Under A Spell?

Week 7 Scripture: Galatians 3:1-14
          
            At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul starts by calling the Galatians foolish!  He then proceeds to ask them “who has bewitched you?” The term bewitched in the Greek describes the Galatians as having fallen under a demonic spell.   Another translation of this term that may be more relatable is the word hypnotized.  Have you ever been to a hypnotist show?  If you’ve never seen hypnotism in action, check out this video so see what I’m talking about:

I’m sure if these college students that are hypnotized in the video were to look back at this video after they were taken out from under hypnosis, they would be just as shocked as the audience at the way they were acting.  In the case of the Galatians, one way that Paul is attempting to remove this “spell” that has “bewitched” the Galatians is by reminding them of their previous encounter with the Spirit; an encounter in which they received the Spirit by faith, not by works of the law.  Just as the hypnotist hypnotizes his participates, there are many “hypnotist” that we are exposed to daily that try to distract us and blind us from the truth of the Gospel.  Maybe it’s a book you’ve recently read, a conversation with a person, friend, or professor, a sermon, podcast, or even a quote on Facebook or Instagram.  There are so many objects or people in our daily life that can either bring us closer to Jesus, or take us in the opposite direction.  Just as horses have blinders on the sides of their eyes to prevent them from straying off course and to keep their eyes ahead, thankfulness, gratitude, and reflection on the cross and the goodness of God will keep us from being distracted by the peripheral hypnotic spells by keeping our eyes set on the goodness of God and the life we now have because of the Cross.

Questions to Reflect on:

1)   What are some testimonies of things God has done in your Life? Reflect by yourself or share with a friend or your house party.

How does remember the good situations/outcomes in your life help minimize the bad circumstances?