galatians 6:7-8
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

With my attitudes and actions, am I sowing to please the Spirit? Or am I sowing to please my sinful nature? These are some penetrating questions for each of us to consider.

In busy times like these, it's easy to become weary, isn't it? I grow weary of running at 110% throughout the day. I grow weary of feeling the need to be everything to everybody in my home. As women, we sometimes just feel weary. In Galatians 6:9 we are reminded of this:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

In the race of life, let's keep our minds focused on the promised harvest. My middle school son learned last night in youth group that our eternal purpose is this: "To know, love, and enjoy the Creator of the Universe through the atonement of Jesus Christ!" As we live out our eternal purpose and not become weary in doing good, God's Word encourages us to not give up! He promises us a harvest!

To wrap up this scripture passage, we're instructed to "do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."  When siblings in a family do good to one another, parents are pleased and blessings abound. In the same way, when we do good to our brothers and sisters in Christ, God is pleased! To God be the glory!

May you find hope and strength in God's Word this week. :)
Sarah Luke

Week Eleven

Hello, ladies!

First of all, how are you all doing with the daily readings + posts?  I hope you are all seeing them as a tool for connecting with God and not as another "works" thing.  I know for me, especially when I come to the end of something like this I catch myself just trying to push through + get done instead of truly seeing it for what it is.  I hope you are each meeting up with God + are hearing Him speak through Galatians.

As we are in the middle of the week, a few things have stuck out to me while nearing the end of chapter five.

• Yesterday, I posed this question to my group: "What does walking by the Spirit mean to you?" (vs. 16) One response was constant prayer.  I know this is so true for me.  When I specifically set apart time for journaling/reading/listening with God, I definitely notice a difference in my thoughts + actions.  Then Paul follows it up with why we need to be walking with the Spirit: because our flesh + our Spirit is fighting against each other.
  
  Paul doesn't say "fight against your flesh", he says "walk by the Spirit".  This made me think of Exodus 14:14: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."  I am confident that if I walk hand-in-hand with God, I will have an advocate through Christ + through the Holy Spirit!  Since we're talking of freedom.. that's pretty freeing! 

• The other thing that has stood out to me is vs. 13 - It feels instinctual to hold on to things I receive, including (+ maybe especially) my freedom.  This is so not the plan God has for us, though!  Paul shows us that by keeping our freedom to ourself and to use it for our benefit will destroy it; but to grow freedom, to experience that true freedom, we are to give it away.  

So, knowing this what are you doing with your freedom?  vs. 13 makes it clear that the question isn't if we are made for freedom, it's what we are doing with it.  Who in your life are you sharing your Freedom with?  So, walking by the Spirit, we fight our flesh's desire to use our freedom for ourselves + instead we do what God intended: serve, love others.  Whether that is your family, your neighbors, your local church, your nation, your world.  I encourage you to join me as I evaluate my life + take some hard looks at where my Freedom is going, then make the necessary changes according to Galatians 5:13.

I so hope you feel the freedom ringing loudly in these passages!  We are getting some awesome tools for experiencing Freedom in Christ!  Praying for each of you..

Justine

Week 10

HE IS RISEN!

As I sit here this morning, it is Easter Sunday.  The reality of reading about our freedom in Christ on Easter Sunday morning is not lost on me today.  Freedom is something we take for granted in our society.  I think sometimes American Christians don't fully understand persecution and freedom in our faith the way others around the world do.  But, without Christ's death and resurrection almost 2000 years ago, we would all be living lives of slavery to sin and the law.

PRAISE GOD FOR THE WORK OF HIS SON!

We are getting near the end of the book of Galatians, near the end of our time together.  And I just love this section at the beginning of Chapter 5.  I especially love verse 6: "For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love."

That is a powerful verse.  No matter what we do on earth to try to keep the law, it won't do us any good in God's economy.  Only our faith working through love makes a difference.  No amount of good works, law abiding, or trying to do our best will gain us anything.  Our freedom in Christ is not of our own doing, but our only hope for righteousness is through our faith in His death and resurrection.

What a great think to ponder this Easter Sunday morning.

I pray your week goes well as we dig in deeper to these verses and continue to learn about the freedom that was bought with the blood of Christ.  May we all grow in our love for Jesus this week.

Week 9: Walk in the Spirit

As I researched this week's passage in Galatians, one phrase in a Bible commentary jumped out at me: "In all of the New Testament, there is perhaps not a more difficult passage to interpret." (BibleGateway.com)

That being said, I'm going to offer simple conclusions/applications from Galatians 4:21-31. I'm all about keeping it simple! :) I gathered these applications together from Bible Gateway.

• Paul's descriptions of Hagar and Sarah emphasize the identification of believers in Christ: "Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman." ~Galatians 4:31
• The children of the free woman (Sarah), who were born by the power of the Spirit (v. 29) must learn to express their freedom by walking in the Spirit. They must not submit to slavery under the law or gratify the desires of the flesh.
• Identity is the basis of behavior: a clear understanding of who we are in Christ guides our conduct in the Spirit.

How do I apply this to my life? Well, here's what God's teaching me this week. I hope you don't mind a personal testimony!

My 7 year old son (Aaron) is battling a form of epilepsy. We're trying to manage it with medications, but so far have not found anything that works. I've lost track of how many different dosage changes he's endured in our quest to find the right one for him. Throughout this process, my flesh is filled with worry and fear. These medicines are powerful and potentially damaging to his liver, among other nasty side effects. Living with uncontrolled epilepsy makes normal, everyday activities potentially dangerous: bike riding, swimming, etc. I wake up every morning with a choice: am I going to walk in the Spirit and let God guide my conduct as I submit my fears and release my son's life to Christ? Or am I going to let fear and anxiety rule my heart?

I'm learning it's not a once-and-for-all decision. It's day by day and moment by moment. (1Thessalonians 5:17) I can tell when I'm living in fear and not walking in the Spirit. I parent my kids differently. I might favor Aaron over his brothers. I over-analyze Aaron's health and google his symptoms until my eyes cross. When I'm walking in the Spirit, I'm not held captive by that behavior. When it comes down to it, do I want to live in slavery to fear, or in freedom through Christ? Living in freedom doesn't mean giving up the pursuit of Aaron's healing through medical care. But it does mean that I put my trust and faith in God when everything in my flesh is crying out in fear. I choose freedom through Christ.

This is my personal battle right now. I'm sure all of you reading this have your own struggles and challenges which bring you to the same decision I face every day: Will we choose to walk in the Spirit and let Christ guide our conduct? Or will we choose to live in slavery to the things that hold us captive? From one sister in Christ to another, I challenge you to choose freedom through Christ! Let's live like children of the free woman!
Sarah Luke