i talk like a sailor.

James 1:26-27

 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Religious - thrēskos (fearing or worshiping God, to tremble)

vv. 26, 27: Religion - thrēskeia (external religious worship, religious discipline)

Hi, my name is Sarah Rowland Davis; I was born into a loving and supportive Christian family. I grew up going to church my whole life, going on missions trips, going to a Christian school (aside from being homeschooled), and I was very involved in all of the church activities. I was religious if you asked my family, church friends, and some of my homeschool/high school friends. But if you were to ask my non-Christian friends if I was religious they would laugh and say “well not when we are around…” Aside from my “religious” background, I would curse, rebel against my parents, rebel against God, and do all the things I knew I shouldn’t do. I was a two-faced, lying, hypocrite. I could not control my tongue, I was fooling myself and everyone around me, my religion was <WORTHLESS.> I can now honestly come before you and God and say I am still a hypocrite, but by the Grace of God He has changed my life drastically. I have put my faith and religion before God so He can make it pure and genuine. ~ You may be thinking; “well how does she do that?” and my answer would be: I know I am a sinner, I know I mess up I know I cannot do this by myself, I know I need God for my religion to be real. So I humble myself before the Lord and rely on Him for the things I try to rely on myself or others for, I seek His forgiveness when I fail and I move forward from my past, I am in His word daily and I am always finding time and ways to talk to Him. I am refusing to let this world corrupt me! Anything is possible with Jesus Christ. *Keep in mind, this verse is not saying to only do these 3 commands and your religion will be pure, those are just some examples of being a servant to the Lord.

Galatians 5:13 “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Answer This:

1.  Would you say you have a fake or genuine religion? Why or why not?

2.  What are some ways you can go about keeping your religion pure and genuine?

3.  Are you using your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature? or are you using your freedom to keep your religion pure and genuine? How so?  

Take some time in your day to read/ focus on God’s word and talk to Him (aside from this devotional). That is how your relationship with Him grows

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Written by Sarah Davis

two turn tables and a microphone

Galatians 5:13-15- For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

When I went to college music was a big issue for Christians. There weren’t really many solid Christians that were making good music that was getting radio time… guys like Mat Kearney, Switchfoot, Owl City (Christian guys that just make good music) were really rare. So there was a huge divide between “Christian Music” and “Secular Music”. At my Christian college probably 90% of us students went through a “Purge my music collection” phase of life where we just threw out all of our “Secular” music (that’s anything that is not overtly Christian music). We would actually sit and take songs by guys that love God and we would judge if the song was “Christian enough”, it’s really embarrassing to think about it now… Imagine: Kyle Davis’ company is a “Christian owned” construction company (General Contractor actually) but imagine we sat around and looked at the work they did last year and judged “well, this church they built over here works for me, but that bank they built over there is just not Christian enough”. Eventually, I began to realize that Jesus does not require me only to listen to music that quotes Bible verses… Jesus has made me free to listen to what I want to listen to … however, the Bible reminds us that even though something is “lawful” (OK to do) it might not be “profitable” (the best thing for us)…  so, I opened up my music collection and kept my Christian stuff and then brought in one or two regular albums (“Secular” is the buzz word from back then), but soon I went from reading the lyrics and deciding if it was “profitable” for me, to a spot where I was just forgetting about the lyrics and just picking any music that sounded good to me…  One day I’m driving around with a friend in my car and a Madonna song comes on (hey, don’t judge me!) and I’m singing along (seriously, quit judging me!) and the girl I’m with in the car just says “Hey can we change this song, I’m not a fan of this song, I was listening to it the night I lost my virginity - not a good memory.” and the lyrics of the song then became so alive to me and they were so very inappropriate. Jesus gave me the freedom to listen to music, my music didn’t have to have Bible verses in it… but I took that freedom and kept going so that it now was actually hurting other people… even though I didn’t mean it - I still hurt my friend that was listening.

DJ Ben Berry

I think music gets a bad rap though…  most illustrations about music end up like my story here. “I was given a freedom and I misused it”… but that’s not always the case - don’t run away from music. God uses music to stir emotions in people and we are all very emotional beings. My friend Ben Berry was big into music as a teenager, then he went to Liberty University and still had a passion for music. Some people at that time were saying that Christians shouldn't get involved in Hip Hop or rap music… but Ben knew that he had freedom given by God to engage with music and see how it can be used to stir souls.  Eventually Ben was DJ’ing radio shows and traveling across the country to DJ for top quality artists that were using music to fire people up about Jesus. Don’t be afraid of music we are free to use it to glorify God… in fact we are free to pursue whatever God has gifted you in, find your gifts and use them to glorify God! 

Answer This:

1.   What freedom have you been guilty of abusing? What have you taken advantage of in the name of “freedom”?

2. What “freedom” will I choose not to engage just because I know it will hurt someone else around me.

3. “Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

4. Take a minute and journal about this passage.

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Written by Jeff Harkins

you using that chair?

Yo, so true story - One day Breanna was walking and bumped into this chair that said, "Do Not Touch." She didn't seem to think anything of it, there seemed to be no reason to not touch it. So she leaned on it while texting, but when she went to walk away, she was stuck to it. No matter what she tried, she couldn't free herself. A short time later, Hannah is walking by and sees Breanna. She tries to pull Breanna off the chair, but can't and in the process touches the chair. Now they're both stuck. Along comes Elliott and Lauren. Upon seeing some damsels in distress, Elliott tries to be a knight in shining armor. Again, the attempts are unsuccessful and Elliott and Lauren both manage to get stuck on the chair too. Out of no where, Max comes flying in with some ninja moves, assesses the situation, and like those who've gone before him, winds up stuck to the chair. Christy was out for a run and finds the group all stuck to the chair. Instead of helping, she starts taking pictures of them, including a selfie (don't believe me? ask her to show you this picture!). But she can be a little clumsy and stumbles into the chair, getting herself stuck too.
Next Natalie comes walking by. She's a little smarter than the others. Rather than getting herself stuck, she actually manages to get everyone unstuck!

Galatians 5:1-6 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. 

Now say one of them decided that they really liked the chair. They didn't really mind being stuck to it, they actually kind of liked it. Although they've gotten unstuck from the chair, they want to continue staying stuck to it. How would you respond to them? What would you do if you saw Max or Hannah walking around with a chair stuck to them?

It would be silly for anyone of us to want to stay stuck to a chair, but that's silly skit is an analogy to the way that we live life. There are so many ways where we opt to stay stuck (submit ourselves to slavery), instead being unstuck (free because of Christ).

Check out the chorus of this song by Hillsong: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom! Where the Spirit of the Lord is chains are broken, eyes are open. Christ is with us." I don't know about you, but I want that freedom Christ is offering. I don't want to live enslaved.


1) What's an area in which you see you are stuck to a chair?
2) For freedom Christ has set us _____________; stand firm therefore, and do not _____________ again to a yoke of slavery.
3) What's a practical step you can take this week to experience the freedom Christ offers?

4) Take some time and journal about this passage:

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Written by Amber

Brooks Was Here

Have you ever watched The Shawshank Redemption? There's an old guy in the movie his name is Brooks. He's been in the prison for 50 years and has figured out life in the system. He's a guy that's important; he’s respected by many of the prisoners (he runs the library among other things). He is given parole but is scared to leave. He leaves and gets a job and place to live. Brooks ends up hanging himself because he can't handle life outside of the prison. He's lived in prison so long that is has become his identity and he fears the freedom and newness of life outside of prison.

Galatians 4:21-27

21 Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? 22 The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. 23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

24 These two women serve as an illustration of God’s two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai where people received the law that enslaved them. 25 And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. 26 But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. 27 As Isaiah said,

“Rejoice, O childless woman,

    you who have never given birth!

Break into a joyful shout,

    you who have never been in labor!

For the desolate woman now has more children

    than the woman who lives with her husband!”

I've read this passage numerous times this past week. The phrase, "you who desire to be under the law" jumped out at me this time and made me want to scream "NOOOO!"

This is the struggle of the Early Church is having. They have lived their whole lives under the Law. It's what they know; it's what makes sense. It is part of their identity (think about the Pharisees). They don't know how to live under the freedom that the grace of the new covenant brings, so they desire the Law. Just like Brooks who wants to return to prison cause it's what he knows.

Can you relate to that? Feeling like it's easier to stay in a current situation because the new is unknown and scary.

This past weekend I was at a Beth Moore conference. She talked about the Israelites grumbling and complaining about how great it was in Egypt and wished they had stayed. But they were slaves in Egypt!  They were choosing slavery over freedom!

She also talked about the story of Peter walking on water. Peter could've stayed in the boat. The boat was a good, safe place from where they could see Jesus. However, stepping out of the boat brought Peter to a place that was scary, yet closer to Jesus.

God wants us to have abundant life (Jn 10:10). He doesn't want us living in Egypt or staying in the boat. Christ died so we could live for so much more! Don’t choose to live under the Law when you can live under grace.

Put your fears aside. Trust God enough to move forward in your relationship with Him. Don't desire the Law; experience the abundant life that grace brings.

Questions:

1) Can you relate to Peter, the Israelites, or the early church? In what way do you need to choose freedom over slavery?

2) "you who _______ to be under the ______."

3) From what you know of Abraham and his two sons, held to the verses about them relate to this idea of grace/law and the old/new covenants?

4) Take some time and journal about this passage.

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Written by Amber

Ahora on Telemundo

Galatians 4:1-7

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. 2 They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. 3 And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

So there was this guy that lived in Brazil. His name was Amador Aguiar. He built a bank and started making money, and more money. Along the way he has a family and adopts 3 children, all of them girls. He is an older man and near the end of his life he is a Billionaire he ends up marrying his secretary, she happens to be 40 years younger then him…   seriously, everyone says that this real life story is like a Latin American soap opera…

So finally he dies.

They family is called together to have the will read because that is what they do in soap operas… and his daughters are there to learn what they have inherited and his super young wife as well. As it is read it becomes apparent that the former secretary turned very young wife is going to receive everything, all of the Billions of dollars and his 3 daughters will not receive anything! The problem is that the man’s Lawyer steps in and says that this is not the Will that he set up with the man. Amador Aguiar had drafted a will giving a lot of his money to his daughter and some to his wife, but after he went into the hospital and was dying and on medication for some reason he decided to change the will and all of his money went to the wife, oh yeah, and the wife was the only one that knew anything about this new will. Straight up soap opera!

So the daughters, who have been daughters to this man have now been cut out of the will for the secretary that convinced a dying man 40 years older then she is, to marry her, and then rewrite his own will and give her everything… she is getting all the money. The daughters naturally argue this and take it to court and the courts want to give some money to the daughters…  so the young wife fights back saying that they are not really his daughters he had adopted them…    she even paid to have the man’s body exhumed (dug up) and tested for DNA just to prove that they were adopted and not really his birth children. The tests were accurate - he was not the birth father, he had simply adopted them.

When the court ruled, they ruled in favor of the girls, as they should have… because they are his daughters. You see, in Brazil the rule is that when you are adopted you really become part of that family, so what would rightfully belong to a daughter also rightfully belongs to an adopted daughter. And the girls got their Billions, to this day they are listed as some of the richest woman on earth, but there was a time when that money was theirs, but they couldn't spend a penny of it.   They were rich but they couldn't buy a cup of coffee because the money was still being controlled by someone else and they had not actually received their inheritance. The law that held up their money was so powerful that it held their money away from them. But the relationship that they had with this man, their father, that is what eventually gave them the right to have every penny of that money, the inheritance of their father.

It’s just like that with God. Just like it says in these first few verses of today’s passage that before Jesus came we were like those children, who’s money was being held up as a result of a law…  but eventually Jesus came and it is because of our relationship with Jesus that we can now lay our hands on the full inheritance.

Even though we are adopted children of God, we have access to the full inheritance and it is free to us now that we have the ability to have a relationship with Jesus. This passage is a great reminder that the law is a good thing to obey, but it does not bring freedom, the true freedom that we find in life is by having a relationship with Jesus.

Questions:

1.      Have you ever has something that was rightfully yours but had to be held up by some rule, system, or restriction like that until a certain time?

2.      How would our life with God be different if we were still “slaves” to the law?

3.      “And that’s the way it was with us before ________ came. We were like children; we were __________ to the basic spiritual principles of this world.”

4. Take a minute and journal about this passage.

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Written by Jeff