21 Days of Fasting/Alignment

21 Days of Fasting/Alignment

January 2014

We are encouraging our First Baptist family to set aside January 6-27th as a special season of fasting, prayer and alignment with the mind of Christ.  

Why fast?

·         Putting God first by offering the first part of our year to Him in a special way.      

·         Denying the flesh in order to get it to “shut up” so that we can hear from God.

·         Jesus’ example and expectation (see Matthew 6)

·         Highlight His work in our lives

Fasting could be called the italics of the spiritual life; it adds emphasis to other activities we may already be pursuing, such as prayer or repentance or discerning God’s purpose for us.  It brings a sense of urgency and earnestness to anything else we are undertaking   Douglass Rumford

Example: We will be focusing specifically on renewing our minds, loving the Lord with all of our minds, during the month of January.  Fasting could be a highlighter, a tool to help us break free of unhealthy patterns and grow the mind of Christ. 

Options for fasting:

·         Alternate day fasting (fast every other day)

·         Sunrise to Sunset

·         Restricted calorie

·         Fasting something that we crave

·         Water only for a limited time

·         Water and juice for a limited time

·         Fruits and vegetables only (add nuts?)

·         Skip breakfast and/or lunch

·         Mix and match the above

·         Other—Fast something besides food for periods of time.  Perhaps certain types of media or other activities that will free your time and your mind to focus on the Lord. 

How to plan your fast - Two questions to ask:

·         What puts God first?

·         What works for you?

Pre-fast planning:  (Planning frees time during the fast for spending with God.)

·         Decide what you’re going to try and plan meals, recipes, etc.

·         Shop to get what you will need that you don’t have.

·         Re-prioritize/re-order your schedule.

·         Decide what you are willing to surrender (before that, consider what God might want you to surrender).

Take into consideration any medical restrictions or needs.  If you should eat, please eat.  If you have a question, please consult your doctor before starting a fast.

Ideas for Prayer:

·         Prayer Pact

Covenant with one or two others to pray daily for the church and for something that you and your prayer partners desire.  Let your partners know that you have prayed that day in some simple way.

·         Individual prayer time.  See insert entitled “Make Up Your Mind” for a suggested focus. 

·         Corporate Prayer

                        Times:  Tuesday evenings at 7:30 in the sanctuary

                                    Wednesday mornings at 6:15 in the sanctuary

                                    Prayer times in your small groups and/or Bible studies, etc.

Look for announcements of any special prayer times

Fasting/Prayer Calendar

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
	1/6 begin	7:30 PM prayer	6:15 AM prayer
		7:30 PM prayer	6:15 AM prayer
		7:30 PM prayer	6:15 AM prayer
1/26 last day

Add your own ideas/events/plans.

Day 5 Reflection

Day 5

Reflection

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.                                         Galatians 2:20

²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it                                                           Luke 9:23-24

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on these passages, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Day 4

Turn Your Home, Workplace, School into a Temple

                                                               John Brydon

     O.k., I’m going to cheat.  I gave some thought to what I wanted to say in this devotional.  I prayed about it a bit. I did some research.  In my research I came across a devotional by Charles Spurgeon.  He said what I wanted to say, but said it much better (and probably shorter, too).  So, I’m going to let you read what Spurgeon wrote.

     First, I’d like you to note something.  Claudia wrote a devotional titled “Drawing Closer to God While Scrubbing Toilets” (Week 7, Day 4) in connection with the “Love the Lord with all your heart” section.  It fit there and it would fit here.  What applied beautifully to “Love the Lord with all your heart” also would apply beautifully to “Love the Lord with all your strength”.   It’s pretty obvious that I’m not given the option of picking and choosing what I like or what makes me comfortable when it comes to loving God.  I am to do my best, holding nothing back, when it comes to loving the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and loving others as I love myself.

     Now, for the really good devotional, as it appears in Morning & Evening, a collection of devotionals written by Charles Spurgeon and published by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.  This was given to me by a good friend; I frequently read one just before going to sleep.  I recommend it, if you want a peaceful night’s sleep.

          “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”  Colossians 3:17

           “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”  I Corinthians 10:31

            “Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…”  To what choice order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who proudly boast a right divine? Ah, no! too often do they serve themselves or Satan, and forget the God whose sufferance permits them to wear their mimic majesty for their little hour. Speaks then the apostle to those so-called “right reverend fathers in God,” the bishops, or “the venerable the archdeacons”?  No, indeed, Paul knew nothing of these mere inventions of man.  Not even to pastors and teachers, or to the wealthy and esteemed among believers, was this word spoken, but to servants, ay, and to slaves.  Among the toiling multitudes, the journeymen, the day labourers, the domestic servants, the drudges of the kitchen, the apostle found, as we find still, some of the Lord’s chosen, and to them he says, “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”  This saying ennobles the weary routine of earthly employments, and sheds a halo around the most humble occupations.  To wash feet may be servile, but to wash His feet is royal work.  To unloose the shoe-latchet is poor employ, but to unloose the great Master’s shoe is a princely privilege.  The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy become temples when men and women do all to the glory of God!  Then “divine service” is not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but all life becomes holiness unto the Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its golden candlestick.”

          “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.  If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power forever and ever.  Amen.” I Peter 4:11

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Day 3

Serving God with all your Strength

Living out your calling

                Have you ever been at a retreat or heard a special speaker and were told to stand or raise your hand if you feel that God has called you to be a missionary?  Did you feel that call or did you feel disappointed that God spoke to your friend and not to you? 

Or did you sit there, hoping that God wouldn’t speak to you since you knew that life wasn’t for you?  Substitute pastor or evangelist or music leader or some other professional ministry position for missionary.  Did you feel left out but still relieved that you hadn’t been picked?

                Have you ever been at a retreat or heard a special speaker and were told to stand or raise your hand if you feel that God has called you to be a farmer, doctor, laborer, grocer, etc.?  Never happened?  What if it did?  What do you feel God has called you to be?  In what way has he called you to serve Him?

                Listen to how John the Baptist responded to questions from people in a couple of professions:

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”  Luke 3:12-14

            Are you surprised that he didn’t tell them to quit their jobs?  What did he ask of them?  To be honest and to be good tax collectors or soldiers, even though those were hated occupations.

            Did you ever wonder what would happen if everyone was professional clergy?  This passage concerns different functions in the church. 

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  1 Corinthians 12:15-26

What if we paraphrased this passage?  “Welches cannot say to the grape farmer, “I don’t need you!”  And the teacher can’t say to the tax collector, “I don’t need you!”  And the banker can’t say, “Because I’m not a pastor, I do not belong to the body.”  Just think how impoverished the world would be without musicians and mechanics, lawyers and laborers, farmers and firemen.

What if you were already established in an occupation when you came to Christ?

Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.                            1 Corinthians 7:21-24

                        This passage seems to indicate both that you are ok if you don’t change and peachy if God calls you to something else.  Either way, the following passage directs us to love God with all our hearts, in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.              Colossians 3:23-24

                        This is a call to excellence in everything.  Let’s be satisfied with nothing less.

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Day 2

Loving the Lord with all our strength – engagement

Loving the Lord with all our strength means that our lives are fully engaged into loving the Lord.   

Think about where you give your most energy and effort and attention…undoubtedly vocation, school, family, are what come to your mind.  To learn how to love the Lord through these places of greatest engagement of your time and energy and heart is a key to loving the Lord with all your strength.  The Apostle Paul confirms this, right before going into a passage that specifically addresses family and vocation:

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.                  Colossians 3:17

So the key question is “How do I live my life in Jesus’ Name?”  Let’s make it specific: What would it be like to…

Wake up

Eat

Drive

Ride the bus

Greet my spouse/siblings/friends/non-friends

Go to school

Work

Fufill my household duties

Watch television

Engage in my hobbies

Have a social life

Surf the internet

Etc.

…in Jesus’ Name? 

We really don’t need questions for further thought on this devotional.  Simply go back through the above extended question and consider what it would be like to live everyday life in Jesus’ Name.  It might be helpful to think of living in Jesus’ Name as follows:

Am I acting as Jesus’ ambassador, representative, conducting my life in a way that represents Him?

If at the end of a given day I gave Jesus a report of how I drove, worked, talked to my family, etc…would He sign off on it, give His approval?  

Week 10 With All Your Strength

Week 10

With All Your Strength

Day 1

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” 

Let’s review how this breaks down…

Heart -- First-Love 

V  Priority Love

V  Attaching Ourselves to the Lord through…

V  Disciplines of attachment.

Soul -- Pure Love. 

V  Simplicity of Love

V  Detaching ourselves from the world through…

V  Disciplines of attachment

Mind -- True Love 

V  Veracity of love

V  Aligning ourselves with God’s truth through…

V  Disciplines of alignment

Strength -- Full Love 

V  Energy of love

V  Engaging ourselves in God’s service through…

V  Disciplines of engagement

This week we will focus on loving the Lord with all our strength. 

Let’s start by reflecting on a key passage that addresses loving the Lord with all our strength.

²³ Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. ²⁵ For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.     Colossians 3:23-25

What does this passage say about loving the Lord with all our strength? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this passage, write out a prayer to God. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________