Isaiah 58........

Isaiah 58

True Fasting

 2 For day after day they seek me out;
       they seem eager to know my ways,
       as if they were a nation that does what is right
       and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
       They ask me for just decisions
       and seem eager for God to come near them.

This is me. "Seems eager" to know His Ways. "Seems eager to come near". The "seems" needs to be turned into an action word.

 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say,
       'and you have not seen it?
       Why have we humbled ourselves,
       and you have not noticed?'
       "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
       and exploit all your workers.

Oh yeah. Me. "Well Lord, I do xyz and didn't you see"? Like He doesn't SEE everything. Sometimes I am so dumb.

 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
       and in striking each other with wicked fists.
       You cannot fast as you do today
       and expect your voice to be heard on high.

I don't know what "quarreling and strife or wicked fists" is but I will tell you my 'fasting' will get the same results. Because its not good.

 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
       only a day for a man to humble himself?
       Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed
       and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
       Is that what you call a fast,
       a day acceptable to the LORD ?

For me God is saying "stop putting on a show and get real, knock off all the drama, and LISTEN to me"

 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
       to loose the chains of injustice
       and untie the cords of the yoke,
       to set the oppressed free
       and break every yoke?

This is a huge verse. I 'fast' for silly stuff (oh it may seem big to me, but compared to verse 6? SILLY STUFF) and He is showing me that He is SO much more...........

 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
       and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
       when you see the naked, to clothe him,
       and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Hmmmmmm wow. No where do I see anything like what the 'world' tells me. No where in this verse does it say...."volunteer for this program, sign up to do this on Sunday, give X amount of money" It says........be ready, spot on. Be ready at any SECOND to give.

 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
       and your healing will quickly appear;
       then your righteousness ^[a] will go before you,
       and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

I love the word "then"..........

 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
       you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
       "If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
       with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
       and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
       then your light will rise in the darkness,
       and your night will become like the noonday.

God says "ok, PAY ATTENTION........Verses 1-7, and now 8-12 He shows us our reward. It's all written down for me. How simple duh.

 11 The LORD will guide you always;
       he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail.

 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
       and will raise up the age-old foundations;
       you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
       Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

 13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
       and from doing as you please on my holy day,
       if you call the Sabbath a delight
       and the LORD's holy day honorable,
       and if you honor it by not going your own way
       and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

 14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
       and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
       and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
       The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Ok........."IF you keep your feet from breaking Sabbath". That's huge. Understand this.........for 40+ years I have been conditioned, I have chosen, I have lived for Saturdays. I work on Saturdays (big money days) I do big projects on Saturdays. My kids play sports on Saturdays.................I do not honor "THE Sabbath". I do not honor it and the only "delight" in it is for myself. Not to honor or please God. I do what I want, go my own way.........I totally thumb my nose at God, and His Sabbath.......

It's no wonder I am in the condition, I am in.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One

07:35 - Friday, July 18, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Top 5 on my First Love list

08:32 - Thursday, July 17, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

40 evidences that we may have left our first love......

40 Evidences That You May Have

Left Your First Love

1. You can go hours or days without having more than a passing thought of Him.

2. You don’t have a strong desire to spend time with Him.

3. You don’t have a strong hunger for the Word; Bible reading is a “chore” – something to

mark off your “to do” list.

4. Spending time in prayer is a burden/duty rather than a delight.

5. Your worship is formal, dry, lifeless, merely going through the motions.

6. Private prayer and worship are almost non-existent . . . cold and dry.

7. You are more concerned about physical health, well-being, and comfort than about the wellbeing

and condition of your soul.

8. You crave physical food, while having little appetite for spiritual food.

9. You crave human companionship more than a relationship with Christ.

10. You spend more time and effort on your physical appearance than on cultivating inner

spiritual beauty to please Christ.

11. Your heart toward Christ is cold and indifferent; not tender as it once was, not easily moved

by the Word, talk of spiritual things, etc.

12. Christianity is more of a checklist than a relationship with Christ.

13. You measure spirituality (yours/others’) by performance rather than the condition of the

heart.

14. Christianity is defined more what by what you “do” than who you “are” (“doing” vs.

“being”).

15. Your obedience and service are motivated and fueled by expectations of others or a desire to

impress others, more than by passion for Christ.

16. You are more concerned about what others think and pleasing them, than about what God

knows and pleasing Christ.

17. Your service for Christ and others is motivated by a sense of duty or obligation.

18. You find yourself becoming resentful over the hardships and demands of serving Christ and

others.

19. You can talk with others about kids, marriage, weather, and the news, but struggle to talk

about the Lord and spiritual matters.

20. You have a hard time coming up with something fresh to share in a testimony service at

church or when someone asks, “What’s God been doing in your life?”

21. You are formal, rigid, and up-tight about spiritual things, rather than joyful and winsome.

22. You are critical or harsh toward those who are doctrinally off-base or living in sin.

23. You enjoy secular songs, movies, and books more than songs or reading material that point

you to Christ.

© Revive Our Hearts. Used with permission. www.ReviveOurHearts.com

Info@ReviveOurHearts.com

24. You prefer the company of people who don’t love Christ, to the company and fellowship of

those who do.

25. You are more interested in recreation, entertainment, and having “fun” than in cultivating

intimacy with Christ through worship, prayer, the Word, and Christian fellowship.

26. You display attitudes or are involved in activities that you know are contrary to Scripture, but

you continue in them anyway.

27. You justify “small” areas of disobedience or compromise.

28. You have been drawn back into sin habits that you put off when you were a young believer.

29. “Little” things that used to disturb your conscience, no longer do.

30. You are slow to respond to conviction over sin – or you ignore it altogether.

31. You enjoy certain sins and want to hang onto them. You are unwilling to give them up for

Christ.

32. You are not grieved by sin – it’s no big deal to you.

33. You are consistently allured by certain sins.

34. You are self-righteous--more concerned about sin in others’ lives than in your own.

35. You are more concerned about having the right position than the right disposition.

36. You tend to hold tightly to money and things, rather than being quick to give to meet the

needs of others.

37. You rarely give sacrificially to the Lord’s work.

38. You rarely have a desire or burden to give, when you hear of legitimate financial needs

within the Body, your church, or a ministry.

39. Accumulating and maintaining material “things” consumes more time and effort on your part

than seeking after and cultivating spiritual riches.

40. You have broken relationships with other believers that you are unwilling or have not

attempted to reconcile.

1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the

seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2"'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot

bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles

and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and

bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.

4But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you

did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place,

unless you repent. . . .

7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one

who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of

God.'

08:23 - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Faith

08:32 - Sunday, June 29, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

SERVICE OF PASSIONATE DEVOTION

"Lovest thou Me? . . . Feed My sheep." John 21:16

Jesus did not say - Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me.

We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. "If any man come to Me and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple." There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply - If you would be My disciple, you must be devoted to Me. A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says - "Now I see Who Jesus is," and that is the source of devotion.

To-day we have substituted credal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offense to the educated mind of to-day that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade.

Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father.

If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat.

The secret of a disciple's life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness. It is like a corn of wheat, which falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape (John 12:24).

"Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, June 19, 2008"

08:19 - Thursday, June 19, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

One of God's Great DON'TS !!!

"Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil doing." Psalm 37:8 (R.V.)

Fretting means getting out at elbows mentally or spiritually. It is one thing to say "Fret not," but a very different thing to have such a disposition that you find yourself able not to fret. It sounds so easy to talk about "resting in the Lord" and "waiting patiently for Him" until the nest is upset - until we live, as so many are doing, in tumult and anguish, is it possible then to rest in the Lord? If this "don't" does not work there, it will work nowhere. This "don't" must work in days of perplexity as well as in days of peace, or it never will work. And if it will not work in your particular case, it will not work in anyone else's case. Resting in the Lord does not depend on external circumstances at all, but on your relationship to God Himself.

Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not "out" to realize His own ideas; He was "out" to realize God's ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God.

Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God? Put all "supposing" on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.

Oswald Chambers: My Utmost for His Highest

Big fat eye opener for me. I was reading this the other night and about fell out of bed.

My oldest gets on me ALL the time for fretting..........funny enough, this entry? It's on her birthday, July 4th!!

03:00 - Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - comments {2} - post comment

Lord, what about him??

22   Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." THE FIRST thing that popped into my head when I read this was:

1 Thessalonians 9:11-12

11  Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,

12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

23   Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"satan has been spreading rumors ever since. even among God's People.Again. Mind my own business.

24   This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

25   Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. I love this. It's a reminder that what I 'do' is not as important as 'who I love'.

I love Scripture.

08:07 - Monday, June 16, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

What kind of Fruit is growing in my Orchard???

Freedom in Christ

2  Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

3  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. Hmmm I Paul saying "you who want to live by the letter of the Law are 'slaves' to the Law? That if you chose to live this way, Christ is nothing to you?? YIKES.I think I will chose Christ, and His freedom.

4  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

5  But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

6  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Ok, the only thing that counts. Faith, expressing itself through love. Not what 'rule' I follow or what 'church' I go to. But my Faith in Christ, and my Faith in action in the form of Love....

7  You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

8  That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

9  "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."

10  I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. This is where I am sure that it's the Word only that is to lead me. "Someone" in these verses (another human) has "cut in, throwing me into confusion". The Holy Spirit is clear that "the one throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty".

11  Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

12  As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! Agitators. Would that be "pot-stirrers"? Would that be "finger pointers, and rigid rule keepers"? The Spirit is less than thrilled with who ever these "agitators" are........I don't want to be an agitator.

13  You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature^[a]; rather, serve one another in love. Called to be "free". BUT. Do not abuse this freedom. Do not misuse this freedom. Do not take this freedom of God and try to execute it in your flesh. Stay humble, serve on another IN LOVE. That whole "love" thing keeps coming up..........

14  The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."^[b] Right here, for me, this is a big big verse. I just know the Lord is trying to tell me something here..........

15  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. Hmmmmm

Life by the Spirit

19  The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; These are physical outward manifestations of the inward rotten heart.These are pretty obvious. You can see these with your eyes.

20  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions This list for me: this one is harder to spot. This list can be kept in the heart, and in the mind, and you may not see an outward sign of them. This list is the 'rotten heart' list. This list of things will ruin a person from the inside out.....

21  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Wow. Will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God. Wow.

22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.I have often wondered. Are these in a particular order? Did the Lord put these in an order of importance? Like is Love the very first Fruit of the Spirit? Should this be the FIRST fruit I work on? Once I have "love" then joy will follow? When I love, joyfully, then I will have peace? Once I understand the Love Christ had for me, it brings me joy, and peace.......and then Patience for others who do not yet know what I know? And this Patience, leads me to be Kind because Jesus was Patient with me? And then from that the Goodness of Christ takes me over, Deepens my Faith to Him, makes me Gentle to others...........and finally, once I Love Him, He gives me Joy and Peace, I then have Patience with those who don't know Him, and in Kindness I share Him with them, The Goodness of Christ in me shines through and my Faith in Him is strengthened, He then takes off my 'rough edges' and replaces them with His Gentleness........once all of these Fruits have shown themselves on my Tree call life; then and only then will I have 'self-control'?

I better get to work!!! :-)

24  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

25  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

26  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.I think The Holy Spirit, through Paul, was speaking to "Believers"...........so is He telling us / warning us to "knock it off"??

Footnotes:

1. Galatians 5:13 Or the flesh; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24
2. Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18

08:14 - Sunday, June 15, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Love, Love, Love

Footnotes:

1. Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21
2. Romans 13:9 Lev. 19:18

6  We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit^[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Footnotes:

1. 1 John 4:6 Or spirit

08:24 - Saturday, June 14, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Matthew 7

The Narrow and Wide Gates

A Tree and Its Fruit

21  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'

23  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

"Only those who do the Will of the Father will enter". What is His Will? What does my 'fruit' look like? Do I have any fruit? Lord, lead me...........lead me.

08:45 - Friday, May 23, 2008 - comments {3} - post comment

OH MY GOSH THIS IS AMAZING!!!

08:07 - Friday, May 23, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

What's this all about??

08:03 - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - comments {2} - post comment

Do you think He is serious?? The end of my BSF

16  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jesus spoke and said:

08:45 - Friday, May 16, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7

Stand in Awe of God

2  Do not be quick with your mouth,
       do not be hasty in your heart
       to utter anything before God.
       God is in heaven
       and you are on earth,
       so let your words be few.

3  As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

4  When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.

6  Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?

7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

06:54 - Sunday, May 11, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

Something I read in my Bible study notes...........

06:18 - Friday, May 9, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

SALVATION? ONCE GAINED, NEVER LOST? ARE YOU SURE??

Matthew 17:5

5  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

John 6:67-68
67  "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68  Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9  not by works, so that no one can boast.

If I can't earn it, if I 'lost it' then I couldn't do anything to get it back.....so that would mean God is a liar.

Romans 10:9-13
9  That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11  As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame."
12  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him,
13  for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

John 3:14-18

14  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 

15  that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.

John 6:35-40

07:28 - Sunday, May 4, 2008 - comments {3} - post comment

1 Corinthians 11...........an answer to a comment

The Lord's Supper

23  For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,

24  and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."

Wouldn't it make more sense that EVERY TIME WE EAT, we pause, and think of the Gift God gave us? We eat 3 times or more a day. If we stopped before EVERY MEAL and REMEMBERED that Jesus was crucified for us........maybe He would always be in the front part of our minds and actions??

25  In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Did Jesus ask for the "cup" to be removed? The 'cup' is God's Wrath. And when God said "no", Didn't Jesus say "Your will not mine" and did as God commanded? SO each time we take a drink of anything, water, Pepsi, wine........and if each time we did that, don't you think between eating and drinking ALONE Jesus would always be on our minds?

26  For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

If people take this "literally" then, where is THIS bread and THIS cup? No......Jesus was teaching!! He used parables, words and phrases that people of that time could understand!

27  Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

That seems pretty self explanitory to me?

28  A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.

So if before we eat and drink, we come to Him asking for forgiveness of our sins, repent from them, and think upon what He did for us..............would we not then walk closer to the Lord? Would we then 'come out and be separate?"

29  For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.

30  That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

I am trying to 'wake up'. I am trying to understand and live His Ways........That is why I am seeking. I don't just do what everyone else is doing because "it must be right"......I ask questions. I look at the Hebrew and Greek......I ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

31  But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32  When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

33  So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.

34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
      And when I come I will give further directions.

11:33 - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - comments {3} - post comment

Studying God's Word / Frustrated with man's ways!!

8  None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9  However, as it is written:
   "No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him"^[a]

Footnotes:

1. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4

08:30 - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - comments {2} - post comment

A little frustrated with my Bible study!

 19  And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

20  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.     

21  But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.

22  The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."

23  They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

My Thoughts

Here's what gives me gas. Matthew and Mark do not have the word "new". John, doesn't even mention these verses, but John goes on to clarify that this was NOT the Passover meal:

John 13:26-30

08:42 - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - comments {1} - post comment

Some amazing information on THE Passover!

08:56 - Saturday, April 19, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment