Saturday Spotlight: Break Time Bible Study

This is a reprint from our Break Time Bible Study blog.

Galatians can be summarized as “Jesus Plus Nothing = Everything.” (I did not come up with that, but it succinctly shares the essence of the book.)

Paul was writing to a group of churches in an area now known as Turkey. Jesus had ascended around 25 years prior, so His earthly presence was still part of the contemporary history, rather like many of us remembering Ronald Reagan.

In the first chapter, we see the following major points:

Paul’s authority: Paul established himself as an authority the Galatians could listen to. He had already ministered to them and then left for other missionary work. He reminded them that he had directly encountered the Lord, and that major life change had happened.

Paul’s astonishment: Early in the book (Paul wastes no time) he tells the Galatians how shocked he is that they are already turning from the simple truth of believing in Christ alone for salvation. A group of false teachers known as Judaizers had infiltrated and were teaching that in addition to belief in Jesus, certain rituals (such as circumcision) were still required for salvation. Paul is adamant that this is not true. Salvation is by faith in Jesus alone…no other action, ritual, practice or performance is required. Our good works as Christians come out of appreciation, not obligation.

Paul’s approval: Paul actually did not seek the approval of man (see verse 10.) He instead sought the approval of God. In our group, we discussed what happens when we don’t get credit for something we have done. We saw a beautiful descriptor in verse 24: “And they praised God because of me.” Our focus as believers should be less and less on ourselves.

Wouldn’t you want that to be the thing that people say about you at the end of your life?

Friday Fun

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Make Use of that Computer!

Take advantage of your computer's capabilities to avoid piles of paper on your desk. Use task lists such as what are provided in Outlook, or set up an Excel sheet so you can sort by due dates. Some phone apps have to-do list features.

You can also use Google calendar to sync all views of your calendar which is awesome! I have a copy of my calendar on my HOPE office desktop, my desktop at part time job, my phone and my iPad, all staying in sync with each other. Plus, it is always "in the cloud" through Google. Google has a task feature too that syncs with an app called TaskOS.

I use Google docs to keep a couple of spreadsheet documents that are helpful for me to access from my home office, my part-time job office or even my phone or iPad. This way I can keep one copy up to date and access it wherever I need it.

Due to the above, I generally avoid having written to-do lists, but if you prefer the organic paper method, I suggest you have one journal/spiral notebook (or maybe two--one for work and one for home) and keep all your to-do's in one place.  For more on to-do lists, visit the organizing hope blog today here.