Fasting for Spiritual Nourishment

 ²¹Then his servants said to him, "What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but when the child died, you arose and ate food."

 ²²He said, "While the child was still alive, ^(X)I fasted and wept; for I said, '^(Y)Who knows, the LORD may be gracious to me, that the child may live.'

 ²³"But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? ^(Z)I will go to him, but ^(AA)he will not return to me."

2 Samuel 12:21-23

What is this passage saying, that we are to fast only when there's a hope of something happening?  The other example of fasting is in Matthew 9:14-15, where Jesus is questioned about His disciples' lack of fasting.  His response was that there's no reason to fast while Jesus was still with them, only when He leaves is there a reason to fast.  So in this case with David, he fasted in times of intense prayer and seeking God's counsel.  Fasting is a time where we rid ourselves of earthly food and really focus in on the spiritual nourishment from God.

I've only fasted a few times in my life... fewer in prayer.  Why is that?  Do I really believe I don't need these times of spiritual feedings?  Have I really gotten so fat and lazy that I don't greatly desire God's invervention in my life? Fasting has gotten to the point of a community event but we need it to be personal.  Nothing's wrong with doing it with our Christian brothers and sisters but what it comes down to is inviting God's Spirit to really fill us up.

Father God, allow me to hear Your desires in my life.  Search my heart O God, so that I can see my innermost desires and I invite the Holy Spirit to shape, prune and mold it into something glorifying.  It can only be done by Your mighty hand.  Love You, Father God!  Amen!

This Way to Safety

 ¹¹"But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw ^(F)a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes,

 ¹²and he said to him, '^(G)Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless.

 ¹³"Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into ^(H)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

 ¹⁴"For many are ^(I)called, but few are ^(J)chosen.

Matthew 22:11-14

This passage is from the Parable of the Marriage Feast or Wedding Banquet.  What happened here is that the king gave a wedding banquet but none of the invited came.  He invited again but nothing.  Then he decided to go into the streets and invite everyone, good and bad.  But there was a man who wasn't dressed for the occasion and he was thrown out.

What Jesus is explaining here is about the kingdom of heaven.  The Israelites, God's chosen people, here called initially but their hearts were more for their own laws and traditions than to please God.  Many repeated attempts to call them back failed so God opened up heaven to all, the Gentiles.  

But just because all are called, doesn't mean that all will get in.  The example Jesus made in this parable was that this man wasn't dressed in wedding clothes.  Yes he was invited but he didn't come with the proper attire.  This is the same with our invitation to salvation.  All we need to do is accept this holy gift and be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb... come dressed with holy white garments!  This doesn't mean we have to be perfect, without sin.  It means we need to accept we are sinners in need of the Savior, Jesus.  Putting on wedding attire means to choose who we want to be.

I'm so thankful we've all been invited to God's heavenly banquet.  And just like preparing for a worldly banquet that everyone's invited to I need to do what I can to urge everyone to go.  That feeling of close friends and family refusing to go for various reasons... too tired, busy, don't like this person, costs too much, don't want to break out of my routine... can't stop us from accepting this invitation.  If each person knew that this banquet hall was the only safe place on this planet, would they come?  If the world started crashing down and the only safe place was this huge reception hall, would people come?  Yes, absolutely!  The problem is that people don't realize that this is the safe place, the place where a Mighty God will protect and bless.  I need to have this sense of urgency every time I pray, invite, serve others to show them The Way.

Father God, thank You for showing me the way into Your kingdom.  Lord, You've shown us all.  How do I gain this urgency to usher Your lost sheep to Your throne?  That same drive that makes me uncomfortable every time I'm late, or even anxious when I'm anticipating something; that level of urgency needs to be poured into each life You've asked me to steward.  Lord, help me see as You do knowing that the end is near and that You are the way.  Love You, Abba Father!  Amen!

Fruitless Christians

19Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.


20Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?"


21And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea, ' it will happen.


Matthew 21:19-21

When Jesus passed by the fig tree, He expected to find fruit. I don't remember all the details about fig trees but I think once they have the appearance of giving fruit (leaves fully grown) the figs should already be there. In this case they were not. This is just like Christians. We may have the appearance of disciples but what we are is just fluff, a Pharisee.

There seems to be two points here: fruitfulness and faith. We just spoke about being fruitless Christians. It's kind of like a car that doesn't drive, or lamp that doesn't illuminate; what good is it? It's useless for what the Creator designed it for.

The other part that Jesus talks of is faith. I find it interesting that He mentions it here because the message about fruitless followers seems big enough to digest. At this moment the disciples are asking about how this happened (withered fig trees) and the focus turned towards faith. He even talks about being able to move mountains with faith.

When I try to connect the two areas, I starting wondering if faith was the subject and the fruitless fig tree was the platform, the chosen backdrop to make an example. This is like healing and forgiveness was the point in the blind sinner. Faith will reveal the status of our fruitful or fruitless hearts.

Does my faith move mountains or does it wither like the fig tree? In my head I would say i'm somewhere in the middle. But really, is there such a thing? I would consider this to be lukewarm and this is repulsive to God.

What are some practical steps to moving mountains? Really getting into His word is needed. A devoted, Spirit-led prayer life is definitely needed. But in James it talks about deeds, without it faith is dead. I need to get out there and excercize my faith. It's like a muscle that I never use, it gets weaker and weak to the point of atrophe.

Father God, thank You for pouring Your Spirit into all of Your children. Help me to lean on You entirely by faith. This is something I'm definitely not accustomed to but I want to. That's why I have a hard time waiting for a baby, I lean towards doing it my way instead of Yours. Thank You for blessing me with a faithful wife that I learn from daily. Too long I've relied on my own mechanisms and I need to give that up for Yours. In the precious name of Christ Jesus I pray, amen!

Location:Kahaikahai Pl,Mililani,United States

Passivity Fails Miracles

30And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"


31The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"


32And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"


33They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened."


34Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.


Matthew 20:30-34


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