ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
God is Infinite
God is beyond measurement— we cannot define Him by size or amount. He has no beginning, no end, and no limits.
Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Speak words of Praise to the God who is infinite.
Praise God because He cannot be confined. Praise God because He is everlasting. He has always been. He will always be. Praise God because He is limitless. He feels no exhaustion. He is without measure.
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 Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Friends and WSU. Pray that God would strengthen and grow that ministry.
- Ask God to speak to you as you read the scriptures.
SCRIPTURE READING:
2 Thessalonians 1 English Standard Version
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
The Judgment at Christ’s Coming
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”
God is love. God is just. His love and his justice are not contradictory, they are complementary. There are way too many questions and complex issues regarding the eternal destiny of non-Christians to address in a devotional. If we think seriously about it we cannot be content to give simplistic answers, or to emotionally distance ourselves from the weight of the doctrine. If we take God’s Word seriously and this particular doctrine from God’s Word seriously, then we should be humbled and sobered. I’m not suggesting we should live in a perpetual state of sadness or mourning. This would run contrary to other Scripture. We also cannot function in a sort of spiritual bi-polar state, trying to maintain “biblical joy & sadness” in some kind of equilibrium. What are we to do? Do we alternate between sad and reflective days and joyful and positive days? Do we just give up and go with whatever emotions we feel today? I believe the solution is to focus on biblical faithfulness. What does it mean to be found faithful today? Am I called to mourn with those who mourn? Am I to rejoice with those who rejoice? Do I engage children at play and enter into their joy? Do I sit at the side of a sufferer and engage their sorrow? Do I pray for those who are far from God? Do I pray for those who are enjoying God’s goodness? Do what is next for you. Finding faithfulness in the complexity of life is challenging but it is possible and it is necessary.