Where Are Your Eyes in the Preparation?
We are in the middle of our 21-day fast now. Fifteen churches are joining together around the city. It’s so powerful.
Keep focused. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don’t allow the storms of life to distract you from keeping God first.
We are asking the Lord to come and move in our lives, families, and communities during this time of prayer and fasting!
I want to start today in Daniel.
Chapter 1:8 – 21,
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs..As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.”
These young men put God first and appeared better than those who were eating the king’s choice foods. God gave them knowledge and skill; Daniel even had visions and dreams. When you yield yourself to God first, and His Kingdom – God gives you what you need.
We saw how God supernaturally worked in these four. When you are consecrating yourself unto God (praying and fasting), you have to remember that there will be whispers asking, “why am I even doing this?” “Who do you think you are?” “Will this even make a difference?” “Those guys are kind of crazy.”
Be sure to silence those voices and put God first. I want Him to move in my life, community, and family. If that means I give something up for a season, then so be it. The beauty of bringing this community, and all these churches together in a fast is that it’s an act and a prayer for unity in and among the church. We set everything else aside and say, “God do what you want?” We want him to take us deeper and reveal anything we need to change.
In Matthew 17, Jesus gives us truth about how to deal with unbelief and a perverse generation and says, “this one won’t come out without prayer and fasting.” If you put worldly things first, you move from His truth and put other stuff in its preeminent place. This decision gets you in trouble.
Later on in Daniel, when he was called to bow down to the king only and wouldn’t, he was thrown into the lion’s den. Even then, he stood firm in his faith. The Lord shut the mouth of the lions. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego wouldn’t bow down either. And when they threw them into the fire because of it, God showed up and stood right with them. God will stand with you when you stand for His righteousness!
Are you part of a faithful or a perverted and faithless generation? Even if something is a little off from God’s ways – it’s off. When you put your job, money, spouse, or kids first, you let in a level of perversion. When carnality sneaks in and moves you toward the ways of the world, it becomes a slippery slope that leads one into a faithless generation.
Taking our eyes off of Jesus, looking at the wind and waves, and allowing distractions to suck us into the vortex of confusion; it’s a subtle slippery slope.
So how do you get back into right relationship with Christ?
Repent. Turn away from the things of this world and put your trust, hope, and faith in Jesus.
I will close with Isaiah 40:31,
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”