Not so Fast

58:3 They (God's People) say, “We fast to show honor to you (God). 

Why don’t you see us? 

We starve our bodies to show honor to you. 

Why don’t you notice us?”

But God says... 

4 You are hungry, but not for food. 

You are hungry for arguing and fighting, not for bread. 

You are hungry to hit people with your evil hands. 

This is not the way to fast if you want your prayers to be heard in heaven! 

5 Do you think I want to see people punish their bodies on those days of fasting? 

Do you think I want people to look sad and bow their heads like dead plants? 

Do you think I want people to wear mourning clothes and sit in ashes to show their sadness? That is what you do on your days of fasting. 

Do you think that is what the Lord wants?

6 “I will tell you the kind of day I want—a day to set people free. 

I want a day that you take the burdens off others. 

I want a day when you set troubled people free and you take the burdens from their shoulders. 

7 I want you to share your food with the hungry. 

I want you to find the poor who don’t have homes and bring them into your own homes. 

When you see people who have no clothes, give them your clothes! 

Don’t hide from your relatives when they need help.”

8 If you do these things, your light will begin to shine like the light of dawn. 

Then your wounds will heal. 

Your “Goodness” will walk in front of you, and the Glory of the Lord will come following behind you. 

9 Then you will call to the Lord, and he will answer you. You will cry out to him, and he will say, “Here I am.”

Stop causing trouble and putting burdens on people. 

Stop saying things to hurt people or accusing them of things they didn’t do. 

10 Feel sorry for hungry people and give them food. 

Help those who are troubled and satisfy their needs. Then your light will shine in the darkness. 

You will be like the bright sunshine at noon.

11 The Lord will always lead you and satisfy your needs in dry lands. 

He will give strength to your bones. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring that never goes dry...

Isaiah 58

Easy-to-Read Version

Don't be discouraged!

42 As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. 

2 I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him? 

3 Day and night I weep for his help, and all the while my enemies taunt me. “Where is this God of yours?” they scoff.

5...Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help.

6 Yet I am standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness... 

8 Yet day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me, and through the night I sing his songs and pray to God who gives me life.

11 But, O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!

Psalm 42

Living Bible

My Special Place

5 Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. 

6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! 

10 A single day spent in your Temple (God)is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces of wickedness. 

11 ... No good thing will he (God) withhold from those who walk along his paths.

 Psalm 84

Living Bible

Creation's Story

The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. 

2 Day and night they keep on telling about God. 

3-4 Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. 

The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it 5 and moves out across the skies as radiant as a bridegroom going to his wedding, or as joyous as an athlete looking forward to a race! 

6 The sun crosses the heavens from end to end, and nothing can hide from its heat.

7-8 God’s laws are perfect. They protect us, make us wise, and give us joy and light. 

9 God’s laws are pure, eternal, just.

10 They are more desirable than gold. They are sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb. 

11 For they warn us away from harm and give success to those who obey them.

12 But how can I ever know what sins are lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 

13 And keep me from deliberate wrongs; help me to stop doing them. Only then can I be free of guilt and innocent of some great crime.

14 May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19

Living Bible

Don't be subborn!

  32 It is a great blessing

    when people are forgiven for the wrongs they have done,
    when their sins are erased.
2 It is a great blessing
    when the Lord says they are not guilty,
    when they don’t try to hide their sins.

3 Lord, I prayed to you again and again,
    but I did not talk about my sins.
    So I only became weaker and more miserable.
4 Every day you made life harder for me.
    I became like a dry land in the hot summertime. Selah

5 But then I decided to confess my sins to the Lord.
    I stopped hiding my guilt and told you about my sins.
    And you forgave them all! Selah

6 That is why your loyal followers pray to you while there is still time.

    Then when trouble rises like a flood, it will not reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me.
    You protect me from my troubles.
You surround me and protect me,
    so I sing about the way you saved me. Selah

8 The Lord says, “I will teach you
    and guide you in the way you should live.
    I will watch over you and be your guide.
9 Don’t be like a stupid horse or mule that will not come to you
    unless you put a bit in its mouth and pull it with reins.”

10 Many pains will come to the wicked,
    but the Lord’s faithful love will surround those who trust in him.
11 Good people, rejoice and be very happy in the Lord.
    All you who want to do right, rejoice!

Psalm 32

Easy-to-Read Version

The One God Hears

34 I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.

3 O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

9 O fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no want.
10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing.

11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12 Who is the man who desires life
And loves length of days that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
Not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

 Psalm 34

New American Standard Bible

Someone is praying...

Someone is praying for something that you already have.  We must focus on what we already have and be thankful.  

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

English Standard Version

16 Rejoice always, 

17 pray without ceasing, 

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

 

We don't have time to diagnose other people's sins.  We have more than enough sin of our own.  We must stick to loving and leave the judging to God.  

 

James 4:11-12

Living Bible

11 Don’t criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do, you will be fighting against God’s law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it. 

12 Only he who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?

 

If you don't believe in God, don't you miss Him?

 

James 4:8

Living Bible

8 And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you...

Wisdom from Heaven

 

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 

 

1. Wisdom starts with purity.

We can't have the 5 other traits mentioned in this verse above without purity.   

How much of the world will we allow into our lives?  We must take out of our lives what contaminates us.   

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is...peace-loving...

2. The wise love peace.

Conflict cannot continue without our participation.

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is... considerate... 

3.  The wise consider other people's point of view.

Give your thoughts a break.  You already think them.  John Maxwell.   

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is...submissive... 

4.  The wise are willing to yield to others.  They are not locked into a position.  

Are we reasonable?  Can we be reasoned with?

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is ...full of mercy and good fruit... 

5.  The wise minimize the mistakes of others.  

I'd rather stand before God for having loved too much than for having judged to much.  What do we need to stop bringing up to other people?

James 3:17

New International Version

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is ...impartial and sincere. 

 

6.  The wise are authentic.

 

What are we hiding?

Why does God want us wise?

James 3:18

Easy-to-Read Version

18 People who work for peace in a peaceful way get the blessings that come from right living.

 

Wisdom is knowledge applied.  

Allen Pedram