ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS JEALOUS People sometimes have trouble thinking that jealousy is a desirable attribute in God. This is because for us, jealousy is almost always wrong. But jealousy can be a positive thing, too. Paul says to the Corinthians, “I feel a divine jealousy for you” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Here the sense is “earnestly protective or watchful.” This is the jealousy we attribute to God. He protects his honor. God deserves all honor and glory from his creation, and it is right for him to seek this honor.
Exodus 34:14
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Praise God that He is Jealous
He is Jealous, because He is the supreme being in all the universe. Praise God because He is the most glorious one. Praise Him that He has revealed himself.
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. Ask God to encourage them and guide them as they seek to serve overseas. Pray that they would build trust relationships and have opportunities to have gospel conversations.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Hebrews 6 – New International Version
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[ 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
How would you define hope to someone who had never heard the word before?
Would you say it is a feeling? That would be true, but that’s not all there is to the word. Would you say it is illusion? It can be; people hope in things that are not real. Would you say it is a part of our relationship with God? We hope because he is faithful and he has made certain promises. The writer of Hebrews talks about hope as something external to us that impacts us in real and important ways. Hope is an anchor for our souls. What does an anchor do for a ship? It keeps it from being swept along by wind and waves. It keeps it from being dragged to shore and wrecked. It doesn’t keep the ship from being buffeted by wind, but it does keep the ship from being moved by the wind. It’s just an illustration so we don’t want to make too much of it, but hope as an anchor does resonate with us. We can immediately get the point. The gospel is the hope anchor for our souls, our lives. We can and we should have lesser hopes. It is important that we do not learn to distrust hopes just because we have been disappointed. We can and we must build those lesser hopes on the one foundational hope. Hope for health, work for it, but do not build your hope on your health. Gospel hope alone is able to be the anchor for your soul.