Fasting – More than Missing a Meal

A significant number of references to the word “fast” or the word “fasting” in scripture are connected to the concept of humbling oneself before God. How then do I humble myself? Is it by giving up my priorities and agenda for what God deems to be important?

What then is important to the God of the universe? Are any of the following on the list of God’s priorities?
• Doing something about injustice?
• Working against exploitation of people?
• Freedom for oppressed people?
• Helping people to break out of the downward cycle of spiraling debt?
• Finding ways to feed the hungry?
• Should one go so far as to invite a homeless person to stay the night?
• Finding clothing for those who have need?
• Giving priority to one’s family?
• Stopping the gossip and malicious talk about others?
• Giving time rather than just financing to help those who have real needs?

Could it be that fasting involves more than the giving up of some sort of nourishment for the body? Could fasting also involve the giving up of my priorities and pride to serve those less fortunate than myself? Could it be that getting out of my personal comfort zone in order to serve others may be the better way for me to humble myself before God - a fast not of food, but of personal comfort?

Why should I even consider such a path? Realistically I need to understand why this is something I should do – what’s in this for me?

In Isaiah 58: 6-11, the Lord declares the kind of fast that is acceptable to Him – that we prioritize the needs of those less fortunate as well as the needs of those He has given us as family. This passage provides promises for those who undertake the proper fast -
• The light of understanding will turn on.
• Serving others will help to heal the hurts we have.
• Our right standing with God will help to pave the path we are to follow.
• Prayers will be answered.
• God will be with us, helping us to see what we need to see about living life.
• Even in the tough places of life, God will give the strength to be resource to help others.

Are these not the actions and results of a man called Jesus? How about Mother Teresa? How about a lady named Daisy Cox who has devoted her life to the care of those who are very ill? Daisy was caring for my Dad about this time last year in his last few days on this earth. Having read the passage below from Isaiah, I now have a better understanding of how she was able physically, mentally and spiritually to do what she so capably does.

Isaiah 58:6-11 NIV
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.

The Key to God's Treasure

Isaiah 30 (NIV)
15 For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
"In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength."
But you were not willing,…
18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.
19 O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

Isaiah 32
17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace;
the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.

Isaiah 33
5 The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

• God is waiting to have compassion on us and He longs to be gracious to us. 30:18
• To hear from God, we must fear and reverence God and call on Him in repentance. 30:15
• Our key to God’s treasure is the fear of God. 33:6
• He answers after we call on Him. 30:19
• Our salvation comes through repentance and rest in Him. 30:15
• God is the only secure foundation for our time here on earth. 33:6
• People are blessed who long for God. 30:18
• Our strength comes to us in quietness before God and through our trust in Him. 30:15
• The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. 32:17
• May it not be said of us as was said of Israel “But you were not willing” 30:15

Fear Factor

A Gallup Poll conducted in 2005 reveals the most common fears of teenagers in the United States. The top 10 list goes like this: Terrorist attacks, Spiders, Death, Failure, War, Heights, Crime/Violence, Being alone, The future, and Nuclear war. Other common fears include public speaking, going to the dentist, pain, cancer and snakes.

Most of the items listed above have to do with lack of control; however, the word failure brings to mind the fear of not being good enough – not meeting others expectations or our own expectations.

The Message (MSG) Isaiah 8:11-15 “God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said: ‘Don't be like this people, always afraid somebody is plotting against them. Don't fear what they fear. Don't take on their worries. If you're going to worry, worry about The Holy, Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way, The Rock standing in the willful way of both houses of Israel, A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass to the citizens of Jerusalem. Many of them are going to run into that Rock and get their bones broken, Get tangled up in that barbed wire and not get free of it.’"

If one chooses to define failure as the inability to meet the expectations other people, fear of failure is guaranteed to be a constant worry – a worry that is characteristic of the most everyone. If instead my fear, worry and awe are focused on God, He becomes a place of safety in the turmoil of life. The writer of Ecclesiastes indicated that he had tried about everything there was to try in this life and his conclusion as to what was the essence of life could be summed up as follows: Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV) “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

If fear of failure is based upon meeting personal expectations, one can put himself in the position of looking back in time, regretting the poor choices made and blaming others for plotting against him. Another peril of personal expectation is to define goals in life that may seem to be great achievement, work diligently to achieve the goals, and fall just short of what was defined as “success.”

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians indicates that knowing Christ personally as Master is the true definition of success in this life. We will never totally achieve in this life, but we can be assured that the one who perfects our faith is here for us.

Philippians (3: 7-16 The Message) “The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.”

The cure for fear is a well-formed, totally committed love of God.

1 John 4:17-18 (The Message)
“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.”

Lord, help us to love as You love us.

Faith Journey

I've been reading Reaching for the Invisible God: what can we expect to find? by Philip Yancey. The author states in chapter 6 "A record of God's faithfulness in the past combines with hope of a better future for one end: to equip us for the present."


Hebrews 11:1-2 The Message (MSG)
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.


The writer of Hebrews then cites examples of faith through the history of God's people, concluding with verses 39-40 "Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours."


These verses are a reminder that my actions in the present (today) have the potential to become a part of the faith legacy of generations, but only if I place my complete trust in God and live my life on His terms. The difficulty is in the application of the concept.

For some things, the Bible speaks very clearly with regard to a specific course of action I am to take - I am to worship God only and love people. I don't have a problem loving people in general, but there are some specific persons who call themselves Christian that test me in the specifif call to patience and longsuffering. It takes an act of faith to deal with these folks as God would have me do, because I may never see any change in them - but maybe, it's me that God is trying to change!

When people I love experience pain, my natural reaction is to ask God to solve the problem for them. Sometimes He does, but many times the problem does not go away. "If only they could see - if only I could see - how differently God views the earth...God never commissioned us to remove all bad things from the world, to undo the Fall; God calls us to redeem the bad, transforming it into something good." (Reaching for the Invisible God: what can we expect to find? by Philip Yancey)

Wind Chasing

When one stops to reflect on the questions: "Why am I here? What is my purpose?", it is easy to get caught up in the details of life and think that somehow life's purpose is defined by what one accomplishes in life. But when life pulls us up short and we are forced to reflect on life's accomplishments, we may come to the same conclusion as the writer of Ecclesiastes - one's accomplishments are but a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 1
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

So what is my purpose in life? The same writer says in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."

Jesus summed up our responsibility in a similar manner - Love God and love my neighbor. He went on to define neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan as the one who has mercy, concluding with the words "Go and do likewise."

Purpose is found therefore by relationships - a right relationship with God and a right relationship with all the lovable and unlovable humans God created. Can my relationships with others be a reflection of my relationship to God? That's a scary thought!

A Worthy Response

A very dear friend reminded me yesterday that I had been silent lately. Since that time I have been searching for what to say in response to the current state of affairs.
- Getting past the loss of some dear friends and family - trying to understand God's perspective rather than my own
- Praying for what seems to be a growing list of close friends who are undergoing very serious illnesses
- Thankful for the blessings of a dear family and wonderful friends
- Praying for those who are undergoing what could be called undue persecution
- Praying for God's will to be done in the lives of family and friends
- Being reminded through a study of Job that it is okay to question the province of God, but in the final analysis, I must embrace the sovereignty of God.

I have been led today to a passage from Romans (The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)

9 -10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11 -13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14 -16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

17 -19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

20 -21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

Eighteen Days of Questions – One Afternoon of Praise

Eighteen days ago I was asking a question related to a couple of Russian orphans. Here’s what I said then:
“What is my role in seeing that these precious teenagers aren’t condemned to potential death on the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia in a few years when they are too old to remain at the orphanage? I know I can pray and I can tell others about them, but what else should I be doing? Please pray for God to help Dima and Kristina to be adopted and for those God has in mind to be their parents to hear and heed His call.”

I read Psalm 121 tonight and was reminded that God is the source of the help we all need and that He watches over our lives.

Psalm 121:1-4, 7-8 (NIV)
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Some answers to my questions eighteen days ago were answered today. Praise God for answered prayers! To see how God has worked, check out the following:

http://theheinrichhome.blogspot.com/2007/04/praise-god.html