ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
OMNIPOTENCE God’s omnipotence refers to his power to do what he decides to do. Omnipotence derives from two Latin words, omni, “all,” and potens, “powerful,” and means “all-powerful.” Numerous passages speak to God’s omnipotence:
- In context, the rhetorical question, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:27) implies that nothing is too hard for the Lord.
- Jeremiah also says to God, “nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).
- Paul says that God is “able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).
- God is called the “Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 1:8), a Greek term (pantokratōr) that suggests the possession of all power and authority.
- The angel Gabriel says to Mary, “With God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37)
- Jesus says, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
However, there are some things that God cannot do. God cannot do anything that denies his own character. For example, Scripture tells us that God can’t lie:
- In Titus 1:2 he is called (literally) “the unlying God” or the “God who never lies.”
- The author of Hebrews says that in God’s oath and promise “it is impossible for God to lie” (Hebrew 6:18, Grudem’s translation).
- 2 Timothy 2:13 says of Christ, “He cannot deny himself.”
Additionally, James says, “God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). Thus, God cannot lie, sin, deny himself, or be tempted with evil. He cannot cease to exist, or cease to be God, or act in a way inconsistent with any of his attributes.
Praise the Omnipotent God.
Praise him for making and sustaining the universe. Praise him for providing a way for salvation. Praise him that he rose from the dead. Praise him that nothing is too hard for him.
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 Austin and Jenni as they serve overseas.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
2 Corinthians 12 New International Version
Paul’s Vision and His Thorn
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles. 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? 16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening. 20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Belief. Expectancy. Desire:
Dr. Groopman in his book “Anatomy of Hope” outlines three things that form hope’s anatomy. Like the body has an anatomy, hope does as well. These three things are, belief, expectancy, and desire. Consider how all three of things are necessary for hope to survive and thrive. Let’s say you are in a trackless desert, dying of thirst and low on hope. What must you have for hope to survive? And by the way, if hope dies, then so will you. Hope is absolutely essential to keep moving forward in a desert, or in life as a whole. You must believe that there is water to be had. If you do not believe there is a possibility of obtaining water, then you will not continue to walk forward in the heat. Then you must believe that you have agency to obtain water. This is what expectancy means. If someone believes that their choices do not, in the end, matter, then they will not continue to make choices. Finally, there is desire. Not desire as an emotion but desire as action, or series of actions. I believe there is stream nearby. I expect that if I get up and move that way I can get water. I will get up and go to the stream and live. This week we are going to using this framework to do some “heart work.” This could be an important week for you if you will lean into what God wants to do. Get ready.