KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Friday, August 05, 2016
Chapters: Isaiah 57-59
Message: Getting God’s Attention
Hello My Friend,
People who do not know God take a look at the Bible and it is usually their reading of the Old Testament that they draw some conclusion that He is a mean, cruel, and evil God who strikes you down if you do not do as He says. This is a false narrative, yes, He is a just God and sometimes did strike down some rebellious, arrogant fool who was trying to cause trouble in order to put fear in others to keep them from following them, but He is also a merciful God. To understand God you have to think as if you were a creator, nothing gives you more joy than to see something You created evolve into something great, but what happens when one person decides to taunt you and destroy your hard work? I imagine, you get like I do, angry, disappointed, and in many cases, withdraw yourself from your work. Remember, we are created in God’s image, so, what we feel, He feels. What separates us from God, whether saved or not? Sin. And it always will.
“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” – Isaiah 59:1,2.
The world sees all the evil taking place and who do they blame, God, they do not have to even believe in Him, but they believe He is mean and cruel if He allowed such evil things to happen. Do you know who walks right along side of the world who rejects God? Christians, well technically they are people who believe in God, living in sin, claiming they know God, but do not. We may not realize it, but God protects His people in many ways, and sometimes that means taking them out of their comfort zones, putting them in unfamiliar places, and in some cases even death. Through Isaiah, God gives the reason He was about to judge Judah, and send the majority of them to Babylon.
“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” – Isaiah 57:1,2,16-18.
“none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” You have to think about this, how bad was it in Jerusalem for God to want to take His people out of their comfort zone and put them in Babylon, which was known for its idol worship? It must have been pretty corrupt. And by the way, God does not create wicked evil, man does, but He does do whatever He can to protect His own from suffering more than they have to. Those who really know God are those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and walk with Him daily, not when it is convenient, and not just to justify their sin. “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” – I Peter 2:15,16.
Now, to the true and faithful, God is always ready to listen and hear us, He takes care of us in many ways that even we do not see, but we too have to be careful in how we approach God. Fasting may be one of the easiest and most effective ways to get God’s attention, but He even knows whether or not we are doing it for the right or wrong reason. Through Isaiah, He confronts those who seek Him for the wrong reasons.
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.” – Isaiah 58:1-4.
“ye fast for strife and debate,” Did you ever witness people going on a hunger strike? They protest something and vow not to eat until they get what they want? There is not a person in the world that does not wish evil upon someone who has wronged them, but that is not how God does things. If someone is doing us wrong, God wants us to take it to Him, and He will deal with it, when the time is right. I do not talk about this often because I do not want to boast in someones suffering, but my ex-boyfriend goes through more suffering than anyone I know, and I believe that it is God chastening him for all that he not only did to me, but also in using Him to keep deceiving me. God does want us to fast to get His attention, and He explains exactly fasting is for and how we are to fast.
“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;” – Isaiah 58:5-9.
“the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.” Rereward, to gather for any purpose; hence to receive. When we fast to get God’s attention in matters that we just need His grace, comfort, wisdom, and guidance on, we not only get the answers we are looking for, we find the glory of God. Fasting is a way to shine the light of Christ on all we are in contact with, to stop thinking of our flesh and remember how merciful, gracious, and loving He is toward us while we are asking Him for something in particular, and taking care of others as well.
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” – Matthew 6:16-18.
Every person here on earth is capable of doing something evil, no matter how good we were brought up, we all have some wickedness in us, and this is why we can never do enough good to measure up to God’s standard. Through Isaiah, God explains this to the believing Jews who had gotten themselves caught up in the world, but also reminds them that He is always there for them.
“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” – Isaiah 59:7-12,16.
“therefore his arm brought salvation unto him;” God is longsuffering, meaning patient in waiting for the very last soul to accept His Son before He sends Him to judge the world. God will save anyone who believes in His Son, and while He will never go back on His promise to redeem a save soul from hell, He will let them suffer in their sin. It is a painful life to live in sin being saved, but God’s mercy endures. “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” – I Corinthians 15:56-58.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” – Isaiah 57:15.
Today’s Prayer: God, I cannot fathom the amazing grace that You gave me and still give me every single day, to take a life that was a complete mess and turn it into one that has meaning is truly a miracle that only You can produce. Thank You, for seeing something in me that is of good use to you, thank you for your grace and mercy and never giving up on me. Lord, as I humble myself before You, be merciful to me, a sinner, lead me and guide me, help me to never cease from wanting Your attention on a daily basis, and when I fast, let me do it for Your glory. I love You Lord and ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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