Divine Invitation

FASCINATE MY SPIRIT #233
Title: ”Divine Invitation”
Scripture: Isaiah 55
Date: August 6, 2021

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Invitation to an Abundant Life

“Listen! Are you thirsty for more?

    Come to the refreshing waters and drink.
    Even if you have no money,
    come, buy, and eat.
    Yes, come and buy all the wine and milk you desire—
    it won’t cost a thing.
Why spend your hard-earned money
    on something that can’t nourish you
    or work so hard for something that can’t satisfy?
    So listen carefully to me
    and you’ll enjoy a sumptuous feast,
    delighting in the finest of food.
Pay attention and come closer to me,
    and hear, that your total being may flourish.
    I will enter into an everlasting covenant with you,
    and I will show you the same faithful love
    that I showed David.
See! I made him a witness to the nations,
    an example of leadership,
    as prince and commander of peoples.”
Look! You will summon nations you’ve never heard of.
    Nations who have never heard of you
    will come running to follow you
    because Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel,
    has glorified you!

God’s Mercy Greater than Man’s

Seek the Lord Yahweh when he makes himself approachable;
    call upon him when you sense he is near.
The wicked need to abandon their ways,
    and sinful ones need to banish every evil thought.
    Let them return to Yahweh,
    and they will experience his compassionate mercy.
    Yes, let them return to God,
    for he will lavish forgiveness upon them.
“For my thoughts about mercy are not like your thoughts,
    and my ways are different from yours.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so my ways and my thoughts are higher than yours.
“As the snow and rain that fall from heaven
    do not return until they have accomplished their purpose,
    soaking the earth and causing it to sprout with new life,
    providing seed to sow and bread to eat.
So also will be the word that I speak;
    it does not return to me unfulfilled.
    My word performs my purpose
    and fulfills the mission I sent it out to accomplish.”
For you will leave your exile with joy
    and be led home wrapped in peace.
    The mountains and hills in front of you will burst into singing
    and the trees of the field will applaud!
Cypress trees will flourish where there were only thorns
    and myrtle trees instead of nettles.
    These will stand as a testimony to Yahweh’s renown,
    everlasting signs that will not be cut off.

- Isaiah 55 (The Passion Translation)

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