7 Minute Read
Be Still
To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a couple of minutes to breathe deeply, to quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, prayerfully ask the Lord to speak to you in this time and let Him know that you will be listening and will make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.
Today’s Bible Reading:
Isaiah 22:1–24:23
Galatians 2:17–3:9
Psalm 60:1-12
Proverbs 23:15-16
Listen to the Lord
Slowly and reflectively read the following verses and listen to what God will say to you through them. Then, consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.
Galatians 2:20 (NLT): “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Reflections from Scripture:
As we read through God’s Word, there are gold nuggets that we can gather on the surface. It doesn’t take much in-depth study to see the value of those verses. They typically get underlined in our Bibles very quickly.
But, there are also verses in our Bibles that also have gold dust scattered on the surface. If we stop and begin to dig, we realize that enormous veins of gold are underneath the surface. No matter how deep we dig, we could never possibly exhaust that resource. The deeper we dig into the verse through study and meditation, the richer we become for it.
Galatians 2:20 is the latter. If we wrote this verse on an index card with plans to meditate on it (I have done this), we would have food for thought all day long.
Essentially, this verse tells us that our life is not our own anymore if we are saved. In fact, it is not intended to be lived in our power. As we trusted in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and were saved, we died to the demands of the Law, and we also died to sin and self-rule. Essentially, God identified us with Christ in His crucifixion.
But, just as Jesus rose from the dead three days later, we have also been raised from the dead. Our source of life has changed, though. Jesus now lives within us, and we must depend upon Him for everything we need to live our life.
So how do we live this new life? The same way we were saved – we live it by faith. We read and study God’s Word to find the things that are true of us. We believe those truths and live in light of them. And we cultivate communion with Jesus as we depend upon Him for everything, even the most mundane, through each of our days.
John 15:5 (NLT): “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
Spend Time in Prayer
Lord Jesus, I need You. I just don’t always feel this truth, and I sometimes live like it isn’t true. But I am dependent upon You for everything from my next breath of air, to my ability to perform my daily duties, to everything else. Help me discover greater degrees of joy in relying upon You for everything just as you depended entirely upon the Father as You lived Your life on planet earth. I pray this in Your Name, Amen.
Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com). His latest book is God’s Grace in the Real World. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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