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 37:1-2 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Read the Entire Psalm
Do you fret are you envious of those who do wrong? It’s easy to wonder, does God see? Will they get away with their evil deeds? God does see. He is just. Like all men their life will come to an end. Praise the God who sees and brings ultimate justice.
Scripture Reading
John 13:18-38 – New International Version
18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’
19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
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 Jason and Lisa. Pray for God’s guidance and encouragement as they serve overseas.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
Some believe that Christians use the gospel as rose-tinted glasses to make the world look unrealistically better than it is. They say we are not willing to face the world as it actually is, so we invent a god in order to help us deal with reality. We do see the world through a different lens, but it doesn’t falsely tint our view… it clears it up. We are all near sighted. We all have myopia. We see only partly what is true and real. The lens of the gospel helps us see with 20/20 vision. We do see sin and its impact. We are clear eyed about the reality of the fall. We also see the gospel and its impact. We are clear eyed about God’s power to transform. We see what is “not yet”; we see the reality of the Fall in the world. We see what is “already”; we see the reality of the gospel in the world. As you read Scripture this morning, think of it as putting on your glasses. Without the truth of God’s word, the world will be a blur. With the truth of God’s word, you will see more clearly that this is God’s world.