Be Still and Know

Galatians 6:18 The story of John Newton is well known. He first went to sea with his father when he was eleven years old and soon became deeply involved in working on slave ships. It was a terrible experience and, after falling out with the cre...

Galatians 6:17 Alan Paton wrote a book called Cry, the Beloved Country (Simon & Schuster) and was a fierce opponent of apartheid in South Africa. He once wrote about his death: “When I go up there, which is my intention, the Big Judge will say to...

Galatians 6:14 There was clearly a lot of boasting going on amongst the Galatians! There were those who boasted of the fact that they continued to keep the Jewish law. They continued to practice circumcision and to stand by the Old Testament law....

Galatians 6:7-8 The principle of “you reap what you sow” is both obvious and profound. If you sow a field full of wheat you would be crazy to expect a crop of potatoes. It’s so obvious that it hardly needs saying, but the message fundamentally ch...

Galatians 6:6 It’s not surprising that Paul spoke so clearly about the need to care for teachers in the early Church. They had a crucial role and, if they were not supported by the financial gifts of the church members, they would starve. The Gal...

Galatians 6:4-5 In the previous couple of verses, Paul spoke of the importance of us helping other people to carry their heavy burdens. Now he reminds the Galatians that they have their own burden to bear. The word he uses is also used of a soldi...

Galatians 6:2-3 We live in a society that appears to be far more interested in rights than responsibilities. That is not to say that rights are unimportant, because they are clearly crucial. The right to free speech, health, safety, care and just...

Galatians 6:1 Sadly, in every organisation of human beings things sometimes go wrong. It’s sad but also an inevitable fact. I love the gracious and positive way in which this verse addresses the issue. When someone sins it is not the end of t...

Galatians 5:25-26 Living in step with the Holy Spirit sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Just imagine a life which is full of love, joy, peace and all the other beautiful fruit of the Spirit. This must surely be life at its best. But the apostle Paul kn...

Galatians 5:22-23 These beautiful spiritual qualities are the inevitable result of the Holy Spirit taking control of a person’s life. You can be sure of the genuineness of a person’s spiritual experience when you see these qualities flowing. It’s...

Galatians 5:16-17 It’s always refreshing when you meet someone who is completely honest. The apostle Paul was such a man. In Romans 7:18-19, he gave an astonishingly frank account of how he ticked. He talked about the way he struggled with hi...

Galatians 5:7-9 We all know what is to be disappointed. It may be that someone has let you down, or that things just haven’t worked out in the way that you had hoped. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is dominated by his deep and agonising disappoin...

Galatians 4:6-7 When I hear the word ‘father’ I immediately think of my own. We probably all do exactly the same thing. I think of a gentle and kind Christian man. He was a businessman and a busy member of our church, and was always absol...

Galatians 3:11 For the apostle Paul, this was the crunch issue. The only way to be made right with God is through faith. He was addressing many people who believed that obeying the law was crucial for all Christians, but he argued that howeve...

Galatians 2:20 In these first two chapters of Galatians, Paul gives a fascinating summary of his life story since he became a Christian. He reminds his readers of his background. He had been so deeply committed to his Jewish faith that he...