ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
SOLITARINESS OF GOD There was a time when creation, even heaven, didn’t exist, but God’s glory did because He is from everlasting. There was a time when neither angels, nor humans were praising Him and He was still altogether wonderful. He is self-contained, self-sufficient, and self-satisfied. He was under no compulsion to create out of necessity or deficiency. He created all things simply to display His glory. God could have chosen not to create and He still would be The Perfect One.
Psalm 50:2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God appears in radiance.
Praise God for His Solitariness
Praise Him because He is perfect. If you could go back and visit the time before creation, God would still exist in all His goodness and glory. His perfection and wonder is complete even without all that He has made. Praise Him for what He has made and done even though He did not need to do any of it to prove His wonder and glory.
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 our three OneLink teams serving this summer. Ask God to use these students to make the gospel known to others.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Hebrews 2 – Christian Standard Bible
Warning against Neglect
2 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding[a] and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation had its beginning when it was spoken of by the Lord, and it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
Jesus and Humanity
5 For he has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about. 6 But someone somewhere has testified:
What is man that you remember him,
or the son of man that you care for him?
7 You made him lower than the angels
for a short time;
you crowned him with glory and honor
8 and subjected everything under his feet.
For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. 9 But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.
10 For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—for whom and through whom all things exist—should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying:
I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters;
I will sing hymns to you in the congregation.
13 Again, I will trust in him. And again, Here I am with the children God gave me.
14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. 17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
The original recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were not that different than we are. Of course, much of their life conditions would be beyond our experience, as would ours to them. But if you looked closely at their lives, you would see how much alike we are. They experienced trials, trouble, and transitions just like we do. These things were threats to their relationship with Christ and one another just like they are for us. They also experienced the threat of the “mundane” just like we do. Maybe this threat is more dangerous than outright trouble. When trouble comes, we can become more alert to our need for Christ and others. When life goes on and on in a normal, mundane fashion we can fall asleep at the wheel. We can begin to drift towards the ditch. Much of life is going to be mundane. If you consider the Lord’s life, he didn’t perform a miracle every minute. The vast majority of his 33 years here were very mundane. Lots of walking, working, eating, bathing, sleeping, just normal stuff. The same with Moses, Abraham, Paul and every single human who has ever lived. “Great” people still sleep, eat, use the toilet, etc. Don’t be fooled by the mundane. God wants to get glory in all the moments of your life. We must pay attention to him the mundane so that we do not drift. This is true if you are in the middle of trouble and it is certainly true if nothing outstanding is going on. Pay attention, don’t drift.