Restorer of the Breach

The Message: Isaiah 58: 9-12
“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.

I became so excited when I read this chapter I had to share it with you.  The chapter focuses on God telling the house of Jacob He was not pleased with their worship, and the fasting rituals. The people thought they had a lock on God’s favor, because of “their position”, and the fact they fasted and studied his word. But God informed they were wrong.  God was seeking compassion, generosity, and integrity from them, and a willingness to serve others.  True worship meant more, much more.
God wants a full-bodied worship from us as well.  Our worship should demonstrates our connection to Him.  If we truly love the Lord with all our hearts, mind, and body, then we give as He gave, and do as He did.  The result is a full life – strong – glowing with the power and love of Christ.  We become restorer of the breach.  The community will seek us out because the word will spread that we are healers, fixers, deliverers, renovator, and those dark, dirty, dank places will become communities of life, light, and love.
I love watching HGTV where restore the old and make it new and better. Our God did the same thing with us. He took the “old man” and restore him with firm muscles, and strong bones ready to build “new life” from the rubble of  the past.

Look at the verses again.  Read them out loud. Let the words remind you of its infallible truth.  God promised to give us a full life in the emptiest of places.  Like a spring which can never run dry; refreshing; giving life to those around us such will our lives be.  Beloved friends, it is time to come out of the shadows into the light of Christ, and take our rightful place as restorers of the breach.  God promises to show you exactly where to go, and He does not lie.  It is time to take the mantle as Restorer of the Breach.

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