Fasting, thanking God
KEY VERSE: "Then call, and the LORD will answer and weep, and he will say, Here I am, when you take the yoke from your midst, and stretch out your finger and speak vanity." (Isaiah 58: 9)
Text: Isaiah 58: 1-14
58: 1 Scream loud, do not stop; Raise your voice like a trumpet and proclaim your transgression to my people and their sins to the house of Jacob.
58: 2 But they seek me daily, and they love to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the commandments of his God; they ask for the ordinances of righteousness; they like to approach God.
58: 3 Why are we fasting, and you are not seeing? Why did we press our soul and you do not know? Look, on the day of your fast, you will find joy and do all your work.
58: 4 Behold, you fast for the argument and the debate, and strike with the fist of injustice; You will not be as fast as today, so your voice will be heard high.
58: 5 Is it so fast that I have decided? a day for a man to plague his soul? Does he bend his head like a rush and spread the sack and the ashes under him? Do you call this a quick and acceptable day for the Lord?
58: 6 Is not my choice fast? Unleash the strands of injustice, conquer the heavy burdens, free the oppressed, break every yoke?
58: 7 Is it not for you to give bread to those who are hungry and to bring out the poor who are thrown into your house? When you see the naked, you cover it; And you are not hiding from your own flesh?
58: 8 Then your light will shine as in the morning, and your health will be fast; and your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your ruin.
58: 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. you will cry, and he will say: Here I am. When you remove the yoke, the spread of the finger, and the vanity of your breast;
58:10 And if thou hast given thy soul to those who are hungry, and have satisfied the afflicted soul; then your light will rise in the dark, and your darkness will be like noon.
58:11 And the Lord will lead you constantly, and fill your soul with drought, and make your bones fat; and you will be like an irrigation garden and a source of water whose waters never fail.
58.12 And whoever is of you shall build elders and forsaken ones; They will create the foundations of several generations; and you will be called, The repairer of the break, The restorer means to live.
58:13 When you take your foot from the Sabbath to do your will on the day of my holy day, and ask for the joy, the LORD of Jehovah, honorable; and you will honor it, not go your own ways, neither seek your own pleasure, nor speak your own words:
58:14 Then you will find favor with the Lord. and I will bring you to the height of the earth, and I will give you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father; because the mouth of the Lord has said it.
The message
At the time of the prophet Isaiah, people deprived themselves of food and adopted positions of sadness and humility, which they disguised as offerings for the Almighty. They would pray to God for their recognition and blessings, but they would continue to live in injustice. They set the time aside to feel unwell, to starve themselves, to cover themselves with sacks and ashes, and even to ask God for his favor. However, her life was full of injustice and selfishness. They thought that simple abstinence from food without complicity and the spirit of charity that accompanied them were enough to receive blessings from God.
God wanted a fast of repentance and a holy life. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, said: "Fasting, if we really understand it, should not be limited to ... the subject of eating and drinking. This really needs to be done To abstain from everything that is legitimate for a particular spiritual purpose in itself There are many body functions that are correct, normal, and perfectly legitimate, but may need to be controlled for special and specific reasons. "
Fasting is very common in many circles today. And most of them have little or nothing to do with the repentance of sin. True fasting involves repentance and the total breaking of sin. It's fasting that God chooses. Such a life of fasting and forgiveness will attract God's favor and blessings.
Thoughts of the day: Really fast means robbing your vices and nourishing your virtues. * _
COVERAGE FOR RECOVERY: 1 REYES 9; 2 CHRONICLE 8 * _
BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS HOW THEY WERE MADE