Month: November 2014

As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
Acts 13:2-3

In our passage above, we see fasting mentioned twice. It would seem these ministers of the gospel in Antioch were seeking direction from the Lord, and as they continued faithfully in serving and fasting, God revealed His will. But the fasting didn’t stop there. Once they understood the direction of the Spirit, they realized the weight of the task to which He was calling Barnabas and Saul, and so they fasted and prayed some more before sending them away. Given the importance of fasting in this passage, I think it would be worth our while to see what Scripture has to say further on this topic.

Fasting shows our need and dependency on God alone. It flows out of a desire to know Him above all else. It declares that our strength is not in natural bread to sustain the body but rather in the God that gives it. Remember Christ’s statement to Satan when tempted to turn bread to stone? Our Lord had been fasting for forty days and was hungry, yet even when in great physical need, His response was, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Mat 4:4)

Anna was a woman who exhibited daily this hunger for God. She had been without a husband to provide for her for decades. Her pattern of life showed complete dependence on her heavenly Father as she served Him “with fastings and prayers night and day.” (Luk 2:37) She was greatly rewarded for her diligence as one day she entered the temple and came face to face with her infant Lord! (v. 38) One thing this text highlights when it describes her as fasting “night and day” for many years is that fasting does not necessarily mean to go entirely without food. As Daniel fasted for three weeks, he described it in this manner: “I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” (Dan 10:3) Fasting therefore is denying yourself the things that might please the natural man in order to seek the Lord without distraction.

Fasting is most often associated with mourning in the Scripture. When Saul and Jonathan died, the people mourned and fasted in 2Sa 1:12. When John’s disciples asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t fast like they and the Pharisees did, Christ responded, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Fasting then is often prompted by a sense of separation from God, and that is especially true when the separation is due to sin. We see passages similar to Dan 9:3-5 frequently in God’s word where men are fasting as they repent and seek forgiveness and deliverance: “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, ‘O Lord…we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.'”

There are many accounts where we see prayers answered that were accompanied with fasting, but we must also understand that fasting in and of itself is not the key. We’re not assured that we will get our way when we pray to God while fasting. It’s not a means of twisting God’s arm to bend Him to our will. God has never moved simply by our outward actions. He looks on the heart! (1Sa 16:7) Jesus gives the following instruction regarding the private nature of fasting in Mat 6:16-18: “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” A fast acceptable to God is accompanied by humility and obedience, both of which He’d rather see than men afflicting their natural bodies by denying themselves food! (Isa 58:1-10)

Jamie

“…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14

The above verse has been on my mind a lot since going to the polls last Tuesday. In this particular text, the Lord is giving Solomon instruction as to how the people should respond when under God’s judgment. This text applies so well to us today. It expresses the only hope in a day of such darkness. The answer is not in getting enough people to vote a particular way. Voting is the least we can do. Our power is really in obedience to our text today, so let’s break this verse down.

“if My people who are called by My name”
If we want real change for good, it’s not going to be accomplished by the politicians. It doesn’t come by controlling the masses. The key lies with those who call themselves by the name of the one true God. The church has the hope for humanity. Brethren, change starts with us. We have to quit pointing our fingers at everyone else. It must begin with those of us who call ourselves by the name of Christ.

“will humble themselves”
Unless we abandon our pride, we will not improve the condition of things. I was so disappointed after 9/11 to see bumper stickers pushing “The Power of Pride” on one side of the vehicle and “God Bless America” on the other. We should have been humbled after that attack! It is not a prideful people who God will hear. According to Isa 57:15, God dwells “in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

“and pray and seek My face”
What can one vote do? Don’t you feel small and insignificant when you leave the polls? But answer this question: what can one prayer do?!! Elijah was a man, one single man, who James says was no different in his humanity than we are.  But he prayed one prayer to God, and there was no rain in the land for three and a half years! One child cried out to his heavenly Father, and great change took place. Why would we look anywhere else for help? “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (Jam 5:16)

“and turn from their wicked ways”
In that same verse in James which speaks of the power of one righteous man’s prayer, we are reminded that sin must be abandoned. Jam 5:16 begins with the words, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” The biblical word for turning from sin is repentance, but sadly the message of repentance is missing from many pulpits today. There will be no healing apart from repentance. The first instruction out of Peter’s mouth on Pentecost when his hearers were made conscious of their sin was, “Repent!” (Act 2:38) Sinners need to repent, and that repentance isn’t a one-time thing because we didn’t cease to sin even after salvation. Just listen to 1Jo 1:8-9: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

“then I will hear from heaven”
What a promise–to be heard! And, not by just anyone, but by God Almighty!! Remember where our God resides. People who have the ear of the man sitting in the White House think they have power, but the church has the ear of the One who dwells in heaven! I’m amazed at the energy that even professing Christians will give to political causes while to spend thirty minutes in prayer to God would seem excessive to them. Have we forgotten Pro 21:1? “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Our God rules over all. He is the King of all kings. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)

“and will forgive their sin and heal their land”
Our land is sick, brethren. The solution lies with those who call themselves by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the church who holds the key. If change for the better comes, it will not be because we rallied together behind some political candidate or cause. It will come because we examined our own hearts and realized that sin has found its way into our churches. We’ve studied the book of Acts for many months now. My burden for studying this book when we began our journey was that we might see what the church is supposed to be and understand we’re a far cry from it today. Oh, may those of us called by His worthy name humble ourselves, pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways! God will keep His promise to hear, forgive, and heal if we do.

Jamie

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.
Deuteronomy 10:17

As we wrapped up our study of Acts 9-12 last week, our minds were taken back again to Act 10:34-35 where, after his vision and encounter with a Gentile named Cornelius, Peter exclaimed, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” Our text today adds a little more to that thought.  God is impartial AND takes no bribes!  This statement seems fitting for us to consider with it being election time.  We’ve become a bit disillusioned with our politicians today because many have failed at this very point.  Far too often, the stance they take turns out to be based on what they can personally gain from that cause.  Our disillusionment with man though should simply cause us look to and seek the One Who alone is our hope–our God who never has nor ever will show partiality or take a bribe!

Certainly, this characteristic of God should encourage His people, but 2Ch 19:6-7 reminds us that it should also prompt something else in the hearts of men.  Here, King Jehoshaphat is speaking to the judges he has established.  Oh that our judges would heed the same warning!  He instructs them to, “Take heed to what you are doing, for you do not judge for man but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.  Now therefore, let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.”  An awareness that God is impartial and His favor cannot be bought should cause men to fear before Him!  We have seen case after case where the rich and famous seem to think they are above the law.  What makes them so bold and unfearful of the consequences of their actions?  Often, it’s because they think there’s always someone who can be bought!  In their minds, the solution is always to throw enough money at the problem, and it will go away.  But listen to what Psa 49:6-8 has to say regarding eternal judgment for sin: “Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of their souls is costly…”

There is only one payment for sin, and there’s not enough gold and silver in the world to match it.  Just listen to how 1Pe 1:17-19 ties all these thoughts together: “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”  There is no payment for sin, no redemption (i.e. a ransom to God for our souls), except in Jesus Christ.  God shows no partiality. (Rom 2:11) No one can pay Him off to slip in some back door.  Jesus is the only Way to the Father!  Whatever privilege we may have been born to in this life, we our all bankrupt in our sin. (Rom 3:23) The debt is too great.  Only through faith in Christ are we set free.  We stand righteous before this holy God, trusting in nothing that we have to offer, trusting in no works that we have done, but simply believing in Christ as our acceptance before Him.  “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.  Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” (Rom 3:28-30) The old hymn writer had it right: “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling…”

Jamie