My friend Jill asked me to join her in a 30 day fast during the same time that Ramadan is happening. She has such a heart for our Muslim friends and wants to experience what they go through during those 30 days. So she personally will be following along with the Muslims in not eating during sunlight hours. That means she will only eat (and I think drink as well) anytime from after 9pm to before 5am. I will be joining her but not in a food fast. I refuse to fast food right now since I am still nursing Jed.
Awhile ago I made a list of things getting in the way of my relationship with God. One of the major things that gets in the way is how much time I spend watching TV. So for at least 30 days during Ramadan (which is sunset of June 17-sunrise of July 17) I will not watch any TV. Instead, if I have free time, I will use it to read books, read the Bible, pray, worship, exercise, clean, etc. But my main focus should ALWAYS be on God and not just these 30 days.
I realize this is like lent in a way. A fast from something. But I don't want to just give up TV unless my heart is changed. Because otherwise I'll just replace watching TV with something else that isn't important. If God isn't #1 in my life, then no matter what I take away, He still won't be #1. I need a heart change.
I have a lot of respect for Muslims and people of other religions. Although I don't agree with their beliefs, I have so much respect for how much time and effort they put into their religion. Jehovah Witnesses go door to door telling people about God. Muslims pray a certain amount of times a day and are obligated to participate in Ramadan unless they have a valid reason not too. Why are we slacking as Christians? The GREAT news is that as Christians we don't HAVE to do anything. We don't have to pray. We don't have to read the Bible. We don't have to fast or tell others about Jesus. BUT we should be. We abuse the freedoms we have. We're saved because of Jesus' saving grace and not by what we do....however we should be doing all of those things in gratitude and love toward God. If He is really #1 in our lives, we'd see the urgency in telling others about Jesus. We'd choose to die to ourselves daily.
So will you join me? Will you join me in a 30 day fast? What can you give up? Don't just give up something if you don't replace it with God. We need to be on our knees praying for our unsaved family members and friends. We need to be telling people about Jesus. We need to be reading the Bible DAILY. We need to stop and listen to God. We need to be worshipping God. If you're not doing these things, why not? Take some time to yourself and see why God hasn't been first in your life. Let's repent and start fresh.
Will you join me? This isn't JUST about 30 days...it's about life and death. So yes I'll be giving up TV for 30 days and using my spare time to spend with God, but I hope in this 30 day challenge that my heart will be changed and I'll always put God first from here on in. Let me know if you're joining me and Jill for our 30 day fast!
Sunday, 7 June 2015
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
Testimony
I am currently re-reading a book called The Essential Guide to Healing by Randy Clark and Bill Johnson. In one of the chapters, Bill writes about testimonies. This is what I learned from that chapter.
Growing up in church, a testimony would be shared typically by somebody about to be baptised. They'd get up and share their story and how God plays a role in it. But I never thought about testimonies also being things in general God has done each day. For instance, the other day I was really angry and I prayed God would take away my anger. I then put on worship music and within 10 minutes I was joyful. Truly joyful! How great is that! God answered my prayer so quickly.
Anyway, since the book I am reading is about healing (main focus is on physical healing) the chapter discusses testimonies in that context. Bill says that when we share what God has done in our lives, it can give faith to others to have the same outcome. For example, one lady came forward for prayer at a conference Bill was speaking at because she was missing part of her calf muscle from a previous accident. Bill prayed over her and the next morning when she woke up, her calf was whole! She was so excited she went back and shared her story to Bill. He asked her to share her testimony in front of the crowd. Another woman thought to herself "Surely if God healed her, he'd heal me too!" so she went forward for prayer. She was also missing part of her calf. She was healed. And then 3 more people were healed. Testimonies of what God does brings forth faith.
Another thing I learned is that instead of focusing on what God isn't doing (or doesn't seem to be doing), to focus on what he has done. This doesn't mean if somebody needs prayer and we have prayed a few times and have not seen an answer that we give up. Of course we pray for people's needs and contend for breakthrough when we don't see it. However, instead of dwelling on what we think God isn't doing, we should focus on what he has done to build up our faith and others as well. An example of this would be, if a church has a lot of couples divorcing, instead of focusing on how much people are divorcing, to find a couple who was near divorce and then had their marriage healed by God, for them to share their story with everybody. It could help people in the same situation to have faith to not give up.
Essentially we should always be sharing with others what God is doing in our lives and those around us. The Bible does say we are to be God's witnesses. So what have you witnessed? What needs to be shared with others around you? Let's celebrate what God is doing and content for breakthrough in the areas we haven't seen answered yet. Let's also give glory to God for all of his mercies, miracles, grace, and answered prayers!
Growing up in church, a testimony would be shared typically by somebody about to be baptised. They'd get up and share their story and how God plays a role in it. But I never thought about testimonies also being things in general God has done each day. For instance, the other day I was really angry and I prayed God would take away my anger. I then put on worship music and within 10 minutes I was joyful. Truly joyful! How great is that! God answered my prayer so quickly.
Anyway, since the book I am reading is about healing (main focus is on physical healing) the chapter discusses testimonies in that context. Bill says that when we share what God has done in our lives, it can give faith to others to have the same outcome. For example, one lady came forward for prayer at a conference Bill was speaking at because she was missing part of her calf muscle from a previous accident. Bill prayed over her and the next morning when she woke up, her calf was whole! She was so excited she went back and shared her story to Bill. He asked her to share her testimony in front of the crowd. Another woman thought to herself "Surely if God healed her, he'd heal me too!" so she went forward for prayer. She was also missing part of her calf. She was healed. And then 3 more people were healed. Testimonies of what God does brings forth faith.
Another thing I learned is that instead of focusing on what God isn't doing (or doesn't seem to be doing), to focus on what he has done. This doesn't mean if somebody needs prayer and we have prayed a few times and have not seen an answer that we give up. Of course we pray for people's needs and contend for breakthrough when we don't see it. However, instead of dwelling on what we think God isn't doing, we should focus on what he has done to build up our faith and others as well. An example of this would be, if a church has a lot of couples divorcing, instead of focusing on how much people are divorcing, to find a couple who was near divorce and then had their marriage healed by God, for them to share their story with everybody. It could help people in the same situation to have faith to not give up.
Essentially we should always be sharing with others what God is doing in our lives and those around us. The Bible does say we are to be God's witnesses. So what have you witnessed? What needs to be shared with others around you? Let's celebrate what God is doing and content for breakthrough in the areas we haven't seen answered yet. Let's also give glory to God for all of his mercies, miracles, grace, and answered prayers!
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