careshare4

The Lord has taught me there is more to fasting then just going without food, He has shown me my heart attitude is much more important. Isaiah 58 explaiins this, "Isn't this the life of worshipI want you to express, to relieve the poor and oppressed from injustice? I want you to welcome them to your dinner table, to give the weary a place to sleep, to give your extra clothing willingly to those who need it more then you do.

   If you do these things, you will see light in your spiritual life and your spirit will be healed. A sense of rightness will direct you, and wherever you go, the Lord will guide you. I will say "Here I am" when pray. You have to stop talking and criticizing. You must provide for the basic needs of hungry, oppressed people. If you learn to help others this way, You'll be lifted from your own depair. The sun will never set on your fulfilled spirit.

    The Lord Himself will lead you and give you the boost you need during difficult times. You will be like a watered garden, like a fresh water spring, which bubbles endlessly. You will be like the rebuilder of ruined cities. GOD WILL USE YOU TO RESTORE PEOPLE TO HIS CARE. God wants to see a righteous life that goes beyond external forms of worship and touches the lives of the needy with Gods transforming grace."

    ISAIAH 58. 6 "Is this not the fast I have chosen, to loose the chains of injustice, and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry, and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? THEN YOUR LIGHT WILL BREAK FORTH LIKE THE DAWN, AND YOUR HEALING WILL QUICKLY APPEAR. THEN YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL GO BEFORE YOU, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD WILL BE YOUR REAR GUARD. THEN YOU WILL CALL AND THE LORD WILL ANSWER, YOU WILL CRY FOR HELP AND HE WILL SAY HERE I AM. IF YOU DO AWAY WITH THE YOKE OF OPPRESSION, WITH THE POINTING FINGER AND MALICIOUS TALK. AND IF YOU SPEND YOURSELVES IN BEHALF OF THE HUNGRY, AND SATISFY THE NEEDS OF THE OPPRESSED, THEN YOUR LIGHT WILL RISE IN THE DARKNESS, AND YOUR NIGHT WILL BECOME LIKE THE NOONDAY. THE LORD WILL GUIDE YOU ALWAYS, HE WILL SATISFY YOUR NEEDS IN A SUNSCORCHED LAND, AND WILL STRENGTHEN YOUR FRAME."

Paraphrase - shout loudly, don't hold back. Make your voice as loud as a trumpet. Tell the people who say they are followers about the way they rebel against me. They read the bible every day and seem eager to learn about me as if they were a nation which always does right and follows my word. They seek my guidance and seem eager to live close to me. And many of them give tothe church. They also observe religioius holidays. But they want me to notice their good deeds, as if they could earn my favor. But all I notice is the Sunday veneerthey use to make their conduct seem respectable. They think I don't see their selfishness or the bad they do during the week. For some Sunday is hardly over before they are quarreling, taking advantage of otheres. Do they think I don't realize that their worship is just Sunday religion? Do they think that I am satisfied simply to see them bowing piously like beach grass under a breeze? Do they really think that such worship is acceptable to God? God wants us to express our love and worship every day of the week.