We are beginning Section 2 today (pg. 109 of 237). Please be sure and read the scriptures that I list. In the passages is where we'll find truth, strength and direction for our lives. Reminder...what is in "italics" is coming directly from this book.
Why Is It So Hard?
It is still amazing to me that food was teh enticement used to cause Adam and Eve to sin, resulting in the fall of mankind. I find it equally interesting that Jesus began His earthly ministry--to redeem us from sin--by abstaining from food.
Matt. 3:16-4:11
The first thing Jesus felt in His earthly ministry for you and me was hunger. The last thing that He felt on this earth was thirst as the Lord of glory hung dying on a cruel cross, according to John 19:28.
Why does the body of Christ have such a hard time with the discipline of fasting?
Matt. 4:3 (KJV)
The enemy tried repeatedly to cause Jesus to focus on the desire for food rather than on the assignment and the purposes of the Father, but Jesus knew that the sanctification is an essential key to opening a door of God's blessings.
I was 18 years old when I went on my first complete 21-day fast. It was one of the most difficult things I had ever done. Fasting is never easy. Jesus understands the difficulty of depriving ourselves of food. In Heb. 4:15 we read, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." He also provides strength for us to overcome temptation in Heb. 4:16. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Before the next paragraph, (I'm paraphrasing here) Jentezen explains why he feels that giving up TV, computer games, Internet, etc. is not really a fast. This may be controversial to some. I'm not trying to start a fight of any kind so I chose to leave it out. He feels if those things are interfering with your prayer life or with your study of God's Word or your ministering to the needs of others, it's good to put them aside but he doesn't feel that it is "fasting."
When you fast, you abstain from food for spiritual purposes. Fasting is doing without food for a period of time, which generally causes you to leave the commotion of normal activity. Part of the sacrifice of fasting, seeking God, and studying His Word is that normal activity fades into the background.
There are wrong reasons to fast. You do not fast to obtain merit with God or to get rid of sin. However, fasting will begin to bring to the surface any areas of compromise in your life and make you more aware of any sin in your own life so you can repent.
Fasting is not a Christian diet. You should not fast to lose weight, although weight loss is a normal side effect. Unless you put prayer with your fasting, there is no need to fast. When you fast, you focus on prayer and on God's Word.
A fast is not an opportunity to show others how deeply spiritual you are, but an opportunity to focus on the needs of others. The world hunger movement has a program called "Let it Growl," a world hunger and awareness fast. During this fast, when participants feel the hunger pangs rise up and their stomachs begin to growl, they remember that one-third of the people in this world go to bed with that same feeling every night because they have no food.
When you enter into a fast at the beginning of the year with the body of Christ, you link up with thousands of people all over the world who also begin the New Year with a fast. One person fasting is powerful, but when a group of people begin to fast, it is multiplied strength! It is multiplied power!
You have been deceived if you believe Christians are not supposed to fast. God expects every one of us to fast--not just some of us. In Matt. 6 HE names 3 things that Christians do: "When you pray..." "When you give..." and "When you fast."
Matt. 6:31-33
You can always find a reason not to fast, so you have to make up your mind that you are going to do it, and everything else will take care of itself. If you will determine to set apart the first days of the year to fast, you will set the course for the entire coming year, and God will add blessings to your life all year long. Just as you set the course of your day by meeting with god in the first hours, the same is true of dedicating the first days of the year to fasting.
Since we don't know who all is participating in these blog entries, will you just stop and pray for yourself and all those who are reading this, asking God to give us wisdom concerning fasting and with the desire to be obedient to fast?
Have a wonderful day!
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