ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS HOLY God himself is the Most Holy One. Holy means that God is perfect in His moral character. He is also unique and set apart. He is “completely other.” We share some of God’s attributes. We are like him. He is not like us. God is so holy and morally perfect in the bible if a person in an unholy state came near to God, the person would die.
He’s called the “Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 71:22, 78:41, 89:18; Isaiah 1:4, 5:19, 24). The seraphim around God’s throne cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). “The Lord our God is holy!” exclaims the psalmist (Psalm 99:9).
Praise God that He is Holy
Praise God that he is completely unique there is nothing and no one like him. Praise him that he is perfect in his moral character. His holiness is bright and powerful like the sun. Consider the awesomeness of his holiness. Praise God that he has come near to us and made us holy.
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 Youth Horizons. Ask God to reveal Himself to all the children in their programs. Pray that children in their programs would place their trust in Jesus.
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 1:1-18 – English Standard Version
Hebrews 6 – English Standard Version
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Let’s spend some time this week thinking about what faithfulness will look like this year in the four domains of resilience. Today we will begin to think about physical faithfulness. When you hear physical fitness what do you think? You probably think of scales, sizes of clothes, certain times, or amounts of weight. Physical fitness is much more than this. It includes sleep patterns, diet, movement, dealing with stress, and much more. What does physical faithfulness bring to mind? How do you measure it? It’s a bit fuzzy or subjective, isn’t it? It’s good to have objective, measurable goals, but it’s essential that we keep physical faithfulness as the main goal. You could be very physically fit and not be physically faithful. Perhaps you are spending too much time on your physical health. Or you could be doing too little in regards to your physical health. Take this question before God and into a conversation with a friend this week. “What does physical faithfulness look like for me now? In my life, as it currently is, what do I need to do differently, if anything?” Now, beware of both guilt and pride in this area; neither will help you find faithfulness.