ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS OMNISCIENCE – God has all knowledge.
Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Matthew 10:29-30 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Praise God for His Omniscience
Praise him because his knowledge is perfect and complete. Praise Him because he sees and knows about every bit of matter and space in the universe. He is aware of sparrows and every human that has ever lived on earth. He knows all about you. Praise him because the details of your life matter to him.
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 Christian Challenge as they meet through the Summer. Ask God to strengthen their community and challenge them in their faith.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Hebrews 6 – The Message
1-3 So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
4-8 Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us—if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if nothing happened. That’s impossible. Why, they’ve re-crucified Jesus! They’ve repudiated him in public! Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God’s “Well done!” But if it produces weeds and thistles, it’s more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.
9-12 I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you—salvation things! God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you’ve shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them.
God Gave His Word
13-18 When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it all the way, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!” Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.
18-20 We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
In Hebrews 6:9-20, the author gives those in the church who are genuine followers of Christ an assurance. His logic is as follows: God made the promise to Abraham by Himself and guaranteed it with an oath. God cannot lie. God is unchanging in character and purpose. And no one and no thing is greater than God and therefore able to thwart God’s purpose or promise. Therefore, we have a sure and steadfast anchor for our soul in the character and promise of God, which began with the promise to Abraham and has been fulfilled in Christ, our Great High Priest. God will keep us upright. He’ll keep our salvation safe. He’ll keep our eternal life secure.
Meditate on this truth today. How does this truth provide comfort to you?