Bible League: Living His Word If you look to him for help,he will put a smile on your face. You will have no need to be ashamed. What does your face look like? Is it a happy face, or a sad face? Does it look normal, or is it red with shame? The appearance of a person's face says a lot about the spiritual state of the person, for the face is a window to the soul. You can tell a lot about someone just by looking at their face. You can see if everything is good, or if something is bothering them. Our verse for today tells us that the state of your face is also dependent upon your answer to a religious question. It is dependent upon your answer to the question of who you trust for help. Ultimately, do you trust God, the source of all things and the sustainer of all things? Or do you look to one of the many God-substitutes people have trusted instead of Him? Your answer has important facial implications. If you place your trust in God, then our verse says He "will put a smile on your face." That is, He will actually reward your trust by helping you and, as a result, make you happy. This does not mean that believers in God are never sad. A cursory reading of the Psalms is enough to prove that point. But it does mean that God will come through in times of trouble and turn your sad face into a happy face. It means that ultimately, at rock bottom, the person who trusts God has a lot to be happy about, even when things are not going well. Further, if you place your trust in God, our verse says that you "will have no need to be ashamed." That is, God will reward your trust by helping you and, as a result, remove whatever shame you felt about the situation. This does not mean that believers in God never have any reason to be ashamed. Again, the Psalms themselves prove that point. But it does mean that God will help when needed and thereby remove the red in your face. It means that those who trust in God will overcome their shame. There is nothing wrong with your face. There is nothing wrong that cannot be corrected by more trust in God. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzekiel 27, 28 Ezekiel 27 -- Lament for Tyre NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 28 -- God's Judgment Upon Tyre and Sidon NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading James 4 James 4 -- Submit to God; Resist the Devil; the Lord's Will NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.Insight Paul constantly prayed for Timothy, his friend, his fellow traveler, his son in the faith, and a strong leader in the Christian church. Although the two men were separated from each other, their prayers provided a source of mutual encouragement. Challenge We too should pray consistently for others, especially for those who do God's work. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Hosea 12:12 Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.Jacob, while expostulating with Laban, thus describes his own toil, "This twenty years have I been with thee. That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee: I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes." Even more toilsome than this was the life of our Saviour here below. He watched over all his sheep till he gave in as his last account, "Of all those whom thou hast given me I have lost none." His hair was wet with dew, and his locks with the drops of the night. Sleep departed from his eyes, for all night he was in prayer wrestling for his people. One night Peter must be pleaded for; anon, another claims his tearful intercession. No shepherd sitting beneath the cold skies, looking up to the stars, could ever utter such complaints because of the hardness of his toil as Jesus Christ might have brought, if he had chosen to do so, because of the sternness of his service in order to procure his spouse-- "Cold mountains and the midnight air, Witnessed the fervour of his prayer; The desert his temptations knew, His conflict and his victory too." It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban having required all the sheep at Jacob's hand. If they were torn of beasts, Jacob must make it good; if any of them died, he must stand as surety for the whole. Was not the toil of Jesus for his Church the toil of one who was under suretiship obligations to bring every believing one safe to the hand of him who had committed them to his charge? Look upon toiling Jacob, and you see a representation of him of whom we read, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." Daily Light on the Daily Path Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Ephesians 2:18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Matthew 26:39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." Romans 8:26,27 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; • and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 1 John 5:14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. 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