KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every
Chapter
Date: Friday, August 05, 2016
Chapters: Isaiah 57-59
Message: Getting God’s Attention

Hello
My Friend,

People who do not know God take a look at the
Bible and it is usually their reading of the Old Testament that they
draw some conclusion that He is a mean, cruel, and evil God who
strikes you down if you do not do as He says. This is a false
narrative, yes, He is a just God and sometimes did strike down some
rebellious, arrogant fool who was trying to cause trouble in order to
put fear in others to keep them from following them, but He is also a
merciful God. To understand God you have to think as if you were a
creator, nothing gives you more joy than to see something You created
evolve into something great, but what happens when one person decides
to taunt you and destroy your hard work? I imagine, you get like I
do, angry, disappointed, and in many cases, withdraw yourself from
your work. Remember, we are created in God’s image, so, what we
feel, He feels. What separates us from God, whether saved or not?
Sin. And it always will.

“Behold, the
LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear
heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you,
that he will not hear.” - Isaiah 59:1,2.
The world sees all the evil taking place and who do they blame,
God, they do not have to even believe in Him, but they believe He is
mean and cruel if He allowed such evil things to happen. Do you know
who walks right along side of the world who rejects God? Christians,
well technically they are people who believe in God, living in sin,
claiming they know God, but do not. We may not realize it, but God
protects His people in many ways, and sometimes that means taking
them out of their comfort zones, putting them in unfamiliar places,
and in some cases even death. Through Isaiah, God gives the reason He
was about to judge Judah, and send the majority of them to Babylon.

“The
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men
are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in
their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. For I will not
contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit
should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the
iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me,
and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I
have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and
restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.” - Isaiah
57:1,2,16-18.
“none considering that the righteous is
taken away from the evil to come.” You have to think about
this, how bad was it in Jerusalem for God to want to take His people
out of their comfort zone and put them in Babylon, which was known
for its idol worship? It must have been pretty corrupt. And by the
way, God does not create wicked evil, man does, but He does do
whatever He can to protect His own from suffering more than they have
to. Those who really know God are those who have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, and walk with Him daily, not when it
is convenient, and not just to justify their sin. “For
so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the
ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a
cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” - I
Peter 2:15,16.
Now, to the true and faithful, God is always ready to listen and
hear us, He takes care of us in many ways that even we do not see,
but we too have to be careful in how we approach God. Fasting may be
one of the easiest and most effective ways to get God’s attention,
but He even knows whether or not we are doing it for the right or
wrong reason. Through Isaiah, He confronts those who seek Him for the
wrong reasons.

“Cry aloud,
spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me
daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did
righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask
of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to
God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?
wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your
labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the
fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your
voice to be heard on high.” - Isaiah 58:1-4.
“ye fast for strife and debate,”
Did you ever witness people going on a hunger strike? They protest
something and vow not to eat until they get what they want? There is
not a person in the world that does not wish evil upon someone who
has wronged them, but that is not how God does things. If someone is
doing us wrong, God wants us to take it to Him, and He will deal with
it, when the time is right. I do not talk about this often because I
do not want to boast in someones suffering, but my ex-boyfriend goes
through more suffering than anyone I know, and I believe that it is
God chastening him for all that he not only did to me, but also in
using Him to keep deceiving me. God does want us to fast to get His
attention, and He explains exactly fasting is for and how we are to
fast.

“Is it such
a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it
to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the
LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go
free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy
house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou
hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break
forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD
shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall
answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take
away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the
finger, and speaking vanity;” - Isaiah 58:5-9.
“the glory of the LORD shall be thy
rereward.” Rereward, to gather for any
purpose; hence to receive. When we fast to get God’s
attention in matters that we just need His grace, comfort, wisdom,
and guidance on, we not only get the answers we are looking for, we
find the glory of God. Fasting is a way to shine the light of Christ
on all we are in contact with, to stop thinking of our flesh and
remember how merciful, gracious, and loving He is toward us while we
are asking Him for something in particular, and taking care of others
as well.

“Moreover
when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for
they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.
Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou
fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not
unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy
Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
- Matthew 6:16-18.
Every person here on earth is capable of doing something evil, no
matter how good we were brought up, we all have some wickedness in
us, and this is why we can never do enough good to measure up to
God's standard. Through Isaiah, God explains this to the believing
Jews who had gotten themselves caught up in the world, but also
reminds them that He is always there for them.

“Their feet
run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their
thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in
their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment
in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth
therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us,
neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold
obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the
wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at
noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We
roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment,
but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our
transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify
against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our
iniquities, we know them; And he saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought
salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.”
- Isaiah 59:7-12,16.
“therefore his arm brought salvation
unto him;” God is longsuffering, meaning patient in
waiting for the very last soul to accept His Son before He sends Him
to judge the world. God will save anyone who believes in His Son, and
while He will never go back on His promise to redeem a save soul from
hell, He will let them suffer in their sin. It is a painful life to
live in sin being saved, but God's mercy endures. “The
sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks
be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord.” - I Corinthians
15:56-58.

Jesus Christ Magnified:
“For thus saith the high and lofty One
that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to
revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones.” - Isaiah 57:15.

Today's
Prayer: God, I cannot fathom the amazing grace that You
gave me and still give me every single day, to take a life that was a
complete mess and turn it into one that has meaning is truly a
miracle that only You can produce. Thank You, for seeing something in
me that is of good use to you, thank you for your grace and mercy and
never giving up on me. Lord, as I humble myself before You, be
merciful to me, a sinner, lead me and guide me, help me to never
cease from wanting Your attention on a daily basis, and when I fast,
let me do it for Your glory. I love You Lord and ask this in Jesus'
name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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