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Today God spoke to me through the book of Isaiah. What a powerful message God is speaking to his people. I feel obliged to share these magnificent and powerful words written in Isaiah chapter 58. The verses are very plainly written so I will simply paraphrase the verses from NLT and NIV.

[God telling to Isaiah]

Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.Tell my people of their rebellion and their sins!

They act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act as if they were a nation that does what is right; like a nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take righteous action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me.

They say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have fasted before you! We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? Your fasting ends in debate and in striking each other with the fist of wickedness.

This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me.

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed bending in the wind and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

“NO,” says the Lord. “This is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you.Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains of injustice that bind people.Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless.Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal.Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

Then when you call, the Lord will answer. He will quickly reply.You will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Yes, I am here,’

Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests from doing as you please on that day. Enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”