Babylon’s days are numbered, as are the days of every nation of people that continues to rebel against GOD. However, its always been GOD’S style to warn those He judges of what the coming punishment will be. This changed the hearts of some, but for many, their hearts were hard.

“What sorrow for those” is a statement made by Isaiah multiple times and in each instance he was specifically describing various actions that GOD considered to be evil and the coming judgment as a result.

However, His frustration wasn’t only with the people of Judah. He also was angry with the Assyrians and their king. For even though the Assyrians were GOD’S tool to punish the Israelites, the Assyrians needed to be dealt with as well.

And how GOD ultimately deals with the sin of all nations, is through the Messiah, the root of Jesse.

In spite of the coming judgments, Isaiah also gave prophecies concerning Immanuel, or GOD with us, which foretell of the Messiah. However, many don’t realize the significance what was taking place within his own family, and how GOD used all of them to make some profound statements

Isaiah does some foretelling about the church, which is really fun for all of us, but then he gives some foretelling to Judah/Jerusalem. The statement, “Let the punishment fit the crime” is a well known quote in many circles, and what it ultimately refers to is an old testament principle known as retribution theology. Or in other words, we get what we sow. Which is exactly what was about to happen to Judah, they were about to get what they had sown. But before it began, GOD wanted to make sure everyone knew why.

The whole point of this message is to introduce the person of Isaiah, and to establish how he received his specific call to be a part of GOD’S plan to confront various kings and both the nations of Israel and Judah, but primarily Judah.

GOD wants us to have an attitude of willingness or eagerness when it comes to helping others...

Romans 12:9–13 (NLT) Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

Now, that help shouldn’t just be reserved for family, or those in the church. We should also be eager and willing to help those who treat us like crap, or with contempt. In fact, one of the best examples that Christ ever gave us as to what lengths we should go to help those kind of people, is found in the story of the Good Samaritan.

John Piper, once wrote this..."Imagination may be the hardest work of the human mind. And perhaps the most God-like. It is the closest we get to creation out of nothing. We must create word combinations, and music, and visual forms that have never existed before. All of this we do, because we are like God and because he is infinitely worthy of ever-new verbal, musical, and visual expressions. Desiring God."

In our efforts to reach others, one of the most important things we can be is honest about who we are, or genuine with others about our lives. Meaning, even though there might be a temptation to embellish and exaggerate certain things about our story out of pride or fear, or to eliminate or exclude certain things for the same reasons, we shouldn’t. However, when we learn to embrace who we are, including our past failures and current struggles, it creates an authenticity in us that is critical to reaching others.

When it comes to showing our love for GOD, or reaching out to others on His behalf, this should never be done in a manner that’s sloppy, half-hearted or lazy. In fact, everything we do for GOD should be done with excellence, and our efforts to reach others should be excellent too. After all, GOD gave His best for us, why wouldn’t we do the same for Him and others?

When you think of the word “reach”, think of the act of stretching out or extending in the direction of others. That is exactly what we want to do as followers. Meaning, we don’t want to wait or rely on people to find Jesus by accident, or to randomly hear about Followers Church through social media, we want to intentionally extend ourselves into their world, or reach into the community of people around us, and help them find Jesus by inviting them to church. And like the word followers, the word reach can be turned into an acrostic to help focus on how to do that best. And the R stands for Relationally.