Desires of the Flesh and Spirit

Good morning ladies!  I pray that you are all doing well and drawing close to God as we continue to read and think upon his awesome grace!  Praise God that it was for freedom that Christ set us free!  We are free so that we can love one another and walk by the Spirit and not the desires of the flesh!  Isn't that when we experience the most joy in life?  When we walk in God's ways and love others...YET there is this opposition! "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." Galatains 5:17  My biggest take away so far from this study has been learning to recognizing this opposition not as bad, but the nature of the flesh and the Spirit conflicting within me.  I want to grow in maturity in the faith to pause when I feel the opposition and evaluate what is the root, and then by God's grace crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit!  


Heavenly Father, thank you for your forgiveness for all the times I grieve the Spirit and choose the ways of the flesh instead.  May you work in each of our lives to reveal to us the ways of the flesh that we are hanging on to and to crucify these ways so that we can experience true freedom in Christ!  You are a good God and I praise you for working for our good even when it comes to refining who we are!  Thank you for these ladies and their love for you!  In Jesus Name, Amen!

Week 3 and 4

Hello Ladies!  Sorry to be so delayed in a post...I was without internet last week! Thank you for your comments and honesty as you journey through Galatians,  I continue to be encouraged and taught through you!  I think Dinika's question for thought was a great one to reflect on.... In regards to how we handle of truth of the gospel, "as Christians we reflect God's image and inconsistent conduct would tarnish this reflection to the detriment of others?" This was a very challenging thought for me to think over about how I am living and am I being a proper reflection of God's truth and grace to the world around me!


I can also resonate with Julia's difficulty with the study during week 4,  I would say that it was so far the most challenging to understand.  But I think these season come during Bible study and it is a call to seek and cry out to God for Him to teach us through his Spirit and for us to be faithful.  It also can be a time to evaluate our actions and our thoughts to see if there is any sin that is hindering us from hearing from God, and to lead us to confession and repentance. I can struggle many time with even my worries distracting me from Bible study and it is a time when I must surrender to God and cast all my anxieties upon him.  Also when things get heavy and it is just hard to understand,  check out some commentaries or do some word studies.  I like to use Blueletterbible.org 


Like for me, this week, I wanted to learn more about the idea of the law being our tutor, and this is what I learned from the Thayer's Lexicon on blueletterbible.org.  "The law arouses the consciousness of sin, preparing the soul for Christ because those who have learned by experience with the law that they are not commended to God by their works, welcome more eagerly the hope of salvation in Christ."  This helped me to understand how God uses the law to reveal to us our desperate need for a savior because are so fallen and can not save ourselves!  Praise be to God, who sends the Spirit of His Son into the hearts of those who receive him crying, "Abba, Father."  That word Father means, "of Christians, as those who through Christ have been exalted to a specially close and intimate relationship with God, and who no longer dread him as a stern judge of sinners, but revere him as their reconciled and loving Father"  How amazing!!!

Week 2- Shackled by Your Past?

Hello Ladies!  I pray that you are having a lovely week and learning new and awesome things about our God!  Please feel free to leave any comments about week 2 or 3 as you move forward!  I would love to hear how you each summarized chapters 1 and 2 of Galatians.  I also loved the question in regards to what we can learn from Paul's ministry and how we can imitate him.

Chapter Themes:
1.There is only one true gospel, the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ.
2. Justification comes only through faith in Christ, not by works.

The things that I learned from Paul that I want to imitate would be to serve all my life, never give in, mentor others, and persevere at all times- even to imprisonment and death.

Love you ladies!

Week 1 - Saved by Grace but in Bondage to the Law?

Hello Lovely Ladies! I hope that you have all gotten a chance to begin your study and are anticipating great things!  This week was a great start to get some ground work built up but if you  are like me, you may be thinking that their is much to learn over the next 5 weeks in Galatians! So I am looking forward to the fogginess to get cleared up as we continue to pursue God's truth in this Book!


I thought I would post a few of the questions for thought below, but feel free to comment on any or all, or something completely different! Remember to support your answers from the text! :)


~ What was Paul's purpose in writing Galatians?


~The title of our study book is "Free from Bondage God's Way", do you sense that the Galatians were under any sort of bondage? If so, what was it? Can you relate in any way?


~What did you learn about the gospel from marking each reference in Galatians?

Freedom from Bondage God's Way!

Good afternoon ladies!  Welcome to the first week of our journey, I am so thrilled to see what God teaches each of us!  It is going to be a good summer in Galatians and Ephesians!  Feel free to leave comments during the week on this post and then at the end of the week I will post some questions from the book that you all can leave input on!  Throughout our study keep asking God to reveal truth to you!  He WILL be faithful to your request!