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For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Become Like Me (Galatians #44) Bible Verse: Galatians 4:14-18 (BSB) "Although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself. What then has become of your blessing? For I can testify that, if it were possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you." Message:
When Paul appeals to his earlier days spent with the Galatians, his message contrasts starkly to a similar and much longer passage in another epistle, written in the same general time period: 1 Thessalonians. The first three chapters of 1 Thess. are a love letter. Paul recounts at length, almost nostalgically, the time he spent in Thessalonika, the hardships and suffering they shared, and the tight bond he had formed with the church there. He then praises the faithfulness and dedication of the church, despite its tribulations, and despite his long absence from them:
And so we thank God every day for you, our brothers and sisters, who not only heard God’s words with your ears, but also took them into your hearts, where they could accomplish their great work. (1 Thess. 2:13)
In today’s verses from Galatians, Paul briefly engages in the same sort of nostalgic remembrance; but what a difference in the behavior of the church after he left! Where the Thessalonians remained steadfast despite tribulation, the Galatians have been sucked into the theological schemes of charlatans.
In modern English, “antichrist” evokes a fearsome demonic being, while “false prophet” sounds comparatively mild, perhaps a person who has gotten something incorrect about the Bible. But in terms of the New Testament, they are nearly synonymous. A false prophet, a person who preaches a non-Biblical gospel, is “anathema” — accursed in himself, and a curse to those who hear and accept his message. (Gal. 1:8-9)
Battle shield
of Constantine. Chi Rho battle shield of Constantine. We think of “antichrist” as somebody “against Christ,” but in Greek it has more the connotation “instead of Christ.” The term is actually used in the Bible only in the epistles of John, and not to designate the beast of Revelation, as Hollywood might lead us to believe; in fact, John speaks of “many antichrists,” and his primary target are Gnostics who call themselves “Christians.” (1 John 2:18) The point being, when we read about “false prophets,” the term is intended as an onerous opprobrium, as vile and evil as an “antichrist.” A false prophet is a person who lures people away from Christ into death, not by attacking or denouncing Christ, but by teaching something else and calling it Christianity. Paul describes them at the end of today’s verses; preachers of a gospel that is not true and does not seek goodness, who seek to inflate their own pride, wealth, and/or fame, or who simply teach what is not God's Word. We have them still today. Some are obvious, such as the purveyors of “prosperity gospel,” who are incredibly unabashed about what they seek for themselves and their flock: money. Some are more subtle. We can hear Paul’s pain when he recounts his memories of his time in Galatia. He was ill, but the Galatians did not ignore him or reject him. Instead, they took his trials upon themselves. We can hear, in these verses, echoes of Christ’s disciples taking up their own cross, adopting His suffering as their own. The Galatians loved Paul to the point of suffering his trials with him — and we might infer that he was, indeed, in very bad physical condition. We know from Acts 14:19 that Paul had been stoned, dragged out of Lystra and left for dead. “What,” Paul cries out in pain, “has happened to the love we shared?” What, indeed? To be continued . . . Meditation : Prayer : I pray that I may be blessed every step of my path this day by the great God of light. May your sun shine upon me; as the moon moves the tide, may your Spirit move my emotions with every grace and magic; may my heart sing with the voice of your angels and my hearth be warm; and may this and every blessed day You have given me be filled with joy. Amen. |
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