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 93
The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, enveloped in strength.
The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.
2 Your throne has been established from the beginning; you are from eternity.
3 The floods have lifted up, Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their pounding waves.
4 Greater than the roar of a huge torrent— the mighty breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is majestic.
5 Lord, your testimonies are completely reliable; holiness adorns your house
The Lord Reigns! This is great news. There is nothing and no one who will threaten His rule. Praise Him for reigning over the world. Ask Him to reign in your life.
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 John 3:11-21 – Christian Standard Bible
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, 12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. 16 This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God
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 those leading our government. Pray for local, state, and national leaders. Ask God to guide them to act justly. Pray for their salvation.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
Does your heart condemn you? Do you feel like God will not forgive you? Do you trust your emotions more than God? Do you trust what you currently feel more than what Christ has promised? Maybe you feel guilty because of unconfessed sin. If this is so, then confess your sin and be forgiven. Perhaps your heart condemns you because Satan is manipulating it to keep you in chains. If this is so then rebuke him in the name (authority) of Jesus. Maybe you are looking at others and making false comparisons. Don’t do this; it is a terrible trap that is hard to escape from. Whatever it is, you must take Christ at his word. It is a kind of arrogance to believe our own emotions and feelings over the clear promises of Christ. It may feel humble to think less of yourself, but it is not. If Christ has called you his beloved and you refuse to believe him, then it is arrogance and not humility that is keeping you in the mud of condemnation. You are trusting you, not him.