a<\/a>]<\/sup>
\nDefend the cause of the fatherless;
\nplead the case of the widow.<\/p>\n18<\/sup> \u201cCome now, let us reason together,\u201d
\nsays the LORD.
\n\u201cThough your sins are like scarlet,
\nthey shall be as white as snow;
\nthough they are red as crimson,
\nthey shall be like wool.
\n19<\/sup> If you are willing and obedient,
\nyou will eat the best from the land;
\n20<\/sup> but if you resist and rebel,
\nyou will be devoured by the sword.\u201d
\nFor the mouth of the LORD has spoken.<\/p>\n“STOP doing wrong.” <\/strong><\/p>\nSuch an elementary thought, yet such a wake-up call.\u00a0 We need to take notice of the yucky, nasty, ugly things that are awful habits in our lives…the little things that are wrong, sinful…and STOP!\u00a0 We can’t be the person God wants us to be if we continue to (willingly, blatantly) live in sin.\u00a0 Because we are imperfect humans, we will always be sinful, but we should make every attempt to live like Christ.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
LEARN to do right. <\/strong><\/p>\nThis verse is key!\u00a0 Correcting our sinful habits doesn’t typically change overnight.\u00a0 It can <\/em>happen with the help of the Lord, but in most cases correcting our sin takes time.\u00a0 LEARN to do right.\u00a0 It’s so special to me that the Lord knows<\/em> this is a process.\u00a0 Take the time to figure out how <\/em>to do right.\u00a0 Take the time to study the WORD.\u00a0 Spend time with others that are encouraging and wise and knowledgeable.\u00a0 Be teachable.<\/p>\n.<\/p>\n
Personal examples:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nIt’s easy to think this verse doesn’t really apply to us if we’re not committing “big” sins…but large or small, a sin is separation from our HOLY GOD. <\/em><\/p>\nI need to STOP yelling at my children when I am frustrated with their deliberate disobedience.\u00a0 I need to LEARN to calmly speak words of truth to them.\u00a0 Correct them, YES, but not exasperate them.\u00a0 This is SO HARD for me!
\n<\/em><\/p>\nI need to STOP being lazy, messy, unorganized.\u00a0 I need to LEARN to be productive, organized, and take care of the gifts to which I’ve been blessed.\u00a0 I know God is a God of order, I am a woman of CHAOS, and something needs to change.<\/em><\/p>\n.<\/p>\n
(vs. 17) Seek Justice.\u00a0 Encourage the oppressed.\u00a0 Defend the cause of the fatherless.\u00a0 Plead the case of the widow. <\/strong>Be the arms and hands and feet and mouth of the Lord for people who are broken, discouraged, down, frustrated, weary.\u00a0 There are so many people hurting, so many people who feel they have no voice, and they need YOU and ME!<\/p>\n.<\/p>\n
Come now let us reason.<\/strong><\/p>\nBe reasonable!\u00a0 Sit down, think about your life.\u00a0 Think about this verse and BE REASONABLE.\u00a0 Don’t make excuses (which I’m an EXPERT at doing), but instead try to see your life as GOD sees it.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n(This always reminds me of an old Sons and Daughters\/Watermark song)<\/p>\n
Our sins are sometimes so small that we don’t think about them much, but they build to something ugly.\u00a0 Sometimes they’re large and public.\u00a0 No matter what they are, no matter how public they are, we are all sinners, and we all need the saving grace of the LORD!\u00a0 Whether we feel the glare of peoples’ judgmental eyes due to a public sin, or we just know in our hearts that we are living in sin, THE LORD WILL…AND IS HAPPY TO…FORGIVE US!\u00a0 No sin ever has to be a permanent stain, because He wants to make us “as white as snow!”\u00a0 He wants to wipe our slate clean.\u00a0 LET HIM!\u00a0 Fall at his feet and ask for forgiveness.\u00a0 He will make us clean if we only confess our sins, ask for forgiveness, and get back on track with a personal relationship with the one who created every one of us!<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.”<\/strong><\/p>\nThis verse DOES NOT implythat walking with the Lord will give you an easy life or that living in sin will cause death.\u00a0 To me, this verse sounds like good parenting\/shepherding words of wisdom!\u00a0 If we willingly obey the few things He’s asked of us, we may not have an easy life, but we’ll have a full and joy filled life.\u00a0 If we resist and rebel (as we often see our children do), we will be met with consequences and a lack of peace.\u00a0 We will never be completely happy with that void in our life, and we will one day face judgment…from the only judge that matters.\u00a0 We can have eternal life with Him, or we can have eternal life without Him.\u00a0 I choose to be WITH Him!\u00a0 I choose joy, peace, hope!<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
These verses have made me think a lot about my actions.\u00a0 There are so many things I need to stop doing and so many things I need to learn.\u00a0 The one place I know I can find wisdom is The Bible.\u00a0 The Lord tells us clearly in Jeremiah 29:13,<\/p>\n
“Call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.\u00a0 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.\u00a0 I will be found by you,” delcares the Lord.”<\/strong><\/p>\n.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This has been my Friday Fav since last week.\u00a0 I never got it posted last Friday, and it seems I missed this Friday, too.\u00a0 I’m just posting it on Saturday night, but I’m still calling it a Friday Fav. :) . This year in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) we’re studying Isaiah.\u00a0 My most favorite passage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-favs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1432,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}