A Clarion Call for the New Year from Isaiah 58:6-11 ~ Episode 89

Well hey there, hello hello to you! Happy New Year!

 

Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the edifi app. This is episode 89.

 

We made it to 2022. And I am praying that this year will be an amazing one for you. By faith, I am choosing to believe that this year, we will indeed see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And we will see our God on the move! 

 

He is up to some amazing things, my friends, and we are blessed to be alive at this point in time to see Him moving in this world. Get some excitement going for what God is doing now and what He is going to do in the coming days and weeks and months. He is good and he is faithful, and He can be nothing less. 

 

Today we are hearing what God has said to us from the book of Isaiah, chapter 58, verses 6 thru 11.

 

I will read those verses from the Amplified. 

 

“(Rather) is this not the fast which I choose, to undo the bonds of wickedness, to tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break apart every (enslaving yoke)? 

Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not to hide yourself from (the needs of) your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth; your righteousness will go before you (leading you to peace and prosperity), 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 take away from your midst the yoke (of oppression), the finger pointed in scorn (toward every form of) wicked (sinful, unjust) speech,

And if you offer yourself to (assist) the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like the midday.

And the LORD will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” 

So, that’s a lot. 

 

Kind of a clarion call, I suppose, to us who follow Jesus in the new year. Let’s just think about these words from the book of Isaiah. Really think about them and whether or not we, each of us, are doing these sorts of things. Cuz to get the blessings, all that God has promised here, and it’s a lot and it’s really, really good stuff, these promises - but the getting of the promises is linked to the doing of some things that are important and dear to the heart of our God. 

 

What kind of fast does God choose? Good to think about in a brand-new year… because so many are fasting of all kinds of things right now. And in all honesty a lot of that fasting is self-serving. Food related to losing weight or getting more fit to look better, stuff that is vanity. Health related? That’s being a good steward of the body God has given you to do His will in this world. Wanna be more cutesy in your jeans? Yeah, that’s not about health. God knows when we say we’re fasting or eating this certain way for our health but really it’s for our looks. Let’s this year not pretend He doesn’t really know. He knows… He always knows….(yeah, I just quoted a movie right there). 

 

He chooses this kind of fasting: to undo the bonds of wickedness. To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke that bind people and to let the oppressed go free. 

 

Sounds a bit different than our version of fasting, doesn’t it? When is the last time you or I got busy about undoing bonds of wickedness. In prayer. Fasting to remind us to pray each time our stomach starts to rumble and growl, to stop and pray with some intensity for the bonds of wickedness to be undone and for the oppressed to go free. Donating money normally spent on coffee and big work lunches to whatever causes the Lord leads us to where people are fighting to get other people new levels of freedom. That kind of fasting. Not skipping lunch to lose a few pounds (and what we call intermittent fasting in the US is called starvation in third world countries… and those folks would think we were nuts to starve ourselves by choice when we have access to enough food, we don’t watch our children waste away to nothing, we starve ourselves by choice to look better in our blue jeans and we rename self-starvation “intermittent fasting”).  Look, the way I see it, fasting belongs to the Lord. He came up with it and it’s not about your dress size. Let’s be brave enough to call things as they are and stop doing things to serve ourselves but pretending it’s for the Lord’s sake. Because according to Isaiah 58, if it’s for the Lord’s sake, the evidence will be in undoing other people’s bonds, letting them go free who have lived oppressed. So if our fasting isn’t leading to talking about Jesus and the freedom we have in Him, if it isn’t drawing us to prayer, then is it the kind of fast our God chooses? And if He didn’t choose it, is it really a fast unto Him? 

 

Divide your bread with the hungry, that’s God’s chosen fast. Take care of the poor, that’s God’s chosen fast. Don’t hide yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood, that is God’s chosen fast. 

 

And then the promises can break forth in your life - Then your light will break out like the dawn, says verse 8, and your healing, your restoration, your new life will quickly spring forth (oh man, when God moves quickly it is life-changing!). Your righteousness will go before you and it will lead you to peace and prosperity. Need some peace? Could you use some prosperity? Try fasting God’s chosen fast and as you do that, which is literally in real life walking in righteousness, then that’s your direct path to quickly springing forth peace and prosperity. This is the way, walk ye in it.

 

And not only the blessings I just mentioned, but as you walk along this path of life, walking in righteousness, breaking those bonds of oppression off of others by being a freedom fighter and showing people Jesus has freedom for them, God promises that His glory will be your rear guard. You will be protected from any sneaky enemy attacks from behind. So good, this promise! It’s so good!

 

And now more promises, more blessings, that have to do with your praying. 

When you call, the Lord will answer. You cry for help, He will say “Here I am”. 

 

You take away from your midst the yoke of oppression (God says you are to do that - that’s me and you, right? Not our government, not our pastors, but God says you… me. We must do this.) Get rid of the finger pointing in scorn. Scorners and mockers are not highly favored according to the Word of God. So, let’s not highly favor them. Don’t be a scorner and stop being a mocker if you are one. Just stop. It’s important to do what the Bible says to do, and when it says not to do something, let’s not do it. Let’s stop doing that.  Wicked, sinful and unjust speech do not please the Lord. 

 

Assist the hungry. Most of us can do that some way, somehow, can we not? If you need some ideas, email me at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I have some ideas for you that are easy and will really help people in need. 

Then your light will rise in the darkness. Your darkness will not be dark anymore.  What part of your world seems too dark today? This is how you push back that darkness and get God’s light to shine and break forth over your dark places. Your gloom will become like midday. Sun shining at high noon in the summertime - that’s what your gloomiest, darkened winter night will become. God says He will do this exact thing and when He says will, does He ever not really mean it? Rhetorical question.

 

The Lord will continually guide you and He will satisfy Your soul in a scorched and dry land. This is a huge promise and there is no reason any of us should not grab hold of it and run with it in the new year. It’s too good to lay aside and too vital to ignore. When you have a check-up, your vital signs are taken for a reason. They are revealers, right? This is your spiritual vital sign check-up, and you need to pay attention to what is being revealed right now regarding your spiritual health. 

 

God will give strength to your bones and you will be like a watered garden, you will be lush and lively and vibrant and will bear good fruit. Like a spring of water whose waters never fail. The Living Water, Jesus, will spring forth from your life continually. Not stagnant water, but fresh and always flowing waters. 

 

I pray that these verses will be a great way to start your new year and get your focus on Jesus. It’s easy to focus on Jesus at Christmas and then focus on yourself in the New Year. This year let’s fast God’s chosen fast and see real change, real freedom, start to flow out of us like living waters. It’s a good year to be alive, my friend. And it’s a great time to be a freedom fighter according to God’s Word here in Isaiah 58 verses 6 thru 11.

 

Lord bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you today and every day of 2022. Thanks for listening today. Please share The Burt (Not Ernie) Show with your friends or on your social platforms. And remember it is now playing on the edifi app as part of the Spark Network.

 

God bless! Bye Bye 

 

 

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