GPS: Grow, Pray & Study

GPS for the week of August 31st, 2025

“O Lord, You Have Searched Me And Known Me”

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“We must bear patiently not being good… and not being thought

good (St. Francis of Assisi).” Our Lord, the One who knows

everything about us, will shape and guide us. We are clay in the

hands of God!

 

Dear Lord, help us to let you work in every moment of our lives.

Amen.

 

Monday 9.1 “Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are

you in my hand.”

Jeremiah 18:1-11

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come, go down to

the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went

down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.

The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand,

and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O

house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like

the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of

Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a

kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that

nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will

change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And

at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom

that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening

to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had

intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and

the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter

shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now,

all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.”

This is a message of God’s mercy. He wants to turn us from evil and

shape our lives for good.

 

Tuesday 9.2 “I come to the end-I am still with you.”

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

“O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit

down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.

You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with

all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know

it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand

upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I

cannot attain it… For it was you who formed my inward parts; you

knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully

and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very

well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in

secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld

my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that

were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. How weighty

to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try

to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am

still with you.” We can trust God who knows everything about us.

 

Wednesday 9.3 “The hearts of the saints have been refreshed

through you.”

Philemon 1:1-21

“Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To

Philemon our dear friend and co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to

Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace

to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When I remember you in my prayers, I always thank my God

because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the

Lord Jesus. I pray that the sharing of your faith may become

effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ. I

have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love,

because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you,

my brother.” We all grow weary in this life. Let us care for each

other.

 

Thursday 9.4 “I am appealing to you for my child,

Onesimus.”

Philemon 1:1-21

“For this reason, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you

to do your duty, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of

love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner

of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for my child, Onesimus,

whose father I have become during my imprisonment. Formerly he

was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to

  1. I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted

to keep him with me, so that he might be of service to me in your

place during my imprisonment for the gospel; but I preferred to do

nothing without your consent, in order that your good deed might be

voluntary and not something forced. Perhaps this is the reason he

was separated from you for a while, so that you might have him back

forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved

brother—especially to me but how much more to you, both in the

flesh and in the Lord.” This former slave won Paul’s heart by caring

for him in his times of need.

 

Friday 9.5 “Refresh my heart in Christ.”

Philemon 1:1-21

“So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would

welcome me. If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you

anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, am writing this with my

own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even

your own self. Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the

Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I am

writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.” Paul

rejoiced as love flourished among those who heard the good news.

 

Saturday 9.6 “None of you can become my disciple if you

do not give up all your possessions.”

Luke 14:25-33

“Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to

them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother,

wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself,

cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow

me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a

tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether

he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a

foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule

him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”

Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit

down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to

oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he

cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation

and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can

become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.’” We

must meditate on these powerful words from our Lord.