The Fast Of Daniel-Day Nineteen

The Balance of Faith

The works of the flesh:

Sexual immorality - the soul's desire to please the physical body;

Impurity - revolt against what the soul considers pure and righteous;

Lust - the soul’s excitement with sensuality; a desire to enjoy sex without any responsibility;

Idolatry - the soul’s worship of people, money, things or images. Worshiping or placing an importance on something other than the Lord God first;

Witchcraft - the practice of occult rituals involving spells, curses, incantations, sacrifices of food, drink, animals or even human beings, to witchdoctors or spirits. The celebration or commemoration of special days for particular saints;

Hatred - longstanding feelings of hostility, loathing, ill will or dislike;

Strife - arguments, endless disagreements, quarrelling, friction;

Jealousy - insecurity caused by suspicion, or fear of a rival, in love or some other area of life, a feeling of weakness;

Envy - distress, anger or sorrow for another's success or joy, greed for something good that is being enjoyed by others;

Anger - fury, rage, annoyance, a desire for revenge;

Discord - disagreements, disharmony, quarrels, differences of opinion, fights, etc.;

Dissent - disagreement, dissension, discord;

Factions - rivalry between religious groups, athletic teams, political parties, etc.;

Drunkenness - binge drinking, intoxication, the addiction to alcohol;

Gluttony - the act of eating too much, an insatiable appetite, exceeding the limit of your stomach, etc..

... and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in times past, that those who practise such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.Galatians 5:19-21

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.Galatians 5:22

The Fast Of Daniel-Day Eighteen

Ugly Duckling

I know what it’s like to be an ugly duckling. I experienced it as a teenager, among schoolmates, at work and even at the church where I came to know my Lord and Savior.

Thank God for humble origins and a lower-middle-class upbringing. If it weren’t for them, only God knows where I would be today.
I became acquainted with the difficulties of being poor. On the other hand, I learned the value ​​of being humble, especially when it came to the value of keeping your word. My parents were my heroes.

Later on, this helped when it came to believing the Word of God. If I valued my parents’ word, though they were flawed humans, imagine the word that comes out of the mouth of God.

Today, whenever I see people who are ragged, suffering, mistreated and abandoned, I am reminded of my past. Although, I was never ragged because my parents gave us everything we needed for our education.
But truth be told, the only place I felt human and not like an ugly duckling was at home.

Right now you may feel ignored, empty, sad and like the world is falling apart around you.
But Jesus came for people like you and me—life’s ugly ducklings. People who are simple, lost, and above all, humble in spirit. He found me and is certainly finding you right now.
I don’t even know why I'm writing this to you.
But I believe His Spirit has touched me and is now using me to touch you.

What you have or have not done does not matter, nor does your long list of sins and much less your sad and empty past. What others think of you does not matter either...
What really matters is what He thinks of you.
He loves you and is showing this right now by embracing your whole being.
You know something: He has just found you right now!

While you are reading this, the Spirit of Jesus is rebuking the weight of your guilt, condemnation and past sins.
Your thoughts are changing, your emptiness is being filled.
A new day is being born for you. Sadness is giving way to joy and at this very moment, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Something very powerful is happening inside of you. It’s the Holy Spirit creating a new life within you.

Praise God!
Welcome to the family of God.

The Fast of Daniel-Day Seventeen

New Year, new life?

This is what everyone hopes for, even believers in Jesus.
But can hope alone give you a new life in the New Year?

All we have to do to answer this question is look back in time.
People in the past had the same expectations at this time of year. The same hopes. And what happened? Nothing. For many, it got worse.
Why is that?
Because a new life doesn’t depend on emotions, it depends on an active faith. But in what way?
Let's go back to biblical times.

God called Abraham to raise up a nation that would be separate from all the other pagan nations.
While in Egypt, Abraham's grandson, Israel, multiplied and became a great nation. The Lord then delivered them from the slavery of Egypt and helped them build a strong and powerful nation.

But because of their rebellion, Israel returned to the spiritual state of Jacob. They went back to being slaves in a foreign land.

History repeats itself. When people are spiritually healthy, there is peace, health and prosperity, but when they are far from God, the devil takes charge of their lives.

Nearly 100 years had passed since their return to the land of Palestine, and yet, in the days of the prophet Malachi, Jacob had once again become spiritually lost. The priests were immoral and so were the people.

Dishonesty, infidelity, marrying people of other faiths, divorces, idolatry, sorcery, adultery, profanity, stealing and every other sort of immorality was being committed.

And when they cried out to the Lord, He replied: For I am the lord, I do not change. You have gone away from My ordinances...
Return to Me, and I will return to you.
But you said: In what way shall we return?

So the Lord gives the recipe for a new life in the New Year: Be faithful with your tithes and offerings.Malachi 3:6-12
Of course!
A marriage cannot be restored without first restoring the principle of marital faithfulness. The same applies to restoring a covenant with God.

This year, start the New Year by being faithful to God and testing His faithfulness to you.
See for yourself if His Word is true or false!
Tithes represent faithfulness. They are a sign of your partnership with God.

When we are faithful to Him, He is required to do the same to us. That is why He promises to rebuke the devourer.

Whoever wants to begin a new life must be faithful to God with their tithes. Otherwise, they‘ll be hoping for a new life until the day they die, and nothing will have changed.

Think about this!

The Fast Of Daniel-Day Sixteen

Jesus kicking the legs out from under the soul

Some seek the recognition of others to massage the ego of their souls;
Some use the glamour of the world to satisfy their soul;

Some spend their entire life in the pursuit of personal fulfilment;

Others even die for the glory that this world offers them.

But the glory that this world offers comes from below and ends when a person dies;

Whereas the glory that comes from Above—from the Holy Place—is everlasting. It comes straight from the Source of Glory, and it never ends.

Jesus was glorified by the Father when He received the Holy Spirit, after His water baptism. That day, He heard a voice from heaven saying,

This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.Matthew 3.17

When the Holy Spirit comes He confirms that voice deep inside of those who are sealed with the Spirit.

It has nothing to do with feelings or emotions, and everything to do with assurance.

On another occasion, in anguish of soul, Jesus did not pray for help, let alone relief from the situation He was about to face.

Instead, He used reason to confront the feelings (anguish) of his soul, thereby teaching us a lesson: And what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour?” But for this purpose I came to this hour.John 12.27-28

Then He knocked the legs out from under his soul by saying, Father, glorify Your name.

In other words: Father, I sacrifice the impulses of my soul in order to do Your will.

A voice was immediately heard from heaven: I have already brought glory to My name, and I will do so again.John 12.28 NLT

When the crowd heard this voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared that an angel had spoken to Him.

But the most important point is that God the Father glorified God the Son before many witnesses.

The presence of the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to sacrifice the yearnings of our soul and fulfil the will of God. And when this happens, the glory of the Father is manifested in His children for all eternity.

The Fast Of Daniel-Day Fifteen

What would you give in exchange for your soul?

Just as material sacrifices lead to material blessings, spiritual sacrifices lead to spiritual blessings.

God invites those who believe to test Him in tithes and offerings. In return, He promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out such blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it, in addition to rebuking the devourer. Malachi 3:10

Likewise, Jesus promised eternal life to those who would deny themselves, take up their crosses and daily follow Him. Matthew 16:24

In both cases, there is a need for sacrifice. However, the Apostle Paul takes it further when, directed by the Spirit, he pleads:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1

This means that when there are no living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, there is no spiritual act of worship (remember: spiritual = rational). On the other hand, though many songs of worship are filled with messages of love, an emotional act of worship only floods people with feelings of excitement.

Some profess to feel God's presence, others 'speak in tongues' and even 'prophesy'. Let's not even mention those who twirl around, fall to the ground and walk on all fours. If they had wonderful testimonies, this would not be so significant. But, they don’t! Much to the contrary, their lives are total failures: broken homes, adultery, paedophilia, sexual immorality, grudges towards one another, divisions—in short, a true kingdom of darkness.

Why is this? It's because their spiritual act of worship is not rational, intelligent or conscious. How can the Creator be pleased with an emotional act of worship when He is Reason, Intelligence and Wisdom?

An emotional act of worship is similar to a decadent masquerade ball. Its participants wear costumes and masks to camouflage their hypocrisy and the works of their flesh. Who can preside over this spiritual farce?

The truth is, in the absence of spiritual (rational) acts of worship there will be emotional and fleshly acts of worship.

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."Galatians 5:19-21

It is interesting that Paul asks, pleads and begs the followers of the Lord Jesus to worship in a spiritual or rational manner, which requires that our bodies be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. That is, when we praise, worship and contemplate on the Lord it must be done in a thoughtful way.

This kind of worship is not restricted to church. If we are Temples of the Holy Spirit, there will be praise, worship and contemplation wherever we are.

Ideally, everyone in the church has the same faith and Spirit. There, our spiritual (rational) act of worship is united. There are appropriate hymns, songs of praise and individual declarations that exalt our Lord and Saviour.

While some praise, others worship, and still others contemplate the face of the Almighty. Everything is in perfect order and discipline.

Wherever there is this freedom, the Holy Spirit instructs, inspires and directs the praise, worship and contemplation of His Son in a generous, spontaneous and healthy manner.