Topic: Discipline
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:16-18 KJV)
Having a fasting is not easy for anyone to do. It takes a lot of prayers and commitment to do this spiritual journey. Unlike yoga, it helps us to build our relationship with Jesus Christ as well as our inner being. As the Holy Trinity, we also have three instincts for us alive physically—spirit, soul, and body. We need our spirits to function our souls and bodies, but we need build our spirits to connect with God. Paul said in Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
We cannot intercede with God without the Spirit. Remember, when Peter, James and John went to the mountain with Jesus Christ for transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13). After Jesus finished to talk with Moses and Elijah, His three disciples failed to heal a demon-possessed boy (Matthew 17:14-16), because they all failed and slept. They didn’t understand the meaning of His transfiguration.
We just cannot give up on certain food. We need to have the full experience of fasting and prayer as Jesus did at the wilderness. We also need to spend our times with God by praying, praising, and reading His words. Most today Americans said that they are proclaiming to be Christians, but there are few of them can quote Scriptures without looking at the Bible. Again, I say this: We need to put God in our communities, public/private schools, homes, supreme courts, and entertainment industries.
Nowadays, we see that many teenagers are hurting, come from broken-families, or come out from abused condition. When we look at the entertainment industry, MTV and Henry Potter movies are influencing our young people and decided to turn away from God, family members, and friends. Our nation is beginning farther away from God. President Obama is doing anything that would turn this nation far from God.
We need to exercise our spirits in order to fellowship with God and people. We also need to do fasting and prayer to stand firm against Satan. Satan can attack us if we’d decide to invite him to our lives. Satan cannot attack us unless he’d receive permission from us. This is why some America churches are weak, because they didn’t have experienced transfiguration with God. We need fasting and prayer, not because its religious recommendation, but we need our relationship with Him from now and throughout the eternality.
I know most of us would not able to fast and pray for forty days without food, but we could let some of our favorite things go for while and let’s spend our quality time with God. Most of us would have idols in our lives that pull us away from God. Idols don’t have to be made of wood statues, but they can be sport games, food, drinks, spouses, or anything that make in our first priorities in our lives. In 1 John 2:15-17 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Things are not considered as our enemies, but when we’d have fallen in love things more than God, we’d consider ourselves as enemies of God.
Would you like to know Jesus Christ today? I’d like to recommend you to stop things what you are doing for moment and ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and invite Him to your life. If you are Christian and would like to re-vow your commitment to Him, it’s not too late for you to reunite with Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. God wants you to be in His kingdom and live with Him forever, but He cannot force you to be there. You have to choose to go either Heaven or Hell for eternality and there is no other way to spend eternality. Jesus paid your price for you to go Heaven by dying on the cross. Paul said in Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Now, you have choice which life you’d like to live from now to eternality. Hopefully, you have made right choice for your life.
