The Free offer of Mercy (See Isaiah 55 below)

““Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples.

Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be a memorial to the Lord, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.””

Isaiah 55:1-13 (NASB1995 YouVersion Bible App)

What does God require of Man? (See notes below Image)

3–5 This was the Lord’s appeal. With tenderness and emotion, the divine Plaintiff recalled His many gracious acts toward them, almost to the point of assuming the tone of a defendant. Noting their trek from bondage in Egypt to their own homeland, God had provided leadership (v. 4), reversed the attempts of Balaam to curse the people (v. 5a; cf. Nu 22–24), and miraculously parted the Jordan River (v. 5b) so they could cross over from Shittim, located E of the Jordan, to Gilgal on the W side near Jericho. God had faithfully kept all His promises to them. † 6:6, 7 Micah, as though speaking on behalf of the people, asked rhetorically how, in light of God’s faithfulness toward them, they could continue their hypocrisy by being outwardly religious but inwardly sinful. † 6:8 Micah’s terse response ( v. 8) indicated they should have known the answer to the rhetorical question. Spiritual blindness had led them to offer everything except the one thing He wanted—a spiritual commitment of the heart from which right behavior would ensue (cf. Dt 10:12–19; Mt 22:37–39). This theme is often represented in the OT (cf. 1Sa 15:22; Is 1:11–20; Jer 7:21–23; Hos 6:6; Am 5:15).

There is no one like our God. He delights in our devotion to him, in spite of our shortcomings.

bible.com/bible/100/mic.7.18.NASB1995

Wishing you, my friends online, a Father’s Day, that is blessed with love, surrounded by family and/or friends. May we be the example, that God has shown great mercy on us, so we should do the same.

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Father, give us eyes to see, that we might have hearts that reflect you in our lives.

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Father, I surrender to you, all things that distract from you today. Help me to see what is good, is right,is pure,is Holy. Let me see your goodness in the midst of a fallen world. May I see through your eyes. Amen

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May we see through lens of Jesus. May we have compassion on those who are broken, just as we are broken. May we take comfort in our Lord, who cares deeply for us, in this road that we travel. May Jesus name be lifted up, in spite of our weakness, since He makes the weak, strong.

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Father, help us to see through your eyes, that may show abundant mercy. We are humbled by YOUR Mercy!

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Oh Lord, help us never forget the mercy you have shown us, that we might also show mercy to those as undeserving as us.

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Seek the Lord, in his word, and he will guide your ways.

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Judgement was coming to the people, if they didn’t change their ways. Self-righteous doesn’t work. A changed heart, brings forth what is necessary. The fruit in the picture, is what flows from it. It is God, who must change the heart.