Personal Devotions
Notes from Mark's personal Bible reading and meditation
With a goal to apply one truth from each day's reading to my life that day
Oct 26, 2025, 8:15 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 5-6
Meditation Verses: 6:13-15
Thought
These people who think a man must be circumcised in order to be saved don't understand what they're talking about! They are picking and choosing what commands of the Old Testament they should obey, instead of recognizing that the Law is an all-or-nothing proposition. Either you obey all of it or else you're condemned.
Oct 25, 2025, 9:10 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 3-4
Meditation Verse: 4:9
Thought
It is interesting how Paul corrects himself: "Now that you know God--or rather are known by God." It is not so much that he said something wrong--we have come to know God as compared to before when we knew nothing about God until someone shared the Gospel with us and we heard about God and believed in His Son, and were adopted into His family. We were formerly slaves, not really knowing our Master.
Oct 24, 2025, 6:53 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 1-2
Meditation Verse: 2:6
Thought
Paul is speaking about the original apostles and the current leaders of the earliest church, people who were in Christ long before him, people whom he once tried to persecute. They are significant and they should have the best understanding of the Gospel and all is implications for life in this world. But the Gospel did not originate with them, though they were the first to receive it and become proclaimers of it.
Oct 16, 2024, 9:02 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 5-6
Meditation Verses: 5:18-24
Thought
The war we're in is not a war between the Law and the Spirit, but between the flesh and the Spirit, and the battleground is our moral behavior. It is not a war of circumcision or holy days or animal sacrifices, but one of godly or selfish behavior. Fulfilling the material requirements of the law will not save, but rather will separate us from Christ.
Oct 15, 2024, 9:04 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 3-4
Meditation Verses: 4:22-24
Thought
God promised to give Abraham an heir through Sarah, but He delayed in fulfilling it, knowing that Sarah would become discouraged and suggest using Hagar, and Abraham would agree. This would become an illustration for our spiritual state apart from Christ and produce an illustration for our state in Christ. That doesn't justify Abraham's decision, but neither did it hinder what God had planned.
Oct 13, 2024, 9:05 AM
Passage Read: Galatians 1-2
Meditation Verses: 2:11-14
Thought
Two things here: One, how easy it is to be pulled back into old ways when others who are in the grip of those old ways come along; two, leaders who fall into sin need to be publicly rebuked for the benefit of all. Peter had no problem fellowshipping freely with the Gentile believers until fellow Jews came from Jerusalem, Jews who still held firmly to Jewish ways, sadly including the belief that Gentiles were unclean.
Sep 25, 2023, 2:00 PM
Passage Read: Galatians 5-6
Meditation Verse: 5:3
Thought
If you believe you must obey certain parts of the Law to be saved, then you must obey all of it in order to be saved. The problem from the beginning of time is selective obedience: We obey what we want, what we deem easy, and ignore the rest. If I think I must obey certain parts of the Law in order for God to accept me, then I'm obligated to obey all of it, because God never said He'd accept people who obeyed part of His Law, but all of it.
Sep 24, 2023, 2:01 PM
Passage Read: Galatians 3-4
Meditation Verse: 3:5
Thought
The Galatians saw miracles among them, apparently not just when Paul was with them. They were spiritually gifted and enjoyed the power of the Spirit working among them. Today we explain spiritual gifts away by various means and to various degrees, but why? What in Scripture justifies the idea that the gifts were only for a short time? Have we just gotten too intellectual for our own good? God's Spirit still has power; have we just lost faith?
Sep 23, 2023, 2:03 PM
Passage Read: Galatians 1-2
Meditation Verses: 1:3-5
Thought
Jesus gave Himself to rescue us from this present evil age. Those are words you don't hear much. This present evil age. This age and time is nice, the most advanced on earth (that we know of). All kinds of modern conveniences. It's amazing! What's there to rescue us from? Back then, there were Jews who hated Christ and His followers. There were pagans who engaged in all kinds of debauchery. The Roman government in many places and from the highest levels persecuted Christians.
Sep 27, 2022, 2:08 PM
Passage Read: Galatians 5-6
Meditation Verses: 5:2-4
Thought
Paul is making this a very big deal! It is either Christ alone or nothing! But keeping the Law provides a measure of security and comfort--except that no one can keep the Law perfectly, so in that sense, the Law is useless. Still, it is attractive to have a back up plan, so that if Christ is not enough, then God might still accept you for your effort to keep the Law. Paul is forcing a choice, either Christ or the Law. We can't have both.