GPS for the week of October 13, 2019

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“Brave The Stage: But I’m Not Ready!”

 

We are talking these next three weeks about stewardship of your heart.  We do this by exploring our church’s mission and vision statements.  Our mission:  “Spearfish UMC is here to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”  We do this when we live out our vision day by day:  “Know God.  Love God.  Serve Others.”  We begin by acknowledging that we seek to know our God first-hand, but so often just do not feel ready.  In wanting to know God, the passages are all about thirsting for God.

 

Daily Prayer:  Lord, open yourself to us so that we may know you.  Reveal yourself to us in the words of Scripture, in the beauty of a sunset, in the smile of the person sitting near us.  May you see you, hear you, and feel you in the depths of our very being.  Amen.

 

Monday 10.14           “My Soul Thirsts”                    Psalm 63: 1-8

“But I’m not ready!”  When we feel God asking us to do some-thing, this is the answer we too often give.  Let us begin this week by stating something really obvious and yet not:  God loves you… unconditionally… just the way you are right now.  So what is one of the most powerful and effective ways that we can get to know God?  By loving God in return.  Verse 1 says, “My soul thirsts for you.”  Being thirsty for God is a great way of asking to know God better.  As you read through Psalm 63, ask yourself this: How is the writer of the psalm getting to know God?

 

Tuesday 10.15         “Invitation to the Thirsty”                 Isaiah 55

“I will make an everlasting covenant with you.” (Verse 3)  Have you ever considered that God is making a covenant with you personally?  A covenant is a two-way promise.  God promises to love and be present with you.  You in turn promise to love and be present with God.  How is it that you know God in your life simply by the promises we have been given and the covenant God invites you to participate in?

Wednesday 10.16        “If Anyone Is Thirsty”            John 7: 37-44

Stop to think about this:  One of the best ways to get to know someone is by getting to know their children.  One of the best ways to get to know God is by getting to know Jesus Christ.  When we understand Christ, we understand the Creator.  What do you think Jesus was meaning when he talked about “streams of living water flowing from within”?

 

Thursday 10.17    “The Bread of Life”                   John 6 22-40

Along with the image of thirst comes the image of hunger.  We hunger for God, and Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.”  It’s an image, a metaphor.  Especially when you are saying to God “But I’m not ready!”, how is it in your life that Christ can be the living water and the bread of life?  How have you seen others explain this and live this?

 

Friday 10.18               “Future Glory”                    Romans 8: 18-25

Read the passage straight through.  Now, slow down and read it again.  This passage dives deep in trying to share who God is and how God works as we try to “Know God.”  If you were a person who was hungry and thirsty for God, how would this passage help you understand what God is like?

 

Saturday 10.19     “A Place of Springs”                       Psalm 84

This psalm speaks of journeying through the dry places.  It speaks of literal, physical locations, but you know that some of the driest places on earth are found in our hearts, minds, and souls.  The thirst we experience as we walk through our day-to-day living lies within us emotionally and spiritually.  And then God springs up inside us.  As you through your life have had times of Knowing God, how and when have you found “springs in the desert”?