ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS GOOD God is the final standard of good, and that all that He is and does is worthy of approval. Here are a few passages that speak of God’s goodness:
- “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19).
- The Psalms frequently affirm that “the Lord is good” (Psalm 100:5).
- “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (Psalm 106:1).
- “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).
Praise God because He is Good
Goodness comes naturally from God’s person. Praise him because HE IS GOOD and not just because He does good. He puts no effort into goodness. He just IS GOOD. Praise him because all that he has made and done is good.
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 Jason and Lisa as they serve overseas. Ask God to encourage them and guide them as they make themselves available to His activity around them.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Titus 1 – New International Version
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Memorial Day is set aside by our nation to honor the memory of those who died while serving in the military. War is a terrible thing. No sane person believes otherwise. Even as you read this a nation is suffering terribly as they are under attack by another nation. Books have been written on the justness or unjustness of specific wars or of warfare in general. I have my convictions; you likely have yours. But please allow me to share some personal thoughts for this Memorial Day devotional. I’ve never been in combat, but I have served in a combat zone. I worked in a combat hospital where wounded military members received care. Some became the people we honor today. They did not survive their injuries. Their remains were treated with amazing dignity and respect as they were transported home for burial. I’ve watched with tears the solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in our nation’s capital. What I have often thought in these situations and others like them is how good and right it is to honor those who have died sacrificial deaths for others. When we remember with gratitude the sacrifices of others for our freedoms then we are positioned to live our own lives with greater faithfulness. Memorial Day is not in the Bible but it is a good and appropriate cultural event in the nation where God has seen fit to place you. Take this chance to remember and give thanks for the men and women who died to protect your freedoms.