I've been meditating on Isaiah 58:6-14 a lot lately. In this passage, God talks to His people about what true fasting is all about.
58:6 "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 58:7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 58:8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 58:9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 58:10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 58:11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 58:12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. 58:13 "If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 58:14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." I am praying about many things during this time of praying and fasting, but my main request is that I do what these verses say about helping those in trouble. It's been something that's been working in me for some time now, and now I just want to get to work for God and be a blessing. I know it's a matter of just stepping out there and living on the edge for Him--being led by Him to do what He wants. Whatever He wants. As this desire for theses verses to come to pass in my life is rising, I got some revelation of other things in these verses. Well, you know the verse "blessed to be a blessing"? This passage made something click about that. So many of us are waiting for God to bless us and then we'll start being a blessing. But the above verses tell me that my desire needs to be and I need to put into action "being a blessing".....then we'll really start to see the "blessed" part happen in our lives. If we really want to be a blessing, we'll be a blessing. If we are waiting first for God to bless us, our eyes really are just on ourselves and it's a lust and all about "me! me! me!". But if our heart is truly wanting to help those in trouble, we'll do whatever we can do. Even if it is something little....we just want to be a part of the solution. We just want to love on people because it's oozing out of us. A prophetic word was spoken that said it this way, "Give out what's in you. Your cup is not half empty and it's not half full....instead, it's overflowing!" I love that! The people of Philippi wanted to give so much to Paul....whatever he needed. Out of all the churches that Paul ministered to, they understood the principle of "blessed to be a blessing". They gave and gave and gave to him, and they wanted to give more but they ran out (Philippians 4:10-23) And Paul reminded them that, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). Notice in the verses in Isaiah that it talks about helping those in trouble in verses 6 & 7; and then it talks about your wounds being healed in verse 8. God will touch you in a mighty and powerful way when you start touching others for Jesus. Forget about ourselves and think about the needs of others. If we really believe God, we should know that He'll take care of us. He notices when a bird falls on the ground....how much more does He want to take care of and bless His children! I want to share something that happened to me recently that goes along with this principle. My parents anniversary was last week, and I wanted to bless them with something special. I didn't know what, but I wanted it to be special. One thing led to another and I got the idea of what I wanted to get them. Yes! But there was only one problem...I couldn't find the product in any stores. So I checked the internet...still, couldn't find it. So I had the little light bulb go off...'why! I could make it for them! It shouldn't be that hard.' The next day I attempted to make what I envisioned....it was a monogrammed anniversary frame (I knew you were probably wondering what it was) : ) and it turned out rather well (it took me like only half an hour...that was God, b/c I can make a project like that last hours). My point of sharing all of this is.......What 'God ideas' are awaiting us if only we would have a desire to be a blessing?! If I didn't have a desire to bless my parents, that idea for the monogrammed anniversary frame wouldn't have even existed. That idea would still be locked up somewhere. (Maybe God has a room in heaven full of ideas that He wants to share with us, but we don't have a desire to be a blessing. Who knows?) Bottom line...I want to be a blessing. I'm determined to be. The time is now. The Blessing is inside of me and His Name is Jesus! I'm going to be like Jesus and give out what's in me. I'm doing things His way. |
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