Delighting in God & Delighting in Others EXPERIENCING REAL REVIVAL / ISAIAH 58

Is there partiality to your worship of God? Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves… What kind of Christian are you really?

Do you have an Isaiah in your life? Too often, without strong Biblical accountability, you can trick yourself into thinking you’re better off in your relationship with God than you actually are. You can do all the “right things” and your life can still be all about you and not rightly delighting in God or others. Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Identify the places of conflict where your words & your heart don’t match. Isaiah 58:3-4 2 Kings 17:32-33 So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. 33 They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. 1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Identify the places of conflict where your words & your heart don’t match. Matthew 4:10, 6:24 1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, [then] put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. We need the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts to MATCH the actions of our lives. Psalm 19:14

Identify the places of conflict where your words & your heart don’t match. “Ye find pleasure” – Vs. 3 Instead of taking delight in God they were delighting in their how “good and righteous” they were as compared to others. Israel was fasting to get what they wanted, rather than to BE with God and draw near to Him. Fasting is not to get what you want, but rather to get what God wants OUT of you. It is to deny self and exalt God. God simply desires for you to put off your double- mindedness of serving self and serving God.

Learn what God finds acceptable. Isaiah 58:5-7 Stylites – Pillar saint They believe that the mortification of body would help to ensure the salvation of their souls. Common in the days of the Byzantine Empire. Simeon Stylites the Elder climbed a pillar in 423 and remained their until his death 37 years later. These individuals are very sincere and dedicated. You can be sincere in your faith and be sincerely wrong.

Learn what God finds acceptable. Psalm 51:14-19 When your heart is broken over sin and your PLEASURE is to be about the will of God building up the places of God in your life, THEN God will establish your ways. Romans 12:1-2 It’s not about all the things you do for God or whether you have a leadership position at the church, it’s whether or not your HEART is toward him and your pleasure is to live out his will.

Stop doing what God disapproves. Isaiah 58:6-7 You have to make a DECISION to STOP pursuing the past. Even in ministry, make the necessary changes so that God will receive maximum glory out of your life.

Give yourself to others and to the heartbeat of God. It’s only when you COMPLETELY give yourself to the welfare of others will our self diminish. The ills of the church are made well in the mission. You will not willingly or continually be found giving yourself to others if you do not delight in the Lord’s way.

The result of delighting in God and others is that fruit will abound. Isaiah 58:8-14 Jeremiah 29:10-14