A when a person mortifies himself?
Is the object to hand your head like a reed and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself?
Is this what you call a fast, a day that pleases Adonai? (God)
"Here is the sort of fast I want - releasing those unjustly bound, untying the thongs of the yoke,
letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke,
sharing your food with the hungry,
taking the homeless poor into your house,
clothing the naked when you see them,
fulfilling your duty to your kinsmen!" (family)
Then your light will burst forth like the morning, your new skin will quickly grow over your wound;
your righteousness will precede you, and Adonai's (God) glory will follow you
Then when you call, and Adonai will answer; you will cry, and he shall say "here I am".
If you remove the yoke from among you, stop false accusation and slander, generously offer food to the hungry and meet the needs of the person in trouble, then your light will rise in the darkness and your gloom become like noon.
Adonai will always guide you, he will satisfy your needs in the desert, he will renew your strength in your limbs, so that you will be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. You will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise foundations from ages past and be called "Repairer of broken walls, Restorer of streets to live in".
"If you hold back your foot on Shabbat (Friday night approx 7.30- Saturday night approx 7.30)
from pursuing your own interests on my holy day, if you call Shabbat a delight, Adonai's holy day, worth honouring; then honour it by not doing your usual things or pursuing your interests or speaking about them.
If you do, you will find delight in Adonai - I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your ancestors Ya'akov (Jacob), for the mouth of Adonai has spoken"
For me to study Gods word and ask for his guidance in understanding how it all fits together, it makes more sense to follow Gods ways that to keep rebelling against his Word. His ways are the way of peace and justice.
We live today in a world of greed and war, today, people living in diverse places are suffering because of greed of greater nations, also depriving them of their basic rights as human beings.
WE are all in this together, when are we really going to start recognising that we are responsible to each other and to God for each others welfare.
How often we see "charities" asking for money for the less off poorer nations - yet the "rich" nations have made these places even more poorer by inflicting on these nations their greed for the natural resources in the land - the gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium, many other properties in the land, and their trees, making a desert in some cases of once beautiful forests. Robbing the nations of their natural resources and then leaving the land ravaged and infertile because of various mining techniques.
Yes, there are many charities out there trying their best to patch up the bodies and build hospitals and schools, trying to repair the damage caused - digging wells for water, which in turn helps provide the people with means of self supporting again. Yet these very same people whom we look to help also need to relearn skills that once were so naturally part of their culture, before the guns, and before the trucks came into their villages and tore up their farms, and taking away their livelihoods.
The society we live in today is no Money orientated - it does not see the value in communities working together to help support one another. Many communities that were destroyed by the bulldozers and disease brought in from outside have wiped out many a community.
Instead of going in with so called Charity perhaps we should look at these people more in the way of brothers and sisters and see just what we can do to help support them. We in the west have a terrible record of exploitation and degradation - if they do not speak our language then they are savages, less than human, yet if we were to look at their intrusion from the side of the afflicted perhaps we would not be so quick to barge in and take.
When I was a young girl I lived in South America, Sao Paulo, in my schooling learning about the history of Brazil and its different tribes, see how so much infiltration and decimation occurred when the first Portuguese soldiers and sailors arrived to "conquer" the land. How many tribes were wiped out by disease and the gun, only a few stories were really positive and encouraging, like the story of a Jesuit - married the chiefs daughter - Antonio Anchete - I believe that was his name, he actually became one of the founding fathers of Sao Paulo. (this is from my memory form when I was a child of 13 a very long time ago, so some of my memory of details may not be accurate) However it impressed me that there were people who really did try to make peace with the "natives" and succeeded.
No wonder Jesus speaks to us of loving our enemy, pray for our enemies, for when we are loving and praying for them they are no longer our enemies. Jesus taught us to live in peace with our neighbours - every one is our neighbour - therefore we should be living in peace with each other.
Some times I wonder what goes on the minds of people who think that they are able to go into countries, areas and take them over and destroy the places and then complain when the people they have destabilised then need to have "charity" to help them recover even the little they did have. Jesus warns that the poor will always be with us, but He was about to return to the Father. Surely, if you are a believer in the Living God of the Bible you will see that All Men are equal under God and each deserve the right to live. However, not all men are followers of the Living God, yet God nonetheless uses them too.
We need to see God in a different light, look at how he hardened the heart of the Pharaoh when Moses was sent by God to release Israel. WE need to see that God is in control of all situations, however he does need us to be more open to his teachings and his direction.
People in power who deny Gods very existence and live according to their own rules are actually causing nations to fall in to the hands of an angry God. We who are called to watch over the nations and pray and intercede need to watch and pray and get our own lives right before God and live according to His teachings and rulings ourselves.
How can we expect others to hear our voice if we ourselves are not listening to God. His word is very clear on that matter.
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