GPS for the week of August 10th, 2025
“Restore Us, O Lord God of Hosts; Let Your Face Shine, That We May Be Saved”
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“Only one thing can save us: the way of God, which is called grace…
Not religion but revelation, grace, love. Not the way to God but the
way of God to humanity: that is the sum of Christianity… Our hope
rests not on ourselves but on God (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).”
Dear Lord, thank you for the joy you bring to us as we live in
your grace and love. Amen.
Monday 8.11 “He expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!”
Isaiah 5:1-7
“Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and
cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a
watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he
expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now,
inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and
my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have
not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield
wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I
will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its
wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not
be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I
will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the
vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of
Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw
bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!” We bear our Lord’s fruit
when we faithfully care for those in need.
Tuesday 8.12 “Have regard for this vine, the stock that your
right hand planted.”
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come
to save us! You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the
nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root
and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the
mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its
walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar
from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have
regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. They have
burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the
rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at
your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. Then
we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your
name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we
may be saved.” We joyfully depend on our Lord for grace and the
ability to share life with others.
Wednesday 8.13 “By faith…”
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry
land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for
seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those
who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—
who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice,
obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness,
became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received
their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept
release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.” We rejoice in the
powerful faith of those who trust in God.
Thursday 8.14 “So that they would not, apart from us, be
made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
“Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and
imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two,
they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and
goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom the world was not
worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and
holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for
their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had
provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be
made perfect.” Growing in faith is part of God’s powerful work among
all of us.
Friday 8.15 “Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of
our faith.”
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so
closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the
sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of
the throne of God.” We may set aside the heaviness of sin and
rejoice in the humble life of Jesus our Lord.
Saturday 8.16 “Do you think that I have come to bring peace
to the earth?”
Luke 12:49-56
“‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress
I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to
bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From
now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and
two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son
against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law
against mother-in-law.’ He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a
cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and
so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say,
“There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. You hypocrites! You
know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do
you not know how to interpret the present time?’” Jesus has
graciously given us life that is greater than anything in this world.