JesusIs4Me
Active
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Messages
- 704
Isaiah 58:1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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? 6 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? 7 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? 8 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 reward. 9 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; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
I believe God was referring to the fast in verse 5 as the fast the people would ask Him about since that is the fast done by most people as expressing an appearance of fast towards God, but God chose a different fast starting in verse 6.
Jesus addresses that type of fast in Isaiah 58:5 below;
Matthew 6:16 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. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 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.
So God's chosen biblical fast is;
#1 to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke
This applies to sharing the gospel of Him freeing sinners from their bondage to sin and to death as well as calling the religious to come to Him & learn of Him to find rest for their souls as His yoke is easy and His burden light.
#2. 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?
This applies to the poor we know & can see that are in need of help, especially family members and those of the household of faith; even the Church's widows in distress because of no children to care for them.
I am not sure how the Lord would lead any one today to bring in a homeless off of the street into their homes, or if He still does today, but I reckon I will know what He has done thru others when He brings me Home.
What does Jesus has to say for helping the poor?
Matthew 6:1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
I am not sure how to give alms to help the poor anonymously other than suggesting that your local church provide such an opportunity for members to drop monetary donations anonymously in a box as well as a place to put groceries in for however the church distribute to the poor; even if it is for giving to the local food warehouse for the poor or some other verified local charity center that distributes to the poor and to the homeless.
Psalm 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
It is not a weight nor a burden to bear. I am asking Jesus to help me do the whichever fast He has chosen for me to do; and I trust Him to help me do it when the opportunity arises and I trust Him to know when not do it.
Eventually, He will call me Home, and so that is why I am free to fast and free to stop fasting as I trust Him to take me Home no matter what I am in the middle of in doing.
I believe God was referring to the fast in verse 5 as the fast the people would ask Him about since that is the fast done by most people as expressing an appearance of fast towards God, but God chose a different fast starting in verse 6.
Jesus addresses that type of fast in Isaiah 58:5 below;
Matthew 6:16 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. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 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.
So God's chosen biblical fast is;
#1 to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke
This applies to sharing the gospel of Him freeing sinners from their bondage to sin and to death as well as calling the religious to come to Him & learn of Him to find rest for their souls as His yoke is easy and His burden light.
#2. 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?
This applies to the poor we know & can see that are in need of help, especially family members and those of the household of faith; even the Church's widows in distress because of no children to care for them.
I am not sure how the Lord would lead any one today to bring in a homeless off of the street into their homes, or if He still does today, but I reckon I will know what He has done thru others when He brings me Home.
What does Jesus has to say for helping the poor?
Matthew 6:1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
I am not sure how to give alms to help the poor anonymously other than suggesting that your local church provide such an opportunity for members to drop monetary donations anonymously in a box as well as a place to put groceries in for however the church distribute to the poor; even if it is for giving to the local food warehouse for the poor or some other verified local charity center that distributes to the poor and to the homeless.
Psalm 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5 A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.
It is not a weight nor a burden to bear. I am asking Jesus to help me do the whichever fast He has chosen for me to do; and I trust Him to help me do it when the opportunity arises and I trust Him to know when not do it.
Eventually, He will call me Home, and so that is why I am free to fast and free to stop fasting as I trust Him to take me Home no matter what I am in the middle of in doing.
