Fasting

Jesus’ disciples did not fast (Mark 2: 18-20), but Jesus said when He departed, they would fast.

Fasting update

My fasting decision has not gone well.  I made it through to dinner last night, but then it came time to make the dinner, and we had a bunch of meat in the refrigerator, so decided to grill some carne asada.  So along with that came everything else, including a couple beers.  

I did learn, however, that I was able to make it through until dinner with only a banana, 2 apples and a few nuts.  I think that part of the realization of fasting is that you don’t need what you think you need.  

My decision to eat last night had nothing to do with my ability or desire… I was fighting against it for a long time… but I was fighting against what [my wife] and [my oldest daughter] would think.  I also was concerned about the lessons that [my middle daughter] would take away from seeing daddy not eat.  I thought about how that might contribute to an eating disorder for her.  

After the let down of dinner, I decided that my fast was going to be a bit different than I originally intended.  I decided that fasting was going to be my way of submitting the Sabbath to God.  I would not eat anything from sun-down on Friday to sun-down on Saturday, in observance of remembering and keeping His Sabbath holy.  Today, I ate pretty normally, until dinner, which I had a banana and some nuts.

The Rock San Diego – 9/21 message – Fasting

• Christianity is not about rules, it’s about Jesus, the person, and your relationship with Him
• In Heaven, the church is married to Jesus – men and women aren’t married together
• The pleasure of the oneness between the bride and the groom on earth is a foreshadow of the pleasure of the oneness between the church (bride) and Jesus (groom) in heaven
• God wants to be one with you, but you have entanglement with the world
• Satan is real – there is evil in this world
• The way people know that you know God is not by what you know, it’s by how you live – that you and Christ are one
• What is fasting – to voluntarily abstain from eating or drinking for an extended period of time
• Why would I voluntarily not eat?  Because I want to be one with God – because your food is in the way of God
• Fasting is intended to separate you from your perceived life support, that you may focus exclusively on the Lord, your actual life support
• Out of all the food that is man-made, none of it is as good for you as what God made
• Fruits are ovaries of plants – they have the seeds in them
• The pulp of an orange regulates the sugar into your blood
• How are seeds so smart???
• When you separate yourself from food, you’re going to realize you have addictions
• When you separate yourself from your addictions, you remove your social crutches, and all you’re left with is Jesus
• The fasting goal is a personal encounter with the living God. “He must increase, and we must decrease” – whatever you remove, God now replaces that
• When you fast, you get to the point where you don’t get hungry any more
• There are some things (afflictions) that only fasting will repair or resolve
• The Devil has you addicted, thinking you need the cycle of food
• For most people, 90% of what they eat is no good for them
• What’s better, eating garbage, or not eating at all?
• #1 – prepare your heart – “God, I want to have an encounter with you”
• You will lose weight, your senses will become more acute, your body detoxes – you may get a little sick or feverish and you may start to smell worse than you do normally (just for a while as you get cleaned out)
• #2 – check your motives – establish spiritual goals
• #3 – prepare your body – fruits and vegetables only for 7-10 days, then drink juices, water, then come off gradually with another period of time with fruits and veggies (can use a little protein powder if you want)
• You could fast from sweets; white flour, white rice, white sugar;
• If you’re a healthy person, your body can do a lot more than you think
• #4 – prepare your schedule – spend time with Him – keep your mind on God
• Hunger pain is way overrated – nothing will happen – they actually start subsiding
• If you don’t need food, what else are you perhaps addicted to?
• Keep your fast a secret – avoid people as much as possible, avoid meals with groups of people, spend as much time alone in prayer as possible, tell your family what you’re doing (I’m not going to eat, please don’t ask me)
• Drugs get you high by telling your body to release drugs you already have in you (dopamine)
• You don’t know what you don’t know until you do it

Fasting

I am now on a 40 day fast – my one and only intent is to experience God in a powerful way that I trust Him to know how to direct.  I have questions, and it would be great to receive answers, but God knows what those questions are, and He will provide the answers according to His timeline.  This fast is my way of subjecting my desires and putting God first, so that I may experience being one with Him in the way He chooses to bless me with.

Day of Atonement

God commands us to fast on the Day of Atonement