From: "Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God" To: Subject: Sanctify a fast Date: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 11:11 AM Dear CHRISTIAN Friends: Greetings in the name of the ONLY wise God and Saviour Jesus Christ. ********FASTING************* As some of you may know, I fast at least once a week ( http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/fasting.htm ). I do it because I need help of God and I must keep under my body and bring it into subjection. About a year and a half ago, I thought to myself, "I'm not going to fast next week." Well, I ended up not going to church that Sunday but when my husband came home he told me that this lady I had met one time at a funeral came to church and asked him to tell me to fast two days that week for her son! I had to smile because the Lord was letting me know that the regular fast was needful. I need POWER to live for Jesus and fasting is one discipline in the believer's arsenal. You can't even cast out certain devils without prayer AND FASTING (Matthew 17:21). You can't wait until that foul spirit comes up on you and then start fasting. You have to ALREADY have power. Thank you Jesus for my King James Bible. The NIV, et al. take out "fasting and prayer". The Lord Jesus said His followers would fast-- Luke 5:35 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then SHALL they fast in those days. **********SANCTIFY A FAST********** In my prayer closet, it came into my mind to do a ten day fast. I usually fast one or two days. The flesh did not necessarily want to think about ten days and I hedged. But I started thinking, "I say I want victory and power...do I want it enough to go without food for ten days?" The answer came back a resounding "Yes!" and now I am looking forward to it. A phrase kept coming to my mind, "He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin." I was finishing up I Peter the other night and saw that this is where that phrase came from-- I Peter 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: FOR HE THAT HATH SUFFERED IN THE FLESH HATH CEASED FROM SIN; 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, BUT TO THE WILL OF GOD. When you put your flesh down, when you suffer for Jesus' sake, you get stronger. I am accustomed to saying "No," to the flesh through fasting and that same ability to say "No," carries over to any sin or temptation that comes my way. Hebrews 2:10 says that the Lord Jesus was made PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS. Everyone cannot understand what I am saying. I'm not telling you to become a papist and get yourself a flagellation whip. The Bible doesn't tell you to do that and we know that according to II Timothy 2:5 that a man is NOT crowned except he strive LAWFULLY (in accordance with the word of God). But he that hath an ear to hear, LET HIM HEAR. **********A TWO-FOLD CORD********** I mentioned the fast to my sister-in-law at our weekly Bible study and a few days later she said she wanted to do it too. We want to keep going further into the holy place where the Lord is. To me, it is time for some Elijah type faith and exploits. Forget about "the Crystal Cathedral", TBN, church financial seminars, fried chicken and lazy days. I feel like a salmon. The salmon is a fish that will go upstream, jump up waterfalls, swim over rocks, go past hungry bears, etc. to get back to its birthplace so that it can lay its eggs. It will endure all type of hardship to get to its goal. God made it that way so we can learn from it. In the name of Jesus, I'll go against all that is of the world (including the apostasized church) in order to get to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. I want to know as much about the Lord as I can right now. Jesus is my focus, not the hellivision, newspaper, the ball game or any such strange thing. Some amazing things have been happening to me since November of 1999 and the journey continues. Anyone that hath an ear to hear, is invited to join this fast if they feel the Lord calling them to it. We'll begin on April 25, 2002 (if the Lord will, I'll be alive and able). For those that will consider this fast, talk to Jesus about it. The Lord takes vows very seriously and it is BETTER not to vow than to vow and not pay. If you are going to fast, go for it, if you are shaky, don't do it. Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in FOOLS: PAY that which thou hast vowed. 5:5 BETTER is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? *******WHY DO YOU GIVE UP THE CHOW?********** A fast is not about absence of food, but about presenting yourself to the Lord in leanness of soul. You testify that your god is not in your belly. Out of weakness you are looking for power. Please see http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/fasting.htm for why I fast. For this upcoming fast, I've made a list of things that I desire of the Lord and that I want Him to remember during this fast. Not least of all is that the King would revive His people in the midst of the years. The institutional church looks almost nothing like the book of Acts. Jeremiah 2:21 Yet I HAD PLANTED THEE A NOBLE VINE, WHOLLY A RIGHT SEED: HOW THEN ART THOU TURNED INTO THE DEGENERATE PLANT OF A STRANGE VINE UNTO ME? People want to be saved, Jesus said the fields are white unto the harvest, but if they go into most churches what will they find? A few jokes, game nights, Christmas cantatas? Will they find Jesus? The POWER of the Lord to witness of Him? I shall pray to the Lord about this grievous situation. I will pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into His harvest. I am fasting for this. I also pray that the Lord will save. I pray that the Lord will strengthen His people and open their eyes to any deceptions they are involved in. I pray that we would magnify His name and doctrine. I am also asking for victory and knowledge in my own life so that I can be a better handmaiden of the Lord. I am talking about things like governing the tongue, UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF SUBJECTION, understanding the dynamics of God's workings, exchanging sweet words with the Lord, having my praise perfected, etc. I am sure there are many other things I shall pray and fast for, but these are examples. ***** "I'm just resting." ****** Every once in a while, I'll get an email from somebody saying "I'm just resting." That says to me that person is lazy. Jesus said just the opposite in Luke 13:24, "STRIVE to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." People are playing and the antinomians are out in full force spreading their false gospel that Jesus will be your Saviour without being your Lord. When a person is "converted" under such a false gospel, they think you are a heretick when you say, "I love the Lord and I love working His works". They'll tell you that you are working for your salvation. Salvation is a free gift, but hallelujah, if a person has really been saved it makes a difference in your life. Not to mention you will work it out because the Bible says to do so (Phil 2:12). When you are saved, you become a new creature, your whole outlook is different. Those that don't know this need to read Romans in its entirety to understand salvation and chapters 6, 7, and 8 to see the fruits of it. Serving the Lord is a pleasure and a thing greatly desired and sought after by those that love Him. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and He is the one that moves me to do the works--and I like it. The more I talk about Jesus, the more I like it. All this is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in my eyes. What I am is not by man's power nor is it by man's might, but it is by the Spirit of the Lord. Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, NOT BY MIGHT, NOR BY POWER, BUT BY MY SPIRIT, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS. 4:7 WHO ART THOU, O GREAT MOUNTAIN? BEFORE ZERUBBABEL THOU SHALT BECOME A PLAIN... *********CONCLUSION*********** Perhaps this goes without saying, but this invitation to this fast is extended TO THOSE WHO CAN HEAR. I am talking saved grown ups that KNOW the Lord. If you have health problems, no faith, pregnant, etc. I am not compelling you (or anyone for that matter) to fast. This is what the Lord is leading me to do and I am sharing if peradventure this bears witness with someone else WHO CAN HEAR. I'll close with a word from Joel chapter 2 on sanctifying a fast-- Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and WITH FASTING, and with weeping, and with mourning: 2:13 And REND YOUR HEART, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, AND LEAVE A BLESSING BEHIND HIM; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God? 2:15 BLOW THE TRUMPET IN ZION, SANCTIFY A FAST, CALL A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY: 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, AND LET THEM SAY, SPARE THY PEOPLE, O LORD, AND GIVE NOT THINE HERITAGE TO REPROACH, THAT THE HEATHEN SHOULD RULE OVER THEM: WHEREFORE SHOULD THEY SAY AMONG THE PEOPLE, WHERE IS THEIR GOD? 2:18 THEN WILL THE LORD BE JEALOUS FOR HIS LAND, AND PITY HIS PEOPLE. 2:19 Yea, THE LORD WILL ANSWER and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: great things. 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and HE WILL CAUSE TO COME DOWN FOR YOU THE RAIN, THE FORMER RAIN, AND THE LATTER RAIN in the first month. 2:24 And the floors shall be FULL of wheat, and the vats shall OVERFLOW with wine and oil. 2:25 AND I WILL RESTORE to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 2:26 AND YE SHALL EAT IN PLENTY, AND BE SATISFIED, AND PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, THAT HATH DEALT WONDROUSLY WITH YOU: AND MY PEOPLE SHALL **NEVER** BE ASHAMED. 2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. for Jesus' sake, tracy -- http://www.jesus-is-lord.com ...I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Ezekiel 2:4, 6 ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: tracy@jesus-is-lord.com EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84whs.a9jehS Or send an email to: jesus-is-lord-unsubscribe@topica.com T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================