June 5

If we would all exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, all the issues we are dealing with in this day and age would disappear. But of course, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit, these attributes might not be easily attainable. Don’t get me wrong, people who don’t know Jesus can still have them, but it’s guaranteed that if you don’t strive for these, you don’t know Jesus. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Jesus changes who we are. You cannot continue to live as you did before you came to know him. Once saved, you do an about-face, and you turn away from your former way of life, looking to Jesus as an example of who you are to become.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25

June 4

Is anyone else put off by the sexual perversion on full display? Not only that, but we must continue to have it shoved in our face for an entire month. I don’t care what they do in their private lives; they need to keep it to themselves. Trying to normalize something that God has labeled as works of the flesh is insanity. Why is a small percentage of the population controlling everything we see? Because we have allowed it! We fear stirring them up because they are so vocal and have the media in their pockets. We have all dealt with our own sin, but we don’t try to make it normal; we fight against it, seek forgiveness for being involved with it, and try to go on with our lives. One day they will see that Jesus paid the price for all of it, broke the chains of slavery, and they don’t have to live feeling guilty for a past full of regrets. They know it’s wrong, but they want Christians to tell them it’s okay; some have, but not this one. Don’t get me wrong, I love these people and have a lot in common with the artsy style many of them have, but the Bible states that it is a work of the flesh, it’s wrong, and makes it clear that they are not followers of Christ if they are a part of it. Love them, but pray for their salvation through Jesus.

That’s not the only sin we must contend with; take a look at this list:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21

June 3

Do you ever wonder how the wealthy live? I want you to think this through for a minute. Think about being raised in a home where you never had to worry about money because your parents provided you with everything you ever wanted. Not only that, but you were given things that others could only dream of owning. These are good parents, and they allowed you to make mistakes and suffer the consequences of your actions, but in the back of your mind, you know you’re heir to their fortune, so you don’t worry. 

We are children with a wealthy Father! We are heirs to the promise. And though we may sin, we have a Father who is eager to forgive. It doesn’t mean he will take away the consequences of our actions, but it does mean the penalty will not lead to our eternal death. We don’t sin intentionally, but we do live differently knowing we are safe. That’s pure freedom!

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:7

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? Galatians 4:9

June 2

According to the scriptures, the Jews, the natural branch, do not hold an advantage over those of us who are grafted in. The promises made by God extend to us, those who are heirs through faith in Jesus. Only through the acceptance of Jesus are the Jews brought into these promises! The Old Testament promises and the New Testament promises are ours; we can take them to the bank! Even the promise of the inheritance of the land of Canaan, and later all the land that Abraham could see, was promised to his offspring or seed, singular, which is Jesus! Who has brought us into this promise? Jesus! Through our faith in him, we are heirs! We will be right there with him when he takes possession. This revelation also means that this particular promise has not been fulfilled, as we’ve been led to believe. That’s one more lie retracted from my brain!

For further study, look up Genesis 12:7, Genesis 13:15, Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:16

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:28-29

June 1

How often do we try to live a perfect life, though it’s mostly to satisfy our flesh? Isn’t it daily? If flesh counted for anything, why is the Holy Spirit necessary? We wouldn’t need him if only it were our fleshly lives that needed perfecting. 

You’ve seen these people; you may even be one of them, who walks around with arrogance about them, trying to make you think they are something they are not, like a poor person spending all their money to appear to be wealthy. I know a person who has themselves photographed in front of other people’s beautiful cars and homes, without explaining that it doesn’t belong to them. Appearances mean something to them, but what good does it do? Let all that stuff go! Find your wealth in the Holy Spirit! We have all we need to become who God intended us to be!

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

May 31

When I started writing these posts back in 2016, I posted afraid. I feared what others would think of me or that someone would challenge me biblically. I no longer post in fear but with confidence that the Holy Spirit is giving me utterance. I may not always hit the mark because I’m still human, but you can rest assured that I’ve prayed that God would hide any post that could be misleading. I trust him. I cut many things out of my life to make it easier for me to hear from him. I seldom listen to music with words; the only television I watch is in passing, and I limit myself to whom I listen to on social media; all to keep my mind clear of clutter. I stopped reading devotionals from other people because I didn’t want to pick up on their teaching, although I have a few hand-picked teachers that I trust to bring me the truth. Discipline is not easy, and I fail daily; I know I’m small potatoes in the kingdom of evangelicals, but God shows no partiality and has trusted me to bring a word of encouragement to anyone who will listen. Thank you for listening; you mean more to me than you will ever know. 

And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. Galatians 2:6

May 30

Yesterday, I began studying Galatians; it’s one of my favorite books in the Bible because Paul teaches about freedom in Christ. I started by reading the entire book; now, I will go through it slowly and wait on the Holy Spirit to bring to my attention the verses he wants me to emphasize.

My mission statement is “Training believers to break bonds and live free.” Galatians is a great place to start recognizing who you are in Christ and the grace we receive because of him. Lately, I’ve been trying to help people see through the lies we’ve been taught and try and undo some of the damage the devil has done. Until we start believing what the Bible says, we may stay in our captivity. Once you receive your freedom, you do whatever it takes to maintain it. Now and then, I will assess myself and make sure nothing has crept into my mind to undo my liberty and hold me captive. 

This weekend we celebrate those who have fought for us to live in freedom. We must honor those who’ve died for us by maintaining it and fighting against anyone foreign or domestic who intends to hold us in slavery and take away our rights. Stand strong army of God, take up your spiritual armor, and join the fight.

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. Galatians 2:4-5