Stop Fasting-8 Biblical Reasons

People fast for many different reasons. Some fast before a medical appointment, some fast because it is part of their diet plan, and others fast to refocus their body, mind and spirit on God. I am not addressing dietary or medical fast at all, they are effective and I have done them before. People need to stop fasting if you are doing it for the wrong motive. I wrote earlier about 27 Biblical Reasons to Fast, but now I also want to address what a Biblical fast is not.

8 things a Biblical fast is NOT:

1) A time to look sad, mean, and destitute. Matt. 6:16
2) A time to look for attention and rewards from people. Matt. 6:16
3) A time for you to showcase & boast in your deep spirituality. Luke 18:12
4) A time to seek your own pleasure. Isaiah 58:3
5) A time to argue, quarrel, and fight. Isaiah 58:3
6) A time to hide your self from the poor and needy. Isaiah 58:7
7) A time to twist God's arm to do what you want outside of his will. Acts 23:12,14
8) A time to manipulate God to overlook sin. Jeremiah 14:10,12

Fasting is an external act that is driven by the motives in your heart. Those motives must be laced with spirtual ends in mind. With fasting you may lose a few pounds and lose the taste for twinkies; however, if those are the initial motives you will miss out on the heart transformation that can come from fasting. To make a further disctinction, a biblical fast is often accompanied with prayer, confession, & Bible meditation (Neh 9:1-3; Acts 13:2-3). Fasting along with these things creates a recipe for spiritual transformation.

I met a person that got so busy at work that he missed lunch. Feeling the hunger pains, he then decided to take his act of missing lunch, wrap it up in spiritual fasting clothes, and offer it to God as a sacrifice. Wow! God can not be played for a fool? Keep in mind that the act of fasting and the physical byproducts it may produce are only means; the end should be to have your eyes fixed on God and to glorify your father which is in heaven. Most people fast because they want to move God but he is not the one that is stuck. Fasting is not to move God closer to you, but rather to move your heart closer to God. Happy fasting!

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Fasting-27 Reasons

January is a month of prayer, fasting, and consecration at Church Ablaze. Often when taking on a fast the big question that comes up is, "Why am I doing this?" My family did a little Bible study together and came up with 27 biblical reasons to fast.

1) Intensify the effectiveness of prayer Isaiah 58:9, Ezra 8:23
2) A means to seek the Lord Dan 9:3
3) A means to accompany confession Dan 9:3; I Samuel 7:6; Neh. 9:1-3
4) A means to accompany returning to the Lord Joel 2:12-16
5) A means to serve or worship God Luke 2:37, Acts 13;2-3
6) A means to accompany prayer Neh. 9:1-3; Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2-3
7) A means to accompany bible reading Neh. 9:1-3
8) A means to train our bodies 1 Cor. 9:27
9) A means to invoke humility Ezra 8:21
10) A means of mourning I Sam 31:13; II Sam. 1:12; 12:16
11) To accelerate physical healing Isaiah 58:8
12) So righteousness will go before you and glory behind you. Isaiah 58:8
13) To overcome strong temptations Luke 4:1-2
14) To strengthen obedience to God Luke 4:1-2
15) A response to being led by the Spirit Luke 4:1-2
16) To enhance personal devotions Matthew 6:16-18
17) To loosen heavy burdens and wickedness Isaiah 58:6
18) To free the oppressed Isaiah 58:6
19) To respond in times of crisis and seek deliverance 2 Chron. 20:3-4
20) To develop a hunger for God’s word over food. Matt. 4:4
21) To focus your hearing in making decisions Acts 13:2-3;
22) To find and set forth leaders Acts 14:23
23) To hear directions from God clearer Acts 10:30-32
24) To increase faith to overcome evil spirits Matt. 17:19-21; Mark 9:28-29
25) To seek God's protection Ezra 8:21-23
26) A reminder to share with the poor Isaiah 58:7
27) A reminder to help your family with needs Isaiah 58:7

Incorporating fasting as a spiritual discipline is like injecting an accelerator into all of the other means you pursue God. It totally is an example of offering your body as a living sacrifice to God (Rom. 12:1). A great ebook on the subject of prayer and fasting is available for free from John Piper called "Hunger for God". Take these 27 reasons to heart and make fasting apart of your spiritual growth. Also you can read a blog I did on Journaling that is a very effective spiritual discipline too. What has been your experience with fasting?

Listen to a message here: Spirtiual Disciplines II-Fasting

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Journaling-Five Things

I have been journaling since 1992. If I don't journal my thoughts I get into endless cycles that leave me unfruitful in life. I am not a "Dear Abby" journaler. I don't write everyday. It is not a "have to" event for me, whether it is a "want to" event. I have no form. I have no script. I just start writing whatever comes from my head, to my hand, to the paper. Personally I believe this is how the Psalms were written. That is why the Psalms are the most referred to book in the Bible when you need empathy for your feelings.
I know one day my children will go thumbing through my journals and will wonder if they had a schizophrenic for a dad. I tell it like it is. My frustrations, anger, disappointments all come out. Not only is it my dumping station for my feelings, but it is also my altar. I bring my sins to the altar on those pages. It is where I meet God. Sure I pour plenty of my garbage in it, but I also write all of the inspiration and revelation that God deposits through me as I write.
One of my favorite passages is Psalms 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Through my brokenness God repeatedly showers me with wholeness as I write. When I mourn He comforts, when I am confused He brings clarity, when I am frustrated He calms me down.
I guess that is why I now love these social platforms for communicating my heart like Blogs, Facebook, & Twitter. I recently have taken a a few days off from Facebook and Twitter just because I can. I wrote in 2009 how it helps me (Click here). Some say that their blog has replaced their journal. But I can't cosign that, to me nothing replaces the old fashion pen on paper. When I type, I am automatically thinking about formatting. When I write on paper I just flow.
Five things I use my journal for:
1) I use them as scrap books. I staple articles or devotions in them that impact my life.
2) I write down key points from sermons, my thoughts, & impactful thoughts of others.
3) I write my prayers: the request and the answers.
4) I draw pictures of Biblical truths to help me understand.
5) I preach from it, Facebook from it, Tweet from it, and Blog from it.

Five questions you can answer when journaling:
1) What is going well? Why?
2) Who needs prayer? Your confessions? Marriage? Children? others?
3) What would I do differently, if I could do it again? Why?
4) What have I learned about myself and my leadership?
5) What areas do I need to correct, change or grow in? Where is God at work in my life?

Five reasons I would encourage you to get a notebook and write your thoughts:
1) You have a reference point to evaluate your life experiences.
2) It tames your thought life and helps to ends cycles of thought that rythmically beat you down.
3) It affords one more platform for the Holy Spirit to teach you.
4) It is a great collection point for all of the teachable moments that you encounter in your day.
5) It becomes a funnel that can take the broad array of your emotions and narrow it down to the heart of the matter.

These are my thoughts what are yours? How does journaling help you.

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Miscarriage

A miscarriage is a heart tugging event. My wife and I have had four. I am not writing this to prompt your sympathy cause I know most of you are very sympathetic and would be in prayer for us. I just wanted to put my thoughts out there. Our first miscarriage was back in March of 2007 with a loaded U-haul truck headed south moving from Iowa to Oklahoma. I remember the events play-by-play. They stick in my head so much because my human frailty became so evident during this time.

I have to share a little history, my wife and I had five children at that point practically by rubbing elbows the first 10 years of our marriage. :-) To conceive again and have complications was a shocker. When things were finally confirmed about the miscarriage I think I experienced every emotion known to man in a matter of 5 seconds (Anger, hurt, confusion, frustration, grief, sadness, etc.). This cycle of emotions left me numb and speechless, grasping for some form of context to try and comfort myself and comfort my wife. It was a tough time.

After some praying, tears, and hugs we proceeded back down the highway. My wife and I were in the bucket seats of our Chevy G20 van (named Old Betsy) when our second born son, whose was eight at that time, said, "I know why God allowed that to happen". We both looked at each other in amazement and said, "You do? Why?" Our son said, "Because God wanted to know if something happened that we didn't want to happen if we would still trust Him". As he spoke those words it is as if each word was being etched in my heart with a hot pen.

Lisa and I both looked at each other and at the same time teared up and then began to pray and affirm our trust in God. God just used an eight year old boy to secure our hearts and shore up our faith and put everything back in perspective. Little did we know seven months later we would face our second miscarriage and we didn't conceive again until January 2009. In a nutshell this is what I have learned:

1) That it is easy to trust and have faith when things are going my way, but the true test is when things are not going my way.
2) That control is an illusion. I am dependent. Jesus is not only savior but LORD.
3) Trying to figure out how and why in these situations can take you under real quick unless you truly stop trying to figure it out and cast the care on the LORD.
4) Either I trust God or I don't. Either God is sovereign or He's not.
5) To value the conception of a child at day one, and enjoy each day even as the baby is maturing in the womb.
6) To not allow a miscarriage to alter your plan or desire for more children. God can give you courage to move on. We are so thankful we proceeded forward and God blessed us with number six two years later!
7) This was a friendly reminder that the whole process of conception needs to be done in faith and shouldn't be taken for granted. It taught me to take the season of child bearing years as a gift from God and to be a good steward of this time.
8) That there is a real spiritual peace that God supplies,that has this mysterious way of comforting the human heart.
9) That God speaks through my children.
10)That God's ways are higher than my ways and his thoughts are higher than my thoughts. There are some things I may never understand but the lack of understanding does not have to cause me to doubt God's ability or His sovereign will.

Fear can truly attempt to take residence in a couples heart after a miscarriage. Moving forward with intimacy and moving forward in procreation has to be done in faith. Personally, I believe the worry and fear associated with a past miscarriage produces stress that hinders the child bearing process. I am no doctor, but I do know that fear is not from God and the atmosphere that fear generates is not productive. I told my wife to not assume and jump to conclusions that something is wrong with her physically. I have seen crack addicts have healthy babies. I have seen women that have intentionally starved themselves and tumble down stairs end up with healthy babies. So it still boils down to the sovereign will of the Lord. No matter how much medical science discovers about hormone levels it still boils down to this. DO WE TRUST HIM EVEN WHEN THINGS HAPPEN WE DON'T WANT TO HAPPEN.

I thank God for our four miscarriages they have drawn me close to the bosom of my Heavenly Father, closer to my wife and the children I have been blessed with. The picture above was the pregnancy of our 6th baby (who is now 2), which is proof that there is life after miscarriage. I am a gratefully, dependent man that is blessed with a wonderful wife.

This was an updated post from November 2010, hope it encourages at least one family.
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The Secret Place

There are thoughts and musings in my heart that are a secret that no one else knows. There are ideas, plans, and conclusions in my heart that have never been uttered out of my mouth. My heart has a chamber marked "secret". Frankly the things in this chamber of my heart I am not even fully aware of. Their are only special times that I even have the right keys to open the secret place of my heart. When I go into that room it is a deliberate act that is contrary to what the rest of my body wants to do. When I shut the door it is an intentional cutting off of all my minds activities. When I begin to pray to my Father something shocking happens. That chamber marked "secret" begins to open and I realize that the Father has been dwelling there all along. At first I am amazed and little ashamed that God has a totally different view of me than what I do of myself and what others have of me. The things I begin to discover as I talk to God are so liberating, comforting, reassuring, and challenging. I get this extreme safety to be transparent about my faults but at the same time this assurance that I'm forgiven. I get this freedom to share my confusions but at the same time this calm sense of guidance and direction. In the secret place is where God's thoughts towards me and what I believe collide and my faith is forged to tackle another day. I can now go about my day recieving rewards that I discovered in my secret place where the Father dwells.

Matt. 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in sceret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"He who fails to pray does not cheat God. He cheats himself."-George Failing
"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."-F.B. Meyer

Inspired by Oswald Chambers devotion: His Utmost for his Highest

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Ten Lies I almost believed about Parenting

Below are ten lies that I almost believed about parenting.
1) I couldn't afford to have children
2) I would be stressed out everyday.
3) That my children will grow up to hate me if I spanked them.
4) That you can't raise children to happily obey the first time.
5) That I had to get a bigger place and new car when the baby was born.
6) That yelling, threatening, and intimidating is the best way to demand compliance.
7) That God's ways for disciplining children are archaic and out of date.
8) That having more that two children is irresponsible.
9) That children desire video games and toys more than you.
10) That young children don't understand what you are telling them.

Some parents have been fed a bill of goods. Parents are limiting their family size, parenting out of fear, and altering they way they discipline all off of lies.

What are some lies you almost believed?


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Lead your heart!

I posted a quote a while back from J. Murphy which said, "Don't just follow your heart - LEAD it. Don't let your feelings & emotions do ALL the driving." A friend posted a great question: "If you are not leading your heart, then who is?"

There are 7 passages of scripture about the heart that we need to explore:

1) 1 John 3:19-21 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. (20) For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. (21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
2) Jeremiah 17:9,10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
3) Psalms 26:2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind.
4) Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
5) Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
6) Psalms 37:30-31 The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. (31) The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
7) Proverbs 3:1-6 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, (2) for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. (3) Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. (4) So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. (5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (6) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Summary

1) God is greater than our hearts. Our hearts which carry feeling and emotions can leave us feeling uneasy and condemned. But during those times we have to remember that GOD is greater than our hearts and therefore we must allow God to lead us.

2) Our hearts left alone are wicked, selfish and decieving. Our hearts need to be surrendered to examination by God to ensure that our ways are pleasing to God. A heart unchecked will naturally default to self serving pursuits. The Lord the creator of our heart must be on board to keep our deceitful hearts in check.

3) God has made provision through the death of his son Jesus Christ to create in us clean hearts and give us new hearts.

4) A heart which has God's word and law written on it is lead by God's word. And we are reassured if we follow God's law none of our steps will slide.

5) If we yield our hearts to trust in the Lord versus following our own understanding on matters our paths will be clear and straight and our steps will not slide. Often our hearts are cluttered with emotions and feelings which if followed can lead us to come to conclusions that are completely false. We must surrender our hearts to be lead by God and God's Word.

Our hearts need to be Lead by God and his word. The Holy Spirit has been given as a gift to all that ask and surrender their lives to Christ. The Holy Spirit is deposited in your heart and will lead your heart when you yield to Him.

A person with a heart that is lead by God has the confidence to be exposed and open to love others freely. A person that follows the emotional undulations of a heart unchecked by God will often protect and preserve their heart leaving it closed and unable to freely love others. Conscious belief in what Jesus did on the cross for us empowers us to make decisions to love others that may not even be loveable.

There are some decisions that FEEL so right but are yet so wrong. That is why the heart needs a regulator and the Holy Spirit has been regulatiing hearts for centuries. God has a unique way of peeling back the onion and getting to the core motive of our decisions. The good news is that God does it with our good in mind so we can completely trust Him. So don't just follow your heart, LEAD it!

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