Book Review Friday

I'm a participant of Book Review Friday over at Watch The Sky. All this week we've been reading the book of Galatians, over and over again, digging for details, insights, etc.

Galatians has long been one of my favorite books of the Bible. FREEDOM is its anthem - found in Christ (Luke 4:17-21) and Truth (John 8:32), and "simply" for freedom's sake (Gal. 5:1). It IS ours. It HAS been given to each person who names Christ as Lord. Problem is, we're constantly compromising it and giving it away - or worse, taking it away from others. In my ministry and life, you'll find the freedom anthem as well - not above Christ, but because of Christ.

I could go on and on about freedom. He and I share a holy fury against those who shackle the Lord's people, and while I'll leave the judgments to God, I'm committed (because He called me) to "set His people free" - turns out it's not just a ministry for Moses. My favorite Oswald Chambers quote is "Never make a principle out of your experience. Let God be as original with others as he has been with you." This is where the saddest part of shackling occurs - in the Church. Those of us who've come to know the Trinity in personal and beautiful ways draw the destructive conclusion that how we know Him must be the ONLY way He can be known. My God is MUCH MORE dynamic and intimate than that. One of the most beautiful aspects of the Body of Christ is that WE - together - emulate the FULLNESS of Christ. (Eph. 1:22-23) We're richer and freer when we celebrate the multitudinous expressions of Christ's love, passion, conviction exhibited in others, than when we expect and demand Christ to look identical in each person.

These are the three points that most jumped out in my reading this week:

• Paul says two times in a row, repeating himself one verse right after the other (1:8 & 1:9) "If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned." Looks like Paul shared that HOLY FURY for FREEDOM as well. God is FIERCE in His love for His children ~ "It'd be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned ..." (Matt 18:6) But what else would you expect? These are SOULS and what's at stake is ETERNITY. Lead them astray by pulling their focus away from knowing God & Jesus (see John 17:3) and you can expect eternal condemnation. Ouch!! In my opinion, there are some big name, big money, lots of books preachers who's eternal futures are likely far from the prosperity they've enjoyed on Earth.
• Galatians 3:1-9. Read it for yourself. KNOW IT for yourself. "After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" All too often, I am. It's Scripture and the presence of God constantly aligning me back into the Spirit that is my daily salvation.
• Galatians 3:17. How glorious this is!! The time BEFORE the law. 430 years before the ten commandments was Abraham and his faith, and therefore His righteousness. The law was given to illuminate our need for Christ and to guide us into dependence on Him. (Gal. 3:24) Christ has returned us to the time of Abraham, the time before the law, the time of being justified by faith alone. The time of relationship. The time of KNOWING Him. No wonder the "lost" have a hard time believing and embracing it --- it truly does sound too marvelous to be true. And so we PRAISE Him.

(Gal. 5:1) "STAND FIRM, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" and, if I may add, 'and God forbid that we might place burdens of slavery on anyone else.'