ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS FAITHFUL God is reliable and faithful in his words. He always does what he promises to do, and we can depend on him never to be unfaithful to his promises. Thus, he is “a God of faithfulness”
Numbers 23:19God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
Praise God that He is Faithful
Praise God that he promised salvation and faithfully fulfilled his promise. Praise God that every promise he has made will be fulfilled. Praise God that he is faithfully present. Praise God for the times that you have experienced his faithfulness.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for Isaac and Suzanne as they serve in Germany at Black Forest Academy.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
2 Corinthians 4 New International Version
Present Weakness and Resurrection Life
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
“I begin to suspect that the world is not divided into the happy and the unhappy but those who like happiness and those who, odd as it seems, really don’t.” CS Lewis.
What do you think about that? Keep in mind this is not meant to be a scientific law but rather a general statement of Lewis’ observations. So why would anyone not “like” happiness? There are a host of potential reasons. Some have found their identity in their unhappiness. Some don’t trust happiness. Some are too proud to be happy. It goes on and on. It is interesting that the more humans pursue entertainment as a lifestyle(in order to be happy) the less happiness they actually experience. The more they live for the glory of God and the good of others the more happiness they experience. To live for the glory of God and the good of others doesn’t mean to live like a “martyr.” “Woe is me, I am serious, somber, always suffering for Christ and others.” This is actually just a spiritualized form of living for self. To live for the glory of God and the good of others will require that you find your strength in God’s great joy. This strength that flows from his grand and joyful heart will serve to make your own life not one of a miserable sufferer but one who is increasingly filled with joy and gratitude. That is certainly a tall order…to live this way is beyond us. It is not, however, beyond God to empower this kind of life in us.