ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS FULL OF GRACE AND MERCY God’s dealing with His people are based on His goodness, compassion, concern and generosity; instead of what we truly deserve.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Praise God for His Grace and Mercy
Praise God because in His grace and mercy, He gives you what you do not deserve. You can approach Him with confidence because Jesus went to the cross. Praise Him that He is merciful each day.
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 Hope’s Gate. Ask God to use their ministry and to point women to the love of Christ.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Job 42:1-6
Then Job answered the Lord and said:
2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Mark 15:42-47
Jesus Is Buried
42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.
Mark 16:1-7
The Resurrection
16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
Hebrews 6:19
19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
The accuser said to God regarding Job, “Does he fear you for no reason?” Job was a blessed man. He enjoyed abundance in his health, family, and vocation. Suddenly Job was a cursed man. All he had was taken from him in a series of catastrophes. We cannot imagine that Job would have felt differently than any other person would. He suffered deep and permanent trauma from all that happened. Yet in all this he refused to curse God. He also refused to surrender to the wrong theology that all suffering is caused by our own direct sin. Ultimately, human suffering is caused by sin…starting with Adam’s. Yet you cannot tie each individual experience of human suffering to that person’s own sin. This was not the case in Job’s life. He was not suffering because of his own bad choices. In the end Job was never told the reason for his suffering, but God restored much of what he had lost. Of course he would have carried the scars of the loss throughout his life. Job did, in the middle of his suffering, fall into the kind of wrong thinking where he wanted to put God on trial. He became sure that since he had done no wrong, God had done him wrong. God did not defend himself, he revealed himself. He revealed that he is the creator and sustainer of the cosmos, it is all his. Nothing that happened to Job was random or chance, and at the same time God owed Job no explanation. Job’s great response was, “My ear had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” Suffering is inevitable. I pray that in all of your difficulties the result will be a greater vision of God. That you will know him better and trust him more.