Bible League: Living His Word The LORD your God is in your midst,a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. We are never alone. We are believers in God and He is in our midst. Of course, the omnipresent God is everywhere within the created order. For believers, however, God is present in a special way. God dwells with us in our midst. God says, "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people" and He says, "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters" (II Corinthians 6:16;18). What does this mean for us? For one, it means that there is a mighty God in our midst who will save us. It means that there is an almighty God in our midst for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) and it means that this almighty God is willing to save us. We have no reason to fear, then, because "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). It also means that our almighty God will rejoice over us with gladness. God is not put out by being in our midst. It is not something that He resents and endures. He enjoys it. He enjoys being with us and He rejoices over us. The prophet Isaiah says, ". . . as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:5). It's good to know that our almighty God likes being with us. Further, it means that He will quiet us with His love. We are excitable creatures. All the cares and concerns of life can upset us. We are prone to fear and worry. Our faith tends to dissipate under pressure and we may emphatically express our fears and worries frantically. God, however, quiets us. He quiets us with His loving presence. Although our problems may remain for a while, His loving presence comforts us and quiets us down. Finally, our almighty God exults over us with loud singing. It is difficult to imagine an almighty God so elated about us that He jubilantly exults over us with triumphant joy and loud singing. That, however, is what our verse for today says about our God. It is a very good thing to have God in our midst. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingDaniel 9, 10 Daniel 9 -- Daniel's Prayer and Gabriel's Answer NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Daniel 10 -- Daniel Terrified by a Vision, Comforted by the Angel NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 2 John 2 John 1 -- Persevere in faith and love; Have nothing to do with evil NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.Insight The task of church leaders is to help people mature in Christ. Cooperative followers greatly ease the burden of leadership. Challenge Does your conduct give your leaders reason to report joyfully about you? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 1 Corinthians 9:22 I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.Paul's great object was not merely to instruct and to improve, but to save. Anything short of this would have disappointed him; he would have men renewed in heart, forgiven, sanctified, in fact, saved. Have our Christian labors been aimed at anything below this great point? Then let us amend our ways, for of what avail will it be at the last great day to have taught and moralized men if they appear before God unsaved? Blood-red will our skirts be if through life we have sought inferior objects, and forgotten that men needed to be saved. Paul knew the ruin of man's natural state, and did not try to educate him, but to save him; he saw men sinking to hell, and did not talk of refining them, but of saving from the wrath to come. To compass their salvation, he gave himself up with untiring zeal to telling abroad the gospel, to warning and beseeching men to be reconciled to God. His prayers were importunate and his labors incessant. To save souls was his consuming passion, his ambition, his calling. He became a servant to all men, toiling for his race, feeling a woe within him if he preached not the gospel. He laid aside his preferences to prevent prejudice; he submitted his will in things indifferent, and if men would but receive the gospel, he raised no questions about forms or ceremonies: the gospel was the one all-important business with him. If he might save some he would be content. This was the crown for which he strove, the sole and sufficient reward of all his labors and self-denials. Dear reader, have you and I lived to win souls at this noble rate? Are we possessed with the same all-absorbing desire? If not, why not? Jesus died for sinners, cannot we live for them? Where is our tenderness? Where our love to Christ, if we seek not his honor in the salvation of men? O that the Lord would saturate us through and through with an undying zeal for the souls of men. Daily Light on the Daily Path Hosea 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ-- I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. Luke 4:18,19,21,22 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, • TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." • And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." • And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" Luke 22:61,62 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." • And he went out and wept bitterly. Isaiah 40:11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes. 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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