Fixing the Walls around Us!

09 Feb Fixing the Walls around Us!

February 9, 2025

Fixing the walls around Us!

 For the next few weeks, we will be talking about walls and boundaries. Walls protect us and keep the enemy out. In the Bible, there are several mentions of walls and how God had his people deal with them. With Jericho, He told Joshua and the children of Israel to walk around the wall once for six days and on the 7th, day walk around it 7 times. For Nehemiah, He told him to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.  In Ephesians, Paul writes about tearing down the walls of hostility to bring peace and unity. In Psalm 91, God has established walls/ boundaries to keep us safe and to bless us. He calls it the secret place. 

Our Fixing the Wall scripture for today comes from Isaiah 58.12AMP

“And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations [of buildings that have been laid waste]; You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

It’s on us!

Isaiah 58 is known for the topic of fasting, what a good fast is not, and the fast that God wants and will reward. God tells the Prophet Isaiah to Shout the message! Don’t hold back. Say to my people Israel: You’ve sinned! You’ve turned against the Lord.   Oh, they were seeking Him daily, going to church, worshiping, studying the word, and fasting but acting like hypocrites. The Lord was fed up with their transgressions and told the Prophet to show them their transgression.  Transgressions in this verse mean knowing what God is saying and doing what you want to do anyway. For example, Jesus describes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees this way in Matthew 23:1   “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.   I saw a post asking, “If I ask for forgiveness before I sin, is it ok to sin?”   Sounds like the same kind of thing is happening today. 

What I love about the Lord and the Word of God is that it is timeless, and God always tells us what to do and how He desires things to be done.   In the book of Genesis 4:7, God tells Cain,” If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  This applies to God’s children in Isaiah’s day and us today

God tells us the fast He wants and what He wants to see us doing. look at verses 6-9a from Isaiah 58 in the Message translation:
 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:

• To break the chains of injustice,
• Get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
• Free the oppressed,
• Cancel debts.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is:

• Sharing your food with the hungry,
• Inviting the homeless poor into your homes, *
• Putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
• Being available to your own families.

This list is not inclusive and of course, we are to make wise decisions and adjustments for the day and time in which we live as they did then. The Samaritan did not take the robbed man to his house or completely interrupt his journey but put the person in a safe place, paid for his stay and needs, and kept it moving (Luke 10:25-37).  Let’s help people we know and don’t know. When you ask a person “How are you doing today”?  remove the routine from the question and listen like you really want to know.   Let’s do that true fasting God talks about, pray about the injustice we see and experience and be led by the Holy Spirit as to what to do. Remember, it is the anointing that breaks every yoke of bondage. That is how we fix the walls around us and remember; this is a message on restoration and healing, and it starts with us first. Psalms 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

I have learned that the opportunities to do good are always around us.  Look at what God says the results of Doing things his way will be.  “Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.  Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’   The Blue Letter Bible says this “Those who serve God with sincere hearts and actions also accomplish things for God’s kingdom. They build and are called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell in.”

Today is Super Bowl Sunday in America (USA), and there will be gatherings everywhere looking at the football game.  For the past few weeks, retail stores have been promoting, and we football fans have been preparing for this once-a-year event in that sport.  Let us not lose sight of the fact that a greater event is coming: the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Let’s promote and prepare for that day, too.

Theresa Woodard