Twenty-one days of fasting...

... to start January 1, 2018 and who can even believe that we are almost there.  How can we make our fasting more effective this year and what is it that God expects of us as we fast?  Isaiah 58:69 (NIV)  "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?  Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.  Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I...”

Please be aware that fasting is not intended to be a “quick-fix diet” for over eating during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year Holidays.  It is a time of seeking God with all your hearts and it is a time of searching our hearts and repenting for ourselves and our nation.  According to Isaiah, it is a time of seeing people set free by the power of God, a time of being compassionate to those in need, and about taking care of our own families.

I am praying this year that men will step up and take their spiritual responsibility as the leader in their homes.  I am also praying that women will adorn themselves with the glory of God and cause their homes to be a place of blessings and refuge.  I am praying that our children will seek God passionately and for those who are prodigals to return to the Lord with all their hearts.  Come on, Life Church Assembly of God, let us fast and pray as one in the Lord, let us see our light break forth in our community, and our healing to come quickly!!