It is a constant battle to keep our eyes on the important stuff. Just the other day I was driving and realized I was supposed to pick up the kids from school, I was almost home! I have three of them and I forgot! Thank God the school doesn't just turn them out and say "hope you make it home since you have a ding-a-ling for a parent." It is so easy for me to get side tracked with the immediate and forget the important. I think that life is designed to confuse me. That is why I have found it invaluable to develop the skill of rewind. Rewind is what I call it when I need to go back and grab hold of something that is important, or foundational that I have some how left off.
This is true with the most important of all of our relationships, our relationship with God. God seems to be the easiest to forget about. I guess that is why He continually tells us in scripture "Remember me."Don't forget me. "Do this in remembrance of me. He tells me this because He knows I am prone to let what is in front of me eclipse what is bigger. Have you noticed the closer things are the bigger they seem? It only takes a very small object to block my vision when it is close. Maybe that is how I can loose sight of God by letting tiny things get in my face.
In the Bible people struggled with the same issues I have. You will see it played out over and over again. God brings them through incredibly tough stuff and they are thankful for a season only to completely forget about God a short time later.
This brings me to my point. I think that religion has forgotten about God. Literally the institutions that are set up to draw attention to Him have forgotten about Him altogether. This week as I prepare for the weekend message I realized we have forgotten about one of the most important practices God has given us. It is a practice that has brought about amazing accomplishments. It is a practice that Moses used to receive the ten commandments from God, it also is something he did to keep God from destroying the rebellious people of Israel. David practiced it and found strength to be joyful during some of the most difficult times of his life. The disciples didn't do it and found that there were things they could not do without it (Matt 17:15). Daniel did it and received a critical answer to his prayers. Esther called for one when her people were facing certain death at the hands of Hamon, and because of it they were spared (Esther 4-7). Hannah did it when she wanted a child and God answered her plea (1 Sam 1:7). The people of Nineveh did it and God spared their judgment. What is it I am talking about? Fasting.
The lost work of fasting. I think I want to make my relationship with God so practical, so applicable, so relevant that I forget that God isn't natural, but He is SUPERNATURAL! Jesus outlines in Matthew 6 three sacrifices that God honors. They are foundational, essential, and they bring about amazing breakthroughs in our lives. He says "When you pray. "When you give. "When you fast. Jesus outlines three things I must do to impact the world and to be impacted by God, give, pray, and fast. These are the three most difficult areas I face in my walk with Christ. Consistent prayer, sacrificial giving (that is giving till it hurts), and fasting. Have you noticed no one is talking about these? I can find a book on every shelf telling me how to be a better dad, how to become financially stable, or how to raise a better kid through shock theropy (not really). What I don't find is books on spiritual disciplines that are not written by wacko-s. I think the problem is that when the wacko-s get hold of something the dignified almost make it off as off limits. Too bad because Jesus gave us the mandate for fasting.
This weekend I will cover the truth that there are spiritual breakthroughs that are unavailable to those who do not fast. Also there are health benefits (significant ones) to fasting. I will also talk about how God opens up opportunities, and give miraculous breakthroughs as he honors the sacrifice of fasting. It will be off the chain.
3 comments:
true that
I cannot wait to hear what message God has given you to teach us this week. It sounds like it is going to be AWESOME!!!
Fasting can be difficult, but it is sooooo worth the effort.I fasted and prayed over my marriage, and God was faithful to show me what I needed to see.The going through the experience was not easy. But where God has brought me to was SO worth the pain (and it was major pain)getting there.He wants us to empty ourselves out, where there is only HE and I. It's then that He can do some major changes. For the first time in 19 years, I can truly say that I for the first time have the kind of marriage God intended marriage to be, and during that time of fasting, I was having to lean on Christ through prayer,praise and time in His word. That was literally my food for a week and a half.Never have I had a closer more intimate time with my Father.
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