Devotions

Paul asked the Galatian church, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (Galatians 5:7-9).

Paul is referring here to a mindset, a doctrinal belief or point of theology. He is asking, "What's in your life that keeps you from going on in the full blessing of Christ? You were doing so well at one time. I know you to be a praying people, and you labor diligently to do good works, but something is wrong. I don't see you growing anymore. Instead, you've gone back to relying on your flesh. I don't sense the sweet aroma of Christ you once had. Your certainty, your clarity, your vision are all gone. Something's hindering you.

"What could have persuaded you to settle in this condition? Whatever it is, I tell you it's not of God. In fact, I sense leaven in you, a compromise of some kind. Something is clouding you, something you may be holding on to. And it's causing the Lord to have a controversy with you. Tell me, what is it?"

I know so many Christians today who once were mightily used of God. These people were devoted, praying, believing saints. But then something happened to them that somehow caused them to be hindered from experiencing the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

This includes many ministers I know. These men saw victory after victory in their walk with the Lord. But something crept into their lives, some compromise, and over time they made peace with it. Often that hindering leaven was a single besetting sin.

To all such people, Paul asks, "What happened? What's hindering the flow of Christ's blessing in your life? What leaven has crept in?"

Paul finished this passage by warning the Galatians, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9).
 

It was with confidence that Paul could say to the church at Rome, "When I come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29). He had a holy confidence in his walk with Christ. He claimed, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).

Paul was saying, in essence, "My life is an open book before the Lord. I have no hidden sin in my heart, and He has no controversy with me. His blessing to me is a continual flow of revelation, so when I preach to you, you don't hear the words of men. I don't deliver a dead sermon full of clever theology. What you hear are the very words of God's heart to you."

You see, the fullness of Christ's blessing has little to do with material goods. Of course, all good health and earthly resources must be seen as blessings from God's gracious hand. But Paul is speaking of a much greater blessing here. The Greek word he uses for blessing means "God's commendation."

In short, the blessing of Christ means having a life that is pleasing to the Lord. It's an inner knowing from the Holy Ghost that as God looks on your life, He says, "I'm pleased with you, My son, My daughter. There is nothing between us to hinder our communion and relationship."

The writer of Hebrews sums up the fullness of Christ's blessing this way: "The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever" (Hebrews 13:20-21).

I love being around people who live this kind of Christ-life. They have about them the aroma of having been with Jesus. Like Paul, these saints have a divine dissatisfaction with this life; a longing to be in the presence of Christ; a hunger to obtain more and more intimacy with Him. They speak much of Jesus, and they exude His love and holiness.
 

"I am sure that, when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29). Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Rome. He was telling them, "I have no doubt that when I meet you, it will be in the fullest measure of Christ's blessing."

The apostle's words here imply something that every believer must know. That is, there are various degrees, or measures, of Christ's blessing. Some believers obtain a full measure of this blessing, which is the goal. We're all meant to come into a full measure of the Lord's blessing. Yet, other Christians enter into only a small measure of Christ's blessing.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul urges everyone to pursue the fullest measure of this blessing: "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. . . . To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 4:7, 13, 3:19).

Note the word "fullness" in these passages. The Greek word Paul uses here means "to complete the task of filling up to the full." That is the task God has given us: to pursue the fullness of Christ's blessing in our lives.

Paul elaborates on this, writing, "There is . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" (Ephesians 4:4-6). In short, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit abides in all His children. Jesus promised, "We will come and make our abode in you" (see John 14:23). Paul is making clear that we all have the same access to the Lord. Therefore, we all have an equal opportunity to obtain His ever-increasing blessing. Indeed, our lives should continually increase in what Paul calls "the blessing of Christ."

Consider the incredible measure of Christ's blessing in Paul's life. This man received revelations from Jesus personally. He writes that Christ revealed Himself in him. Of course, Paul knew he hadn't attained perfection. But he also knew, without a doubt, that there was nothing in his life hindering the flow of Christ's blessing.
 

As the family of God, we gather in churches to worship, sing, listen and give. But if we’re not careful, we can end up being spectators when it comes to living as Jesus would have us live. Often when we see people in sin, rather than helping them out of it, we harbor a secret hope they’ll be caught. And when they are, we feel justified, thinking, “I knew it. That person’s life always seemed a little off.”

Why do we do this? It could be because we feel guilty about our own sin. We all have something in our lives that others could throw a stone at. The truth is, those Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus (see John 8:3-11) could have dragged anyone out of the crowd and stoned her. Nowadays, accusing people do that very thing through social media.

Jesus’ way is different. “Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, ‘Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’ ‘No, Lord,’ she said. And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more’” (John 8:10-11, NLT).

As a preacher of the gospel, I love those three words: “Neither do I.” Jesus didn’t condemn her. And that was a radical thing for Him to do. It still is today, when He tells each of us who repent, “Neither do I condemn you.” Yet Jesus got even more radical when He told the religious leaders, “I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t” (John 8:26). Wow! That sounds like an insult, but in fact Jesus had a whole laundry list of things He could condemn them for. He has a similar list about our lives today. But instead of condemning, He says, “Neither do I condemn you.”

What an amazing moment. It revealed the powerful love behind God’s grace— that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
 

Just before Jesus healed the deaf man in Mark 7, we read, "Looking up to heaven, he sighed" (Mark 7:34). The word for sigh here signifies an audible groan. Evidently, Jesus grimaced and a groan came out of His heart. Of course, the man couldn't hear it, because he was deaf—but what was this groan about?

I have read many commentaries about this scene. Yet none bears witness to what I believe God's Spirit is telling me. I'm convinced Jesus was looking into heaven and communing with the Father. He was quietly weeping in His soul over two things. First, He wept over something that only He could see in this man. And second, He wept over something He sees today, locked in the hearts of so many people, especially the young.

What did Jesus see, both then and now? What was He hearing, both in this deaf man's heart and in the hearts of multitudes today? He was hearing a cry without a voice. He was hearing a cry of the heart, bottled up, unable to be expressed. Now Christ Himself groaned with a cry that could not be uttered. He was giving voice to the cries of all who cannot cry out.

Think of the many nights this deaf man cried himself to sleep because nobody understood him. Not even his mother or father could comprehend what he spoke. How often he tried to explain how he felt, but all that came out were painful, awkward sounds. He must have thought, "If only I could speak, just once. If only my tongue were loosed for a minute, I could tell someone what's going on in my soul. I would scream, 'I'm no dummy. I'm not under a curse. And I'm not running from God. I'm just confused. I've got problems, but nobody can hear them.'"

Yet Jesus heard the thoughts of this frustrated man's heart. He understands every inward groan that cannot be uttered. The Bible says our Lord is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. And He felt the pain of this man's deafness and tongue-tied condition.