ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS GOOD God is the final standard of good, and that all that He is and does is worthy of approval. Here are a few passages that speak of God’s goodness:
- “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19).
- The Psalms frequently affirm that “the Lord is good” (Psalm 100:5).
- “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (Psalm 106:1).
- “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).
Praise God that He is Good
Goodness comes naturally from God. Praise him that HE IS GOOD and not just that He does good. He puts no effort into goodness. He just IS GOOD. Praise him that all that he has made and done is good.
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 those suffering in Ukraine. Ask God to bring the war to an end.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Hebrews 6 – Christian Standard Bible
Warning against Falling Away
6 Therefore, let us leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, 2 teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And we will do this if God permits.
4 For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because,[b] to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.
9 Even though we are speaking this way, dearly loved friends, in your case we are confident of things that are better and that pertain to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you demonstrated for his name by serving the saints—and by continuing to serve them. 11 Now we desire each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the full assurance of your hope until the end, 12 so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.
Inheriting the Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: 14 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. 15 And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. 17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
Since you are reading this devotional you have some level of spiritual disciplines in place; well done. Today we want to begin thinking about the spiritual pillar of resilience. Of course, we are not component parts, we are whole beings. We cannot be divided up like ingredients in a recipe; we are more like a cake where the different aspects of our lives are baked together. But to keep the cake analogy going, we do need to pay attention to the “ingredients.” If we are not engaging them all, it does impact the whole “cake.” Spiritual resilience is tied to our thinking, the use of our bodies, and our relationships with others. However, we can and we must practice some disciplines on our own that will help us train to be more like Jesus in all the various aspects of our lives. We can put some things in place that help us enjoy life with God in more intimate ways. The basics of these disciplines are: prayer, Scripture intake, and worship. You can add a lot more to the list, but that’s the bottom line. Perhaps your current plan for spiritual disciplines is working well. If so, then stay faithful in that plan. If you are not satisfied with your plan or the results of your plan, then by all means tweak it. Beware, as you consider adjusting your plan, don’t stop doing the basics. Sometimes the search for a more perfect plan undermines the imperfect plan that we might actually do. Perhaps you feel as though you have turned spiritual disciplines into “box checking.” This is common and normal in any relationship. The solution is not to stop doing good things, but to recover gratitude and wonder. We GET to have relationship with God. We get to pray, read his word, and worship him. If I have turned “I get to” into “I have to,” then I need to recover gratitude. Spend some time today reflecting on the fact that you “get to” have a personal relationship with the God of the universe.