1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The Wickedness of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.
5 Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.
7 Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
foreigners devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.
8 And the daughter of Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a lodge in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12 “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
The Unfaithful City
21 How the faithful city
has become a whore,
she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
but now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
your best wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
24 Therefore the Lord declares,
the Lord of hosts,
the Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get relief from my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes.
25 I will turn my hand against you
and will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.
26 And I will restore your judges as at the first,
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.”
27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks
that you desired;
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.
30 For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers,
and like a garden without water.
31 And the strong shall become tinder,
and his work a spark,
and both of them shall burn together,
with none to quench them. (ESV)
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
I love this verse because we should always bring God meaningful gifts instead of meaningless because God is most definately worth it. And he has blessed us so much soits the least we can do for him.
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“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!”
No surprise here; God HATES it when you disobey him, and it seems he hates it even more when you disobey him and then come to him pretending everything is alright. He doesn’t want to listen to your pleas done in vain, and I don’t blame him.
“‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land”
I suppose the good news here is that although we are incapable of resisting ‘love triangles’, God offers us a clean slate anyways, to the “willing and obedient”
Goodmorning True North!…….
I really liked verse 16-17:
Wash and make yourself clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!….
I like this verse because God so clearly says to stop whatever sin we have in our everyday lives and learn to do right. I dont think that there is any simplier way that they could put it….we just need to obey Christ’s commands really take action of what we have read. I pray that I will act out what I read in m bible daily.
Knowing is only half the battle!!!! <33
Lotsa goodies in this one…a couple that especially impacted me are:
5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.
MAN, are we stupid in our stubbornness. I come from a family FILLED with self-imposing, stubborn, bull-headed jerks. And for 31 years, I partook and was one of them. All the while claiming I had the Holy Spirit within me. SCARY. We just take beatings from the sin we once continually chose (or perhaps STILL continue to choose, depending on how many times we’ve been born…), when we sit and bathe in our sin, and we go back for MORE! It’s gotta be the most perplexing thing.
21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!
31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
Really, the only way to MAKE SURE of our salvation, is to continue to obey God, by loving Him with all that we are and not loving anything or anyone above Him, and then passing that love TRULY on to others. And NOT going BACK to sin and continuing, instead, in IT. You don’t eat broccoli once, and then you’re healthy and have enough vitamins from it for the rest of your life. You don’t do a solid work-out and then all of a sudden you’re strong and have sculpted muscles for the rest of your life. You don’t take a shower this morning, and then never have to again, or only have to once every now and then. You don’t read hop on SOTD for a month, reading Scripture for the Book of Matthew with the bonus of getting Oreos and milk, and then all of a sudden you’re saved.
Life is FILLED with constant and relevant examples as to why we MUST con-TIN-ue in a lifestyle of loving ONLY GOD and not even TEMPTING ourselves with loving someone or something else. Using the example of Pastor Bobby and Christa and their marriage, if Pastor Bobby even flirted with somebody else, or if Christa even started texting some other guy regularly, because they are “friends,” it isn’t appropriate! It opens doors to temptation and it is flirting with a potential love triangle that just ends BADLY. Let us not even FLIRT with the IDEA of falling in love with someone or something else, while we are in the ultimate relationship with Jesus Christ. On the surface, it sounds so easy and obvious. But it’s the tiny little choices we make to be friends with the world, that open the door to falling in love with the things OF the world, and leaving our true love with our perfect God. Isaiah 1 is a WARNING to us. I pray we get SERIOUS about it, and HEED this warning.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. we need to work on worshipping God with a right heart and not just as a tradition.
ELLO… I read
I like verse 14
I like this verse because it talks about GOD hating when something is supposed to be focused on GOD but it isn’t. We can’t lead double lives that is why GOD hated the new moon festivals the people lived their lives for themselves and valued a lot of other things more than GOD. I have to make sure that I do not do the same things I would rather serve the GOD who is always there then make friends with people who hate GOD or just don’t care for HIM. I have to make war on sin and never compromise and to do what is right even when it is the hard thing to do I need to stand up for GOD so HE won’t ignore me when I call to HIM like HE did when the people at the new moon festivals did.
CYA
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Wow, that sounds like Isaiah (even way back in the Old Testament) was preaching repentance! This needs to be the constant mindset of the believer. Until we are glorified, we will sin, but our response to that should always be one of repentance: seeking to stop doing wrong and learn to do what is right!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
I love this verse, and throughout Isaiah, we see prophecies of judgment mixed with prophecies of salvation. For those who repent, there is forgiveness! In light of this passage, I want to be actively turning away from any sin in my life and rejoicing that through Christ my sins are washed white as snow!
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
When it comes to God’s commands, there are only two options for people. The first option is to be willing and obedient. The second is to ignore the, or resist and rebel against them. So either one follows God’s commands, or he doesn’t; there is no middle ground in between. Consequences will follow for both courses of action. The first verse says that those who are willing and obedient, they will “eat the best from the land”, that they will be rewarded. However, the second verse says that to those who resist and rebel, they will be devoured by the sword, receiving the full downpour of God’s wrath and judgment. This is pretty straightforward. No one can be in the middle, kinda choosing to follow God, but at the same time, still choosing to live for them self. I know that since I am a Christian, that I am being obedient to His commands, I will receive my reward, for I will spend eternity in heaven, forever dwelling in the presence of the LORD. Having said this, I still need to always be growing in my willingness and my obedience. Human as I am, made of flesh, I will never be perfect. But just because I won’t be 100% perfect, I am still going to strive to be as perfect as I can be, that I will do all that I can to live my life for God. No matter what the circumstances are, I need to put serving above my own priorities. When I see an opportunity to do something for God, “boo ya!” I need to seize the opportunity! And I need to be obedient to everyone that God has placed as an authority in my life. Even those who can be more difficult when in comes to obedience, such as parents and teachers, I need to be respectful and always obey what they command, unless it contradicts what God says.
G00D M0URN1NG True North! I’ll see today @ service, if you’re there! God rather have people being obedient, than being sorry and offer sacrifices to him.
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
The Lord who is speaking through the Prophet Isaiah and is angry about sin. The Lord is trying to make Judah discipline to strive to be more holy in learning to do what is right and just seek righteousness. The application is who am I doing, am I clean? Am I seeking righteousness? I need to fear God because just look at the second part of verse of 16!
Whenever I read passages like this in the OT about the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, turning and forsaking Him I am quick to think WHY?!…after all the things, the goodness and mercy He has poured out upon them for generations past why on earth would they do as verse 4 says, “turn their backs on him”? But then I quickly examine my own life and realize that I so often behave in the same way; what I mean is that I like a fool go back to my sin, I worry and fear despite the faithfulness God has always shown, I do things the Bible commands against despite the Truth I know…how utterly foolish!! Last night Pastor Bobby talked about how we can become adultresses, we can prostitute ourselves to things of this world and how that makes God feel; to be honest in the moments when I do sin and fall I am grieved because I have grieved my Father in heaven who has rescued me from sin and has given, in fact promises to always give me a way out of that temptation. I want to take heed to the lessons in places like Isaiah 1, and keep my eyes ever fixed on Jesus face!
“We turn our eyes, from evil things, Oh Lord we cast down our idols, give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, let us not lift our souls to another”
“Take my life and let it be, all for You and for Your glory take my life and let it be Yours”
“Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul, I live for You alone”
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Intense chapter! I loved these verses because they are so important for Christians! They are so simple, and remind me of the don’t stop standing sermons! If I am obediant, and WILLING to do what God asks me, my Godly life will be good, and I will grow spiritually! But if I rebel or RESIST, well that would not be a very good thing. I just might fall away, or my life with God will go downhill, and I wouldn’t grow! That’s not good! To keep growing and have a better spiritual life, I need to be willing and not resist God’s commands!
What an awesome chapter!
24 Therefore the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel, declares: …
I liked a lot of the verses that were already posted, so I thought I would comment on this one. :]
I really like the begining of this verse. Our Father has sooo many names! If I wrote all the names He has been called, this page would go onto eternity. God is all powerful and great, He is the King of Kings! He deserves all my praise and not “sacrifices.” I need to give myself to Him 100% and not 50 50. I am either on God’s team or Satan’s.
God is my Father! The Creator of all and I want to live for Him and cry holy holy holy is the Lord God almighty! He has done great things and He has created me and given me so much! Praise the Lord for He is holy and powerful and is my Father, whom I want to praise for eternity!!! :]
***Glory be to God!!!***
Let’s take a look at the second verse, it’s kind of like a declaration telling us what this chapter is going to be about.
Isaiah 1:2- Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
The LORD, is speaking to the heavens and Earth, and the first thing He says expresses his feelings about the people of Israel. He’s giving them the message, “After all I have done for you, you are still disobedient to me.” And I can see why God is angry at Israel in verses 4-9.
Samuel 15:22-3 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
How can I apply this to my life?
1) Actions speak louder than words
2) It’s whats from the heart that counts
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
Wow, these verses are so important! The Israelites, as we learned last night, were in a love triangle between GOD and the world, and therefore, he detested all their acts of obedience. “[they] returned to him only in pretext” They followed him in name but they had no passion, no reverence or love. I need to make sure that I don’t have anything in life that takes away from my love for GOD.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
If we obey God and follow His commands, He will protect us from His wrath. We must trust in Him and follow Him at His words if we are to be saved from the wrath He will unleash on the world in it’s final hours. Those who resist Him and think they do not need Him will be destroyed says the LORD. He does not break His promises and He has promised to destroy the world and all the evil in it. Make sure you are folowing God no matter what. We need to be out there spreading the word of Christ’s return so that more people can escape His’s wrath.
*verse 27* God is in control of everything! There isnt anything that isnt in his power. I really have to know this everyday and remember that God can protect us from anything as long as we trust in Him!This was something that i tried to remember last night (when i was scared a mountain lion was walking around outside the tent) and i tried to pray to God about it. It didnt really work all that well, because i wasnt trusting He would make it better. Im gonna work on knowing this everyday!!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Since Christ paid the price and our sins are as white as snow, I need to continually be more obedient to Him. Why should I sin? I am no longer enslaved to sin yet I still do. LORD, please help me not to sin , but to be obedient to you.
I love the amount of comments we have on here but we should have way more! :D
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
This sounds like the world today and our sin. We have evildoers, corruption, adultry(??is that how you spell it?) and all different kinds of sins and most people do not acknowledge who God is. It’s completely and utterly sad…but then it reminds me that I constantly need to be checking my heart to make sure that God is number one. He is above all else and nothing should be above Him. He is the prince of peace, mighty God, holy one. :)
25 I will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities.
Kind of a gross description of how He’ll remove it all but He does and that’s something to praise Him for! :D
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
YES our God has been the same God since back in the day of the prophets!! He still detests sin and still punishes those who do sin!! For God’s wrath remains on them. Therefore, I must have that FEAR OF THE LORD that causes me to have a strong desire to stop sinning!! The fear of the Lord correlates with our love for Him. In loving God, we fear Him above all things. :D
WOW, God is so awesome, yet to scary. He can do anything to me if I do anything wrong. Look at what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah. CRAZINESS!!! His wrath is like no others. I would never go to heaven if Jesus didn’t die for me. Its amazing how a God of wrath is also a God of LOVE, who sent His son down to save me. YAY for that.
21 See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!
Isaiah 1 is a powerful explanation of why Judah is in turmoil. They are so lost that they do not even realize that they have totally turned their backs on God, compromised in their worship and corrupted their society. The Judahites’ covenant with God was like that of a marriage covenant. It was to last all the days of their lives and be an exclusive relationship. The Judahites should’ve only worshiped God and let their lives revolve around Him. By being unfaithful to Him in so many areas of their lives they committed adultery against Him and this is a disgusting sin to God. This reminds me of Christianity in America today. I just read a study that said that 66% of adults in America claim to be Casual Christians. This is what the study said…”Casual Christianity is faith in moderation. It allows them to feel religious without having to prioritize their faith. Casual Christianity is a low-risk, predictable proposition, providing a faith perspective that is not demanding. A Casual Christian can be all the things that they esteem: a nice human being, a family person, religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee – and never have to publicly defend or represent difficult moral or social positions or even lose much sleep over their private choices as long as they mean well and generally do their best. From their perspective, their brand of faith practice is genuine, realistic and practical. To them, Casual Christianity is the best of all worlds; it encourages them to be a better person than if they had been irreligious, yet it is not a faith into which they feel compelled to heavily invest themselves.” YIKES! I almost threw up when I read this. Our society says that as long as you are partially invested in Christ, all is good. Isaiah 1 and the entire rest of the Bible for that matter tell a different story. I pray that not one True Norther believes the lie that God will accept a casual commitment to Him. We are either all in or we are all out, there is no such thing as a Casual Christian.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean.
Awesome sermon today!:) This cuts me deep to picture how God will reject me if I am not faithful to Him. I should let nothing create a love triangle in my life. God will not listen to me if I do not love Him with a whole heart. It hurts Him everytime I deceive Him by loving something else more. In order to keep my heart pure and focused on God I need to not be influenced by the worldly things that make other people my age so obsessed. I should only be obsessed with God! He is all that’s worth it. Luckily, God is so merciful that He will forgive me. But God’s wrath is something I fear, and hurting God through my actions causes me deep regret and pain. God is real. He is not a fantasy. And God will never leave me nor forsake me. My relationship with Him should come first.
Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
This reminds of a theme my mom hammers about every so often: people in my generation are so busy with having parties for any cause they can think of, they make themselves too busy to help those in need. This sinful “me” generation should not be obsessed with fantasies but actually learn to serve others. Like Bobby said in the awesome “new moon” sermon today, in order to love God, you should love others. This means we should focus on loving the ones who don’t feel loved–as in help the homeless, talk to the loner at lunch, make a difference. We should be thankful for all that we have and also “encourage the oppressed”. As someone mentioned the other day, it’s kind of ironic how at Thanksgiving everyone is “so thankful for all we have” yet then once the fever for Christmas officially starts, this culture starts thinking “me, myself, and I…what do I want for Christmas”. Not saying everyone’s like that, but a lot are. I will definitely be checking to see that my heart stays grateful and thankful all through the holiday season and not just until Thursday :)
2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
When I sin, I usually view it as no big deal. But I need to see this how God sees it: As me, his beloved child, going off and sinning and rebelling against my father. This isn’t right, and God does not deserve this at all. I need to live my life fully for God and make it a point to be as perfect as humanly possible. But God says there is a way to do this, even after Ive sinned. When I sin, my soul is stained red, but God sent his son Jesus to be sacrificed and make me clean. For this, I need to be ever thankful and be improving myself constantly out of love, reverance, and fear for/of God.
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28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
I don’t think people realize how serious sin is sometimes! It separates us from our Father. If we do not repent and put our faith in Christ, we will not enter His kingdom. I am so thankful to the Lord for saving me and I want to make sure I’m living a life that is pleasing to him, not giving in to those temptations that come my way. That temporary satisfaction is not worth grieving the Holy Spirit and taking advantage of God’s grace over our lives. Let’s finish the race strong!!
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
God has many promises that he WILL keep and we have to believe and trust that he will follow through. Here he God assures us that if we are obedient and follow the commands he set for us, we will be rewarded on earth and ultimately in Heaven. On the downside, if we are going to rebel and consistently be disobedient, then we will be punished not only on earth but receive fewer rewards in Heaven or if we aren’t Christians, suffer from God’s wrath in Hell. We are only human and will make mistakes but God is always there for you to ask for forgiveness. In return, God wants us to pray and try our hardest to not sin and not dwell on the fact that if we do sin God can just forgive us; he wants us to resist temptation and not resist him or his Word. Therefore, we need to fulfill our duty as a Christian meaning we need to make sure we are praying, reading the Bible, sharing the Gospel, standing up for Jesus, and resisting sin; then God will keep his promise to let us ‘eat from the best land!’ STAY STRONG:)
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
29 “You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks in which you have delighted; you will be disgraced because of the gardens that you have chosen.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
These verses explain what we are like when we give our hearts to an idol. We will fade and burn with noone to save us.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean.
These verses are intense! God hates it when his people have idols in their lives and like these verses say, he will not even pay any attention to them when they do. I know I definitely don’t want these verses to be talking about me! Pastor Bobby’s sermon this weekend was so convicting and helped me to realize that when I sin, God takes it personally. I want only God to be number one in my life, nothing to even come close in comparison!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
HOW AWESOME IS THISSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins!! Though our sins once took reign over our lives, with Jesus’ blood we shall be made white as snow, like wool, PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!! Jesus has saved us from our sins and although we are tempted and sometimes fail, if we really think about it, why in the world would we sin if we have the blood of Jesus on our side!! Why would we be the dogs that return to their vomit! (Proverbs 26:11) Because our flesh still craves sin, like the world, and as Christ commanded, we need to make WAR against sin!!!!!! NO COMPROMISE!!! I pray that we all would despise sin and turn to God EVERY time, so that we can grow closer to him and abide in his commands, fearing the consequences if we don’t.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I liked the whole thing :) You can’t mess with this chapter.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
The forgiveness of God is awesome! Even when the Israelites were in rebellion, sinning against God, he still wanted them to be right.
By the sacrifice of Christ on the cross my sin has been paid for. Now I can be sure that in Christ I am forgiven. No longer am I condemned before a holy God. Instead, I am presented as a son of God without blemish.
How amazing is God’s Grace?! He has chosen to redeem us who are sinners. Praise the LORD!!!
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Simple and straightforward. If we obey the Lord, then we will be blessed and prosperous. If we disobey, then we will be punished. This is a simple reminder from God to obey him and remember that he knows best for us.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
I like this verse because it reminds me that I need to fear the Lord. And if I truly fear the Lord, I will be afraid to disobey him. The Lord is a just God, who deserves and demands obedience. Not only that, but he is also a loving God. If we do obey Him and follow his commands, we will be blessed, this he states in verse 19, but again, he demands justice, and if we disobey, he will inflict the consequences we deserve. All of us deserve Hell, but he has mercilously saved us. These verses remind me that, because of that, and out of fear for the Lord, I need to obey him.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Oh I love this verse! My sins were red but when Jesus came He washed them as white as snow. I an so grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice because now I am sanctified and redeemed & can have a relationship with God!
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
These sound like two pretty simple things to follow but they are hard to do. I have to be willing and obedient to God. Like from the sermon yesterday,if we love God we will obey His commands and love other people. I have to surrender and be willing to give up everything I have for Him. With obedience and willingness comes blessings and providence from the Lord. He knows what’s best for us.
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
This verse made me think of our world today. I need to be in the word every day and have friends that will call me out if I am sinning. If I do that then I will not give in to corruption like all the people of the world. Also I should remember to have finishing the race on Gods team and not the worlds team.
27 Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.
The ESV reads “Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.”
It is reassuring to me to see that God is consistent and does not change. The NT command to repent and turn to God is the same declaration of the OT. In Pastor Mike’s sermon he talked about being honest with our sin and admitting to God when we blow it. Sin separates us from God even as redeemed Christians. Though our covenant relationship with him is secure, there will be distance in our relationship when we have unconfessed sin in our life. That motivates me to confess my sin straight up so I can enjoy closeness with God.
30 You will be like an oak with fading leaves, like a garden without water.
31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
This is what happens when you don’t listen to God. I do NOT want to end up like that. Its says that the person will become like tinder, and all the stuff he does that wasn’t for God will be the spark that burns him up. That is pretty scary! God doesn’t want meaninless offerings! He wants my whole heart, mind, and strength.
My works should be for Him and not meaningless like the festivals and offerings described in this chapter.
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
I really liked this verse because it is a clear thing for us to realize! This is the world today with so much evil and temptations everywhere you go. God is and should always be first place. There is no second place and nothing should ever compete with him! Knowing that the Lord died on the cross for my sins, and just how awesome he truly is, would not make me want to turn my back on him, but to serve him and live my life for him and do everything for his glory! Also, because of all this evil in the world and knowing that many people are like this, I want to talk to people more and more about Christ and to even do regular heart checks to make sure that all my actions are glorifying to God!!!!
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
This verse shows us even more that we need to put our faith in God and repent to Him. It also gives us more of a reason to fear Him.
heellloo
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.—Lovvee this chapter! Like in there sermon this weekend, everyone just kept givig Jesus sacrifices and he was sick of it! They needed to put Christ above everything else in their lives and not other things. I definitely need to make sure that my heart is only for GOD and he is #1! He is jealous and that is a good thing because he is the one who died for me and he lived the perfect life and when I am giving in to other things it is not right. Going to be praying that I can be living with my heart in love with Christ and always having the Maranatha mind set!!
MARANATHA!!
thanksgiving in a couple of days….SO THANKFUL FOR CBC!!
18.) “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Wow, this is so awesome! Thank you Jesus for the cross!
Definitely feelin’ what Ben said about this verse…I want to do the same, continually turning away from my sin and any idols, so that God is first in my life.
INTENSE!
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
God deserves lives that are holy and lived for Him! He wants His people to stop living their sinful lives, to turn away from them, to trust HIM for everything! He has amazing mercy, but he is incredibly just!!!
2 Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
Being a father, this verse was particualry powerful for me. I can’t imagine how painful it would be if my daughter rebelled against me after all the love and support I’ve given her; Isaiah’s words make me very aware of how I hurt God in that same way when I sin against Him. My prayer today is that I will continue to put my relationship with God first and treat it like the personal relationship that it is. I don’t want want anything to take priority over Him. Instead, I want to obey God and please Him as a good son should in order to show Him how much I appreciate His love and mercy.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
One thing is clear- God DETESTS when we sin against him, when we put other things before him. What Bobby talked about this weekend is so true. I need to make sure that God is the most important thing in my life, with nothing else even coming close. I do not want God turning his eyes from me and not listening to my prayers- an absence of God.. that is the worst possible thing I can think of! If there is anything in my life that is causing me to sin and get God angry with me, I need to remove it. He is all that matters, and I need to do everything I can to please him.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
God is so worth it. And if we are offering worthless things to him than thats not right. We need to worship God in a right sense because he is worth it, and not bringing him meaningless offerings.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
this is a good its saying that who ever doesnt believe in the lord and rejects the lord will die and burn in hell forever
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
How wonderful that the Lord can take our ugly, dirty sins and make then clean. He is so amazing and loving to wash away our uncleanliness just by having faith in Him. To reiterate what Pastor Mike spoke about today, why would anyone who has the Knowledge of the Lord, want to go back to the life before that knowledge? What has sin ever done for me accept to get me in trouble, make others upset, and make me feel ashamed? I need to be cognizant of the wonderful gifts God has given me–a clean slate, a guilty conscience, and the desire to do good.
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
This makes me sad because this world is so sinful. We are all so selfish. I want to make sure I do not give into temptations but desire to be in the word of God to keep me from sin.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
It was a great day at TRUE NORTH! My prayer is that all of us who were there and were signing to God an coming before him would not have sins that would make him hate our hypocrisy. I am praying that anyone who knows they are loving something else in their heart besides God will repent so that they can truly love God with all of their heart!
I know I want to love Jesus more than I ever have before!
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
This makes me think where my Heart’s at in everything. In Worship while singing and Serving. It’s possible to Sin while serving, don’t think you can’t
19 “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the Land”
It doesn’t seem like much to ask for such an incredible Gift, bought with such Sacrifice. Why are we not all willing and obedient to follow the Lord.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
This is a horrible thought, that God is hiding from and not listening to the prayers of people who are saying they know him but are full of wickedness. I want to love Jesus first and nothing else second!
this passage really made me step back and realize that saying things isn’t enough, we actually have to do them. Giving praise or offerings to God isnt enough, all he wants from us is to live al ife representing him. It’s a lot harder then it sounds, but we have to remember that all our work on earth will be rewarded in heaven. :)
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
This is freaky! God is so powerful! God is so mighty, He can just speak and things happen…if you take time to think about that it’s crazy. I need to remember who i’m serving.
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
God does need burnt offerings, and offerings of animals. He could get those in a second if he wanted to. What God wants is the person giving up the sacrifice to be truly repentant and selfless. Many times in the Bible, people would bring lambs or goats that had defects and were not good. The purpose of bringing an animal without defect is to show God that you are willing to give up something that is important and valuable for God.
Same for us today, it may not be an animal that we should give to the LORD, but it could be the desire in reference to Pastor Bobby’s sermon to watch a certain movie or play a video game. Something that takes more time up in our life than focusing on God needs to be offered and given up.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved the sermon today!! Its sad to think that I am hurting God if he isnt first in my life! There should be no other #1 in my life! and it cant JUST be at true north on the weekends, or at small groups. my entire life needs to represent Jesus.
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
I liked these verses because it really shows us that, ultimately, God does not need us, but instead we need him. Without God we are nothing and there is no point in our lives. But there is a god, and He has sent His son for us, and we need Him, more than anything else in the world. These verses also show us that these sacrifices were not merely a practice or a routine, but instead an example and forshadowing of Christ.
But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish. This is a pretty crazy verse because it means to me that whoever does not repent of their sins will never see the face of God, because we all wrong but God asks us to ask forgiveness when we fall short and this verse will help me remember.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
I see alot of people around me both ast school and soccer that are always trying to rebel. And I am tepted to do the same thing. I just need to remember why I fear God in the first place and live each day like it could be my last.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
God makes it clear here that He does not care about the things that we do to appear righteous in his eyes. He doesn’t care how long we are at church or how eloquent we pray or anything like that. What he really cares about is if we are doing right and being obedient. Just because we convince ourselves that we are good in God’s eyes because we are involved in church does not exactly mean that God is pleased. Our hearts cannot be torn; we are either completely committed to God, or to the world.
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow
As i reflect on these verses the Lord is telling the people to stop their evil doing and live their lives right with God. Their hearts weren’t in the right place and thats why God was frustrated. God is instructing them to not only think of themselves however tend to the orphans, encourage people who are depressed and care for the widows. This is true for christians today. I also need to not have a love triangle between God and me. But to be available to those in need as God stated.
5 Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted.
The nation of Israel was the poster child for disobedience and rebellion. Time after time God rescued them from the consequences of their sin, and time after time they fell – or rather ran – right back into sin. It is easy to criticize their repeated disobedience, but sadly, many Christians today do the same thing. Christ had to pay the ultimate price for our sin, and yet every time we choose sin over God we are acting as if His sacrifice was no big deal. This kind of thinking is exactly the opposite of what a Christian’s attitude should be. I need to make sure that every time I am confronted with an opportunity to sin, I remember how much God hates it, and resolve to live above reproach, putting sin to death in my life to be more holy as God has commanded!
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
The core passage here that really stands out to me. God doesn’t want me to give Him half-hearted worship, or just to pray because I’m checking a box. He wants me to give Him my all in worshiping, to have a heart that really yearns to please Him and be obedient. It’s a struggle sometimes to keep myself away from the mindset of checking boxes. So much in day-to-day life revolves around making sure you do something, whether you really want to do it or not. Reading the Bible, prayer, and serving Him in general though are things I should want to do, not things that I “have” to do.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Everything that we do, for Gods sake, should be out of Love. If we were to serve someone else and help them out but it was not out of love then it is meaningless to God. We should strive to do everything that we do out of love and reverance, indicating a deep respect for God, as if we are bowing to him.
13 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-I cannot bear your evil assemblies.”
Wow, God is mad. Instead of worshipping God on this festival, they are indulging in their sin. The people bring all the right sacrifices, but really, they couldn’t care less for God. They are “cheating” on God. This can apply to my life easily: I go to church and do all the right stuff, but really my focus is on something else that I’m putting above Him. I can’t fake love and I can’t love more than two things. I need to love God with all my heart soul and strength, if I love something else more than God, I have an idol in my life. Idols take the focus completely off of God. I need to rid my life of any idols and only love God, nothing else should even compare! God hates “love triangles.”
!!!MARANATHA!!!
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
This whole chapter is intense-God is totally unleaashing his annoyance with people falling away, and also people who offer sacrifices to God but go and live a sinful life. This verse reminded me of the Dont Stop Standing series. We are all challenged to not be just a statistic! Let’s be the church that causes revival where three out of three high school studests stay standing for Chirst! The way we can do that is my constanly being in God’s Word and encouraging one another daily, two things I need to do way more often.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
this reminds me of matthew 6:31-33. If you put God first then everything else will follow. If you really believe in God and do what he wants you to do, then he will take care of you and watch over you.
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
while today we dont offer sacrifices or bulls or goats to God, we are to live our lives as a living sacrifice for Him (Romans 12:1-2). but whenever we just appear to be living holy, that doesnt please God. the israelites were going through the motions; offering what they needed to, even the best animals sometimes. but the Lord doesnt want the best outside actions if they arent performed with a pure and sincere heart. i need to be doing things not for others, but for God. i pray that everything i do i do for Him, not for anyone else. i pray that my heart is all in for Jesus Christ all the time, and that my life is a pleasing sacrifice to Him.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
These verses state that if we are strong in our faith and praise and love the LORD, than we will be blessed!!! but if we do not than we will be eaten away by sin and live unholy lives….
These verses are great lessons and go great with yesterdays “NEW MOON” sermon!!
We need to know how powerful GOD is and how selfsh we are…
10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah
I was just reminded of how important it is that we listen and obey the commands laid down in scripture. The Bible promises so much to those that obey the teaching and commands of Christ. I want to be someone who is known as a person who is always doing what is right and obeying Christ in everything!
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies
This verse stuck out to me the most. When we praise or worship God we should really mean it. That’s something I need to work on. Also, it really stuck out to me when Bobby said that when we say we love God but are living for something else it really hurts him. I need to work on making God first place in my life and not having a second place.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
Just as they allowed these ceremonies to become merely actions, people today do the same thing with prayer, evangelizing, etc. I really need to make sure that everything I do for God I really mean, and that I’m giving Him all of my attention and faith. I don’t want to be a burden to God.
22 Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water.
I love using a verse nobody has used. Does this remind anyone of the Wedding at Cana. I think it’s amazing how beautiful the symbolism that God uses in His Word. By Jesus changing water into wine it’s just not an awesome miracle but an image showing how God is taking what is considered tasteless and bringing flavor to it and changing it to something that can be used for good (Matthew 5:13). The image of wine being diluted by water represents how our worship and fruit are no longer wholehearted but instead they are our blemished sacrifice to God. God wants us to sacrifice our first-born, the best of the best, and throughout this chapter we see that God’s anger burns against vain sacrifices and ceremonies. I need “going through the motions” of worship and I need to wholeheartedly pour out my body as a living sacrifice that is pleasing to the eyes of God.
God is most definitely worth my highest praise!
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
in everything i do i must check my heart. when i pray, worship or read the Bible i must make sure my heart is right with God and that im doing it for Him. when i am just doing it out of habit or a sense that i have to God hates it. i fear God and want everything i do to be pleasing to Him. i want everything i do to be an offering of thanks for what He did on the cross for me.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is actually Katie Melrose :)
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
WOW! Pastor Bobby’s sermon was so good! Going off of what we heard today in the sermon, this verse stuck to me. I just thought of how horrifying it would be for God to not listen to me and to be cut off from Him! Its so important to always evaluate the heart and pinpoint its real desires! Greats verse and it went perfectly with the movie New Moon!
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
This verse is my prayer today i want to be seen as clean before God!! I want to take all of the evil deeds out of his sight!! We need to stop doing wrong and in the other hand start doing right!! And the only way we can do that is through the Bible!!! We need to learn to do right!!!!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
The promise of a Savior, there is nothing better than having your sins forgiven by Jesus Christ. in Fact there is nothing more important in this life. I am thankful for my salvation and pray that God will give me the courage to boldly proclaim his name at work this week.
“Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.”
God hated the Israelites festivals and sacrifices that they were performing in obedience to him because their heart wasn’t 100% directed on giving all glory to God, but was elsewhere. I need to check my heart and make sure that at all times I am striving to have a holy, no compromise life! God thank you for loving even a sinner like me, help me to make every act of worship sincere and pleasing to you!
Maranatha!!!!!!!!!!!!
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
this is a sort of scary verse, when we say we love God, then love something/someone just as much or even more we haved wronged God. whe wont even listen to our prayers because we need to wash ourselves clean. i neeed to be serving one God only. he should be 1st in my life and nothing else even competing. he needs to be my main focuss. if he isnt 1st in my life, or if i have another thing competing to be above God, he wont even listen to my prayers. he is almighty and deserves to be the only one i server and to be 1st in my life.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
It is just so scary to think about life without the Lord. Having him hide Himself from me is just a super frightening thought. This is why I need to make sure that the Lord is placed in the number one spot in my heart. I can not be split between God and something else. I never want the Lord to reject me.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
We so often sin and continue to sin even though we know that God detests our sin and hates our sin. As Christians, we need to turn our back on sin and halt our sinning because it will please the Lord. We must not do anything He hates, but instead strive to please Him in all that we do.
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
The whole point of Old Testament ceremonies was to symbolize or celebrate something that God had done or did. Like pastor Bobby told us today, though, the Israelites were not getting it! They were going through the motions of the ceremonies but their hearts were somewhere else.
Lord, please do not let me be in love with anything or anyone besides You!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
The israelites are believing that God gives them a free ticket to sin, like so many other people use God today. I’m so glad that God really only cares where our heart is. no one can cheat there way past God’s punishment. just because they asked for forgiveness doesn’t mean that they never committed the sin. I’m glad it works this way because otherwise it would be hard not to stray into sin.
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
This is what I have been thinking on today!! I don’t want to be seen as a hypocrite in God’s eyes and as one who puts someone else above Him!!! I want my heart to be full out 100% for God and serving and praising Him! I need to be in His Word saturating my mind with it and thinking on Him constantly throughout my day!
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
The Lord detests hypocrisy. He will not answer the prayers of those who do not love him whole heartedly. I don’t know about you, but i do not want the Lord to be turned away from me. The Lord is my number one love, because only he can satisfy. I will serve him with every thing i am!
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong.
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
18 “come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing to be obedient, you will eat the best from the land
If we are willing repent and follow the way God wants us to he will forgive all of our past sins and will be given an eternity of life with God. But we can’t “fake it,” God has to be number one on our hearts, and everything that we do has to be for Him. I have to remember that, and keep it in mind throughout the day, so that everything i do is obeying and pleasing to God.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
God is so clear! This goes right along with Pastor Mike’s sermon today. Holiness, that comes from repentance and faith, results in blessing. Here the verse says you will eat the best of the land. But sinfulness and rebellion results in pain, being devoured by the sword. I do not want to be addicted to sin. I want to be addicted to righteousness.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
ALl of these verses stood out to me! I must not have any love triangles in my life! God deserves to be my whole life, not just one of my loves! I do not want to cheat on the Lord with earthly things! When i step back, and think about it, it sounds ridiculous that i would cheat on the Lord and put earthly things before Him, but the sad thing is that i do it everyday! I cannot love these earthly things, but rather be in love and be passionate for the Lord! Sometimes, i feel like my love for the Lord is fake, but i want to make it so that i am on fire for the Lord and i am IN LOVE with Him! It talks about God being first soooo much in the bible, yet i continue to go against that! Like it says in Matthew 22:34, Gods greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your mind! If this is Gods greatest commandment and i am a christian, then i better start following his commands!! I cannot live life playing on two teams in a love triangle! THis will be goal, to get to know God more by reading His word more so that i can grow even closer to Him and develop more love and passion for the Lord than anything of this sinful world!
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
The sinful nation is refering to all of us. The different tempation we come across each day and to have the courage to do the right thing. We all know it, but i wonder why we all chose sometimes to do the wrong thing. I know one of them is the feeling of embarrassment to tell people the real truth. I know i have suffered from this sin. i hope to grow stronger and be a stronger christain.
14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.
If our heart is not truly in our worship to God, then he hates it and doesnt want to hear it!! I need to make sure that when i am singing songs to him or coming to him in prayer that my heart is all there and its not just about the words.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
This is so true! Even though it was written a long time ago and was written to a different people group the same concept applies to us as NT believers. In my life I have seen these verses in full efect…when I obey I am blessed and when I disobey I am diciplined. I am going to serve God…not just for the blessing, but because He deserves praise (Romans 12:1) and because I want to please Him.
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
I can just see here that the Lord is so disgusted with humans!! We sin so much against him. The Lord is sick of our evil deeds and how much we disobey him! We need to keep learning about what is right and to start thinking more towards encouraging others than putting others down. It feels so much better to be nice and encouraging to someone than being mean and putting people down! We should always be looking for a way to satisfy God and bring more glory to Him!!!
v.7 ~ “Your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire; your fields are being stripped by foreigners right before you, laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.”
This passage is really intense. Talk about a corrupt, broken, sinful world. But God doesn’t just tell us that the world is broken and fallen and leave it at that, He tells us we can do to save us:
v.16 ~ ” wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
We need to be repenting and turning away from our evilness. Like in Matthew 5:13-16, God tells us that we are salt and light in the world. Salt is a preservative. If we are salt to this world we can make it a liitle bit of a better place and preserve some of God’s plans for it, but to do this we need to turn away, complete 180 from our sins. God doesn’t want us to go through the motions of being a Christian, that won’t make a difference, God even says he detests that. We need to be genuine and sincere in our walk with Him. Then Jesus will completely cleanse us and people can see His light through us.
wow…
I hate all your show and pretense, the hypocrisy of your praise… I hate all your show
This chapter got me thinking. I wonder how God feels about True North. Are we just a bunch of highschoolers who act like we are all in for God but in reality we aren’t? I pray not. I also pray that I would have one love…and that is Christ. I hope that my prayers are acceptable to him and not soiled by sin. I want to live a holy life for his glory!
31 The mighty man will become tinder and his work a spark; both will burn together, with no one to quench the fire.”
This verse talks about how man will burn away without a savior, no one to save him from the flames of hell. Praise God we have Jesus!!!
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right!
BAM! There it is. God’s command. Such a straight forward command CANNOT be twisted in any other way. God’s will comes first, not ours. Christians CANNOT live a life of sin. We are to REPENT. Make a 180′ turn from sin and completely transform our lives. I remember how crazy my life was after I repented. It was a whole new world. Simple. Precise. Sweet.
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Maranatha
3 The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”
During this time, God is getting angry at the Isrealites because they are rebelling against Him. Isaiah compares the people to an ox and a donkey, although the ox and donkey know there masters and owners but the people are disobeying and they don’t know who their true master is, God. I pray that I could use this as an example to not be like the Isrealites and rebel against God that I would keep his comandments.
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
The sacrifices that Israelites brought were unacceptable to God because they were made from a heart who did not desire to live for the Lord. The people wanted to give the gifts to the Lord, but live for themselves and their other idols. Ultimately their acts of service to the Lord was pointless. I need to make sure that my heart is always putting the Lord first and making sure that there is no close second! I want the Lord to be pleased by my offerings, rather than tell me to stop bringing them!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
This verse is very clear, no matter how dark your sins are or how “deep” you think you are into sin, you can still turn back and be made white and cleansed. But if you refuse to accept forgiveness for sins you will be destroyed. I have to be careful to not fall into any patterns of sin…or i will be in the hands of an angry God
First, I just thought that this chapter was so awesome. There are so many powerful images that show how disgusting it is when we who are God’s people reject Him for something that pales in significance to the awesome relationship we have with our God. I’m convicted because I know that especially lately I have had a lot of excitement over video games, which is sad because I should have that excitement for God. For a while also, I know that my conversations with friends have been mostly about homework, teachers, and video games and less about God. This last week I’ve been convicted to talking to my friends more about spiritual things and keeping them accountable, but it’s so sad how easily it is to get distracted. LORD, I’m so sorry for all the times I get more excited about things like video games and imaginary worlds when you are real and so much better than anything I can imagine. Please forgive me for being like a harlot in this way and then coming with meaningless sacrifices when my heart isn’t even rejoicing in you. But thank you so much, that even in my unfaithfulness that you still continue to forgive us, draw us to you, and cleanse us.
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
LORD, there are some cool and fun things in this world- things that are a result of your amazing and beautiful creation. But please forgive me for ever getting more excited about the created things than the creator and furthermore if the things I am getting excited about are actually full of sin. But thank you so much for your promise to cleanse us and make us pure again, because my hands can so quickly be stained by blood. Please help me to fall in love more deeply with you alone and that everything else would just be secondary and start to seem just about trivial because you are so much better than all of them.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
I really liked this chapter it helped me understand more of God’s will. As it says i this verse do NOT forsake the Lord, as Christians we must go out into this world and represent God by what we do in day to day life. Im trying harder everyday to apply the word of God into everything i do.
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
I liked this verse because so many times I come to God just wanting things for me or just spending time with him just to check it off the list. it needs to be a WANT not HAVE to when it comes to that. I need to put the Lord first and nothing second! no triangles!
Isaiah 1
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
This chapter in its description is eerily similar to our modern day! It’s so clear in this chapter how much God detests mans sinful nature. God hates double minded people. Offerings become detestable to God when they come from a sinful heart. God pleaded for His people to stop doing evil so they could receive God’s blessing. Today many who call themselves Christians are playing for two different teams. They go to church but their act of worship is detestable to the lord. As we see in this chapter if they continue down the wide path that leads to destruction they will face eternal separation God.
James 4:8 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
I pray that our lives would be lived free of idolatry and submitted completely to Christ.
28 But rebels and sinners will both be broken, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
There is only one way joining Satans team will end: destruction. The Lord is the only God who can save us from eternity in hell and we need to spread those words to our friends and others we meet who are going to be separated from Him!
18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
This verse is so powerful. It says all the sacrifices that were made are like nothing and he wants us to stop the sacrifices and wants out devotion. He says that if we repent and come to Him He will cleanse us!!!! That’s so amazing an such unfailing love.
God bless, Matt Rex
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.
WOAH. This is so intense, but as strange as it sounds, It appears to be a mere reflection of todays society….
16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,
17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
We need to cleanse ourselves from sin and try and progressing towards no sin. We need to do what is right and encourages our brothers and sisters in Christ not to sin and keep them on the path towards God.