ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD “Foreknowledge” is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to “foreknow,” not the actions of those persons.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.
Romans 8:29-30 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Praise God for His Foreknowledge.
Praise God that He knows you and he knows all those who are His. Praise God for calling you, justifying you and for the future promise of glorification.
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 unity among Afghan believers. Pray for faithful Afghan leaders who are abiding in Jesus and are compelled by His love. Pray that leaders would not be motivated by selfish gain.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Matthew 1 The Message
1 The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:
2-6 Abraham had Isaac,
Isaac had Jacob,
Jacob had Judah and his brothers,
Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),
Perez had Hezron,
Hezron had Aram,
Aram had Amminadab,
Amminadab had Nahshon,
Nahshon had Salmon,
Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab)
Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),
Obed had Jesse,
Jesse had David,
and David became king.
6-11 David had Solomon (Uriah’s wife was the mother),
Solomon had Rehoboam,
Rehoboam had Abijah,
Abijah had Asa,
Asa had Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat had Joram
Joram had Uzziah,
Uzziah had Jotham,
Jotham had Ahaz,
Ahaz had Hezekiah,
Hezekiah had Manasseh,
Manasseh had Amon,
Amon had Josiah,
Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers,
and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile.
12-16 When the Babylonian exile ended,
Jeconiah had Shealtiel,
Shealtiel had Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel had Abiud,
Abiud had Eliakim,
Eliakim had Azor,
Azor had Zadok,
Zadok had Achim,
Achim had Eliud,
Eliud had Eleazar,
Eleazar had Matthan,
Matthan had Jacob,
Jacob had Joseph, Mary’s husband,
the Mary who gave birth to Jesus,
the Jesus who was called Christ.
17 There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David,
another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile,
and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.
The Birth of Jesus
18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they enjoyed their wedding night, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.
20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).
24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.
His love never quits!
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Let’s revisit the idea of a “single story” life. Francis Schaeffer wrote about how theologians who did not take the Scriptures seriously believed in what he called “an irrational leap upstairs.” By this he meant that “downstairs” is the world of “real” things, the things of science and objectivity. “Upstairs” is the world of faith. These things cannot be known like we can know how to make a sandwich or how to do sums, but they can only be “experienced” in ways that cannot be explained. I know this can be a bit confusing, but please bear with me. These theologians believed they were insulating faith from attacks by scientists or others who were not Christian believers. They were misguided in this belief. By making Christian faith less than historical/rational, they did not protect it from attack, they simply made it absurd. It became, for many people, simply irrelevant to their lives. The truth is that Christian faith is “real and objective.” It is not faith versus facts, it is faith and facts. This is true for every person who has ever lived. Christians, or at least those who have professed to be such, have sometimes made faith unintelligible by failing to align their beliefs with their behaviors. This is not a failure of the facts of faith, it is a failure of believers to express their faith in lives of faithfulness. Fortunately, the truth doesn’t depend on our ability to live it perfectly. However, the truth can look less truthful when we fail to live it faithfully. God help us live out the facts of our faith in lives of loving faithfulness.