Loosing the Bands

The Bible says in Isaiah 58 that you are supposed to fast to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burden....

So as our church is fasting, it's not to cause God to change, but it is to cause us to change. While we fast, we pray and spend time in the word of God so that it can be a mirror for us to change. A mirror shows you you--what you look like: if your hair is in place, if there is food on your face, if your clothes are fitting properly, etc. I know the woman who went to the bathroom and came out with her dress stuck in her panties was pretty embarrassed because she didn't look in the mirror. A mirror helps us to correct ourselves so we don't make an embarrassment. That's what the word of God does for us. It shows us us. So as I was reading on the other day, Proverbs 1 came up and God was showing me that he was trying to teach me wisdom in my life, but because I wouldn't listen and I allowed myself to stay entangled with certain things, my life became shambled--in ruins. So, now I want wisdom so that I pick the pieces up and move on with my life, but for some reason, I have not been able to hear God. And Proverbs lets us know that you will seek for her (wisdom) and you won't find her. So, after my tears I prayed to God and asked "now what". I wanted to know "is that it? will I forever be paying for my foolishness?" So, I went on to Isaiah 58 and the first verse I came to said:

Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity
Isaiah 58:9 (KJV)

So, now I was crying, but not from sorrow, but from gladness because God said "call and the Lord will answer."

I then looked up the entire chapter of Isaiah 58 and it talks about they hypocrisy of fasting. There are those who fast just to say that they have fasted--to seem more pious. God was warning against that type of attitude. He went on to say that when you fast, you should be loosing the bands of wickedness and undoing the heavy burden...God was saying that this is the fast that will be acceptable to me. "And then you will call, and the Lord shall answer..." So I began examining myself. I want the word of God to convict me so that I can change. I started looking at my attitude.

I've grown up in church, so church is in me, but I have not been holy and righteous all my life. I know church protocol. I know how to behave in church. I didn't grow up with ungodliness around me, so when I became and adult and left the church, I would go out to the club with my friends and I didn't even know how to dance. I knew how to shout in church and in the club I was shouting because that was the movement I knew; I didn't know how to dance to secular music. The church was in me even when I was in the club. But now as an adult, I'm trying to get "church" out of me and holiness and righteousness in me. There is a difference between going to church and being holy. Any body goes to church. The devil go to church. The Bible says the Pharisees and the Saduces went to church and Jesus called them hypocrites. They were so worried about what they looked like, but they didn't care anything about their heart. There are many hypocrites that go to church, but I don't want to be one of those. God was telling me to not be a hypocrite. If I can be holy and righteous, I can call on the Lord and he will answer me.

I NEED GOD TO ANSWER ME!!!! QUICK, FAST, AND IN A HURRY!!!!!

So, even though I was foolish and didn't listen. MY LIFE IS NOT OVER!!!!!
I STILL HAVE A CHANCE to GET IT RIGHT!!

I Thank God for loosing the bands of wickedness over my life so that I can live holy and righteous.