ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
SELF-SUFFICIENT – All things are God’s to give, and all that is given is given by Him. He can receive nothing that He has not already given us. He does not need creation.
Acts 17:24-25 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
Praise the Self-Sufficient God
Praise God that he needs no sleep. Praise God that He created from joy and delight and not from need. Praise the Self-Sufficient One who gives freely from his hand.
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 Embrace. Ask God to use their ministry to introduce Christ to women in need. Ask God to help them as they advocate for life for unborn children.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Galatians 6 New Living Translation
We Harvest What We Plant
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Paul’s Final Advice
11 Notice what large letters i use as i write these closing words in my own handwriting.
12 Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. 13 And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
14 As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. 15 It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. 16 May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.
17 From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
18 Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Paul writes that we are to put our shoulders under the burdens of others. At the same time, we are to carry our own loads. Two different words are used here. One is a word that defines a crushing weight, too much for one person to carry. The other is a word that defines something each must carry, more like a backpack. Not that the backpack isn’t heavy…it is. The point is that we need each other and we must each be faithful with what God gives us. When we shoulder under the load of others and at the same time seek to be faithful with the load God has given us then we are positioned to “take pride in ourselves.” Even still we are able to avoid the trap of comparing ourselves to others. The child who takes pride in hearing “well done” from her father is a beautiful thing. For us, when we long to take pride in hearing our Father say “well done”, that is a good and powerful life motivation. We are not seeking to compete with others, we are seeking the “well done” of our father. This is not about earning God’s love, but letting the reality of his love be the engine that drives our actions and attitudes.