ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS OMNIPRESENT
God is everywhere, in and around everything, close to everyone. “‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.”
Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
PRAISE THE OMNIPRESENT GOD
He is always everywhere fully present. Think of the most distant and remote place that you have traveled. God was there before you arrived. He is still there. He will always be there. He is also fully present with you now and will be fully present everywhere you go today. Acknowledge His presence right now.
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 the River Youth. They are will be in Texas today and Saturday for an apologetics conference. The theme of the conference is “Seek and You will Find” and the speakers are focusing on dealing with doubt. Ask God to speak to the students and encourage them in the faith.
SCRIPTURE READING:
James 5:1-11
Christian Standard Bible
5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. 4 Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who mowed your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Armies. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and have indulged yourselves. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous, who does not resist you.
7 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
9 Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!
10 Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. 11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about—the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
When James says we are not to grumble against each other, he is using a word that describes a sense of “groaning.” Think of when Israel groaned under Egyptian slavery or when Paul describes life now as “groaning” while we wait for the resurrection. So, what does James mean by saying “don’t grumble/groan” against each other? It is likely he chose this word in context to communicate how, when life becomes hard, when we are suffering opposition and trouble, it is commonplace to turn our complaining to each other. We are under pressure, we are groaning, so we grumble against those around us. It is a strange quirk of human nature that we turn most quickly against those closest to us. We are often nicer to strangers than the very people who live in our homes. When life shakes the cup of our hearts, then what is in that cup splashes out on the ones closest to us. This can be good or bad; it depends on what is in the cup. If patient endurance, faith, humility, and honesty are in the cup and splashes on others it is a good thing. When life is hard our friends and family want to be there for us, but we cannot, at the very time we most need them, drive them away by grumbling against them. By all means “groan” when life is hard. Invite others into your suffering so they can help you. But don’t weaponize your groaning against the very people who can help you most when you need them the most.