Day 4

Matt4:1
¹ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. ² For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

The following verses reveal 3 confrontations that Jesus has with Satan who is trying to coax him away from his trust in the Father. The first act of the Spirit in Jesus ministry was to lead Him into the wilderness and expose him to Satan's testings. Under the Spirits leading Jesus prepared for this test by fasting. At this point so much hangs in the balance, if Jesus yields to one of the enemies schemes than the whole plan of salvation for mankind is over, and to think that God led him there. I love what John Piper in his book A Hunger For God says,"Jesus began his ministry with fasting and triumphed over his enemy with fasting and our salvation was accomplished through perseverance and fasting".

Day 3

1 Cor 9:23-27 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

Paul buffets or disciplines his body we tend to buffet ours at Sizzler. We overindulge, we struggle knowing when to stop, we give reasons why but in the end we lack discipline. Fasting reveals the measure of foods mastery over us, or television, or facebook or whatever we submit to again and again to conceal the weakness of our hunger for God. Before we get dominion over spiritual powers that rule over our lives we first need to get dominion over the Angus beef burger!

Proverbs 25:28 Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

Day 2

Job23:12
"I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food".

As we embark on this fast there is a NSW farmer Peter Spencer who has just ended his 52 day hunger strike. Now that's a long time to go without food to get attention and prove a point.
The christian fast isn't a hunger strike, so just going without food is not the goal of these 14 days. As we dethrone whatever we believe God wants us to go without we must replace it with time reading the word of God and drawing closer to Christ, if we don't then we are no different to a farmer on a hunger strike.

Day 1

I have committed to writing everyday that our 14 day fast is on at Elevation. It officially kicks off on Monday but I wanted to get a jump start so I started today.

Day 1

Ps 21:2
You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

What a great scripture to kick off the first day of seeking God. The only question is What does my heart desire? Because if I am going to get it then I must make sure that its going to add to my life. We have created a Fasting Contract which we are handing out this Sunday to get people to commit to the fast but also to list why they are fasting. I want to make sure that my request is one that is pleasing to God. What's the why behind your fast?

Where is your sting?

The world lost a great hero of the faith today with the passing of Ps Neils Brown. Sickness never took him but he decided the leave us and be with Jesus. As I have watched over recent months his health deteriorate I realized that its no wonder that Paul could say, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?". (1 Cor 15:55) In Christ the stinger of death is pulled from our lives and we need to no longer fear. Death is really birth pains of us as Christ followers entering into the adoption that Jesus has planned for us. Neils fought this battle with a deep love for God and a faith in Christ that God was in control Lord help us to do the same.

Plan and Pray

We are into our last 16 days of our preparation for our new church facility and its looking great. Cafe is in, toilets are almost there, sound and lighting in place but the biggest challege is still yet to come. To fit out all of our stadium seating, stage, kids rooms, multi media rooms in 3 days with 25o volunteers. What gives me confidence is the preparation that has gone into this.
When God instructed Joshua to lead Israel across their Jordan he first told them to prepare themselves.
Prayer has been paramount even though at times it is really hard to pray. Prayer doesnt force Gods hand but it keeps us on the look out for His intervention. But just as important is the planning process. Planning and praying are the 2 key strategies in healthy preparation.
Pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers!

The old

Read a fantastic statement today by RT Kendall, "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday".

Luke 5:37
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

I pray we never stop allowing today people to challenge what we do and how we do it. The best ways to reach people , do church, worship God are still yet to be discovered.