Bible League: Living His Word Heavens and earth, be happy!Mountains, shout with joy! The LORD comforts his people. He is good to his poor people. There is always a reason to be happy. Although the people of God may go through trying times, there is always a reason for joy. We live in a creation controlled by the Lord – and He is good. If the ultimate source and origin of all things is good, if the providential sustainer of all things is good, then there is no reason to allow sorrow and sadness to overtake and overwhelm our lives. Even the heavens and the earth should be happy. The very mountains should shout for joy. This is because the fate of the natural world is bound up with the people of God. If the people of God are benefactors of His grace and mercy, then the natural world will participate in that as well. The Apostle Paul said that although, "Everything God made was allowed to become like something that cannot fulfill its purpose," a day is coming when everything will "be made free from ruin," and it will "have the same freedom and glory that belong to God's children" (Romans 8:20-21). Redemption, in other words, will come to the natural world just as it does to the people of God. The natural world, however, does not have to wait for that future day before it shouts for joy. Already the Lord is extending His grace and mercy to His people. Already He is comforting His people and being good to them. Although the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life still cause us problems, we are already experiencing the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. The heavens and the earth, then, have good reason to be happy and the mountains have good reason to shout for joy. You may be going through a lot of trouble right now, but there is still good reason to be happy. The Lord is comforting you and being good to you, despite everything that is going on. This comfort and goodness is merely a foretaste of the comfort and goodness that is yet to be revealed to you. And if you go outside and listen closely, you may be able to hear the mountains in the distance shouting for joy about you. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 85, 86, 87 Psalm 85 -- O Lord, you have been favorable to your land. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 86 -- Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 87 -- His foundation is in the holy mountains. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 9 Romans 9 -- Paul's Sorrow for Israel's Unbelief NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”Insight People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life. We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ. No wonder he called himself the Bread of Life. Challenge But bread must be eaten to sustain life, and Christ must be invited into our daily walk to sustain spiritual life. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 21:23 The city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it.Yonder in the better world, the inhabitants are independent of all creature comforts. They have no need of raiment; their white robes never wear out, neither shall they ever be defiled. They need no medicine to heal diseases, "for the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick." They need no sleep to recruit their frames--they rest not day nor night, but unweariedly praise him in his temple. They need no social relationship to minister comfort, and whatever happiness they may derive from association with their fellows is not essential to their bliss, for their Lord's society is enough for their largest desires. They need no teachers there; they doubtless commune with one another concerning the things of God, but they do not require this by way of instruction; they shall all be taught of the Lord. Ours are the alms at the king's gate, but they feast at the table itself. Here we lean upon the friendly arm, but there they lean upon their Beloved and upon him alone. Here we must have the help of our companions, but there they find all they want in Christ Jesus. Here we look to the meat which perisheth, and to the raiment which decays before the moth, but there they find everything in God. We use the bucket to fetch us water from the well, but there they drink from the fountain head, and put their lips down to the living water. Here the angels bring us blessings, but we shall want no messengers from heaven then. They shall need no Gabriels there to bring their love-notes from God, for there they shall see him face to face. Oh! what a blessed time shall that be when we shall have mounted above every second cause and shall rest upon the bare arm of God! What a glorious hour when God, and not his creatures--the Lord, and not his works--shall be our daily joy! Our souls shall then have attained the perfection of bliss. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 1:5,6 Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. • From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil.Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 1 Corinthians 6:11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. Psalm 45:13 The King's daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. Ezekiel 16:14 "Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD. Psalm 90:17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands. Revelation 7:14 I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Ephesians 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. Colossians 2:10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 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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