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; 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: 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.
Isaiah 58:9-11 KJV
Spiritual Footnotes
- Yoke spiritually means the works of darkness, wickedness, heavy burdens or strongholds tied to evil tendencies that stifle growth. However, with great assurance and compelling obedience, we have the responsibility of using faith in the power of God in Christ Jesus to remove this yoke or spiritual burden from our lives or heart by yielding to the full influence of the Holy Spirit. It is a call to duty to fight the good fight of faith.
- Putting forth of finger, means we should not connive, align and conspire with the accusers of the brethren in fighting against the righteousness of God, nor join in slandering and backstabbing others. Rather, turn the finger in checking on ourselves or heart before the Holiness of God. That is, faithfully carrying our cross in the sight of God in the name of Christ Jesus and not to please people. The divine race is the realm of eternal reign and resources by nurturing of our unique gift or purpose based on God’s crown of glory bestowed on us. Actually, God wants us to understand that blaming others on our predicaments could pacify or relieve our manufactured emotions and self-deprivation, but will hamper the true journey to our crowns because the real issue is really not on the outside, but inside of us by not standing up to always assess, scrutinize and reevaluate our internal nerves and functional modes in line to the standard of the glorious Majesty of God.
- Speaking vanity simply means worthless and lifeless words. Please, let us get this clear, God is not in the business of turning us into robots without human reasoning, expressions and jokes. Very far from it. However, He is grooming us to understand our words are life because they have power to change the course of human purpose and journey. He is saying even in the midst of normal human interactions, make choice words that are seasoned with grace. For example, swearing or to God, saying you love somebody to death, life is short, that your kids are driving you crazy, in common conversation, somebody will speak negative, talk down to your life or us to others, or such as, oh! thank God, I am up today alive because I know some people did not wake up from their sleeps, or I have this shoe or healthy but some people do not have what I have, or saying thank God, I am not complaining because even with my situation, I am better than lots of people and a host of others constitute speaking vanity. Some of these sayings might come out normal and encouraging to our enclosed self-adoration, but are way out of line with the values and love of God the Father. True love does not measure oneself with others, rather we measure our lives on the standard of the love God gave to us through Christ Jesus.
Life is not short, even when we hear it from almost everywhere because God has given us eternal life in Christ Jesus. Life is not the flesh because the body or flesh is just the case or container of the life inside. That is, the flesh will pass away, still the real life is the consciousness of God in us in Christ Jesus, who is His Spirit, and will never die. There is no death in the children of God, only the transition into eternal Glory. Vanity speaks of death, while grace speaks of eternal life. Vanity speaks of human arrogance or pride, while grace speaks of obedience and patience among others. Vanity is nasty, diabolical, noisome, rotten, while grace is lovely, nice, charming, decent, and satisfying or good. Now, the question begging our attention is this; which one of the two is true and above or greater? The spiritual choice we make will turn our awakening into the reality of God’s direction regarding this matter or not.
- Drawing out our souls to the hungry and the afflicted is simply saying we should honestly show compassion from our hearts in words and actions to others in the name of Christ Jesus. Again, do not show your love to others to satisfy onlookers or people and to deliberately receive praise from them. That kind of compassion is skewed and not of God. That is, we should let our hearts be moisturized, polished and smoothened with the kindliness of God to others by not looking down, or trying to win the affections of people through deceit. Rather, we should show gratitude to God for giving us the opportunity to serve others even if it is just to one soul. That is, our love portions should be done with the clarity of the soul to the goodness of God in us regardless of human appreciation. However, do not be a weakness to the manipulations of others just to prove your love. Love is not based on weakness and manipulation, but on strength, truth and victory by doing, sharing and giving the best of God in us to others in the atmosphere of humility, encouragement, and glory in our hearts to God the Father in Christ. Love is the resources available from time invested in the lives of others through the lens of God whether they know it or not, appreciate it or not, and live it or not because the whole purpose is to do our job as His craftsmanship. Meaning, we are humble laborers in His vineyard, soldiers of Christ, His envoys, delegates and messengers of love, carriers of the banner of grace, and the dispatchers of the only Living Water, who is the Holy Spirit in us into thirsty souls, to deserts of darkness and taking the ship on the high sea, even with great turbulence safely to the promise land, which is salvation.
The messages from these four points are not out to judge, demean and question our positions in God, whether we meet His standards or not. That is, from the worthy estimation of His guide and purpose to us, God is simply as always trying to whip or stir His children in line with His Joy, by making us to understand His molding processes are not to break us but to keep picking us up from where we are, to the promises He has for us uniquely in the vast, hidden treasures of Grace. Then through these molding processes on His vessels bringing His fatherly affection and tenderness into the atmosphere of humanity’s soul, which is in dire need of true contentment that comes only from His Glory. The message is to encourage us to recognize our true and divine worth by working and walking studiously in making our internal center to see beyond the clouds of wicked limitations into the infinite possibilities of God in Christ Jesus as doers of His words and not just hearers. A doer allows His Spirit to lead, while a hearer puts the human ego to lead. A doer takes life as a personal challenge to keep striving, even with mistakes in embracing the truth of God, while a hearer is more hooked to the ovations of the crowd. Hence, the message God is posing to us as the challenge of life is marked in internal harmony and integrity because He has unreservedly bestowed on us His blessings, but we must take up our responsibilities, by not abandoning our posts. The life of Truth is the service to heal. The life of love is the service to live.
Glory to You Heavenly Father in the mighty name of Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit…Amen!