Daily Devotional 9/1/22
Beyond Formulas
Read: Galatians 5:13-26
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Galatians 5:25
IN WORD
Long ago in the wilderness, the wandering Israelites followed the cloud by day and the fire by night. Whenever the cloud and fire remained in one place, the Israelites remained in that place. Whenever the cloud and fire lifted up and departed, the people packed up and followed. It was a very unpredictable lifestyle, but it weaned the former slaves of their limited expectations. Life under Egyptian masters was formulaic and systematic. Life with God was anything but.
It’s still that way. While religious systems teach us how to live by formulas, God teaches us to live by His own movements. That may look random to us, and it can be very disorienting, but it isn’t random to God at all. Our approach to life as Kingdom citizens is altogether different from our former approach and other people’s approaches to life. Our fallen human nature longs for rules, principles, systems, and step-by-step instructions. We want to know what to expect. The Spirit says, “Follow Me.”
To really experience the Kingdom life, we have to become comfortable with a Person rather than a plan. It may help to have plans sometimes, but never to hold them tightly. We may crave rules and principles, but God wants us to have a relationship with Him, not with a set of rules or principles. Whether we like it or not, responsiveness to Him is the norm of the Kingdom, no matter how many unpredictable paths He leads us down. The Spirit will take us places, in our hearts and in our circumstances, that we might never have foreseen.
IN DEED
Never turn your faith into a formula. Learn instead to relate to God personally and intimately. When you do, the fruit of the Spirit will spring up within you and accomplish what laws and principles never could. There will be less and less room for sin and selfishness, and more desire for life in abundance. And the Spirit Himself will fulfill that desire.
ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 8:1-4
Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine; until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.
EDWIN HATCH
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Galatians 5:25
IN WORD
Long ago in the wilderness, the wandering Israelites followed the cloud by day and the fire by night. Whenever the cloud and fire remained in one place, the Israelites remained in that place. Whenever the cloud and fire lifted up and departed, the people packed up and followed. It was a very unpredictable lifestyle, but it weaned the former slaves of their limited expectations. Life under Egyptian masters was formulaic and systematic. Life with God was anything but.
It’s still that way. While religious systems teach us how to live by formulas, God teaches us to live by His own movements. That may look random to us, and it can be very disorienting, but it isn’t random to God at all. Our approach to life as Kingdom citizens is altogether different from our former approach and other people’s approaches to life. Our fallen human nature longs for rules, principles, systems, and step-by-step instructions. We want to know what to expect. The Spirit says, “Follow Me.”
To really experience the Kingdom life, we have to become comfortable with a Person rather than a plan. It may help to have plans sometimes, but never to hold them tightly. We may crave rules and principles, but God wants us to have a relationship with Him, not with a set of rules or principles. Whether we like it or not, responsiveness to Him is the norm of the Kingdom, no matter how many unpredictable paths He leads us down. The Spirit will take us places, in our hearts and in our circumstances, that we might never have foreseen.
IN DEED
Never turn your faith into a formula. Learn instead to relate to God personally and intimately. When you do, the fruit of the Spirit will spring up within you and accomplish what laws and principles never could. There will be less and less room for sin and selfishness, and more desire for life in abundance. And the Spirit Himself will fulfill that desire.
ADDITIONAL READING: Romans 8:1-4
Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly Thine; until this earthly part of me glows with Thy fire divine.
EDWIN HATCH
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