As you study the Bible passage, reflect on the awesomeness of Isaiah’s words. God has a plan for believers to live in His presence forever. The hardships and pain of this world will vanish amid the joys of intimate fellowship with our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. Today we are one day closer to that new heaven, new earth, and life everlasting for all of God’s people.

Considering our country's current situation, believers need this message of hope so that we might experience a renewed faith and trust in God and so that we might demonstrate our faith in Christ to a world that is looking for relief from sickness, death, political turmoil, and economic challenges.

The prophet Isaiah describes three things that will make this place a perfect paradise:

1. It will be a place of JOY -- Isaiah 65:17-20. Memories of sin, suffering, sadness, and other sources of sorrow or regret will be erased. God will be rejoicing with us. 
2. It will be a place of PROSPERITY -- Isaiah 65:21-23. Success will be the norm. All of this will take place because the people will be blessed by the Lord. The time of curses and threats will be gone, and blessings and life are eternal.
3. It will be a place of PEACE -- Isaiah 65:24-25. Perfect peace is characterized in the context of relationship with God, each other, and even with nature. We’ll experience perfect communication and communion with God. God and His people will abide together in such harmony that the Lord will hear and respond to their needs before they even ask Him. Wild animals, formerly at odds with each other, will dwell together in tranquility.

If you say that something is a reality check for someone, your purpose it to make them recognize the truth about a situation, especially about the difficulties involved in something they want to achieve. The Explore the Bible Study: God Expects, will examine Isaiah 58:1-12 as the prophet, Isaiah, helps the Israelites face a reality check regarding their relationship with the Lord. 

In this passage the Lord calls into question the way the Israelites lived out their faith. As you study or prepare to lead this session, take your own reality check to determine whether your confession of Christ aligns with your actions. The one true God is just; therefore, as your study guide emphasizes for this session, He expects His people to demonstrate their faith through right living.

The passage will focus on three reality checks regarding proper worship. In order to understand these reality checks, you must first define the scope of worship. Worship is so much more than just an event we attend. It includes personal Bible study, group Bible study, prayer, corporate worship, and serving alongside other believers in the church, just to name a few. In Romans 12:1-2, you are told to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Colossians 3:17 states: whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. All that we do is to be done as unto the Lord. Broadly speaking, worship is a way of life.

The three reality checks of proper worship explored are:

1. Motives for Worship -- Isaiah 58:1-5
2. Results of proper worship -- Isaiah 58:6-10
3. Blessings of proper worship -- Isaiah 58:11-12

How do you honor the sacrifice others have made for you? How does their sacrifice impact you today? It is natural to honor those who have contributed to or sacrificed for our well-being or success. The Explore the Bible Study: God Justifies, will focus on the sacrifice Jesus made.

Have you noticed children's obsession with adhesive bandages? It seems like every child goes through a time in which they desire to have a bandage on their – “boo-boos,” “owies,” “bobos,” “oucheys,” or other injuries! No matter how big or small the abrasion, cut, scrape, bump, or bruise, applying that bandage seems to make it all better. It feels even better when a mom or dad kisses the “boo-boo” and tells them, “Everything will be OK.” The Explore the Bible Study: God Comforts, focuses on the comfort Jesus brings to those who trust in Him.

Isaiah 49:1-13 tells about how God will bring comfort to His people. After telling them about the decades of Babylonian captivity and exile from their land, God promised to rescue the remnant nation. When the exile ended, God would accomplish the restoration of His people in a way that would make the nations stand in awe. He would bless His people, and the nations would worship God. He would accomplish this through the work of the Servant of the Lord. 

God stepped into history and revealed to Israel that the Servant of the Lord – the Comforter and Redeemer – would offer comfort in ways no one else could. Jesus is the ideal Servant and ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise. As the Servant-Messiah, He’s “the light of the world” (John 8:12), offering salvation to the ends of the earth, and the One to whom, one day, “every knee will bow” (Romans14:11; Philippians 2:10). As benefactors of the fulfilled promise, we should celebrate with joyous praise (Isaiah 49:13). 

What comfort it is to know that, in His compassion, God had a plan to redeem and reconcile us back to Himself. As the Thanksgiving and holiday season approaches, seek opportunities to comfort those in need. We all realize there are many who need the light of Christ so that they can find their way through all they are facing.

As God’s servants, may we find comfort in knowing He includes us in His redemptive plan, calls us to spread His message of salvation, and justifies us now and for eternity.

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