july 6-12 repent

Judah's Impending DoomJudah's Impending Doom

Situation:Situation: Isaiah revealed Judah's impending doom. God vowed not

to listen to the prayers of his people because of their excessive

sin. But God assured he would restore Israel after purging it of

sin.


Isaiah 1:1 NET Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem

that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when

Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah.


2 Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! For the

Lord speaks: "I raised children, I brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me!


3 An ox recognizes its owner, a donkey recognizes where its owner puts its food; but Israel does not recognize

me, my people do not understand."


4 The sinful nation is as good as dead, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked

things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the sovereign king

of Israel. They are alienated from him.


5 Why do you insist on being battered? Why do you

continue to rebel? Your head has a massive wound, your whole body is weak.


6 From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is

unharmed. There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed or bandaged, nor have they been treated with

olive oil.


7 Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.


8 Daughter Zion is left isolated, like a hut in a

vineyard, or a shelter in a cucumber field; she is a

besieged city.


9 If the Lord who leads armies had not left us some survivors, we would have

quickly become like Sodom, we would have become like

Gomorrah.


10 Listen to the Lord's word, you leaders of Sodom! Pay

attention to our God's rebuke, people of

Gomorrah!


11 “Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?" says the Lord. "I am stuffed with burnt

sacrifices of rams and the fat from steers. The blood of bulls, lambs,

and goats I do not want.


12 When you enter my presence, do you actually

think I want this — animals trampling on my

courtyards?


13 Do not bring any more meaningless offerings; I consider

your incense detestable. You observe new moon festivals,

Sabbaths, and convocations, but I cannot tolerate sin-stained

celebrations.


14 I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies;

they are a burden that I am tired of carrying.


15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer

your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.

God Offers HopeGod Offers Hope

Observation:Observation: A loving and patient God continued to offer

hope to the Israelites. He offered forgiveness if they repented.

16 Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my

sight. Stop sinning!


17 Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the

oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the

orphan! Defend the rights of the widow!


18 Come, let's consider your options," says the Lord. "Though

your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white

like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can

become white like wool.


19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, then you will again eat the good crops of the land. Inspiration:Inspiration: In fact, it seems

[God's] favorite word is "come."

God Says ComeGod Says Come

"Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow.""All you who are thirsty,

come and drink."


"Come to me all, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads,

and I will give you rest.""Come to the wedding feast.“ "Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people."


"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink."

God is a God who invites. God is a God who calls. God is a God who opens the door and waves his hand

pointing pilgrims to a full table.


His invitation is not just for a meal, however, it is for life. An invitation to come into his kingdom and take up residence in a tearless,

graveless, painless world.


Who can come? Whoever wishes. The invitation is at

once universal and personal. (From And the Angels Were

Silent by Max Lucado)

The Lord Has SpokenThe Lord Has Spoken

20 But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured

by the sword." Know for certain that the Lord has

spoken.


21 How tragic that the once faithful city has become a prostitute! She

was once a center of justice, fairness resided in her, but now

only murderers. 22 Your silver has become scum, your beer is diluted

with water.


23 Your officials are rebels, they hang around with thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for payoffs. They do not take

up the cause of the orphan, or defend the rights of the widow.


24 Therefore, the sovereign Lord who leads armies, the powerful ruler of Israel, says this: "Ah, I will seek vengeance against my adversaries, I will get revenge

against my enemies.


25 I will attack you; I will purify your metal with flux. I will

remove all your slag. 26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times, wise advisers as

in earlier days.


Then you will be called, 'The Just City, Faithful Town.' "

27 Zion will be freed by justice, and her returnees

by righteousness.


28 All rebellious sinners will be shattered, those who abandon the Lord will

perish. 29 Indeed they will be ashamed of the sacred

trees you find so desirable;


you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards where you choose to worship. 30 For you will be like a tree whose leaves wither, like an orchard that is unwatered.


31 The powerful will be like a thread of yarn, their deeds

like a spark; both will burn, and no one will put out the

fire.

RepentanceRepentance

Application:Application: To repent means being both

remorseful for your sin and also acting so that you do not repeat the sin again.

RepentanceRepentance

What sin are you enjoying?Repent of it.

Then put the past behind and live a new day.

God’s ForgivenessGod’s Forgiveness

Exploration:Exploration: God's Forgiveness

1 Chronicles 21:8 NET David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, please remove the guilt of your servant, for I

have acted very foolishly."


Some confuse being forgiven with “getting by with it.” David was

forgiven, but there were still consequences he had to face. In

this case his sin was numbering the people without God’s permission.


God gave him three choices of the punishment that would be brought

to pass. 1 Chronicles 21:11 NET Gad went to David and told him, "This is what the Lord says: 'Pick one of these:


12 three years of famine, or three months being chased by your enemies and struck

down by their swords,


or three days being struck down by the Lord, during which a plague will invade the land

and the Lord's messenger will destroy throughout Israel's

territory.'


13 David said to Gad, "I am very upset. I prefer to be attacked by the Lord, for

his mercy is very great; I do not want to be attacked by

men."


The Lord’s mercy is very greatThis is a lesson well learned from

David. God seeks to forgive us with mercy and grace. David knew

mankind did not and could not have the abundance of mercy as

The Lord Does.


When Jesus taught His disciples to pray He included seeking forgiveness by praying.

Luke 11:4 NET and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And do not lead

us into temptation."


Also notice Jesus included our willingness to forgive other equates to

God’s willingness to forgive us.Simon heard the apostles Peter’s words

and knew he needed to repent and ask forgiveness, but did he do it?


Acts 8:18 NET Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the

laying on of the apostles' hands, offered them money, 19 saying, "Give me this power too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the

Holy Spirit."


20 But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could acquire God's gift with money! 21 You have no

share or part in this matter because your heart is not right

before God!


22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to

the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. 23 For I see that you are

bitterly envious and in bondage to sin."


24 But Simon replied, "You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.“ Here remark: (1) That Simon was directed to pray for himself, but he had no disposition to do it, but was

willing to ask others to do it for him.


Sinners will often ask others to pray for them, when they are too proud, or too much in love with sin, to pray for

themselves.


(2) The main thing that Peter wished to impress on him

was a sense of his sin. Simon did not regard this,

but looked only to the punishment.


He was terrified and alarmed; he sought to avoid future “punishment,” but he

had no alarm about his “sins.” So it is often with

sinners.


Sinners often quiet their own consciences by asking ministers and Christian friends to pray for them,

while “they” still purpose to persevere in iniquity.


If people expect to be saved, they must pray “for

themselves”; and pray not chiefly to be freed from

“punishment,” but from the “sin which deserves hell.”


This is all that we hear of Simon in the New Testament; and the probability is, that, like many other sinners, he

did not pray for himself, but continued to live in the gall of

bitterness, and died in the bond of iniquity. The testimony of antiquity

is decided on that point. (Barnes)


1 John 1:9 NET But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from

all unrighteousness.


James 5:14 NET Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they

should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the

Lord.


15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is

sick and the Lord will raise him up — and if he has

committed sins, he will be forgiven.


16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for

one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great

effectiveness.


We will never be pure until we admit we are filthy. And we

will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours.

Max Lucado {A Gentle Thunder}


Where do you stand in seeking forgiveness? Are you repentantly asking God to forgive your errors?

He wants to forgive us and His grace is bountiful. He promises to forgive them and never remember

our sins again.

july 6-12 repent

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