"True Fasting"
Psalm 102:1-11
1 Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food.
5 Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears
10 because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
Note: He is so consumed with crying out to God that he forgot to eat.
Point #1: False Fasting
Isaiah 58
1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and 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 am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 29:13-14 (The condition of Judah spiritually)
13 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
Note: (Verse 2) They only seem eager to know God. (Verse 4) Improper fasting will be IGNORED!! (Verse 7) The food you don't eat should go to the poor.
Point #2: Freedom in Fasting
Note: (Verse 8-10) There is a transformation through fasting. (Verse 12) Repair old relationships that have been broken. Become a refresher, rebuilder, and restorer.
What to fast about:
- Relationship with God
- Personal Fruitfulness (Growth, Faith, Outreach)
- Family
- Friends & Co-Workers
- Church Unity
Fasting is a powerful spiritual tool that I need to add to my aresonal again. In church, it was asked who all had fasted within the last year to raise their hand. I was not able to raise my hand. There is so much that I need to fast for, friends, family, Kip McKean, to name a few. I am going to make it a point to fast. I am so sad right now with what is going on with Kip, I feel my soul is weaping and my heart aches. I think this is an appropriate time to begin fasting. Johnny Out.
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Good morning brothers, how is everyone this morning? I am doing great and I am fired up to be alive. I had a great weekend, it started off kind of bad but God worked it out ny the end of Saturday. Jessica and I got into a little dispute. The cause of the dispute was my pride and arrogance and not seeking advice before I did something. God is awesome and I thank God for a Godly girlfriend everyday. We had a great time yesterday joining the North for worship and hanging with people that I do not see every Sunday anymore. It was a great message on Baptism, something that I am trying to share with someone who means a lot to me. It is a highly disputed topic but I like to get deeper into the word to find the truth. Great news as well, Jessica and I started back up reading the word together and praying more consitantly. We are going to read the whole New Testament together. We read Matthew 1,2,3,4 last night. It was so awesome to get into the word with her and hear her input and to see things that I had not seen and share things that I have learned as well. I really think that God is moving in an awesome direction in my life and in the life of so many of you as well. I would just like to encourage all of you and let you know how much you all mean to me and imagine how much more God, your Father in heaven loves you!!! I love you all and I pray that all of you has a great day. God bless.
Joseph
On Pentecost three thousand turned to Christ and formed the first church of the Lord on earth, according to Acts chapter two.
Just what led these Jews "from every nation under heaven," who had been disciples of Moses and keepers of the law, to seek salvation from Christ? What influence came to bear upon their hearts that brought about this conversion?
These men were first of all, religious men. Many of these present at the feast were acquainted with Jesus, and had seen Him perform miracles (v.22). At His trial they had cried "Crucify Him" ... His blood be on us and our children." Some had seen Him scourged, mocked, spat upon, and nailed to a cross. For hours they had watched Him writhe in agonizing pain and endure the taunts of those that passed by. They had heard His voice pierce the awful midday darkness and ask why His Father had forsaken Him. They had heard Him Cry, "...into thy hands I commend my spirit," and then had felt the earth beneath them tremble and quake.
So on Pentecost the apostles were not speaking to persons who had never seen or heard about Christ.
Peter`s sermon is a gem of unusual brilliance, glittering with brevity, simplicity of arrangement and power of overwhelming logic. He first explain the meaning of the speaking in tongues (languages) as a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. He launched into the body of his sermon, taking as his text "Jesus of Nazareth." With great clarity and power he moved from his introduction to his conclusion.
First, Peter said. Jesus` claim to Sonship had been approved of God by
God`s giving Him power to work mighty works and wonders and signs in the midst of them, even as they themselves knew.
Again he said, Jesus had been delivered up according to God`s
"determinate counsel and foreknowledge."
Third, he whom God had approved and whom God had foreordained to be
delivered up to death, the Jews by the hand of lawless men had slain,
said Peter.
The next point is, "whom God raised up", Peter brought as his proof of Christ`s resurrection the testimony of King David and of the twelve apostles (vv. 24-32)
Peter then declared that God had exalted Jesus to God`s right hand,
where he is to rule till all His enemies have been subdued.
Having, by the Spirit, so clearly and powerfully laid before them these great truths, Peter calls upon them that believe with great confidence in Jesus, as Lord and Christ.
"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (v.37 They now believed in Jesus as God`s Son. They are now convinced that they have crucified their Lord and savior, and wanted to submit, turn to Him for salvation. And in answer to their question, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ...Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (vv.38,41).
This summarizes the turning of the three thousand to Christ, and
demonstrated what sinners must do to turn to Christ.
Greetings!
I pray this letter finds you well and walking with the Lord. It has nearly been a month now since we left Tel Aviv, Israel, and I thought it time to update you on all that has been transpiring. The church in Tel Aviv is doing well under the leadership group led by Yacov and Natasha. Some fantastic things have occurred since we left--the newest baptized brother has found a friend at his work that he has been reaching out to that turned out to be a former Church of Christ member (that's a rare find in the Middle East!). A disconnected sister has come back to the meetings and is even encouraging another who was weak. The fellowship continues to meet in Yacov's house, worshipping God and seeking His direction. We are so proud of the Tel Aviv group and miss them already. We are confident that God will continue to do great things through them as they dream and plan for the future of God's movement in their city. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are doing great, too. After the conference that was held there during the month of July, many studies were added to the church and they had their first married lady get baptized as a result. God is good....I have attached Aziz's letter at the bottom of this one for more of an update of what is going on there.
Davene and I are doing well. Our family has been enjoying the last few weeks staying in California with my mom and sister and other family members while visiting the disciples here. I have had the privilege to speak in a few of the services and share some of the things God has done for us during our time in Israel. It surely has been interesting being back here in the States....there have been blessings and surprises....some surprises a bit confusing and hurtful to watch. We now realize we were a bit sheltered in the Middle East from some of the division, unforgiveness, bitterness, and confusion that has been attacking the brothers and sisters here in the US. God is faithful though, and I feel He has set us a perfect example in Christ of how to react (or not react in such times). I will share a bit of what He has been teaching us.
When Jesus chose his disciples, he chose a diverse bunch. For example, Matthew, also known as Levi, was a tax collector, and thus fit nicely with the sect of Jews called the Herodians, but he also chose Simon, the Zealot, who according to Josephus, was part of a group strictly opposed to the Herodians.
(Matthew 10:2-4)
2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Only Jesus, in his supreme wisdom, knew how to gather followers from groups that were nearly opposites of one another. The Zealots were those who were violently opposed to the control or influence of the Roman rule, even to the point of organizing a group of men called the Sicarii (named after the blade they secretly hid in their cloaks that was pulled out to slay unsuspecting Roman soldiers when they were found alone.) The Zealots felt that any surrender to Rome was disobedient to the Theocratic government that God had chosen for the Jews. The Herodians, on the other hand, were those who submitted to Roman rule, feeling that their disobedience to God had led the nation under foreign control as a form of punishment from God and that the bondage of such rule would not be relieved until the Messiah came.
Two very different opinions, yet Jesus chose men from both sides. How did he do it without taking a side? The Pharisees saw this apparent "flaw" of opposing sides in the men that Jesus had chosen for the 12 and sought to trap him by getting him to show favoritism to one side's view over the other. Consider this passage in Matthew 22:15-22
15Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
18But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
21"Caesar's," they replied.
Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."
22When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
The dark side tried hard that day to divide Jesus and his disciples...to get them to fall prey to arguing sides, splitting his followers down the middle with issues that, for Jesus, only distracted from winning the lost.
This is something God showed me a long time ago when I was being prepared for my time in Israel by a brother who once lived there and knew that the land was full of divisive sides and opinions even unto this day. He warned to be wary of laying down lines that would divide souls that could be saved otherwise. I never realized that that advice would not be just applicable in the middle of the Israeli conflict, but also applicable among my brothers and sisters here in the US. There is a higher road, one that Jesus found, that is above slinging slander with words that will only be regretted. A road that if we look into the Gospels, Jesus often had to travel by....so many questions Jesus refused to answer because he did not want to be entrapped by party lines that would limit his outreach. A dying world is bleeding out there, and we are distracted with our internal quarrels instead of rescuing the lost.
As Jesus asked Peter so long ago..."Do you love me?"....."Then feed my sheep!"
The sheep starve while the shepherds argue. God made Himself clear long ago in Ezekiel 34 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.
As hard as we may let our carnal man try, we will not be able to take away God's role in being Judge. So, why try? We have work to do! Let's stop being distracted and get busy!
With all my love and utmost prayers,
Jeff
Dear Brethren,
I just wanted to take a moment to say that I do read your posts, at least most of the time, and times I do not I try to scan for things that catch my eyes at the moment for further study to save for later.
I know that we all need encouragement from time to time.
Keep studying and sharing. You never know whose heart will be touched.
Joe
yeah we definately need to pray for kip. thanks for sharing this.
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