Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.  Why should ye be stricken any more?  Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.   Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.  And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.   To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lams, or of he goats.  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?  Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, EVEN the solemn meeting.  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are trouble unto me; I am wear to bear them.   And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: year, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”  (Is 1:4-20) 

In this reading from the book of Isaiah, The Lord God delivers a strong message through his prophet Isaiah, to Judah as they’d turned themselves over to sin refusing to repent and submit to the authority of The Lord.  According to this written word, they had provoked the Lord to anger by forsaking He and His commandments and surrendering themselves to all manner of wickedness and corruption.  Even when they attempted to keep the “appointed feasts” and offer sacrifices to the Lord, they were no longer pleasing to Him as they were not offered up to him out of LOVE for him, but for other reasons.  Thus The Lord declared to them through His prophet Isaiah saying bring “No More Futile Sacrifices…”  The King James Version reads: “Bring No More Vain Oblations”  The definition of “Vain” here comes from the word “Sh­v’” meaning deceptive, false, evil, and destructive.  The definition of “Oblations” here comes from the word “Minch­h” meaning a sacrificial offering voluntarily, a present, tribute, and/or gift…  Their offerings and sacrifices to the Lord became useless, ineffective, unsuccessful, frivolous, without any production of result and they became as such, because the original intent, the sole reason for the feasts and sacrifices had been removed from the heart of Judah, by the people themselves and replaced with just a mere form of rituals.  The feasts and sacrifices unto the Lord were to be done as an act of genuine LOVE for Him, not out of obligation and most certainly not with unclean hearts, for the Lord not only looks at the outward act in the giving of gifts, in the sacrifice of praise, but more importantly judges the attitude of the heart.  What good would the gift be unto the Lord, if given by the hands of one who possessed an unrepentant heart?  It would be better not to give at all until one has done as the Lord commanded through His prophet Isaiah in verses 16-17 saying: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”  IN ESSENCE…REPENT! As He will not delight in the sacrifices until such is done! 

The message given through Isaiah was not only for Judah, but for the professing believer today as The Lord would tell the “Church” the same as told to Judah… “Bring No More Futile Sacrifices”!!  For many within the church today have become as Judah “sinful, laden with iniquity, evildoers, corrupt, forsaken the Lord and have PROVOKED the Holy One of Israel unto anger.  Hearts being filled with all manner of wickedness and sin, mistreating one another, speaking evil of one another, refusing to love, surrendering to bitterness and hate, and coming to the “House of Prayer and Worship” to be “entertained” rather than to lift up and exalt the Holy One of Israel, The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, The Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and End to All things, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The GREAT I AM, the one who SPOKE A WORD and all came into existence, The ONE and ONLY GOD creator of Heaven and Earth and ALL that is within!    The church has become a form of “rituals” with an appointed time to this and an appointed time to do that.  20 minutes to praise and worship the Lord through song, 15 minutes to collect an offering, 30 minutes to deliver the word, 10 minutes to invite those who know not the Lord to receive salvation, 5 MINUTES TO PRAY…….. All of which are futile sacrifices if hearts are NOT right, have not been swept clean, have not been purified, have NOT been surrendered to the Lord!     

The minutes of praise and worship through song, are we genuinely singing unto the Lord, The one we profess to be OUR LOVE, OUR HOPE, OUR REDEEMER, OUR SAVIOR, OUR LORD, OUR KING?  Although the songs are ABOUT Him, the question is are they sung TO HIM?   Being a singer, you would know if you are genuinely lifting your voice up in loving worship to HIM, or to “entertain” those in the service.  While singing, are you oblivious to all that is around, where your complete focus is on HIM, or is your concentration on the reaction received by the congregation, or the next note that shall come forth from your mouth?  The original intent of worship through song was to HONOR and LIFT UP with a clean and obedient heart, The Lord and to pour our Love upon Him in admiration, in thanksgiving, in Glorifying His Name.   However, some (not all) have made it into a form of entertainment, where although they are singing “about” him, they are not singing “to” him.  He is no longer the “star”, the psalmist has taken his place!  

The minutes given over for the collection of offering, are the offerings given out of genuine LOVE, or given out of fear, obligation, grudgingly, and worse yet giving with the expectation of receiving something in return.  What good is the gift if not given out of LOVE?  If one is bitter in giving it is best to keep your gift, for the Lord will NOT receive it if not given out of Love and Obedience to Him.  It is then a “futile” sacrifice.  And what of the one on the receiving end?  Are you distributing some of that gift to the poor, the hungry and destitute?  Are you feeding the hungry and clothing the naked?  Are you taking care of the widows amongst the people?  Or, are you receiving to beautify the building which is made of brick and stone, and of which the Lord has NO interest in, for HIS CONCERN is for the BODY formed by The Holy Spirit, not the building formed of stone!  His name is NOT glorified through the neglect of the poor, while stones are being laid. Such He will not receive, it is “futile”! 

The minutes given in delivering the word, now here’s where real entertainment steps in for many!  As some (not all) do not preach/teach the Word of God that the sheep may learn and grow in the fullness of truth, but rather for applause, to be glorified by man, and to increase the number of participants in the “Amen Corner”.   Many refuse the speak the COMPLETE TRUTH, but rather pick apart the scriptures delivering only that which “itching ears” DELIGHT in hearing!   You speak of “blessings” but refused to speak on the fact that if one is living a life of total disobedience, such a one can expect NO blessings from the Lord.  You speak of “salvation”, but do not share the fact that one must come to the Lord in TOTAL REPENTANCE in order to receive completely the gift as salvation is not just a matter of reciting a prayer, but of true repentance in the heart, and of accepting and receiving Christ Jesus The Lord, ALL through Faith!  For when one accepts the Lord’s free gift, he/she is to become a “NEW” creature in Christ.  OLD things are passed away, BEHOLD ALL THINGS have become new and yet many walk away still bound by sin, still surrendered to the old nature of the flesh, still living a life of corruption while professing to “know” the Lord, ALL because the TRUTH of salvation was NOT taught!    You speak of “giving to get”, which utterly corrupts the heart of the giver for the he/she gives NOT out of Love and obedience to the Lord, but gives ONLY expecting to receive something in return.   To teach the word of God is to first be done with the desire to COMPLETELY glorify Him because you LOVE Him and out of obedience to Him you submit to that which He’s asked you to do, and then because of your LOVE for the sheep the TRUTH must be given that they may be fed and GROW in the fullness of Christ so that the BODY may GLORIFY HIM in ALL things.  And those who may be walking in darkness, may come out of the darkness into the LIGHT through the TRUTH of the word being delivered, and the EXAMPLE of the light in the body which if it’s shining WITH LOVE the warmth of such will welcome the unbeliever in that they to may become a part of THE LIGHT!  Anything short of this, is “futile”.  

And finally, in the minutes given over for prayer, this is an area where absolutely MORE TIME MUST BE GIVEN!  Not just in asking for gifts, and seeking something from him, but in fellowship, in intimacy, in drawing close to Him.  The church spends less time in prayer than in any other area.  Many do not pray from the heart, but rather ritualistically believing that the more eloquent and loud the speech, the greater it’s heard, but The Lord examines the HEART, not the mouth. The church needs to take more time and intercede for your neighbor sitting next to you who may have a need, or praying for the body of Christ in general that we may become ONE even as the Father and Son are ONE.   The church needs to be crying out to the Lord in total repentance of sin, rather than sitting in arrogance thinking the hidden sins of the heart are just that…HIDDEN!   The church needs to pray more for The Holy Spirit’s help to walk in Love, GENUINELY CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER and SURRENDER  to this command of the Lord for the body of Christ CANNOT be divided, thus the attempt to separate one from another in the manner of denominations, education, economical status, race and such MUST COME TO AN END!    We need to surrender to MORE time in prayer individually as well as a whole! 

Remember that what we give to the Lord, we give because we Love him.   What we do we do for HIS GLORY, because we LOVE HIM.  In our worship, in our praise, in our giving, in our sharing, in our preaching the word, in our leading souls to Christ, in our praying, ALL that we do we DO out of LOVE and OBEDIENCE to him.   Anything less than this….is futile!    

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

The Lord be with you this day and always!  Shalom Uvracha (Peace and Blessings)…….. 

Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh,
Adonai Elohim Tzeva-ot
Asher Hayah Va-ho-veh VaY’vo 

Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come!

Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
   of the Lord God