January 9, 2021

Fasting

During the first few weeks of January every year, many churches promote and encourage their congregation to participate in a 21 day fast. My church does that, and for the past few years I have chosen to participate in the fast. Each year, the fast has been different, and I try to seek out the will of the Lord in my life in fasting. I often am not sure that I will fast until the very last moment, or just what that fast will look like. For me, it’s important that I wait until I am sure what God would have me do, and not get impatient or make decisions without Him.

So why fast? There are many references to fasting throughout the Bible, although there is no command to fast. It is in both the Old and New Testaments and is often combined with prayer. The heart of fasting is to focus on the Lord, to seek His face, to humble yourself, to devote time to God rather than your physical needs. He is our sufficiency and our provider, our Jehovah Jireh.

The heart of fasting is more important than the act of fasting. Isaiah 58:1-12 addresses just that:

“Cry loudly, do not hold back;
Raise your voice like a trumpet,
And declare to My people their wrongdoing,
And to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they seek Me day by day and delight to know My ways,
As a nation that has done righteousness
And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.
They ask Me for just decisions,
They delight in the nearness of God.
³ ‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?
Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’
Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,
And oppress all your workers.
⁴ Behold, you fast for contention and strife, and to strike with a wicked fist.
You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high!
⁵ Is it a fast like this that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed
And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?
Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?
⁶ Is this not the fast that I choose:
To release the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the ropes of the yoke,
And to let the oppressed go free,
And break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to break your bread with the hungry
And bring the homeless poor into the house;
When you see the naked, to cover him;
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then your light will break out like the dawn,
And your recovery will spring up quickly;
And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you remove the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ And if you offer yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the need of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness,
And your gloom will become like midday.
¹¹ And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
¹² Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (NASB)

The first few verses address the hypocrisy that existed among God’s people, an air of self-righteousness that they were indeed seeking the Lord and attending to Him when they were actually not. The next few verses exposes their actions as being hypocritical, and describes why their fasting is not acceptable to Him: verse 4 actually names “contention and strife” as their reasons for fasting. I can only imagine what that might have been!  We can look like we are doing the right thing, but sometimes that right thing is only in a part of our lives, and there are many dark places where we do not allow the light of the Lord to shine. God does not just want those things that look good, He wants all of us, every part we think is beautiful and every part we think is ugly. He can take our ugly and make it beautiful, so we can manifest His grace and do His will across our whole life.

Then in verse 6 God starts to describe the kind of fasting He wants, and what His response will be. God says that when His people are following His ways He will respond to their cries with “Here I am”, He will guide, satisfy and strengthen; He says that His people will be “like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail”. That is quite the picture of beauty and abundance! Imagine the most beautiful garden you have ever seen; place a spring flowing clear, clean water in the middle and flowing through the garden. That’s you. He takes your ugly and makes it beautiful for His purposes and His glory.

Daniel 9:3 says: “So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer and pleading, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” (NASB) Daniel had a job to do: he had to go before the Lord, confess the sins and plead the case of the Israelites before His righteous God. Fasting allowed Daniel to focus more fully on his prayer, to enter into the presence of the Lord unhindered by needing to attend to his physical needs.

In Mark 9:17-29 is the account of Jesus healing a boy who had a devil spirit in him after His disciples had not been able to heal him. After seeing Jesus heal him, the disciples asked Him, why they could not heal the boy. Jesus responded by telling them “This kind can come forth by nothing, except prayer and fasting”. This statement indicates that it is important to incorporate prayer and fasting into the Christian lifestyle. Jesus did not have the time to go off and fast and pray; He was needed right then and there, and because He took care of His relationship with the Father, He was able to do the Father’s work and heal the boy. Fasting helps us to stay in alignment and harmony with our God, be attentive and sensitive to hear and do His will at any moment, and show His glory to the world.

Acts 13: 1-3: Now there were prophets and teachers at Antioch, in the church that was there: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted, prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (NASB)

For the church at Antioch, it appears that fasting was a normal part of going about God’s work. Much like we read in Mark, it is just what the church did. Then verse 3 further indicates that prayer and fasting was used in the context of sending off Barnabas and Saul to do God’s work. This is echoed in Acts 14:23: ^“When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed.” (NASB)

So then, prayer and fasting is simply what we should be doing as believers in Christ. It shifts our focus away from us and onto Him, and allows us to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. There is something especially powerful when God’s people get together, and in corporate prayer and fasting seek Him out, spend time with Him in praise and worship and pray to Him as one.

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (NASB) He wrote this in the context of training for and running in a race to the finish, but the general idea is to train your body to be disciplined and not to give in to the pleasures or lusts of life, not to allow that focus to detract from the Lord. He is God, and He deserves our time, energy and attention.

If you are fasting now, God bless and strengthen you. May you enjoy refreshment through the Holy Spirit. If you are considering fasting, please do your own studying before you start, know how your body works, and check with your doctor if you are going on a complete fast. Let the Holy Spirit lead you to what is right for you in this moment.

January 1, 2021

Happy New Year! Last year, the fateful 2020, is finally over! When we celebrated the new year exactly one year ago today, most of us looked forward with hopeful anticipation to what the new year would bring. We celebrated, laughed, planned, prayed and hoped in blissful ignorance. I wonder…Had we known what was about to happen in the world, what would we have changed?

New beginnings. This time of year usually stirs in us a sense of hope, a feeling that the old is gone and the new is here, and that each of us can do better. That’s where New Year’s resolutions come in: they stir a hope in us, unite us in thinking about our goals and creating a vision. Although there is nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions, I must confess that I have not made one for years. Some years ago, I took a different approach to the New Year, and stopped making New Year’s resolutions, in part because I was painfully aware that I never kept my resolutions and felt it was not the way to go for me. I am in good company there: studies show that between 75% and 96% do not keep their resolutions, and that resolve starts to weaken, or is gone, in the first week! I eventually felt that resolutions were futile and self-defeating for me, increasing pressure and resulting in failure. So why bother?

But God…regardless of what I do or where I am, I am never alone. God is with me; He knew me and what I would be doing before it was even the flicker of a thought in my mind; He made, formed and created me, and knows what is best for me. I wonder what He would say about New Year’s resolutions, or what He would expect of any resolutions I would make?

What my God wants from me is quite simple: Jesus said in Mark 12: 29-31:

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. “(KJV)

First and foremost, He wants me to love Him completely, with every fiber of my being: ALL my heart, soul, mind and strength. Although Jesus said it in the gospels, when He was on earth, it is a commandment that God gave to Moses up there on Mount Sinai in the middle of the desert. God has always wanted His people to love Him and to seek Him first with everything they have. He has always wanted the worship of His people, their adoration, devotion and obedience.

“Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:5-7 (NIV)

God still wants this of you and I. Jesus took the first of the Ten Commandments and made it relevant and real for His followers and for us today. We tend to have an assumption that there are rewards if we believe in God and follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but no consequences if we do not. Take a step back for a moment…does that even make sense? If you are a parent, you have probably taught your children about natural consequences, and even allowed them to experience those natural consequences as part of their learning and growth. If you have a parent, you have probably felt some anger and resentment that your parent allowed you to experience those consequences. If we, as human beings, would do that to our children because we believe it ultimately helps them, why would we think that God would expect less? Why would we think He would deserve less?

Back to resolutions…that first commandment is my resolution every day. Simple, yet profound and difficult, because it goes against the human grain. I do not accomplish it perfectly at all. I don’t pray as much as I should; I forget to always pray first. I don’t read His Word as much as I should; sometimes I don’t read it at all. I don’t spend enough time with Him in prayer, worship and relationship; sometimes I am too quick to go into the ask, rather than stay in worship. But every day I can strive to make it better, give Him one more thought, one more minute, one more prayer; every day I can strive to give Him the glory and the gratitude in every situation; every day I can resolve to be His light in a world of darkness. I guess it sounds like a resolution; the difference is that because His mercies are new every day, I can wake up in the morning and try again, even if I failed yesterday. When a resolution is broken, it is just another broken resolution in the pile with the other 90+%.

Secondly, God commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Josh Wilson released a song in 2020 called “Revolutionary” that caught my attention:

“Why does kindness seem revolutionary
When did we let hate get so ordinary
Let’s turn it around, flip the script
Judge slow, love quick
God help us get revolutionary”

Kindness is a heart thing. Sometimes I can do all the right things, but my heart is not in it: my actions come from a place of obligation and not love. Even worse, they might even come from a place of expectation and not love: I, others or culture might have expectations about what is right and acceptable, that are devoid of heart and the love of God.

Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14 (NASB)

I’d say that’s pretty clear. And yet, I can get it so wrong! My motives for doing things, showing kindness, may not always emanate from that place of love. Although I may not outright experience hatred, at the very least, I may be apathetic or indifferent at times. That is not what God expects of me. Jesus Christ was not apathetic towards those who sought him out; He gave them His attention, time and love. Matthew 12:15b says: “…Many followed Him, and He healed them all,”. Jesus did this knowing that the Pharisees were plotting to kill Him. That kind of love amazes me, and can only be where the presence of God is. Every day, my second “resolution” is the second commandment.  May God give me His heart to love like He does, His eyes to see as He does, and more grace to do His will each day.

New Year’s resolutions depend on me as a person to accomplish them; obedience to the Word and will of God is a partnership between my God and me. My hope is not found in resolutions or in my ability to stay true to them. My hope is found in Christ alone, in His saving grace and His finished work. My hope is found in the knowledge that He will be back one day, arriving in glory for all His people: there will be no need for New Year’s resolutions because we will be fully in His presence forever.

Until that time, rest and remain in His presence; let the light of our Sun shine on you each day. I pray that you will know Him more each day, love Him more each day with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and that kindness will overwhelm you. Thanks for reading.

December 26,2020

Happy day after Christmas, or Boxing Day as it is also known.

The day you waited for, planned for and prepared for has come and gone. Presents have been opened, a meal shared, candles lit, and carols sung. Or maybe this year, it was a quiet, lonely Christmas in which you could only see those you loved on a screen, in their own homes. No hugs, no kisses. Or maybe it’s a day you spend on your own every year, cringing at all the ads and all the hype. Christmas as we know it in the US can be a mixed bag of joy and blessing, sadness and loneliness, high expectations and let downs.

But the true reason we celebrate Christmas, is always the same: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, the Messiah was born as a baby. He came into the world the same way as you and I did. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, but born as you and I were, carried by Mary for nine months and birthed with pain. Stop and think about that for a moment. No, really stop…don’t be in a hurry to move on from that truth. Our Savior, humbled Himself to be born with blood and water, to be baptized with water, and to die with blood and water. Yesterday, we celebrated the greatest gift of all, the gift of our Savior.

Today, all the fuss of Christmas Day is over; today, the wrapping papers and boxes are in the trash; today, we are already starting to think about returning the gifts we don’t want, or maybe we have already done that.

Jesus Christ is our perfect gift. He is as new today as He was 2000 years ago; He does not grow old, fade or wear out; He truly is the gift that keeps on giving. He was born once, and for all. Hebrews 9 tells us that He came and died “once for all” to take away the sins of the world. He did what no other gift could do; He gave us life, once and for all. He did what no other sacrifice could do; He cleansed us from all sin, once and for all. Other sacrifices before Him were burned, entirely consumed by the flame. This sacrifice is alive today; this gift from God did not get all used up, frayed and burned around the edges, or run out of battery power. This gift is as fresh, real and beautiful today as it was 2000 years ago.

John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word, that He is the Life, and that He is the Light. John 1:5 tells us that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it”. No matter what happens in your world, how dark it might feel, it cannot dispel, overcome, or conquer the Light that you have through Jesus Christ. His light shines forever, His light never flickers or goes out. Oil does not have to be found or purchased to keep this Light burning. It shines forever because Jesus Christ IS light: He doesn’t just HAVE light, He IS light. There is a day coming when no other light is needed. Revelation 21:23 says “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its light”. That is the Light that you have in you today.

Hebrews 10:12 tells us that when He had given Himself as the once and for all sacrifice, He sat down at the right hand of God. Today, He is alive. That gift that was born 2000 years ago in a manger, heralded by angels, worshipped by shepherds and wise men alike, is alive today, seated at the right hand of God. He is still our Life and our Light.

Today, accept the gift from God; come and sit at His feet. Today, take the time to know the eternal Light. Today, take the time to join with the angels and say “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men”. Today, let that peace available for all, first be the peace in your own life.

Thank you for taking the time to read this first blog. May you know Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, may His light shine brightly in your life, and may the peace of God rule in your heart and mind.