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 23:19 God 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 Youth Horizons – Ask God to encourage their staff as they serve boys and girls at-risk. Pray that God would use Youth Horizons to introduce kids to Christ.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Ephesians 2 English Standard Version
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
One in Christ
11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Transformational power in individual lives is a clearly evident reality. We tend to measure wrong so we often miss it when it is there.
1. We measure in the moment. “This seed isn’t growing, I can’t see a plant yet.”
2. We measure comparatively to others. “This oak tree is growing more slowly than that squash plant.”
3. We measure based on current moods. “I don’t feel good about how my garden is doing.”
4. We measure based on unrealistic expectations. “This garden should produce way more fruit than it does.”
There are other fallacious forms of thinking about Christian transformation both individually and regarding the church. We can come to this wrong thinking because we read the Scriptures and don’t pay attention to what is there. Sometimes people will say “We need to be more like the early church.” But when you read the New Testament they had as many and often more problems than the contemporary church does. The Church has always been a work in progress. The same is true when we make biblical characters (apart from Jesus) into heroes. Every one of them was deeply flawed and a work in progress until the day they died. If you are looking for perfection in the church and in others you will miss the beauty and power of God that is actually evident. Open your eyes and see what is true about Scripture and the church and the people around you…and yourself.