Isaiah 58

Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke, 

to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and provide the poor wanderer with shelter - 

when you see the naked to clothe him 

and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn 

and your healing will quickly appear; 

then your righteousness will go before you,

and 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 and I.

If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden, 

like a spring whose waters never fail.

~Isaiah 58:6-11

Dear family and friends.....if you skipped over the above, please go back and read it. Earlier this year I memorized this passage and now I'm claiming it as a personal motto for my advocacy for Compassion.

This is why I advocate and speak up for the children around the world who have no hope. Because this is what God desires of me - of all of us....to spend ourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed.

There is a new movement/campaign/initiative based on this verse. It's called 58: I'm talking about it over at Compassion Family this week and I urge you to come by and read more. 

I am so excited to be part of a movement that is seeking to end poverty. 

I know, I know....Jesus said, "the poor you will always have with you...." (Matthew 26:11). Guess what, though....he wasn't talking to me or you. He was talking to Judas. If you read and study that verse in context, you will understand that Jesus was defending the generosity of Mary and confronting the greed of Judas. He was telling Judas (and the others listening) that there would always be opportunities to help the poor, but that Jesus himself would soon die and this was one of their last chances to worship Him in person.

More than ever I am committing to find sponsors for children, raise money for mosquito nets and also for water filtration systems. 

I am committing to living out Isaiah 58. 

I hope you'll join me by sponsoring a child, buying a mosquito net and/or buying a water filtration system.