Text: Isaiah 1:13-17
Memory text:
“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.”
Psalms 34:17 NKJV
While it is true that God hears when His people cry out to Him, it is also important to note that God doesn’t hear all cries. Just like a responsible parent does not respond every time to the crying of her child, especially when she discovers that the child only uses it to manipulate her. In fact, the child may even be spanked at such times as a corrective measure. Only a permissive parent will indulge her child by answering to all cries.
Our memory text today tells us that God hears the cry of the righteous and delivers him out of all his troubles, but He ignores the cry of the wicked. Who is a righteous person? Firstly, it is one who has emptied himself of his own self-righteousness and has accepted God’s gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ. Self-righteousness, no matter its level, is abhorrent to God. It is like a dirty rag before God (Isa 64:6; 2 Cor 5:21). Have you accepted the righteousness of God, which is through Jesus Christ?
Secondly, the righteous is the one who does what is right and good in the eyes of God. If the person that has been made righteous by faith does unrighteous things, then his righteousness will no longer count. You see, God has different children, just like you have vessels of gold, silver, wood, and clay in a great house. Heavens stand at alert and respond speedily when God’s children who practice righteousness cry out to Him. Their cries never go into voice mail. A believer who wants to have such privilege before God must be intentional about that. He must submit unconditionally to God and His ways. He must always yield to His perfect will. David summed it up in this testimony. “I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”
(Psa 66:17-18).
Friends, it is a terrible thing to cry to God and to be rejected by Him. On the contrary, it is heaven on earth to enjoy speedy answers when you cry. God has given the requirements to enjoy such privilege, and one of it is to live in righteousness. Have you accepted the righteousness, which is by faith in Christ Jesus? If you haven’t, why not do that right now by confessing your sins to God and confessing Jesus as Lord of your life? If you have, why not ask for grace to please Him from now and be intentional about it. May your cry not be rejected or turned into voice mail, in Jesus’ name.
Prayer points
1. Father, I surrender to You unconditionally, and I receive grace to daily walk in righteousness, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, let not my cry be rejected or turned to voice mail, in Jesus’ name.
Today’s declarations
1. Righteousness qualifies my cry for a speedy answer before God.
2. It’s heaven on earth to cry, and God answers instantly, and this is possible if by grace, I live righteously before Him.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng