Friday, January 7, 2011

2011 Fast Confirmed

"I want to learn the heart of sacrifice and the returning gift of a joyful heart because of sacrifice; that my sacrifice may be a fragrant offering to God, just as Jesus offered himself for me." [me to anthony this morning]

Since December, I've been thinking about and asking God a lot about the upcoming 21-day fast we're heading into for Gateway starting this coming Monday. I've played over in mind last year's fast when I know I was called to juice/water fast. For the most part, it was a fairly easy fast. The first few days were really difficult, but then as my body got used to only liquids and a severe decrease in the calorie load, I fell into a place that was peaceful.

This year, I had kind of settled in my heart that I would do the Daniel Fast - no meats, no sweets - and focus on recharging my body through a large increase of fruits and veggies. Then this morning that all changed.

As I was writing Anthony an email not related to fasting, I wrote the first-half of the above sentence:

"I want to learn the heart of sacrifice and the returning gift of a joyful heart because of sacrifice."

Later in the morning during some study time, God pointed me to a scripture [Hebrews 12:2] which speaks to Jesus' sacrifice and the joy set before him to endure the cross. He then put a second thought to my earlier sentence: that my sacrifice would be a fragrant offering to him. That's such a deep thought for me right now that I haven't even begun to break it down, but it was in that moment that God's heart invaded mine for this upcoming fast...

I am going to water fast. No juice this time. Not even the one cup of coffee I allowed myself each morning last year. (it was liquid after all and it brought me such joy) Nope, not this time. Just plain, old, life-giving water.

In the same way that hearing God's heart stirred me to be excited, instead of dreadful, for embarking on a 3-week period of no food last year, I am now filled with that same excitement and expectation of what will come of this fast.

I've tried fasting, even for a single day, when I thought it was what I 'should' do to help move something along in the spiritual realm. And let me tell you, that kind of fasting was always hard. When I can make it through, with relative ease, a 21-day juice fast and yet grumble 6 hours into a one day fast, I know I'm not fasting for the right reasons or with the proper heart. And yet being 3 days away from a 21-day period of water only, my spirit is aroused by the possibilities that await me:

A complete cleansing of all the toxins I've accumulated this past year.
A stripping away of layers of fatty tissue deposited by over-indulging.
Possible healing and re-aligning of symptoms of unhealthiness that I've grown accustomed to living with and are no longer aware of.
AND
A journey of learning the heart of sacrifice and discovering the fragrance of its offering.

While I know there will be days that are easier than others, I want this fast to the best thing I've ever experienced in my walk with the Lord to-date. My heart is expectant and my spirit is smiling!

3 comments:

  1. Your last paragraph really struck me. Your best experience with Jesus to date? That's a heart of expectancy. You are just so ready to receive right now. :)

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  2. Babs,

    This is so encouraging! I've been doing the Daniel Fast this year. It's the first time I've stuck it out. We're only four days into it, but it seems so much longer. The crazy thing is that I'm not even giving up that much ... no sweets, no meats ... yet it's still difficult. All that to say, I don't think it's a coincidence that I stumbled across your blog this morning. I am so encouraged by your obedience to do a water fast. This just spurs me on to continue this 21 day journey of drawing closer to Him and becoming more and more like Him. I'm so glad you took the time to honestly write about what God was leading to you to do. I pray that you are blessed and that God honors your commitment to be obedient to His voice.

    Love,
    Stacy

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  3. LOL .. That's not my website! Let's try this again!

    Stacy

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