How To Find God
Instructions: Pray for God to speak to you through His word what He wants you to learn and ask him to open your heart to understanding the word. Then, read the passage. After you have read the passage, ask the Lord to reveal one particular verse to focus on. Write the verse down on a sheet of paper. Then meditate on that verse (read it over several times, prayerfully seeking the truth in the verse) for several minutes, then, with that verse in mind, reread the passage, praying for God to show you how the passage as a whole impacts this special word. Write down anything the lord shows you in the passage. Read what you have written, praying for the lord to show you anything you've written that is not from him. It is suggested that you then prayerfully re-read the passage, but this is optional.LESSON THREE:
By now, you're probably geting the hang of this, so lets see if you can handle Isaiah. If you're really not ready for this one, skip to the next one, but be sure to come back to him later.2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; 3The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider."
4Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.
5Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. 6From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.
7Your country is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire; Strangers devour your land in your presence; And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 8So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers, As a besieged city. 9Unless the LORD of hosts Had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah: 11"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, Or of lambs or goats.
12"When you come to appear before Me, Who has required this from your hand, To trample My courts? 13Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. 14Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. 15When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
16"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, 17Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor;[1] Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
18"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. 19If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; 20But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
---ISAIAH 1:2-20
Supplemental Reading: read the whole first chapter
Done? Good! On to LESSON FOUR