Isaiah 58:1-11 NASB1995

“Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their transgression
And to the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah 58:1)

This is a long passage of Scripture, so I will summarize most of it, but please read it for yourselves, for it contains an important message for all of us yet today. So, what was the sin of “the house of Jacob”? Basically, it had to do with them going through forms of religious practice but without submission and obedience to God. They prayed, and they fasted, and they gave off an appearance of seeking to know and to do the will of God, but it was surface level only. For it was not evident in their daily practices that God was Lord.

But this part is what is standing out to me:

“Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?” v 5

And the subject matter here does not even have to be fasting. It could be anything, really. For the real subject matter, I believe, has to do with forms of religious practice that have nothing to do with a change of heart and mind and behavior. For one gets up on a Sunday morning and gets dressed for “church” and then “goes to church” where one sits in a chair or in a pew, in a row with other people, and one sings some songs and listens to a sermon, and then one goes home and resumes life as normal until the next week.

That is not church! And that is not a relationship with Jesus Christ. For, first of all “the church” is the people of God. It is all who, by faith in Christ, have died to sin and who are obeying God, in practice, in the power of God. We are those who have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ to obeying his will and to no longer living in sin. But that does not make us perfect. But we are those whose lives are centered in Christ in doing his will, in going where he sends us, and saying and doing all that he commands, all for his glory.

And collectively we are the body of Christ, his church, and we are all to be ministers of the gospel and ministers to one another in teaching and in encouraging one another to walk in holiness and in righteousness in obedience to our Lord, and to help one another to grow in Christ and to not live in sin. But we are also to minister to one another’s genuine physical needs, and to care for the needs of our family members, too. For faith in Jesus is faith in action, living the kind of life that Jesus lived on this earth.

This is the life of one who is a true follower of Jesus Christ, who doesn’t just go through the motions of religious practice, but who walks the walk and does not just talk it. For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him in practice. And obeying God is obeying his New Covenant commands, and it is living holy lives, pleasing to God. So it requires that we die to sin and now follow the leading of the Lord in doing what he has for us to do.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

My Heart’s Desire

Based off Romans 10:1-21; Luke 9:23-26; Ephesians 4:17-24
An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire
Is that you might come to Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to the One
Who saved them from their sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:
The word of faith we’re proclaiming:
That you must confess your faith
In Jesus as your Lord and King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He leads.
Share the gospel; be a witness,
And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those
Who bring the good news of Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you in heart;
Put on your new self in Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.

An Acceptable Day To The Lord?
An Original Work / April 20, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love