“Do not love the world or anything in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
everything in the world- the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of the eyes
and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father but from
the world.”
1
John 2:15-16
What do you
love so much you cannot do without? Is it certain foods, secular music, sports,
your favorite television show, sex, a relationship, the pursuit of wealth? Our hesitancy
or unwillingness to give up earthly/fleshly desires is a clear indication of a
bondage that needs broken in our lives. If it is easy to refrain from, it is
not likely a stronghold in your life. However, if every ounce of your flesh
resists giving it up, that is an area you need to examine very closely.
Fleshly desires
become strongholds in our lives because we feed them. The more we feed them the more dependent they
become on us keeping them fed. This dependency leads them to begin demanding we
keep them fed. It is at this point we become controlled by our own appetites.
The only way to break it is to withhold nourishing it.
Fasting, in
part, is beneficial in telling our flesh that we will not be dictated by its
desires. Throughout scripture great men and women of God, like Moses, Esther
and Elijah fasted in times of great distress. Jesus, too, after being led into
the wilderness was tempted of the devil and fasted forty days. In every instance, fasting always included
refraining from food. Food is a core appetite. Every one of us must eat. Thus
it is foundational to breaking every other appetite. In Luke 4, when Jesus was
tempted by the devil, we see that he was tempted first in the area of food.
Then he is tempted in other areas and although he resisted and refrained from
pursuing what Satan was offering Him in those areas as well, it was established
on the fasting of food. In doing so, Jesus set the example for us, not only in
worship and prayer, but also in fasting.
However,
breaking the grip of unhealthy appetites is only part of the fasting process.
Fasting is more than just starving our earthly appetites; it must also include
feeding our spirit. We cannot starve the one, yet still neglect the other. We
must feed our spirit by consuming the Word of God, through worship, prayer,
devotions, giving and good works. Fasting
is an exercise in spiritual freedom that liberates us from the bondages of our
flesh and renews us in our spirit.
Pastor Scott
Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com/
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