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 32:1-5
How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!
2 How joyful is a person whom
the Lord does not charge with iniquity
and in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle
from my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was drained
as in the summer’s heat.Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not conceal my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah
Read the Entire Psalm
Do you want to be more joyful? Who is the joyful person in verse 1 and 2? It is the person who enjoys forgiveness through honest confession. Acknowledging sin to God lightens our load. Notice in verse 3 how the Psalmist says “my bones were brittle” and that he was “groaning”. There was aching in his physical body because of unforgiven sin. In verse 5 notice how God responds to confession. He forgives. He is merciful and kind. When we confess. He relents. Praise him for forgiveness.
SCRIPTURE READING:
John 3:22-36 – The Message
The Bridegroom’s Friend
22-26 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John’s disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us.”
27-29 John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?
29-30 “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.
31-33 “The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.
34-36 “The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.”
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 today for Christian Challenge. They are finishing their semester tonight at the church. Pray for a great time of fellowship and celebrating God’s activity in student’s lives.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
In the wider culture, people often say that Jesus was simply a good teacher. I recently heard an interview with atheist Richard Dawkins. Dawkins said, “some of the things Jesus said are very nice.” Dawkins’ tone was dismissive. Jesus is “very nice.” Aww, that’s sweet. But this is a caricature. The Bible does not present us with this kind of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t give us the option of merely thinking of him as a nice, good teacher. As C.S. Lewis famously argued, Jesus is either a liar, lunatic, or Lord. Verse 34 teaches us that when Jesus speaks, God speaks. The one whom God sent (Jesus), utters the words of God. Therefore, when Jesus speaks, he speaks as God and with authority. In what ways do you need to submit to Christ’s authority and lordship?