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Titus 1 Devotional – Day 2

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

WRATH God loves all that is right and good, for rightness and goodness conforms to his moral character. So it shouldn’t be surprising that God intensely hates sin. Scripture’s narrative frequently describes God’s wrath, especially when God’s people sin against him.

    • “I have seen this people . . . now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.” (Exodus 32:9–10)
    • “Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. . . . Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.” (Deuteronomy 9:7–8)
    • “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.” (John 3:36)
    • “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men.” (Romans 1:18)

Praise God that He intensely hates sin.
Praise God that he instructs us in what is right and wrong. Praise the Holy Spirit for convicting us of sin. Praise God for dealing our sin on the cross. Praise God that he loves all that is right and 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 Embrace. Ask God to use their ministry to help women choose life and turn to Christ.

SCRIPTURE READING:
Titus 1 – English Standard Version
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith:

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Hope is not something we “hope” we have when we need it.  Hope is not something that is beyond our control to grow in.  Hope is an objective reality for Christians.  We have hope.  It is a settled fact.  You may or may not feel hopeful, but if you are a Christian, you have hope.  Consider a person who feels hopeful but unbeknownst to them has a deadly cancer.  Physically speaking does their hopeful feeling actually give them hope?  Feeling hopeful is good and helpful, but we can’t always control what we feel.  What is most important is that we have actual hope.  If we have trusted Christ we have hope.  We may even die feeling hopeless but experience resurrection because of our eternal hope.  Does this mean we can do nothing about our personal experience of hope?  Of course not, it simply gives the key insight as to how to become more “hopeful.”  We do not focus on our hopeful feelings or lack of hopeful feelings.  We focus our attention on the content of our hope.  We think about, sing about, talk about, pray about…our actual hope in Christ.  As we do, these actions begin to shape us into people who are able to be hopeful regardless of the circumstances.  Focus on the facts of your hope, and the feelings of hope, over time, will likely follow.  Even if the feelings are not there, training yourself to trust the facts of hope is training for godliness.  This training always pays off when you most need it.

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