Hope@Home – May 18, 2020

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL:

JD Polzin, one of out Youth Interns, is leading us in a devotional today. We love his encouragement & heart for God!

UNITED PRAYER:

Heavenly Father I surrender unto you. Without you I cannot do anything right, so I give you control. Holy Spirit I ask you to use me according to Your will and not my own. Help me to live according to your Spirit and not my flesh. Strengthen me where I am weak. Lead me in your true peace through any uncertainty. Work in me even when I may think that I have nothing to offer. I give myself to be your vessel, to humble myself, and bring glory to Your name.

FAMILY RESOURCES: Heart Postures For Reading Your Bible (Part 1)

When reading the Bible, it can be so easy to go through the motions. We’ve all had moments where we may skim over a daily reading or passage of scripture and it feels we're not gaining anything, but the Word of God is so powerful & necessary in each day. Reading scripture should be one of the most enriching things in our lives as we draw near to the presence of the Lord through His living word. Before we even open the Bible, we can do things to prepare our hearts to receive all that it has in store for us. Matt Smethurst’s book “Before You Open Your Bible” contains 9 heart postures to approaching God’s word that are beneficial to making the most of time in the scripture. It’s an easy read with powerful points that show the importance in how we read scripture. Today we will be looking at the first four:
We must approach our Bible…

Prayerfully

Pray in anticipation of God’s word, or even while you are reading. John Piper uses an acronym of “I-O-U-S”, which is a list of four verses from Psalms to pray through in preparation.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain” Ps. 119:36
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” Ps. 119:18

“Unite my heart to fear your name” Ps. 86:11

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love” Ps. 90:14

•Humbly

“The Bible you possess is evidence that God loves you and wants a relationship with you.” We are sinful people who could not have expected for God to speak to us, yet He reveals Himself to us through His word. We must humble ourselves to reveal a higher view of our Lord. 

•Desperately

We should desire to consume God’s word more than anything else. We should have a hunger more ravenous than food for the Words that bring eternal life. 

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4

“My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times… I hold fast to your statutes… I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.” Ps. 119:20,31,131

•Studiously

We all long to learn about what we love. If you have a hobby you enjoy, it takes seemingly no effort to learn every detail you can about it. The same should be true in our love for God. We study God to praise Him. Through our love we should have a desire to know Him deeper through Scripture. 

“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.” Ps. 111:2

MESSAGE RECAP:

If you missed the service this weekend check it out by clicking on the link below!