GPS for the week of March 26th, 2023

“Thank You, Lord!”

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“There are two words that summarize the heart of the Christian
response to God: thank you. These two words describe the
essence of Christian worship. They help us understand how we
are meant to live our lives (Adam Hamilton, in Luke: Jesus and the
Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws).” Paul reminded the Roman
believers that, “to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Thank God that we are to be raised from our hopeless hearts and
made alive in God’s Spirit.
Dear Lord, we thank you for the life you have given us in your
Spirit. Help us to rejoice in this gift of life as we care for
others in this world. Amen.
Monday 3.27 “I will put my spirit within you.”

Ezekiel 37:1-14
“The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by
the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it
was full of bones… Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are
the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and
our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy,
and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open
your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people;
and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know
that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up
from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and
you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; Then you
shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the
Lord’ (Ezekiel 37:1, 11-14).” Nothing could seem more hopeless
than this valley of dried up and lifeless bones. The promise of
God’s spirit will bring life to those without hope in our world.
Tuesday 3.28 “I wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 130
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let
your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If you, O

Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is
forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered. I wait for the
Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the
Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those
who watch for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with
the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to
redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.” We
will find forgiveness only in our Lord. Our iniquities chase after us,
but we may revere and thank the one who promises to redeem us.
Wednesday 3.29 “Life to your mortal bodies.”

Romans 8:6-11
“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the
flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law-indeed it
cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But
you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of
God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is
dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If
the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he
who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” Paul promised that we
will find life and peace as we set our minds on the Spirit. Thanks
be to God!
Thursday 3.30 “Let us go to him.”

John 11:1-45
“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of
Mary and her sister Martha… But when Jesus heard it, he said,
‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory so
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly,
though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after
having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in
the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples,
‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the
Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there
again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight?
Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see
the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble,
because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them,
‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to

awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen
asleep, he will be all right…’ Then Jesus told them plainly,
‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that
you may believe. But let us go to him’ (John 11:1, 4-12, 14, 15).”
Jesus went to Lazarus in the light of day to show the works of
God.
Friday 3.31 “Lord, come and see.”

John 11:1-45
“Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you
whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise
again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though
they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will
never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I
believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming
into the world…’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews
who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit
and deeply moved. He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They
said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus began to weep (John
11:21-27, 33-35).” Let us trust in the power of God, no matter how
hopeless we feel.
Saturday 4.1 “So they took away the stone.”

John 11:1-45
“So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them
said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have
kept this man from dying?’… So they took away the stone. And
Jesus looked upward and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having
heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for
the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that
you sent me.’ When he had said this, he cried out with a loud
voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands
and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a
cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’ Many of
the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what
Jesus did, believed in him (John 11:36, 37, 41-45).” The simple
words of Jesus set Lazarus free from death and brought many
who saw it to life!