Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
God is the Giver of Life and the Restorer of the World
Psalm 104:24-30
24 How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro,
and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
Romans 8:18-25
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
O God, we praise you because you are good, and you made good things. Even when sin and death entered our world, you always had a plan to restore it. Thank you, God.
Questions for Reflection
- What do I learn about God? Look for God’s character, conduct, concerns.
- What do I learn about people? Think through what the passage reveals about your identity as an image-bearer. Think about our fallen condition. Look for how we should live.
- What do we learn about relating to God? Look for things to praise and thank Him for. Look for promises and truths to believe.
- What do I learn about relating to others? Look for how we should interact with and treat others. Look for ways to pursue reconciliation with others. Look for specific ways to love, serve, and care for others.
Application:
As you look to the advent of Christ Jesus, what does God want you to understand and think?