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 5:4-6
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful cannot stand in your sight;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who tell lies;
the Lord abhors violent and treacherous people.
Read the Entire Psalm
Evil cannot dwell with God. The triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) cannot make his home with evil. He is completely opposed to evil and perfectly holy in his being. Praise him that evil has no permanent place with him. Praise him for dealing with evil on the cross. Praise him for convicting us of evil in our lives and for his work of sanctifying us and removing evil from our lives. Praise him for being utterly opposed to evil.
Scripture Reading
John 1:1-4 – New International Version
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
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 Cameron. Ask God to guide him and encourage him as he serves overseas.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
What do you believe in? Gravity, your favorite team, justice, the cook at the restaurant you have never met? Notice that belief has very different connotations in each of those instances. You believe in gravity as a settled fact without any emotional attachment to that belief. You believe in your team, though they will often lose games, because of an emotional attachment. You believe in justice even though you know it often won’t happen in our broken world. You believe in that cook, frankly rather blindly, because you really don’t know if he will poison you or not. Belief in that case is about probability. It is very unlikely a cook will try to kill you. Belief in all cases is about some kind of action. You don’t jump from tall buildings. You support your team. You work for or pray for justice. You eat the food without subjecting it to a chemical test to make sure it is safe to eat. Belief in Christ has factual content. It is very important that we understand who Jesus actually is. The New Testament has a lot of content aimed directly at correcting wrong thinking about Jesus. If we believe the facts of who Jesus is, we will follow through with some “acts” in line with who Jesus is. Biblical belief is never “facts” OR “acts.” It is always both. In fact, when we properly understand who Jesus is, we must act. This belief, more so than even a belief in gravity, has implications for how we live our lives.