Since days of old, HE has URGED Mankind to RECOGNIZE HIM, to TURN to HIM, to COME to HIM BECAUSE HE IS 'THE' ONE and ONLY LORD *GOD*, AND it IS beneficial now, and forever, that we do so! NOTHING IN this world, nor in all of CREATION could offer us what HE does! We are lost to our own ways; we exist beneath a shroud of deception, and wrongness; we allow our imaginations to rule over soundness; we follow what is not worthy of following; we are enticed by things and matters which offer nothing more than what is temporary; we act as if we do not know about *GOD*, HIS WILL, HIS WAYS, HIS PROMISE of LIFE eternal! And so, we are greatly distanced from HIM, and all which WOULD bring unequaled good to us!!!
Even in WORSHIP, some IMAGINE themselves to be doing so aright, but TRUE WORSHIP is far removed in the rituals handed down through time! THE LORD LONGS for us to humble ourselves, and to exist justly, rightly, and honestly according TO HIS WILL! Few of the ways with which humans WORSHIP mean more to HIM than to exist in ways which will GLORIFY HIM, free the oppressed, tend to the orphaned, the widowed, the lonely, feed the hungry, clothe the bare, and bring justice to the lands!!!
IN our ways we give worth to that which is unworthy, and largely, ignore HE WHOM IS WORTHY, in our quest of the flesh! Few realize, or are willing to believe that such IS idolatry, which DOES stoke the anger and wrath of THE LORD *GOD*! We ARE to relinquish the flesh in favour of that which is OF spirit, and pursue the infinite wealth of THE KINGDOM! There is NO way to have both the world and *GOD*; we have a choice, it IS either THE LORD, or the world! We wonder why we suffer, and yet we are unwilling to make the necessary concessions TO RECEIVING OF THE LORD! We are lost in the misinformation which human precepts have taught us, which we cling to because they have been embedded into our traditions, cultures, and ways!!!
This IS THE HOLY season when we SHOULD be straining even more to come closer to THE LORD *GOD* AND our REALITY, which IS that we ARE citizens of HEAVEN, NOT of the Earth! We SHOULD be studying, learning, embracing, and utilizing ALL which HE HAS put before us THAT we are NOT lost TO the world, but arrive HOME where we belong! In this time, besides celebrating CHRIST JESUS, we ARE to BECOME MORE LIKE HIM, in mind, heart, body, and spirit, which means we HAVE to KNOW HIM as well as is feasible, IN HIS WILL and WAYS in order to emulate HIM!!!
The Prophetic BOOK OF ISAIAH holds MUCH WISDOM, and instruction, and PREPARES the mind TO RECEIVING knowledge, understanding, AND THE WILL TO step INTO HIM, and REMAIN IN HIM; it debuts THE GOSPEL(S)! Absolutely NOTHING else IS as imperative as turning to, and coming to THE LORD *GOD*, for we ARE eternal beings, but our CHOICES IN this time set the standard forevermore; that is, IF we deny our TRUTH, we shall be cast into eternal suffering instead of eternal BLISS! FAITH IS the door by which we enter into FAITHFULNESS, which leads us to RIGHTEOUSNESS, which SEES IN us, HIS GLORY, HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS EVERY GOOD WORK! Let us then begin anew each day TO WORSHIP ARIGHT, which DOES spiral from the heart outwardly! *GOD* WANTS as many as is possible to REACH THE KINGDOM, in which those OF HIM have roles towards manifestation, which requires mastering HIS instructions FOR THE WAY; which OPENS us TO HIS working in us, through us, and around us, AND WILL find us with greater BLESSINGS, FOR HIS GLORY, our own sake, and that of others!!!
22+++“Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.
23+++“I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
24+++“They will say of Me, ‘Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’
Men will come to Him,
And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.
The nations are exhorted to draw near to Jehovah. None besides is able to help; he is the Saviour, who can save without the assistance of any, but without whom none can save. If the heart is brought into the obedience of Christ, the knee will cheerfully obey his commands. To Christ men shall come from every nation for blessings; all that hate his cause shall be put to shame, and all believers shall rejoice in him as their Friend and Portion. All must come to him: may we now come to him as the Lord our Righteousness, walking according to his commandments.
ISAIAH 58...
1+++“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
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.
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.
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.
5+++Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
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?
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 them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8+++Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousnessa will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
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.
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 in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
The Holy Spirit had hypocrites of every age in view. Self-love and timid Christians may say, Spare thyself; dislike to the cross and other motives will say, Spare the rich and powerful; but God says, Spare not: and we must obey God, not men. We all need earnestly to pray for God's assistance in examining ourselves. Men may go far toward heaven, yet come short; and they may go to hell with a good reputation.
A fast is a day to afflict the soul; if it does not express true sorrow for sin, and does not promote the putting away of sin, it is not a fast. These professors had shown sorrow on stated or occasioned fasts. But they indulged pride, covetousness, and malignant passions. To be liberal and merciful is more acceptable to God than mere fasting, which, without them, is vain and hypocritical. Many who seem humble in God's house, are hard at home, and harass their families. But no man's faith justifies, which does not work by love. Yet persons, families, neighbourhoods, churches, or nations, show repentance and sorrow for sin, by keeping a fast sincerely, and, from right motives, repenting, and doing good works. The heavy yoke of sin and oppression must be removed. As sin and sorrow dry the bones and weaken the strongest human constitution; so the duties of kindness and charity strengthen and refresh both body and mind. Those who do justly and love mercy, shall have the comfort, even in this world. Good works will bring the blessing of God, provided they are done from love to God and man, and wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit.
The sabbath is a sign between God and his professing people; his appointing it is a sign of his favour to them; and their observing it is a sign of their obedience to him. We must turn from travelling on that day; from doing our pleasure on that holy day, without the control and restraint of conscience; or from indulging in the pleasures of sense. On sabbath days we must not follow our callings, or our pleasures. In all we say and do, we must put a difference between this day and other days. Even in Old Testament times the sabbath was called the Lord's day, and is fitly called so still; and for a further reason, it is the Lord Christ's day, Re 1:10. If we thus remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, we shall have the comfort and profit of it, and have reason to say, It is good to draw near to God.
LWINSOR © 2016
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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