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 69:5-12
5 God, you know my foolishness,
and my guilty acts are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who put their hope in you
be disgraced because of me, Lord God of Armies;
do not let those who seek you be humiliated because of me,
God of Israel.
7 For I have endured insults because of you,
and shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers
and a foreigner to my mother’s sons
9 because zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 I mourned and fasted, but it brought me insults.
11 I wore sackcloth as my clothing, and I was a joke to them.
12 Those who sit at the city gate talk about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.
Read the Entire Psalm
God you know my foolishness – God knows that you are foolish. He knows your guilty acts, but does he turn away? He instructs us in our folly. He convicts of us our sin. He is the compassionate and merciful one. He is just and still calls sin, sin but he does not turn away when we turn to him. Praise him for his complete knowledge and mercy.
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 1:1-4 – Christian Standard Bible
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 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
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 war in Israel. Pray that the war would come to an end.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
A paradox is two things put side by side that seem to contradict, but do not. A contradiction is a logical impossibility. Jesus is fully God, and yet he is not fully God is a contradiction. Jesus is fully God and fully man is not a contradiction, it is just more than we can completely comprehend. The physical world in which we live is full of apparent (not actual) contradictions. Over time, some of these paradoxes have been solved by human intelligence. Many still remain and likely will remain indefinitely. In regards to the incarnation, you can grow in your understanding. Of course, you already understand more than a child, but probably less than people who have devoted their lives to the study of Scripture. The lack of full understanding is not a problem. A child can know enough to believe and be saved. What is a potential problem is that we don’t pursue a lifetime of growth in understanding. The goal is not complete knowledge, the goal is growth in knowledge. Why? So, we can love him more “accurately” and follow him more faithfully. The more we know our friends, the more we are able to love them as they would want us to love them. The more we know Jesus in terms of understanding who he is, the more we will be positioned to love and obey him. Don’t give up the pursuit of increased understanding of Jesus just because you will never completely figure him out. Grow in understanding him. The more you do, the more he will be glorified, and the more you will experience his joy.