Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 16:5-8 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Read the entire Psalm
Read these verses again and look for who God is and what God has done. The Lord is his portion, his cup. The Lord makes a place for the writer. The Lord is his counselor.
Now look again, the Lord is all those things, but what is the writer of this Psalm doing? He commits to praise, to keep his eyes on the Lord, to keep the Lord near.
Turn this Psalm into a prayer. Pray it to God and then read the passage below.
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 Peter 1:3-9 – The Message
3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanksgiving to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for International Students at Wichita State. Ask God to draw these students to himself as they study in Wichita. Pray that God would use our church to be a light to these students.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
How do we love Jesus when we have not seen him? Is “love” a figure of speech, or a “real” thing when it comes to the Lord? I love my wife, even when I do not see her. In fact, I often feel more love and longing for her when I am far from her. You might say, “Well, you have seen her before.” That’s true, but if “seeing is loving” why would I continue to love her when I don’t currently see her? Or how could a blind person ever say they love someone? We know that love transcends seeing, so what allows us to love Jesus? The same thing that allows us to love anyone. We get to know him. To know him is to love him. We know him through his word, the Bible. We invest our lives in him. Our hearts (love) follows our investment. We invest in him by obeying him and serving others. To love others in Jesus’ name is to love Jesus. If you want to grow your love for Jesus, increase your investment. Your heart will follow your investment; it’s how God has designed it to work.