We were called to worship this week with Jeremiah 32. Begin your time of reflection by meditating on the promises of God found in these words.
40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.
We confessed this week that we are a broken people. What God gifts us in his law, love, and blessing, we see as tyranny, oppression, and bondage. Apart from him, all is broken and we only live for self. But in the midst of our brokenness, God promises us an everlasting covenant.
One of the threads we see in scripture is God’s faithfulness to his people through grace. God initiates, God pursues, God saves. These verses from Jeremiah 32 are a beautiful reminder of this. Take some time to thank God for his pursuit of you in love.
Pray: Father, we confess that, in our brokenness, we choose to live for self. Apart from you, we choose death. It is only by your grace to us that we receive life. You have faithfully and lovingly pursued us through your son Jesus. Holy Spirit, you are making all things new.
We heard God’s word preached this week through Jude and were reminded that the story of scripture is God-centered. All that we have and all that we have to give is Jesus. Jude also invites us to engage with and contend for faith.
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
We are called to actively participate and engage with Gospel truth, to see our live through the lens of the four-part story of scripture. Practically, Jude calls us to prayer in the Holy Spirit. Consider the role of prayer in your own life. Who and what are you praying for?
Jude also reminds us to keep ourselves in the love of God, remembering that we love because God first loved us. Consider God’s mercy and love toward us, how does that influence the way we seek to love and engage others? Our city?
In the same way we are called to be active participants in faith, Jude also calls us to stand still, remembering and resting in the knowledge of what God has already done and all he has promised to do.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
We get to stand and receive forgiveness in Jesus. He is the only one that can prevent us from stumbling and has promised by the Holy Spirit to work sanctification into us. Do you recognize that you are unable to keep yourself? How is the Holy Spirit working a deeper dependence on Jesus in your own life?
Pray: Jesus, you are our only hope in life and death. You have captured our hearts and are restoring us and your world to yourself. Help us to to see our lives through the lens of your Gospel. May we seek truth, love you, and love others, giving glory to you for all that you have done and all you have promised to do.
As we look forward to hearing the Gospel preached this coming Sunday, read and meditate on the following verses from Revelation 1. Pray that hearts would be opened to receive God’s word and that we would long for redemption and restoration.
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”