Morning Thoughts

It’s the weekend! I hope your week has gone well. I went with some of my friends to Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs) not too far from here. It’s about a 20 minute drive on the paved road and then almost an hour on terrible roads moving anywhere from 10-20mph. But, once you are there, it’s beautiful and peaceful and a great little respite place. It’s a place to think about things...like “Am I showing the fruit of the Spirit?” “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-24‬ NLT In Galatians 5:16-26, Paul is still explaining why freedom from the Law does not mean doing whatever you feel like at any given time.  He continues to tell the Galatians to live according to the Spirit instead of the...

Happy Friday. I’m in Samachique, Chihuahua this morning and the mountains are beautiful—amazing actually. Driving in through the Sierras always reminds me how insignificant we are and how great our God must be. He has done some great and marvelous things on this tiny planet we call earth and his request from us is that as a people we love and care for each other.  “My brothers and sisters, you were chosen to be free. But don't use your freedom as an excuse to live in sin. Instead, serve one another in love. The whole law can be found in a single command. "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." (Leviticus 19:18)” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:13-14‬ ‭NIRV‬‬ Acting out their faith in love seems to be something that the Galatiians were really good at!  So Paul is very upset that teachers have come in to try to turn them to the Law.  Paul has suffered persecution to teach them about grace and faith instead of Law keeping, and now people have come in to undo all of that. It's here t...

It’s Thursday and I am in Mexico, about 300 miles south of the border this morning and our plans are to make it the rest of the way into the mountains today.  I love this passage where we are in Galatians 5. Probably because I love thinking about the people I know that personify the idea Paul is trying to get across in vs 13 when he basically says just because you are free, don’t use that as a get out of jail free card, but instead, love and serve other people.  I know all of us can name many we know who fit that description, but Gary is the guy in the picture with my 95-year-old mother-in-law. Gary is in charge of the Honey Creek Retirement Village and no one has ever loved their people more or worked harder to ensure their well-being. He treats them all as though they were his own parents—with the love of Jesus, serving as his Master would have him to do. It’s truly his calling and he lives it out on a daily basis.  “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take y...

Happy Tuesday and I hope your week is off to a great start. We had a gorgeous, sunshiny day here yesterday. I spoke last Saturday at a women’s tea party in Clarksville. It was beautifully decorated and so many wonderful foods that were presented better than a 5-star luxury hotel. It made me think of the song “Come to the Table” by the Sidewalk Prophets.           He said come to the table     Come join the sinners who have been redeemed     Take your place beside the Savior      Sit down and be set free     Come to the table Which is exactly what we have been talking about with the Gentiles that Paul begins to address here in Galatians 4:8. Here when Paul begins to speak to the Gentile believers, he wants to make sure they have a place at the table.  Paul's Greek is a little confusing, here, but having first addressed the Jewish believers and their situation, and having talked about how faith in Jesus has b...

Good Monday morning! Well it finally happened. My life was in my phone and it blew up. And evidently it blew up all over Oklahoma because I only have about 1/3 of my contacts. They say that if you back everything up on the cloud that it’s safe, but evidently the cloud can blow up too. At least, my cloud can blow up. Because it did. And what a mess and frustration it’s been for me. So alas, only about 1/3 of my folks are getting this now and I have no way of saying “if you didn’t get this let me know”. Oh well...I suppose I’ll be hearing from them. But to let you know, I’ll be headed to Mexico on Wednesday which means that if you want to continue to access my devotion during that time, I’ll be posting them at PamSmithHudson.blogspot.com each day (as I do everyday), but while I’m across the border, I just can’t push to folks individually. You know, in this study on Galatians, we have spent a lot of time talking about the law, being under the law and especially being a slave to the law. ...

It’s Friday and it’s Miss Amelia’s birthday. She’s 9 today and it’s crazy how fast children grow up. I trust you have had a good week and reading Galatians has been insightful for you. Do you feel like it’s helped you grow? Maybe not as fast as Amelia or the little one in your life is growing, but I know digging deep has really been good for me! My friend Bill reminded me of what Peter says about what Paul speaks of here and I love how the apostle says it.   “Our wise and beloved brother Paul has talked about these same things in many of his letters. Some of his comments are not easy to understand, and there are people who are deliberately stupid, and always demand some unusual interpretation—they have twisted his letters around to mean something quite different from what he meant, just as they do the other parts of the Scripture—and the result is disaster for them.“ 2 Peter 3:15-16 TLB.   Philip and I decided if the Apostle Peter—the ROCK—thinks Paul is hard to understand, th...

Good Thursday to you and yours. Did you happen to see the moon last night? It was so pretty. A waxing crescent at 12.5%. I was out last night so I studied that moon for a bit and thought about the fact that even as bright as it was, it isn’t a star. It isn’t a source of light—it just reflects light. And when it gets behind the earth—when it lets the things of earth get in the way of the source of the light, it doesn’t even do that very well—as in the case of last night, only a sliver of it was shinning. Nothing like the metaphor God uses to describe the number of descendants that would come from Abraham—they would shine brightly like the stars in the sky...Stars that actually burn and produce a fervent heat the way that we should for our God.  Abraham is an amazingly important figure in the Old Testament for all kinds of reasons.  Even though several important things happen before him, Abraham is the start of the story most of the Bible is concerned about. For Paul, trying to...

Happy Wednesday and I suppose, Hump Day and all of that. I hope all of your ducks are in a row to finish this week—much more so than the Hudson’s anyway! I’ve looked for two days for my passport - and just a little freaked out since I’m in the middle of a move - only to finally find out that, alas, it is in the 4-Runner that is already in El Paso (praise the God who watches over forgetful incompetents)! Then, I drove an hour to Joplin for a soccer game only to be 3 minutes from the field to find out Oscar forgot to look at the schedule and this was an off day. Then, I came within 2 inches of hitting a deer on the way home (heart in throat and looking for my big bottle of limonada!). So...lots of hunting and running around and near misses...much like the Jews running around trying to please God, but never really getting to the heart of the matter—simply faith in the risen Christ.  Chapter 3. This may be my favorite part of the letter because it's such a clear statement from Paul: di...

Happy Tuesday. Well, I hope you got your taxes done and if you did, cheeseburgers are 1/2 price at Sonic today. I’m still not quite finished so probably no reward for me. It’s like a tradition for me though, to wait as long as possible—my sister called me the great procrastinator—but I like to keep that money every day I can. It’s like going to the very edge of the line and not crossing it. Laws. But whether you filed in January or waited until today, we all have to be in line with the law on this day, this wonderful Tax Day. Not exactly what Paul was speaking about here in this passage but it is adherence to a strict set of guidelines and a HUGE set of guidelines just like the Jews were trying to live under.  Like many teachers of his day, Paul's position before his conversion was that the solution to the Jews’ justification was to obey the Law harder. All kinds of elaborate scenarios were drawn up and enforced on believers so that they wouldn't break the Law. If God saw that ...

Happy Monday. This weekend I heard that today, there are more pictures taken in 2 minutes than were taken throughout the 19th century in total. The times are certainly changing which is the situation the Jews are finding themselves in here in Galatians. Now in the second part of chapter 2, we find some of the richest theological verses in our Testament. Paul begins to talk about this idea of justification and what it means in relation to the law. When I think of that, I think of my kids trying to explain to me why it was ok to do something they knew they shouldn’t have done or someone explaining why in this case it was ok to lie...justifying wrong actions. Our explanations and convoluted excuses as to why we should be found blameless for a wrong action.  “know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the...

Happy Weekend dear one! I hope your week has gone well and you have learned something new or had a fresh perspective from our look at the first two chapters of Galatians. I know my sweet nephew has certainly shown me new truth from these verses. How rich is the Word!  “GOD ’s loyal love couldn’t have run out, his merciful love couldn’t have dried up. They’re created new every morning. How great your faithfulness!.” Lamentations‬ ‭3:22-24‬ ‭I (Philip) This morning, rereading over that passage, something stood out to me that hasn't, before.  (Pam) And you stepped on my whole foot here, not just my toes, so I don’t like it! Not one bit.  (Philip) Paul is hashing out all this stuff with the other apostles: what is the Gospel, what is Paul's mission, how should we handle Gentiles, etc.?  Big theological stuff and big changes in the lives of believers. But after they come to agreement on all of this, Paul notes: "They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which...

Happy Friday to you. This morning I’m going to attend the funeral of a lady that was someone I could always count on. When I had a project at the college and no money, i could call her and she would say “Pam, we can do that.” She was consistent and always willing to help me out with even the strangest of ideas because she believed in what we were doing. She was a rock for me. Much like Peter was to eventually be for the church but not so much here in Galatians 2.  (From Philip) We see here glimmers of the old Peter - the one who doubted Jesus when he was walking on the water, and the one who denied Jesus three times when pressured.  Now, he faces the judgement of the Jewish powers he respects, and he folds faster than Superman on laundry day. Paul calls him on this.  He points out that, if Peter will ignore the Jewish table laws to eat with Gentiles, how is it that he now is acting as though he requires those Gentiles to observe those laws? "If you, though a Jew, live lik...

Happy Thursday to you. I hope you are doing well, have watched the Galatians video, and have read the first chapter of Galatians! We’re ready for chapter 2, right?  Oscar and his friends are getting ready for their man-cation tonight. While he’s getting out all of his cool camping gear, he remembered his inflatable couch he won at our Hudson Christmas party. So, he pulled out it out and got it ll aired up. I shared the picture with Philip and he said “I think it’s like finding a Gentile man laying on your couch—and that’s how the Jews felt when they all started showing up in their house of worship!” Well, Chapter 2: (from Philip) In the beginning of Paul's letter, one of the things he wants to do is prove he is a legitimate apostle.  So, on the one hand, he wants to show that he met with the other apostles and was approved of by them. But on the other hand, he also wants to show that his authority does not come from them but from the risen Lord. So, Paul includes this sto...

Happy Wednesday and yes, I fell down...gracefully, but I did fall. And my 3rd finger went one way and the rest went 45 degrees the other, but I quickly put it to rights and as you can see, it’s healing nicely. Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. I’ll keep you posted!  https://youtu.be/vmx4UjRFp0M I forgot to give you this link two days ago and if you are going to do this little quick study on my nephew’s favorite book, you really need to take the nine minutes to watch this intro video. It really helps to get a good overview of what we are talking about.  So, for today, let’s start Chapter 1: (from Philip) One of the things that jumps out at me is that Paul says Jesus gave himself for their sins so He might deliver them from "this present evil age." “Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬ In other words, Paul isn't focused on the distant future; he...

Happy Tuesday! Well...yesterday, well, this happened and caused some soft tissue damage and has me typing a bit slowly and not able to string my thoughts together quite as well as I normally do (since I type while I talk to myself.) I have a significantly swollen third digit on my right hand which is messing up. But as God knew this was coming down the road (so to speak) for me, He had me start Galatians. When my nephew read yesterday’s, he said “Can I send you some of my thoughts on Galatians?” In answer, I sent him a pic of my finger. So, he’s going to write a few entries for me about this great little letter of Paul’s for me....For the next few days, I cut, paste, edit and probably not very well. Thank you sweet Philip Lane. (He is a theology major and really smart!) Galatians might be my favorite epistle. I call it "Romans Lite" or "Readers' Digest Romans" because they're both basically about the same core issue, but Romans gets into this extended argu...

Happy Monday to you. How was your week end? As I’ve been packing books the last couple of weeks, I’ve found five or six books on Galatians. At about book five I decided maybe I should take a look at Galatians again and see if there was something in this special book for me. Do you want to read it with me?  This book was written 48-53AD, and scholars are uncertain exactly who the original recipients were. Galatia was a Roman Province in Central Asia Minor. Paul insisted that this letter is not of human origin but rather of divine revelation. Paul spends a great deal of time speaking to Judaizers, the Jewish Christians who believed that a number of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament were still binding on the New Testament Church. This issue dogged Paul and he tried to explain the idea of freedom in Christ.  “This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who ra...

Happy Weekend! I bought a fainting couch this week. I have no idea what I going to do with it over the next few weeks and I’m not even sure that it will match my new house but I bought it any way. I bought it for a couple of reasons. I’ve wanted one since I was a little girl watching Elizabeth Taylor movies! She always had one in her bedroom (well I don’t think she ever called it that, maybe a boudoir?). And secondly, I just loved it. I saw it and just kept looking at it and went back two days later. My friend Carol gave me a very good deal on it and I just couldn’t help it. It is sort of a useless piece of furniture but I don’t care. It is now my useless piece that I love for MY boudoir!  Sometimes I think that it’s ok for extravagance. One thing that we look at and think “I just like that!” In my younger years I liked pretty things but I thought the “pretty things” needed to be nearly free because they were not of use. I don’t think so any more.  The Psalmist speaks of the w...

Happy Friday to you. I hope you had a productive week and are looking forward to a good weekend. Yesterday, I heard Tony Evans preaching concerning why we often don’t receive answers to our prayers. He was speaking specifically about the Children of Israel and the fact that they had not kept the Abrahamic covenant and how that had led to their enslavement. During that time they couldn’t figure out why God wouldn’t listen to them.  Dr. Evans said it would be like being trapped in a broken elevator. You could scream and you could even cuss for hours or days on end but you are still going to be stuck in that elevator. But inside every one of those is a telephone that is connected directly to an emergency team, usually the fire department—a rescue squad. You can spend lots of time crying and asking why you are still stuck, but when the help is right in front of you all you have to do is pick up the phone and you will be connected to the rescue source. The One who will set you in the di...

Happy Wednesday to you. I hope your week is going well. We are having the strangest weather here in Oklahoma. We woke up yesterday to what we thought was going to be a nice day and later in the morning, we heard a loud wind—a really, loud, rushing wind that was almost scary. It dropped our temperature dramatically and they continued to drop all day as the winds blew 20 to 30 mph.  When that crazy wind first started I couldn’t help but think of the day of Pentecost. When Jesus left the disciples, he did not leave them completely alone, but He assured them that a comforter would come and sure enough, in God-like form, He came rushing in filling the whole place with a great wind that didn’t blow and a fire that didn’t burn.   “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting.” ‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭2:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Before, while they had been eating together, Jesus had told them to not leave because ...

Happy Tuesday to you. I hope it’s a beautiful day where you are and that today you will be able to bring the Good News to someone who stands in need.  My friends and I were talking the other day about the offensiveness of the Gospel and especially the name of Jesus. We were offering our ideas as to why we thought it brought on such opposition from those who don’t share our faith and rather than have a “tolerant” attitude as there might be to other religions, there is often a strong, violent reaction. Our pastor Sunday offered the idea that Jesus challenges man’s position. Man tends to enjoy a perceived position of being in control of life—as little mini-intern-gods. We want to be the ones in charge, the ones who are always right. And let’s face it, if we are in a battle with Jesus, He is always going to be right (of course). Offensive. Living with someone who is never wrong? Hard! You either have to declare Him your Lord and Master or you have to prepare to be offended.  I thi...

 Happy Monday to you. I don’t know how it is where you are but here in Grove, we had a cold Easter! My sister had quite the snow in Kansas City. Regardless of the weather, we had a great day and wonderful services. One of our speakers talked about what Easter meant to her. She was saying that she felt so unworthy to be telling the story of the Passion week to her son this past week because she was a sinner. But...in his goodness, the Lord had spoken to her and she realized that yes, she was a sinner but a sinner that had been made worthy, that had been made clean, because she was saved by grace, by the precious blood of the Lamb.  You know, Jesús didn’t come to heal those who were well, He came to heal those who were sick. So, days like yesterday, mean everything to people like us, people who needed a Savior, people who needed to be healed.  “Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to...