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 84:5-9 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!
Read the entire Psalm
Blessed are those whose strength is in you. The pronoun you in this sentence is referring to God. Blessed are those whose strength is in God. We could think of being blessed in terms of wealth or position of power. The one who is blessed here is the one who looks to God for strength. He is mighty. He is able. Look to Him for strength today
Scripture Reading
1 John 2:28-3:10 – English Standard Version
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Give thanks to God for His gifts and His goodness.
- 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 refugees in our city. Pray for Muslims in our city to come to faith in Christ.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
John gives us three “tests” in his letter. He gives them several times, indicating how important they are to his purpose for writing this letter. He says that he has written that we may know we have eternal life. He is writing for Christian certainty. These tests can help us with that certainty. The theological test: Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, God incarnate? If not, then you are not a Christian. If so, then make sure you maintain that focus, with its implications, in order to maintain your confidence. The moral test: Sin is incompatible with walking in the light. We ought to be growing in Christlikeness over time. If we continue in sin, we are not Christians. We can sin and we will, but we must not surrender to it…Christ has come to give us freedom from it. The social test: Since God is love, to say you love God but to not love others is to be deceived. You can’t love the unseen God if you don’t love the people you see right around you. These tests are not “pass/fail” for the Christian, they are useful to help us focus our concentration on things we can do to increase our certainty. We can pay attention to having clarity about who Christ is. We can pay attention to having clarity about sin. We can pay attention to having clarity about the need to love others. Clarity increases certainty.