“The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land” Isaiah 58:11 NIV Guide – No man would consider climbing Everest without a guide. To do so would virtually guarantee suicide. Climbing Everest requires the greatest of preparation and planning, the best equipment and the most trusted guides. Crossing the…
“Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry, and He will say, “Here I am””. Isaiah 58:9 Cry – What does it sound like when you pray? Are your prayers civil, reserved, circumspect? Are they rituals of propriety, head bowed, eyes closed? Do you pray as though you were standing in…
“Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry, and He will say, “Here I am””. Isaiah 58:9 Here I am – Sometimes the deepest implications are found in the strangest places. You will recall this Hebrew word. It is hinneh. We see it time and again when human beings respond to…
“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 him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood.” Isaiah 58:7 Turn Away – The last gift on God’s list is perhaps the most difficult to give. …
“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?” Isaiah 58:6 NIV Injustice – If Christmas is the celebration of the birth of God’s Son, why aren’t we giving Him the presents? …
“to bow his head down like a bulrush” Isaiah 58:5 Bulrush – When I was a child, we called them cattails. Those long green stalks rising from the water’s edge, ending in a clump of densely packed seeds. Isaiah uses this image to describe one important aspect of false worship: the ease of bowing in…
“Why have we fasted”, they say, “and you have not seen it”. “Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?” Isaiah 58:3 NIV Why? – The people complain: “Why don’t you hear us? We have fasted. We have done our duty. But you don’t answer. Why don’t you do something? Don’t you see…
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back, raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1 NIV Shout it aloud – For the next twelve days, we will look at one paragraph in Isaiah. As preparation for the coming of the Messiah,…
“For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion.” Lamentations 3:32 Have Compassion – The beauty of the Hebrew word raham is not found its translation as “compassion” but rather in its connection with pregnancy. It’s the umbrella of meaning that shows us the real picture. What does compassion look like? Raham tells us…
“For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion.” Lamentations 3:32 Causes Grief – Jeremiah was a prophet of unusual insight. Perhaps that’s because he got his vision straight from God. Here Jeremiah gives us a glimpse of the connection between grief and compassion. It’s not the connection we would expect. Jeremiah tells us…
