Galatians 4 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin If I could sum up the entire epistle to the Galatians using only one word, I would use the word “freedom.”  Here, Paul is not referring to a freedom from sin, but, rather, a freedom from the condemnation of the law because of sin.  As Paul says in Romans 8:1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  This is a profound freedom of…

Galatians 3 by Pastor David Groendyk When I was in college, the phrase “You foolish Galatian” was one our favorite insults to call one another. As far as insults go, it’s pretty tame. Plus it comes right from Scripture, so it’s biblically-sanctioned (right??). Paul, however, is not playfully joking with the Galatians. He’s warning them of something serious. The letter to the Galatians is, in part, a defense and argument for the gospel Paul preached.…

Galatians 2 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson For chapter two of Galatians, I would like to focus on verses 11-15, where Paul publicly rebukes Peter for Peter’s decision to no longer eat with the Gentiles when the Jewish brethren from Jerusalem visited Antioch. 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.  Antioch is north of Jerusalem, so the church was mainly Gentile, the sending church in…

Galatians 1 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence           The churches in the Galatian province of the Roman Empire were some of the earliest that Paul had planted on his first missionary tour between 46 and 48 AD.  While planting elsewhere, in his absence, some Jewish teachers had entered the church and begun teaching salvation by works rather than salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  They also had questioned Paul’s authority as an apostle as…

Hosea 14 by David Groendyk This chapter looks an awful lot like part of our normal Sunday liturgy, and it is a fitting way to close this book that’s chalk full of our sinfulness and God’s love. There is a call to confess sin and repent, and it is followed by God’s assurance of mercy and grace, as well as instruction for God’s people. This is actually quite the positive note to end on in…

Hosea 13 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson In some ways jealousy is bad.  In Galatians 5:20, jealousy is a work of the flesh.  Yet God is a jealous God according to Ex 20:5 and Ex 34:14.  So we see in this chapter God is a jealous God.   In Hosea 13, God is jealous for Israel or Ephraim as they are called in v. 1.  Notice in verse one that sin always bring death.  Sin does…

Hosea 12 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence In this chapter the prophet Hosea charges God’s people with vanity, violence and violating their covenant with God among many other things, and God promises to repay Israel according to her sins. Then he reminds them of how their forefather Jacob once wrestled with a mysterious man till the break of day and begged for his blessing. In this text, which serves as a commentary on Genesis 32, the…

Hosea 11 by David Groendyk As Pastor Mark said yesterday, this chapter has some of the most tender verses in all of Scripture. At the same time, we still get a few verses in here reminding us of how far gone Israel is and how dreadful their punishment will be. If God were a man, I would be tempted to say that he has a real internal struggle going on inside of him. He loves…

Hosea 10 Devotional by Mark Hudson If you are not accustomed to reading the Old Testament, you may be shocked at the depths the nation of Israel (north) and Judah (south) sink to in the Bible.   Hosea is speaking to the northern tribe in his book.  If our church sunk to this sinful level, you might be in despair.  But as you know, sin never has the last word in God’s Kingdom.  And it never…

Hosea 9 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Most of us are used to seeing before and after pictures of dramatic makeovers or extreme weight loss transformations, but, thankfully, we aren’t often subjected to transformative pictures of a devolving nature where an individual goes from bad to worse.  Usually only doctors have those kinds of posters displayed in their offices to warn us of the dangers of not treating our bodies well.  But every now and then,…

Hosea 8 by David Groendyk Verses 1–3 really set the tone for the whole of this chapter: Israel are a bunch of hypocrites. Although they claim to know God and love God, their lives and actions are actually miles from God. The rest of this chapter details the ways Israel thought they were living for God, when in reality they were sinning the whole time. For instance, in verse 4, Israel had set up leaders—kings…

Hosea 7 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson This great prophet, who is a master of the written word (and we can imagine the spoken as well), is not eloquent for the sake of eloquence.  Hosea longs to communicate the need of repentance and the overwhelming beauty of the grace of God.  While it may be difficult to ascertain the exact meaning of his phrases and comparisons, we can certainly understand the spirituality in the nation…

Hosea 6 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence The love of God is strong and true, but, in this passage, the Israelites are still pursuing lesser lovers who are both false and impotent.  Consequently, God has injured them in some way both through the “cutting” words of the prophet as well as through the physical fulfillment of those words, even bringing war and sickness to their hearths and homes.  But instead of coming to their senses and…

Hosea 5 by David Groendyk Most of chapters 4–13 in Hosea are filled with various descriptions of Israel’s sin and the judgment that God would send upon them for it. One thing that’s clear is that everyone—from small to great—has sinned against God. If there was any confusion about priests being called out in chapter 4, it’s absolutely clear here in chapter 5! Both the priests and the kings have acted like a trap for…

Hosea 4 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson One way to look at the structure of Hosea 4 is to follow Stuart of the Word Biblical  Commentary 4:1-3           Accusations against the land 4:4-10         Accusations against the priesthood (could also be the people) 4:11-14       Accusation against false worship 4:15-19       Fall of false worship The use of accusation in his outline comes from the English word controversy in the ESV in v 1. This word is used in…

Hosea 3 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin I’ve always had an aversion to those Raisin Crème Little Debbie snack cakes, and now I know why!  Apparently, according to Jeremiah 7:18, raisin cakes were not only a delicacy in the ancient Near East, but they were also used as offerings to the queen of heaven, even by the Israelites who had provoked the Lord to anger.  In our very brief chapter this morning (only five verses),…

Hosea 2 by David Groendyk The dominating metaphor used throughout all of Hosea is that Israel has been an unfaithful bride to the Lord. Israel acts like a prostitute, constantly seeking out other lovers to give her nice things. And yet, God is a faithful husband who continues to pursue his bride despite all of her unfaithfulness. Chapter 1 is a unique chapter in this book because it describes Hosea’s family life. He actually had…

2 Corinthians 13 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin In this final chapter, the apostle Paul is concluding his exhortation to the church by seeking to restore the brothers that have fallen into sin, reminding them that he is praying for them in particular, and still urging them toward repentance via this letter, but warning them that if they do no repent, he will deal with them when he returns.  As for the brothers causing division…

2 Corinthians 12 by David Groendyk Paul boasts an awful lot, doesn’t he? That was the theme at the end of yesterday’s chapter, and it continues into today’s. At the beginning of chapter 12, he boasts in this mysterious man who had a vision or revelation given to him while he was carried up into heaven. Some people believe Paul is actually referring to himself. The reason Paul mentions this vision is probably that his…

II Corinthians 11 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson This is one of the more (most?) unusual chapters from the pen of Paul.  You can easily notice the division of 11:1-15 and 16-33.  Let’s look at the first 15 verses where Paul gives his rationale for verses 16 and following. In Corinth, just as in other cities, Paul had plenty of followers and most recognized his apostleship, his teaching authority, and his love for both the…

2 Corinthians 10 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence The situation that the apostle Paul finds himself in at the church in Corinth is not an unusual one in the history of the Church, for he is not the first leader to have been challenged and found wanting by the masses.  If Moses were still alive at that point, I’m sure he would have his fair share of stories to tell to Paul and his co-laborers.  For,…