Bible League: Living His Word The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.— Isaiah 58:11 NKJV When you decide to get serious about the Lord, when you decide, that is, to turn to Him and walk with Him, you can expect certain benefits. There are many of them, but our verse for today singles out a number of the very best ones. First, you can expect the Lord to guide you continually. From the human perspective, the future is dim. How can you be sure to make the right moves? How can you be sure to escape the dead-ends? There is only one way. The Lord must guide you. If you get serious about the Lord, then you can expect the kind of guidance that you need. You can expect to be led from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Second, you can expect the Lord to satisfy your soul in drought. You can expect this in the literal and figurative senses. Literally, you can expect to have food and water in a time of drought and, figuratively, you can expect to be provided with spiritual nourishment when times are tough. Either way, your soul will be satisfied. Third, you can expect the Lord to strengthen your bones. What does this figure mean? It means that you can expect the Lord to strengthen you for the tasks at hand. You will always be ready and able. Nothing will be too much for you. Nothing will overwhelm you. When difficulties arise, you will arise and meet them head on. Fourth, you can expect the Lord to make you like a watered garden. Just as the plants of a watered garden flourish, so you will flourish and bear fruit. You will not fail to grow up and mature; you will reach your potential. Just as people take delight in a well-watered garden, so they will take delight in you. Finally, you can expect the Lord to make you like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. People will expect good things from you, and you will deliver. Since you have been nourished by the Lord, you are now equipped to nourish others. To sum it all up, when you get serious about the Lord, you can expect Him to guide you into the fullness of His plans for you and the fullness of ministering to others. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJudges 20, 21 Judges 20 -- Israelites Defeat the Benjamites NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Judges 21 -- Wives for the Benjamites NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 11:1-28 Luke 11 -- Instruction about Prayer; Casting out Demons; the Sign of Jonah; Woes upon Pharisees NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Don't lust for her beauty.Don't let her coy glances seduce you. Insight Regard lust as a warning sign of danger ahead. When you notice that you are attracted to a person of the opposite sex or preoccupied with thoughts of him or her, your desires may lead you to sin. Challenge Ask God to help you change your desires before you are drawn into sin. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.In this solemn confession, it is pleasing to observe that David plainly names his sin. He does not call it manslaughter, nor speak of it as an imprudence by which an unfortunate accident occurred to a worthy man, but he calls it by its true name, bloodguiltiness. He did not actually kill the husband of Bathsheba; but still it was planned in David's heart that Uriah should be slain, and he was before the Lord his murderer. Learn in confession to be honest with God. Do not give fair names to foul sins; call them what you will, they will smell no sweeter. What God sees them to be, that do you labor to feel them to be; and with all openness of heart acknowledge their real character. Observe, that David was evidently oppressed with the heinousness of his sin. It is easy to use words, but it is difficult to feel their meaning. The fifty-first Psalm is the photograph of a contrite spirit. Let us seek after the like brokenness of heart; for however excellent our words may be, if our heart is not conscious of the hell-deservingness of sin, we cannot expect to find forgiveness. Our text has in it an earnest prayer--it is addressed to the God of salvation. It is his prerogative to forgive; it is his very name and office to save those who seek his face. Better still, the text calls him the God of my salvation. Yes, blessed be his name, while I am yet going to him through Jesus' blood, I can rejoice in the God of my salvation. The psalmist ends with a commendable vow: if God will deliver him he will sing--nay, more, he will "sing aloud." Who can sing in any other style of such a mercy as this! But note the subject of the song--"Thy righteousness." We must sing of the finished work of a precious Saviour; and he who knows most of forgiving love will sing the loudest. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 41:3 The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.Isaiah 63:9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.' Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. • Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, • Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, 'Destroy!' New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. 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