GENUINE DEVOTION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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? 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?”

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

Isaiah 58:6-9a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s devotion, we saw where the people of Israel had been engaging in counterfeit devotion toward the Lord in their religious practices. Specifically, they were going through the motions with their fasting because their behavior was ungodly and sinful, hardly indicating that they were even followers of a God who had commanded them to love others. Their opting for wickedness over righteousness resulted in God not responding to their needs until they changed their actions and began living in a way that was acceptable to Him, a way that showed genuine devotion to His will and way.

So what was acceptable to God? What kind of conduct would be pleasing to His sight and lead to His favor?

We find the answers in our continuing study of Isaiah 58. Look again at these words from God Himself:

“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? 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?”

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”  Isaiah 58:6-9a

Note here how God expects us do the following in order to tend to the needs of those in need:

1. Work to remove injustice.

“Loose the chains of injustice.”

2. Help relieve the burdens people are under.

“Untie the cords of the yoke.”

3. Free the oppressed.

“Set the oppressed free and break every yoke.”

4. Share food with the hungry.

“Share your food with the hungry.”

5. Provide shelter for the poor.

“Provide the poor wanderer with shelter.”

6. Clothe the naked.

“When you see the naked, to clothe them.”

7. Care for everyone as family because we’re all part of God’s family.

“Not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.”

It’s quite a list, right? And do you see how all of these items have one thing in common?

They all require us to focus on someone outside of ourselves.

You see, the word of God here is calling us to a spirit of self sacrifice, to place the needs of others ahead of our own. For when we self sacrifice, we perhaps come as close as we can to being like His Son Jesus who also called us to make a difference in the lives of those who are in need. You may remember these words from our Savior:

The King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”  Matthew 25:34-40

The message is clear from our scriptures from the Old and New Testaments:

Ever seek to make a difference in the lives of those who are in need.

In the end translation, genuine devotion unto the Lord is most clearly evident when our actions model His actions so that those we help don’t see us as the source of their help but the Lord we are serving and testifying to. And in giving Him all the honor, glory, and praise, we help others to do the same, to see the Lord as the great Provider and Protector they need.

So how will we respond to this direction from the Lord?

My prayer is that we will follow the instruction found in our passage from Isaiah and do the following:

1. Let His light shine brightly through all we do.

“Your light will break forth like the dawn.”

2. Show His righteousness to everyone through our actions.

“Your righteousness will go before you.”

3. To ensure others see His glory in the aftermath of everything we do.

“The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”

When we do these things, when we when we selflessly commit ourselves to help others, we do so knowing that God has us in His hands. For He has promised that He will answer our calls and cries, bringing us the help we need for He will always be with us, blessing us rather than forsaking us.

In other words, He will give us His genuine devotion when we give Him ours.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

COUNTERFEIT DEVOTION

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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. 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.”

“‘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. 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. 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?”

Isaiah 58:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever wondered why the Lord doesn’t seem to be moving in your life situations?

Maybe it has something to do with the level of devotion you have for Him.

You see, we tend to put on a show sometimes when it comes to our spiritual life. We think that if we perform certain acts in worship that we are meeting the Lord’s requirements for righteousness and holiness, and in return, we should be granted His blessings. We might go to church, sit in the pews and pray, stand and sing a few songs, take communion on given Sundays, and listen to a pastor deliver a message from the Bible but what do we do after that? Do our lives show that we have been changed in some way by our worship? Or do we behave like anyone else in the world does, mainly those who have decided they don’t need to live with the Lord in their lives.

It’s a big problem with Christians today. And it was a big problem for the Israelites in the time of Isaiah. Look at these opening verses of Isaiah 58, verses that detail how God’s people displayed counterfeit devotion toward Him:

“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. 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.”

“‘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. 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. 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?”  Isaiah 58:1-5

Note here that the people appeared eager to discover the Lord’s will and know His ways. They seemed interested in knowing what was right and wanting to not forsake His commandments. They were fasting and humbling themselves before God, and yet, nothing was happening.

What was going on? Why would God not respond to the repenting actions of His people?

It had everything to do with the way they lived outside of their religious actions.

For as we see in the scriptures, the Lord set things straight while explaining why the fasting and remorseful displays of His people were unacceptable to Him.  

First, on the day that the people fasted, they turned right around and did as they pleased. In other words, they were not interested in turning from their will and sin to a better way in the Lord. Their fasting was just for show, an act of counterfeit devotion.

Second, their fasting did not result in peace and unity but rather discord and disruption. The people exploited their workers and stirred up quarreling and strife, striking each other with wicked fists. These are hardly actions of people who are connected and one with the Prince of peace.

You see, true devotion to the Lord results in transformation. Through our genuine, authentic communion and commitment to Him, we begin to be more and more as He created us and that is in His own image. Thus, when people see how we are living, they get a glimpse of the Lord Himself. After all, the main part of being a Christian is to be Christ-like.

Conversely, disingenuous devotion leaves us no better than the world and our actions will show it, just as the Old Testament Israelites did. Their fasting did not separate them from the world because they were unwilling to part with the world’s ways. They could not act out their religious loyalty to God as they were and expect that God was going to honor their call. That’s not the way it works.

Friends, the word of God is speaking strongly to us today and we had better be paying attention. We can’t just go through the motions and treat our worship unto the Lord as if our actions are just rituals. We know that God sees and knows every part of us. He has clear view of all our actions, hears every word we speak, and peers into the depths of our hearts and minds so that no thought is ever kept in secret from Him.

With this, it’s a waste of time to try and think we’ll get away with counterfeit devotion. It’s never going to fly. Instead, remain true to God as He is true to you. Be dedicated to Him as He is dedicated to you. And give Him the fullest measure of your honor and praise with every moment He grants you.

That’s the kind of attitude He favors and expects from us, His children. That’s the kind of life He blesses.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

PEACE OR NO PEACE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of Me—the very people I have created.

I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid My face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips.

“Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah 57:16-21

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What is the path to peace in life?

It’s a question I think we all ponder because peace is something we all crave for. We like to be in life situations where there is no conflict, no stress, no worry, no fear, and no anxiety. Everything is in place and we have absolute calm and stability.

But what happens when things don’t go right and we are caught up in the swirling storms of difficulty and hardship?

How do we find peace then?

Perhaps we can find answers in today’s scripture passage taken from the final verses of Isaiah 57. Look again at these words of the Lord here:

I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of Me—the very people I have created.

I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid My face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips.

“Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”  Isaiah 57:16-21

Note here that there are two categories that people are placed in: those who are believers in God, even if they are imperfect in their belief, and those who flat out reject God in every way, referred to here as “the wicked”.

God’s people, the Israelites, were less than perfect people just like we are today. They professed belief in God but still succumbed to sinfulness in the way of worshipping idols and false gods. Of course, God was angered by this as the actions of His people had violated His commands to not have any other gods or idols before Him. He had told them He was a jealous God and punishment would come on anyone who disobeyed and disrespected Him. And yet, the people tested God and experienced His wrath and judgment in the way of a seventy year exile to Babylon.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for peace, right?

And yet, the people of Israel would experience restoration and renewal, despite their shortcomings. God was promising that they would be healed and returned to peace.

How could this happen? How could people who sinned against God come to peace when the wicked would not?

It comes down to grace and mercy and forgiveness. Those who placed their faith in God would face His consequences if they failed Him but they also would experience His pardon after the price had been paid for their transgressions.

As for the wicked, they had no open window to receive God’s grace and mercy and forgiveness because they had closed the window themselves, unwilling and not wanting to have Him as a part of their lives. They rejected Him and in turn, would not experience His peace.

It’s a sad place to be, really. In a place where you have no peace. But everyone has the same opportunity to choose whether the Lord is a part of their life or not.

Some opt to. Some don’t. Only those who do will have peace because they have chosen to follow the Lord who is the Prince of peace.

I pray you are counted in that number.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com