June 30

”The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm… The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3: 15b, 17 NIV)

The first time that I read today’s text I was newly saved or more correctly said, I had for the first time in my life received what the old timers called ’salvation’s assurance’. I was 25 years old. I had been a member of the fellowship all of my life but I had never established a personal relationship with God and with His Word. The Bible was an inaccessible book, whose stories I knew fairly well from Sunday school, but whose over-riding message was pretty much unknown to me.

The word from the book of Zephaniah became very personal to me when someone presented me with the Bible verse printed on a piece of paper. To think that the message was just for me – It was the assurance that God lived in me and that He took delight in me, that He loved me and He rejoiced about me. Incomprehensible and wonderful!

Later in life when I was to participate in and speak at a conference on the other side of the world I felt very alone and helpless when facing the important assignment. Then God met me once again with the same greeting. ’The Lord lives in you’! And suddenly the difficulty was overcome because God would be with me.

Prayer

Thank You God, my Father, for making Your dwelling-place in me, and therefore I no longer need fear any evil. Thank You for saving me, for loving me and for rejoicing over me.