Galatians - Hearts Transformed (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to minister God’ word and spend a few moments in prayer. This week, we are looking at the epistle of Galatians and today, we will look at hearts transformed. Galatians chapter 1, verses 23 and 24, ‘They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.’ Paul had started his first missionary journey, planted young churches in the region of Galatia but now these churches were floundering because some false teachers had crept in and were trying to lead them astray. They had needed to be encouraged and enfolded to remember the good news and to live for Jesus alone. So, Paul tells briefly how God changed him from a persecutor of Christ to becoming a fully committed ambassador of Jesus Christ. Saul began ravaging the churches, entering house after house and dragging men and women and he would put them into prison. Paul later testified, I have persecuted the Christian even to their death, binding and putting both men and women in prisons. He confessed, I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth and this was just what he did in Jerusalem but also when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. His transformation was not about him but about Jesus. Eventually, he went to Jerusalem to meet with the elders of the church there. Then Paul moved on, spread the gospel to the regions north of Judea and when the churches of Judea heard about him, the Spirit of God made clear that Paul was truly converted to preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. That brought all the believers to praise God and instead of fearing Paul, they rejoiced on account of him. We can trust that if Paul was among a group of people and while he preached the gospel, it wouldn’t have been long when he shared his testimony. Scripture doesn’t shy away from urging us to keep the commands of God in focus. Moses taught the Israelites to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength and these commandments are to be in your hearts. Tie them as a symbol on your hands and bind them on your foreheads, write them on the doorframes of your homes and gates. We are incredibly forgetful and the Spirit often knows how we neglect to focus our hearts and minds on the Lord. The value of a personal testimony is not restricted to those who have a dramatic conversion story like Paul. We can see the glory of God’s work just as much as those who may feel they may have a boring testimony. As we engage love and faithfulness in our hearts, we will grow and be more open and led to the Spirit of God in our lives.

Let us pray, Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the lessons that we learnt. We thank you that you are a God who looks at our heart and changes our heart. Help us to walk in your ways. Let our hearts be turned towards you, to walk in holiness and righteousness, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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