Hearts Ablaze By Grace!

Good day people of God. It’s a new week again and I am delighted to have another opportunity to share with you from the word of God as we go through the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians.

We have reached a section of Galatians 4 where the Apostle Paul had begun to make a very personal appeal to the Galatians about their beliefs and attitudes (Please see Galatians 4:12 -20). He had been a first-hand witness to the tremendous change that had occurred in the Galatians when they initially received the gospel of Jesus. Unfortunately, they had been exposed to some bad influence and were no longer exhibiting the appropriate fruits of salvation.

Paul therefore asked them directly the reason for their reversion in Galatians 4:15:

“You were so happy! What has happened? I myself can say that you would have taken out your own eyes, if you could, and given them to me” Good News Bible

“What happened to your positive attitude? It's a fact that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me” God’s Word Version

Something had changed in the Galatian believers. All their joy and positive attitude had seemingly evaporated! These people had initially been so endeared to Paul, they had loved him so much and were so attached to him that they could have parted with anything for his sake. But sadly, things had taken a different turn.

I have over the years in my Christian walk come to realize that many believers go through such a phase at some point in their lives.  A similar trend occurred in the Ephesian church and the Lord Jesus in His revelation to John said to them “…you have forsaken your first love…” (Revelations 2:4). And today I am asking you a simple question: are you in this phase?

Where is your zeal? Where is your first love? Do you still have that “joy”? Do you love the Lord with fervency still or do you think so little of Him? Does the thought of our great Saviour excite your soul? Are your energies channeled and your resources spent for the right purposes? Are the delights of communion and fellowship with God and the brethren still a resounding constant in your heart?

A full review of the different reasons for such flagging zeal and loss of positive attitude in many believers is outside the scope of my brief post this week but I will point to one major culprit: a loss of focus on the awesomeness of God’s grace. Generally (as in the case of the Galatians) we lose fervency, zeal, joy and such positive attitude toward God when we allow other matters to take the pride of place in our hearts. The Galatians particularly had been drawn away by erroneous teachings and had lost a proper view of the grace of God. This led them into the state they were in.

"Do not be carried about by different and varied and alien teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established and ennobled and strengthened by means of grace...." Hebrews 13:9

You may need to rekindle again the excitement that brimmed in your heart when you first met the Lord. Renew again your whole-hearted devotion to God and to His truth. That was what God desired the Galatians to do and that is what He expects of us too.  And to do this we must return again and again to the simple message of the amazing grace of God. 

Occupy your mind with thoughts of your liberation and freedom in Christ; your deliverance from sin; your freedom from a system of rules and regulations; the new life you have in Christ Jesus; the tenderness of the warm embrace of our Father; the intense intimate relationship you have with God; the priceless position, possessions and privileges that are ours through grace in Christ.  It will keep your heart ablaze and  if the glow in your heart had waned, it will definitely return.

My song for the week is “Covered” by Planetshakers.

Have a great day friends and a lovely week. Please return to the blog next week as we see more snapshots of the super-abundant grace of God.

"Covered" by Planetshakers