MEAT OF FASTING
05/12/14 13:38
In a recent church service, the pastor started a thought on fasting; yet I don’t believe he finished the thought. Understanding the context of this message is to America, he said, the reason why we don’t fast is because we love food. Wow, that’s right. He continued to say that the second reason we don’t fast is because we need food to survive. Unfortunately, the pastor ended it there. Honestly, that second point is probably only partially true because, in America, we love food so much, we could do without food for a month and many will still not look malnourished.
I’m not really sure that these are the proper meanings of why we don’t fast today. Now, lets be honest here. We don’t fast because we don’t see a need to fast. One of the main reasons of fasting is to humble ourselves to God (Is 58:3; Ezra 8:21-23) and to loose the bonds of sin in our lives (Is 58:6; Joel 2:12). We fast in mourning of our separation from Christ (Matt 9:14-15). We fast for the oppressed (Is 58:6) and those on a mission for God (Esther 4:16). We fast for answers to our prayers (Neh 1:4; Daniel 9:3; 10:2-3; Ezra 8:23) and for God to assist us in making decisions for Him (Acts 13:2-3). We fast for more faith (Mark 9:29); and so we will have food to give to those in need (Is 58:7).
We were commanded to fast. In Matt 6:16-18, Y’shua said, WHEN you fast. This is an implied statement of, you will fast and when you do. Also, in Matt 9:14-15, Christ said that when He is gone, we WILL fast.
But here is the problem. And again, full honesty here. When we have bought into a gospel that all we have to do is say a prayer and ask Jesus into our heart and we are saved, we see no need to fast. Full honesty here.... the main purpose of most peoples so called salvation is for a get out of hell free card and not because of a desire for God. We’re comfortable right where we are. We’re comfortable with the amount of faith we have. We’re comfortable with the manner of prayer we do. We’re comfortable with not worrying about those in need. We’re comfortable with making our own decisions. We’re comfortable with our sin because we’ve fallen for a lie that Christ blood covers even if we continue in our sin. We feel that we are blessed and highly favored, why fast? We lead very comfortable lives and when we are comfortable, we feel no need to seek these things in the way in which was commanded for us.
I pray that God will strike a fire of burning desire into the hearts of those who are serious about Him; and that we fast in the manner which was commanded of us... that shows our love for God and our fellow man.
I’m not really sure that these are the proper meanings of why we don’t fast today. Now, lets be honest here. We don’t fast because we don’t see a need to fast. One of the main reasons of fasting is to humble ourselves to God (Is 58:3; Ezra 8:21-23) and to loose the bonds of sin in our lives (Is 58:6; Joel 2:12). We fast in mourning of our separation from Christ (Matt 9:14-15). We fast for the oppressed (Is 58:6) and those on a mission for God (Esther 4:16). We fast for answers to our prayers (Neh 1:4; Daniel 9:3; 10:2-3; Ezra 8:23) and for God to assist us in making decisions for Him (Acts 13:2-3). We fast for more faith (Mark 9:29); and so we will have food to give to those in need (Is 58:7).
We were commanded to fast. In Matt 6:16-18, Y’shua said, WHEN you fast. This is an implied statement of, you will fast and when you do. Also, in Matt 9:14-15, Christ said that when He is gone, we WILL fast.
But here is the problem. And again, full honesty here. When we have bought into a gospel that all we have to do is say a prayer and ask Jesus into our heart and we are saved, we see no need to fast. Full honesty here.... the main purpose of most peoples so called salvation is for a get out of hell free card and not because of a desire for God. We’re comfortable right where we are. We’re comfortable with the amount of faith we have. We’re comfortable with the manner of prayer we do. We’re comfortable with not worrying about those in need. We’re comfortable with making our own decisions. We’re comfortable with our sin because we’ve fallen for a lie that Christ blood covers even if we continue in our sin. We feel that we are blessed and highly favored, why fast? We lead very comfortable lives and when we are comfortable, we feel no need to seek these things in the way in which was commanded for us.
I pray that God will strike a fire of burning desire into the hearts of those who are serious about Him; and that we fast in the manner which was commanded of us... that shows our love for God and our fellow man.
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