July 19 / Every Day GOD: True Religion!
Isaiah 58:1-12
Amplified Bible (AMP)
58 Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins!
2 Yet they seek, inquire for, and require Me daily and delight [externally] to know My ways, as [if they were in reality] a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God [in visible ways].
3 Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], you find profit in your business, and [instead of stopping all work, as the law implies you and your workmen should do] you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor.
4 [The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 [Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?
7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,
10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity andgloom become like the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
This scripture passage describes someone having a form of godliness but no power. 2 Timothy 3:5 describes this type of sin in a nutshell.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
58 Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins!
2 Yet they seek, inquire for, and require Me daily and delight [externally] to know My ways, as [if they were in reality] a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God [in visible ways].
3 Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], you find profit in your business, and [instead of stopping all work, as the law implies you and your workmen should do] you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor.
4 [The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6 [Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?
7 Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,
10 And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity andgloom become like the noonday.
11 And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
This scripture passage describes someone having a form of godliness but no power. 2 Timothy 3:5 describes this type of sin in a nutshell.
2 Timothy 3:5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
I have been this person! God had to bring me to a very low point in my life in order to turn me in the right direction. I was a hypocrite and didn't even know it. I thought others had problems, but certainly not me.
Go back and read the Scriptures again. We can fast, pray, and do all the "right" Christian things, all the while ignoring the needs around us.
Missionary Ron Brian (to Haiti) describes a time in his life when he was doing all the right things, but had some pride going on in his heart. One evening, after working hard all day on the Haiti reconstruction, he was approached with a serious need. A child had died from starvation at an orphanage which was located literally right around the corner from his home. He immediately visited the orphanage and found that many children were suffering from malnutrition. His heart was smitten with shock and regret that children were starving to death a few steps from his home. And all the time, he had been patting himself on the back for all the great works he was doing in Haiti. Of course, the Brians quickly gathered resources and are now providing food, and meeting many other needs for these orphans.
The needs of hurting humanity are so very great. We must continue to seek God's heart of compassion. He will lead us, step by step, to the hurting and broken around us. Many times, we stumble upon these desperate needs seemingly by accident. But with God, there are no accidents. He plans every step we take.
"Jesus, I'm begging You once again to give me Your heart of compassion. You never quit loving. You never quit caring about hurting humanity. You ARE Love personified. You ARE compassion. I want to be You to those You place in my path. I want to take my eyes off of my own challenges and reach out a hand to the needs all around me. Order my steps, Oh God! AMEN."
5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them].
I have been this person! God had to bring me to a very low point in my life in order to turn me in the right direction. I was a hypocrite and didn't even know it. I thought others had problems, but certainly not me.
Go back and read the Scriptures again. We can fast, pray, and do all the "right" Christian things, all the while ignoring the needs around us.
Missionary Ron Brian (to Haiti) describes a time in his life when he was doing all the right things, but had some pride going on in his heart. One evening, after working hard all day on the Haiti reconstruction, he was approached with a serious need. A child had died from starvation at an orphanage which was located literally right around the corner from his home. He immediately visited the orphanage and found that many children were suffering from malnutrition. His heart was smitten with shock and regret that children were starving to death a few steps from his home. And all the time, he had been patting himself on the back for all the great works he was doing in Haiti. Of course, the Brians quickly gathered resources and are now providing food, and meeting many other needs for these orphans.
The needs of hurting humanity are so very great. We must continue to seek God's heart of compassion. He will lead us, step by step, to the hurting and broken around us. Many times, we stumble upon these desperate needs seemingly by accident. But with God, there are no accidents. He plans every step we take.
"Jesus, I'm begging You once again to give me Your heart of compassion. You never quit loving. You never quit caring about hurting humanity. You ARE Love personified. You ARE compassion. I want to be You to those You place in my path. I want to take my eyes off of my own challenges and reach out a hand to the needs all around me. Order my steps, Oh God! AMEN."
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