Paul's credentials continued

Galatians 1:18-24

Paul's point seems to be that the gospel he received was directly from God. He further establishes his credentials by pointing out that the apostles did not mentor or teach him - he is not a disciple of Peter or James or John, etc. He was taught directly by Jesus and therefore has apostolic authourity to speak truth. I believe that Paul is doing this to establish his authourity to contradict the teaching of the Judaizers - those who insisted that Gentile believers keep certain Old Testament teachings (circumcision being one that they insisted on). Paul is making it clear that the message of grace, the teaching that there is no ceremony necessary for salvation, comes directly from God.
I don't have a lot of personal application from this passage except to wonder if I've added ceremony and tradition (in the sense of Pharisaical or Judaizer traditions) to the message of grace. I think that my tendency is to make sure that people who come to Jesus reach a certain moral level or at least show a certain contrite-ness before they come. The message of Jesus is "If you are thirsty, come drink. If you are weary, come rest. If you are sinner, come receive forgiveness. If you are lost, I will find you." Jesus does all the work.
Dear God, please help me to remember the message of salvation is a message of grace. Help me to live this message out - to reflect your grace in a world that teaches you have to earn, you have to perform, you have to measure up.