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 10:16-18 The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
Read the Entire Psalm
There is only one Ultimate Ruler over all the Earth, the Lord. He is King forever and ever. Take a moment and remind yourself of His place ruling the universe. As the King, He sees all that is happening on the earth. The oppressed are not unnoticed. There are no mortals that will challenge Him. He reigns with justice. Take a moment and praise Him.
Scripture Reading
1 Peter 1:17-25 – New International Version
17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanks 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 Amelia. Ask God to strengthen, guide, and encourage her.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. Romans 2:14-16
These two passages speak to what is called “General Revelation.” Revelation means that information or truth has been given to us that we could not simply discover on our own. “General” means that some things have been revealed to everyone, everywhere. This information tells us some things about God, but not enough to be saved. The two forms of general revelation are creation (Romans 1) and conscience (Romans 2). Since these truths are available for everyone, it remains that God has revealed himself in creation and conscience so people who deny God’s existence in spite of this revelation are suppressing the truth intentionally. They may not know they are doing so. In fact, they may be suppressing the truth because they have formed an idol in their hearts, and that idol will not allow them to acknowledge the truth about God. The idol could be any number of things, such as their own wisdom, wanting to please others, or wanting to indulge their own desires (a God who is a righteous judge would be inconvenient). Not everyone you meet will acknowledge that God can be known from what he has made and from the universal sense of right and wrong, but Scripture says he can. Scripture, of course, is right. Saying everyone has a built-in sense of right and wrong doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on standards, just that everyone has some sense of “oughtness.” Some things are right, and some things are wrong. This built-in conscience is put there by God.
Application: Reflect on how God has made himself known to you in your life. Remember back to all the ways, in addition to Scripture, that God has shown himself to you. Perhaps you can remember a time when you were moved to awe by looking at something God has made: the stars, a child, a sunset.