Monday, April 11, 2011

Isaiah 58

Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways,
As if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
They ask of me righteous judgments;
They delight to draw near to God.

'Why have we fasted, and You see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and You take no knowledge of it?'

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?

(we should not)

"Is not this the fast that I choose:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the straps of the yoke,
To let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

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?

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.

THEN you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'

If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing finger, and speaking wickedness,

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.

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong;

And you shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
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.

"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 to the Lord honorable;
If you honor it, not going your own ways,
Or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly,
Then you shall take delight in the Lord,
And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Suffering

So I had just been reading through a chapter about suffering in John Piper's book, "Let the Nations Be Glad", which, by the way, is a great book. There's a quote I wanted to share on facebook, but it was too long to make a status. So here it is on my blog. Sometimes it's hard to articulate in words the necessity of suffering for Christ, and the brightness that it is to the world of our hope in Christ. But after reading this quote, I felt that it was well-worth repeating. This just being a sample of a great chapter.

You cannot show the preciousness of a person by being happy with his gifts. Ingratitude will certainly prove that the giver is not loved, but gratitude for gifts does not prove that the giver is precious. What proves that the giver is precious is the glad-hearted readiness to leave all his gifts to be with him. This is why suffering is so central in the mission of the church. The goal of our mission is that people from all the nations worship the true God. But worship means cherishing the preciousness of God above all else, including life itself. It will be difficult to bring the nations to love God from a lifestyle that communicates a love of things. Therefore, God ordains in the lives of his messengers that suffering severs our bondage to the world. When joy and love survive this severing, we are fit to say to the nations with authenticity and power: Hope in God.


-Piper "Let the Nations Be Glad"