From: September 14, 2025
“And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ” (Galatians 1:22 ESV).
Paul reminded the Galatians that even after his dramatic conversion, he did not immediately step into public ministry. For years, he was “unknown” to the churches in Judea. Galatians 1 provides one of the clearest autobiographical windows into Paul’s early years, and when harmonized with Acts, scholars generally reconstruct a rough 14-year period from Paul’s conversion to the Jerusalem Council.
This showed God’s sovereign hand in preparing Paul away from the limelight. Just as Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before confronting Pharaoh, and Jesus fasted forty days before beginning His public ministry, Paul’s ministry was forged in 14 years of obscurity. Paul’s hidden years in Arabia, Damascus, and Tarsus remind us that preparation in secret often precedes proclamation in public. God doesn’t waste those hidden years; He uses them to deepen dependence, shape character, and confirm calling.
Do you ever feel like you’re laboring in obscurity––like you’re living out a Bob Dylan song lyric: “How does it feel to be on your own with no direction home like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?”
We all crave recognition and want to make an immediate impact. But God often shapes His servants in hidden places. Before David ever fought Goliath, he learned to fight lions and bears in the shepherd’s field. Before the disciples turned the world upside down, they spent three years walking with Jesus. Paul’s testimony encourages us not to despise seasons when we feel unknown or overlooked. God uses these seasons to be rooted in His Word, to teach us prayerful dependence, and to purify our motives. If you find yourself in a season of hiddenness, remember: God may be preparing you for what He has planned for you. We must not despair or give up when attending God’s school of the unknown. For we are fully known by Him.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You we are fully known by You. Teach us to trust You when we feel unseen or overlooked. Just as You prepared others in obscurity, prepare us when we feel we are laboring without reward. May we grow in humility, patience, and Christlikeness while we wait, so that when You call us into greater responsibility, we will serve with faithfulness and not pride. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 14, 2024
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6 ESV).
The apostle Paul wrote to correct those in Galatia who had fallen prey to the false “gospel” of the Judaizers, who insisted that new believers had to follow all the laws of Moses. He challenged them not to desert the “grace of Christ” revealed in the true gospel.
Every generation must face a similar challenge. For every generation is faced with those who would add or subtract from the gospel, proposing a “different gospel,” as if there could be another. But there is only one true gospel. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. If you will confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved (Rom. 10:9). This is the only true gospel.
The gospel is not only that which sets free the one in slavery to sin, it is also that which sustains the freedom of those who are now sons of God. We never outgrow the gospel. As one commentator has said, the gospel is not only the ABCs of Christianity. It is the A-Z of Christianity. It’s the whole alphabet!
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Help us not to lay aside the grace of Christ for any other message. Go ahead of us to open eyes and hearts and give us the wisdom and boldness to share Your true gospel of Jesus to everyone. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 14, 2023
“But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace” (Galatians 1:15 NLT).
The apostle Paul made it clear to the Galatians that the gospel he had preached to them was not from men, but from the Lord Himself. He went on to explain that when he looked back on his life, he could see that God had set him apart for the ministry to the Gentiles even before his very birth. Certainly, he had not recognized this before his conversion, but looking back, he saw that God had a calling on his life all along.
Regardless of the age when we finally trust Christ as Lord and Savior, when we look back, we can see that He has been at work in our lives all along.
Can I get a witness? Look back. Don’t you see God’s hand at work in your life from the beginning?
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for not only saving us, but calling us into Your gospel ministry. Looking back, we see Your grace and mercy at work in us from the beginning. Thank You, Lord. Now, strengthen us and fill us afresh to fulfill our calling from You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 14, 2022
THE GOSPEL IS FROM CHRIST, NOT MAN
The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in the Galatian churches to explain where he had received his gospel message. He wanted them to know that he had received it by personal, “direct revelation” from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul described his encounter with Christ as “one untimely born” (1 Cor. 15:8). For unlike the other apostles who followed Jesus before and after His resurrection, the Lord had appeared to Paul after His resurrection on the road to Damascus.
This is what it meant to be an “apostle,” as the word means “one sent.” For Christ Himself gave Paul and the other apostles the gospel message and sent them out to carry it to all nations as His ambassadors. They were eye-witnesses of Christ’s resurrection and they were personally commissioned as His apostles.
The gospel is from Christ, not man. And it has been preserved in the New Testament until this day for those who would hear and believe! And it has been passed down from person to person, generation to generation, by those who have believed.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the gospel of Christ. For it is the Good News unto salvation. Help us today to apply the gospel to our lives and to preach it to those around us. Give us strength to carry it to the nations as You have commanded. Help us not to mishandle it, neither adding nor subtracting from it. But help us to always give it out whole. We love You, Lord and we love Your gospel. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 14, 2017
The apostle Paul warned the Galatians against adding or subtracting from the gospel. He said that they were at risk of deserting the “grace of Christ” and perverting the “gospel of Christ.” The gospel is not only that which sets free the one in slavery to sin, it is also that which sustains the freedom of those who are now sons of God. We never outgrow the gospel. As one commentator has said, the gospel is not only the ABCs of Christianity. It is the A-Z of Christianity.
From: September 14, 2016
The apostle Paul wrote to correct those who had fallen prey to the “gospel” of the Judaizers, who insisted that new believers had to follow all the laws of Moses. He challenged them not to desert the “grace of Christ” revealed in the true gospel. Every generation must face a similar challenge. For every generation is faced with those who would add to or subtract from the gospel, proposing a “different gospel,” as if there could be another. But there is only one true gospel. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. If you will confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved (Rom. 10:9). This is the only gospel.