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 100
1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are his—
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever;
his faithfulness, through all generations.
Give thanks to the Lord. Why? Verse 3 gives us a few reasons. He made us. We belong to Him. He did not just make us but he wants us. We belong. Finally we are the sheep in His pasture. He provides and cares for us. Give thanks to Him.
SCRIPTURE READING:
1 John 4:1-6 – Christian Standard Bible
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
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 the River youth and those working with youth in our church.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
Would you say you struggle more with superstition or suspicion? Let me define how I am using the terms. By superstition I mean that you look for signs in many aspects of your life. “Why was that light red right then, what does it mean?” “Why didn’t they call/did they call?” “That song came on at the right time.” “I had a feeling about that.” God can certainly speak in any way he wants, but some people move through life more focused on subjective “signs” than on the objective, written word of God. I would say these people lean “superstitious.” What I mean by suspicious is that you struggle to believe that God does direct his people through his Word, Spirit, and people. You tend to prioritize your own planning and efforts over seeking God to direct you. I would say you lean “suspicious.” The fact is, we are all probably on a spectrum between extremes. The Biblical balance is just that, balance. We must not look for signs everywhere, and at the same time we must expect God to be involved in the details of our lives. God will direct us as we learn to delight ourselves in him. We must not grow overconfident in our ability to hear from God, but we must grow in our confidence in God’s ability to communicate with us. Part of the balance is found in simply keeping the need for balance in the front of our minds.