ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS JUST God always does what is right, and He is the final standard of what is right. Scripture attests to God’s righteousness and justice:
- “All his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4).
- “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).
- “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8).
- “I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19).
Paul says that when God sent Christ as a sacrifice to bear the punishment for sin, it “was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25–26). When Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins it showed that God was both righteous and just, because he paid the wages of sin (Romans 6:23) and forgave his people.
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 the River youth completing their school semester. Ask God to use this summer to draw them closer to himself and to one another.
- Pray for opportunities to share the gospel.
SCRIPTURE READING:
2 Corinthians 4 New Living Translation
Treasure in Fragile Clay Jars
Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.
3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
5 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.
11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.
13 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.” 14 We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Paul was not being sarcastic or unrealistic when he said our troubles are light and momentary. This would be a patently false statement without the key comparison with the “weight of glory.” A hundred pounds is heavy but not compared with a thousand pounds. Paul is offering a vision for eternity not to make light of our struggles in time but to give an eternal perspective for them. To compare the “weight” of glory to the troubles of our lives can serve to make them more manageable. How is this so? Well it gives them purpose, meaning. People desperately search for some “higher” purpose in suffering. If they don’t find it, their pain is multiplied. If they do find it then their pain is lessened. If you are living your life for the glory of Christ and the good of others…there is eternal purpose in all that happens to you and in all that you do. There is a “weight of glory” awaiting you. God sees how you live your life. He is pleased with those who find their pleasure in him. He will SEE you when you see him face to face. He will know you and this being known will be the full weight of glory.