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Day 210, or July 29.

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Your Move.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Isaiah chapter 59, verses 1 and 2.

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Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear, but

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your iniquities have separated you from your God.

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Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

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Now the big picture surrounding these verses.

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As Isaiah declares the coming of Messiah, he condemns the people for their sinful behavior,

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which is the reason why Messiah is coming.

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The future is glorious, but now is the time to turn back to your God.

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Now our action step for today.

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I'm sure you have seen notice-boards outside churches bearing the slogan, If you feel God

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is distant, who moved?

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That is exactly what Isaiah is saying to his fellow Jews, in a period when times were hard

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and the future was uncertain, as invaders from the north were expected to wipe them

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out in the near future.

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Today in the twenty-first century I regularly hear people ask, Where was God when such and

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such happened?

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Why didn't God stop that happening?

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The short answer that is coming to my mind more and more is, He wasn't there, because

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He allowed you to ban Him or deny His existence.

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It seems people are always asking for a God who will dominate and intervene, but will

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not encroach on their personal freedom.

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You don't need a degree in social sciences or theology to know that this is impossible.

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Many in the UK have turned away from God, and the first step for them is to turn back.

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When a child turns away from a parent, his or her head is often physically grasped and

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turned back.

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In my experience, God rarely does that.

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He allows us to ignore Him.

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Paul sums this up for us in Romans chapter 1, verses 24 and 25.

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So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.

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They traded the truth about God for a lie.

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So they worshipped and served the things God created instead of the Creator Himself.

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God longs for you to turn back to Him.

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Today's the day.

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You may find the reading on day 21 helpful.