ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
OMNIPRESENT Just as God is unlimited or infinite with respect to time, so God is unlimited with respect to space. God doesn’t have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being.
Jeremiah 23:23–24
“‘Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ says the Lord. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ says the Lord”
Psalm 139:7-8
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Praise God for His Omnipresence
Where are you right now? Wherever it is, God is there. Where do you plan to be later today? God will also be fully present in that place. Think about all the places you might go to today or all the rooms in your house. Praise God that He is and will always be present everywhere.
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 unchurched friends. Ask God to give you opportunities to have gospel conversations with those who do not know Him.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Galatians 6 Christian Standard Bible
Carry One Another’s Burdens
Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. 5 For each person will have to carry his own load.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all his good things with the teacher. 7 Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, 8 because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
Concluding Exhortation
11 Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. 12 Those who want to make a good impression in the flesh are the ones who would compel you to be circumcised—but only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves, and yet they want you to be circumcised in order to boast about your flesh. 14 But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world. 15 For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation. 16 May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy even to the Israel of God!
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. 18 Brothers and sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Your one boast must be “in the cross of Christ.” Paul said that the false teachers wanted to “boast about your flesh.” Flesh, in this context, is not the physical body but human will in opposition to God. So, they wanted these Galatian believers to put their confidence in their ability to keep the law and in so doing the Judaiziers could go back to their own inner circle and say “look what we have convinced them to do!” Why would they even desire this? Because this is what their coveted inner circle thought and taught to be true. They wanted to be able to boast about how devoted they were to the inner circle, how much they deserved respect and admiration. It was all so silly. Paul said they are so intent on being in the inner circle that they will teach what is not true in order to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. He then said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What they were resolutely avoiding Paul was passionately pursuing. Their aim was the applause of people, acceptance into their own inner ring. Paul’s aim was the applause of God, he knew that he had already been accepted by grace in the one inner ring that matters…Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You have been accepted into the beloved…into fellowship with the Triune God. It doesn’t matter what other inner rings you are let into or kept out of. You are okay, more than okay. Boast in Christ alone.