Heart Check - Isaiah 1-4

Heart Check - Isaiah 1-4

Listen to Isaiah 1-4

Good Morning! OK are you read to get into some meat with Isaiah?

Let's get a little background before we start this book. It will make reading and understanding much easier. Isaiah is one of the four "Major Prophets" written around 740 - 687BC, by Isaiah. Isaiah, other than the Psalms, had huge influences on New Testament writers.

Do you remember when we read Kings and Chronicles? If you have a chronological Bible, these prophets would have appeared in the middle of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles. So in reading Isaiah you need to remember the constant up and down of Israel and Judah.

In Isaiah, Israel is the center of the book. She is redeemed but wayward, stubborn but loved. She needs to remember that she belongs to GOD, not GOD to her.

Isaiah celebrates GOD's holiness, majesty, compassion, and righteousness. Then the story climaxes with Jesus, GOD's suffering servant.

When you are reading Isaiah, it is a history book, but a lot of the themes are ones that we struggle with today. The story begins with the last years of Uzziah the King........ (2 Kings 15:1-7)

Isaiah 1:13-17
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;

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.

Thought for the Day
When you read this, you might think to yourself that this was written long ago for the people of Israel. But was it? Can't you see GOD saying this to our culture?I cannot bear your corrupt churches.When you spread your hand out in prayer, I will not listen. Your hands are full of gossip, lies, jealously, and hatred.Sounds like verses that could apply to 8 out of our 10 dying churches in America.

It is so easy to get in a routine. It is easy to loose sight of Jesus' vision for us. We live in a world where we are stretched out everyday. We have to constantly fight what society is tell us. Watch out for #1 or maybe, It is a dog eat dog world. It is easy to let satan in the middle of our church and let him start to pick it apart bit by bit. Soon, after fighting all this, you may find yourself going through the actions, church and worship become empty and meaningless.

I believe that we all need to do a heart check every month or so. Make sure that we are still excited, if not, what will make you excited?Are you just going through the motions at church? If so, what will make you become more involved?
Are you letting personal feeling; jealousy, anger, and bitterness interfere with your relationships at church? If so, what will it take for YOU to mend them? I am sure that you could come up with a few of you own. I know that I can.

So, when was your last heart check, how did you score?

Bible Trivia
Match: Fourteen....
a) Years Samson was judge of Israel
b) Number of generations children of Job
c) Generations from Abraham to David
Hint: Matthew 1:17

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Wednesday, August 2nd Reading - Isaiah 5-9
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Have a BLESSED Day!!