Amidst political debates, tense family dinner conversations, and an upcoming ballot box vying for your attention, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. With our hearts constantly looking for something to praise & worship, we want to take today to simply recenter on the fact that God is…well, God. He is sovereign. He is present. He is in control. He sees the chaos around you and remains unshaken. So today, as we reflect on His power, let’s allow that truth to permeate our hearts and minds.

Scripture

Psalm 93:4-5 “Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea – the LORD on high is mighty. Your statues, LORD, stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days.”

Psalm 95:3-5 “For the LORD is the great God, the King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.”

Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine”

Luke 8:22-25

Questions for Reflection

• Why must we begin with putting God in His proper place? What do you miss when you fail to start there?
• Does God have power over every aspect of your life? How does He speak into your life? Have you given him the power to shape your thoughts, beliefs, and actions on politics?
• If God is powerful over every aspect of your life, including politics, how does that influence the way you engage with the world around you? Are there actions or attitudes you need to surrender to Him?

Prayer

• Take a moment to breathe. Spend some time in silence with God. He is here.
• What thoughts or worries are keeping your attention? ‘Lord, this thought is close to my heart, and I want you to take it. Would you shape my heart and my mind around your will.’
• Where do you currently feel powerless? Are there things you know you want to surrender to God? Spend time talking with Him about it.
• Ask that God’s Spirit would remind you that he has the whole world in His hands.

We are often drawn to the brightest, biggest, and loudest; yet it was in parables, mangers, suburbs, and at a cross where Jesus did his most profound work. Even now, Jesus uses the foolish, quiet, obscure, and unnoticed things of the world to move his kingdom (he is using you and me after all). May we not be so caught up in the national narratives that we miss the power of an underground church in a dangerous country, the faithful prayers of an elderly woman, the couple who welcomes foster children into their home, or the baptism of a man who wrestled in addiction for decades of his life. The kingdom of God is at hand.

Scripture

Psalm 145:10-13

All your works praise you, Lord;

    your faithful people extol you.

They tell of the glory of your kingdom

    and speak of your might,

so that all people may know of your mighty acts

    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

    and your dominion endures through all generations.

Luke 13:18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”

Mark 4:26-29 “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

Questions for Reflection

• Think about the places where you see Gods kingdom moving. Write them down as a reminder for the days you feel hopeless or frustrated.
• Is it frustrating that often times God’s kingdom is more of a seed than a bulldozer?
• Spend some time thinking through the story of Scripture and the story of Jesus. How God created, how he led Israel, how Jesus came, how he spent his time, how he didn’t spend his time. The life of Jesus and the story of the scripture give us insight to the patterns and pace of God.

Prayer

• Ask that God would give you eyes to see the areas where he is working and that we would trust his work.
• Be honest with God about where you want to see the reality of His kingdom but you don’t.
• Ask God to show you areas of your life and the world where he wants you to partner with him in his redemptive kingdom work.

We lie to ourselves more than anyone else. When it comes to our thoughts, desires, and motivations, we want them to be holy and set apart, but when they’re not, it’s easy to bend the truth and convince ourselves that our opinions “holy.” We can be quick to defend ourselves and slow to realize we’re wrong. But what if we paused and asked ourselves why we’re so passionate about a certain political topic, or why we act certain ways towards certain people? What underlying reasons might we have hidden from ourselves? Here is a hint: the underlying reasons are often found in the areas we’re quickest to defend.

Scripture

Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Romans 7:22-23 “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”

1 Corinthians 4: 4-5 “My conscience is clear but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.”

Questions for reflection

• When you reflect on a recent argument or strong opinion, what deeper feelings or desires might have been driving your reaction?
• What are the areas of your life that you are most defensive of? Why do you think you react this way? How does God speak into that area of life for you?
• Is there an area of your life where you find it difficult to admit you might be wrong? What do you think lies at the root of this resistance?

Prayer

• Begin by praying Psalm 139:23-24
• Ask God to help you see your own heart the way He sees it. To have an unbiased perspective of your own ways.
• Pray that he would continue to expose the lies behind motivations and actions throughout your week so that you might glorify him clearer.
• Take a moment to ask for forgiveness for having hidden your reasoning behind your actions.

It can be easy for us to isolate ourselves among people we already know and feel comfortable around, and yet we live in a world that is a kaleidoscope of diversity.  When we focus inward, we can miss the bigger picture of what God wants to do in this world.  He has a plan that includes every nation, tribe and tongue, and wants us to be a part of it.  We may not have the ability or the means to go to the nations, but all of us have an opportunity to pray for and to welcome the nations, tribes and tongues in our spheres of influence and point them to Jesus. 

Scripture

Psalm 67 (NLT)

¹ May God be merciful and bless us.
    May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude

² May your ways be known throughout the earth,
    your saving power among people everywhere.
³ May the nations praise you, O God.
    Yes, may all the nations praise you.
⁴ Let the whole world sing for joy,
    because you govern the nations with justice
    and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude

⁵ May the nations praise you, O God.
    Yes, may all the nations praise you.
⁶ Then the earth will yield its harvests,
    and God, our God, will richly bless us.
⁷ Yes, God will bless us,
    and people all over the world will fear him.

Matthew 28:18-20¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Philippians 2:9-11

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Questions for Reflection

• What do we need to understand about God from these passages? What do we need to understand as followers of Jesus?
• How do you see the nations where you shop, where you work, where you live? How might you reflect God’s heart for the nations to these individuals and families? 
• What are some ways you might engage and serve someone from a different culture?

Prayer

• Pray that God would open your eyes to see opportunities to be a blessing to someone of a different culture today.
• Pray for those who do not have easy access to God’s Word, that the message of the good news of Jesus would reach them. Pray that the Lord of the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38) would send more workers into the harvest.
• Pray for our global partners who are serving in different cultures and living to make Jesus make sense.

Our world has a way of making everything feel urgent and important. If we were to ask someone how they are doing, they would likely say ‘busy.’ Yet Jesus tells several parables and the apostles write to remind the church to be ready and sober minded. When we have the end in mind, it gives us perspective and purpose for our days; not that we might have an escapist mindset or a fear-fueled task list, but that we might be diligent and focused on the eternal kingdom work we have been called to here and now.

Scripture

Psalm 95:6-8 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

for he is our God  and we are the people of his pasture,  the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

Romans 13:11-12 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 

Matthew 24:42-44 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Questions for Reflection

• As you read these passages, do they instill fear? Hope? Focus? Why do you think you respond the way you do?
• How does knowing Jesus will return shape the way we interact with people and the culture around us?
• Where do you find yourself trusting more in the kingdoms of the world than the promise of Jesus’ coming kingdom? What happens when we become distracted instead of diligent?

Prayer

• Confess the areas where your heart is passive, lazy, and distracted by the present noise and worries of this world.
• Lord help me to rejoice in your coming. Erase escapism or fear in my heart and replace it with an anticipation and joy of the bridegroom
• Ask the lord to prompt you on what it looks like for you to live aware and awake today. Ask that he may point your hearts to conversations you need to have.

God cares more about us loving and leading people well than many of the things we might consider important in our everyday routine.  He would rather see in us a pure and merciful heart than many of the others things we might “try to do for Him.”  Our responsibility for our culture starts within us and reaches outward as we reflect His priorities in our own lives.

Scripture

Psalm 146 (NLT)

Micah 6:6-8 (NLT)

What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

 1 Peter 2:11-12  Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

James 1:26-27  Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Questions for Reflection

• What do we learn about God from Psalm 146? What is important to Him?
• From these passages, how would you summarize your responsibility to our culture? How well are you doing in this?
• What might it look like for you to do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God today?

Prayer

• Pray that God would help us to do the good He wants to see in this world.
• Pray for a pure and merciful heart and the opportunity to live out this kind of life among your peers today.
• Pray that the Lord would open our eyes to see those who are “weighed down” and the opportunity to be an encouragement to them today.