Bible League: Living His Word Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.The churches in Galatia had been led astray from the true gospel by some people who, according to the Apostle Paul, "deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ" (Galatians 1:7). They were preaching something that ". . . pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all" (Galatians 1:6-7). Paul's letter to them was an attempt to set them straight. He took a risk in writing the letter, because there was the chance that the churches would not take kindly to receiving his rebuke and correction. It is in this context that Paul wrote our verse for today. He had a choice to make. He could write something that would please the churches and meet with their approval, or he could do the right thing and write a letter of rebuke and correction. He could seek the approval of people, or he could seek the approval of God. The choice he made, obviously, was to seek the approval of God and not the approval of people. The choice Paul had to face is a choice all of us have to face at various points in our walk with God. Shall we live our lives seeking the approval of people, or the approval of God? Stated in this blunt way the right answer to the question seems obvious. However, putting the right answer into practice is not so easy. The temptation to please people is very great. Pleasing God rather than people can sometimes lead to friction and conflict with people. And who wants that? If all we try to do in life, however, is please people and build up a good reputation with them, then we are not really following the example of Jesus Christ. In order to obey the will of God, Jesus "made Himself of no reputation" (Philippians 2:7). Jesus was not concerned about His reputation with people. He was concerned about obeying God. That's why, "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). Placing priority on the approval of people is a sure-fire way to keep us out of the will of God. When the choice must be made, please God---and do the right thing. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Samuel 21, 22 2 Samuel 21 -- The Gibeonites Avenged; Battles with the Philistines NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Samuel 22 -- David's Song of Deliverance NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 22:1-30 Luke 22 -- Preparing the Passover; Jesus Arrested, Disowned by Peter NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.Insight God wants us to view what we have (whether it is much or little) with the right perspective—our possessions are a gift from God. Although they are not the source of joy, they are a reason to rejoice because every good thing comes from God. Challenge We should focus more on the Giver than the gift. We can be content with what we have when we realize that with God, we have everything we need. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Jeremiah 17:17 Thou art my hope in the day of evil.The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storm. True, it is written in God's Word, "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;" and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be "As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day," yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer's sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the "green pastures" by the side of the "still waters," but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, "Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen." Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of his children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's full-grown children. We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Samuel 12:24 "Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.Deuteronomy 8:2,5 "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. • "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Psalm 119:75,71,67 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. • It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes. • Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. Psalm 118:18 The LORD has disciplined me severely, But He has not given me over to death. Psalm 103:10,11,14 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. • For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. • For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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