Fasting...

Today I have decided to fast, meaning not to eat anything all day long, just drink water. Why you may ask? Good question, today I will show you why many Christians decide to fast, even if only for a day.

First, there are many examples in the Bible about people fasting, but along with fasting they pray. Which also is something that I will be doing; anyway, I will name just a few of the people who fasted and prayed in the Bible and why they did it.

Before I give you the examples, many times people fasted because they wanted an answer to prayer, or they were pleading with God about something. So with that, here is our first example…

David fasted and prayed when he heard the judgment of God over his newborn son. This was after he had sinned with Bathsheba; the Lord had said that the little one needed to die for David’s sin. So David, knowing that the Lord is merciful, tried to plead for the life of son, he did that by fasting and praying. Sometimes though God wants to teach us a valuable lesson so He doesn't always answer our prayers; such was the case with David. If God had answered David’s prayer, the people wouldn't think that what David did was as bad as it was.

Alright, so now for the next example; Esther fasted and prayed when her cousin Mordecai told her about the judgment over the Jews. She fasted and prayed for three days and three nights, before she went into the king uncalled for. Back in those days if you were to go into the king without being summoned it would mean certain death unless, he held out the golden scepter. In this case, the king did hold out the scepter and the Jews were eventually saved.

For our last example, we will use Jesus. Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and forty nights, during that time He ate nothing, but He was in such close connection with His Father that He did not feel the hunger until after the 40 days were over. That is when the Devil came to tempt Him to sin, when He was at His weakest point. Jesus had to fast for that period of time, to show us an example. Not that we should fast for 40 days, but that we should overcome our appetites and our fleshly lusts. And as we all Jesus came off victorious!

Fasting for the body, it helps to get rid of all the impurities in it. It is also good to just have a day in which you are devoted to God and praying for His will to be done. Another good reason to fast is to help you to overcome sin and temptation. If we can overcome on the point of diet, we will be able to overcome on every other point of sin!

So, in conclusion this is why I am fasting today. I want a chance to have my mind clear and spend some time with my Savior! Sometimes it is necessary for us to do these things, and sometimes the Lord tells us that we need to do it.

I should also mention quickly that there are different types of fasts, you can eat nothing all day and then you can eat at night. You can eat fruit all day and nothing else, or you can juice instead of eating. There are many different types of fasting; the one I have chosen is to eat nothing at all for all this day and nothing at night, except to drink water.

So, won’t you consider taking a fast? You never know it just might help you in a trying situation.

I want to overcome on everything, even if it is hard. Don’t you?

Stitches of My Life...

I have read this story many times, and now it is time for my version, what you are about to read may seem familiar to you, but it is in my own words.

I was watching Jesus make a quilt, to me it seemed all dark and dreary, and the threads seemed, to me, knotted and tangled. I asked Him why He would make such a quilt, and who it could possibly be for? He told me that this quilt was a representation of my life, and that He was stitching it together to make a beautiful masterpiece.

"That, a masterpiece?!" I asked in astonishment, "How could that dark and knotted stitching be a beautiful masterpiece?"

He said, "My child, you only see one side, but the side that I am working on, the side that you do not see, is very beautiful to behold!"

I cautiously asked, "Well then, do you think that I may see the side on which you are working on?"

He answered, "Not yet, for your life is just begun, you cannot see this masterpiece until it is finished. I cannot show it to you until you have come to live with me. When I come back to earth and take you and everyone else who follows me, home, then I can show you what it looks like."

When I look at the stitching of my life, I don't see very many colorful spots, oh sure there are some, but when I see it, it seems that the darkness is more than the color. I mentioned this to Jesus, and He smiled and told me, "Remember, when you see this someday, you will have no regrets as to how it is made."

Sometimes I still don't always understand why I am faced with certain darkness in my life, but I have to remember Who holds the stitches of my life. And I have to remember that when I see the finished product, that I wouldn't change a single stitch of my life, for, without that stitch, the piece wouldn't be the same. And sometimes even though I don't understand, the dark pieces, adds volumes to the masterpiece, it makes the color pop out even more.

Someday I will be able to see the finished masterpiece of my life, but for now I am content to trust Him with the stitches of my life. But you too have a masterpiece that God is working on, and it may seem like a lot of tangled dark knots, but when He turns the masterpiece (your life) around, you wouldn't want to change a thing!

Sometimes I think that Jesus should use a different color or different shade, but He tells me that He knows what He is doing. You too might feel like that sometimes, like He has thrown to many obstacles in your life, I know, that is how I feel sometimes. But all we have to do is to trust Him with the stitches of our life.

I want to trust the stitches of my life with Him, don't you?

Facing the Unknown...

I can remember a few times in my life when I have been unsure of what was going to happen. And when you come into these challenges, it becomes a test of faith. Are you going to trust or are you going to worry? I can remember one time when I broke down and cried, I wasn't sure what God wanted me to do. But my mother was a big help to me and we repeated Bible verses and promises. And soon I was the one encouraging her again.

I can remember praying to God, and asking Him to give me peace and understanding, and He flooded me with a peace that passes all understanding. And then I knew that everything was going to be all right!

But what do you do when you are facing the unknown? What should you do? How should you react? And most important, how do you keep from worrying about the problem? Well let us look at one question at a time...

First, what do you do when you are facing the unknown. Your first reaction might be to cry and even to doubt God. And you may even second guess yourself, if you are doing the right thing or not.

Well then, what should you do? Well, when I was faced with a problem my mother and I quoted Bible verses and promises to each other. It is a good idea to memorize Bible verses, another thing you should do is pray! Prayer always calms me down, and keeps me at peace.


How should you react? I covered this a little bit, but the first reaction is what matters, it determines your strength or your weakness. And it also shows that if you do have a melt down that you need to rely more upon God. This is a good thing, God doesn't want you to come to the place where you don't rely on Him.

How do we keep from worrying? I mean just thinking about what may be up ahead is a pretty scaring thought. No one knows what the future holds, except for God and He has it all under control. The best thing to do is to remind yourself that He is in control, and He loves you! And when you feel like you are starting to have second thoughts or doubts is to go to God and pray and read your Bible. Just take one day at a time, and leave tomorrow to itself.

Sometimes it is hard to face the unknown and not know what to do, but we have a Savior that is here to take away all our fears. We don't have to face the unknown by ourselves!

I want to trust in God and face the unknown with Him, don't you?

The Last Week...

This morning when I was doing something or other, the thought came to me, "I wonder what it must have been like for Jesus knowing it was His final week on Earth?" The thought really struck me as interesting. So today we will try and see what it must have felt like.

During that last week He tried telling His disciples what was going to happen, but during their final week with Him they were arguing about who was the greatest! That final week He had ridden on the donkey and had cried over Jerusalem, that last week He said that the temple was no longer His Father's dwelling place.

Yes this was a very interesting week indeed, but the week is not over. During that last week He also had Passover with His disciples in the Upper Room, and during His last night on this Earth, He washed His disciples feet.

Then slowly He and His disciple made it to the garden of Gethsemane, He asked them to pray for Him. Oh if only they had known that this would be His final night, then would they or might have prayed for Him! But, alas, they all fell asleep. But Jesus determined to stay strong and to die, so that I, yes even I, might be saved!

Then the soldiers came in those last few hours, and stripped and beat and spit upon Him. Mocking Him as if He were a common man. They pushed the crown of thorns deep into His head, but He opened not His mouth. Yes during those last few hours on Earth, He suffered for you and me. And then they hung Him on a crude cross and nailed His hands and feet.

He thinking that His Father had abandoned Him, He felt so sad and so alone! Yes, even during those last few moments, minutes and seconds. But He didn't give up or give in! And then He gave His last breathed His last.

Yes I wonder what it must have felt like to know that this will be your last, your last of everything you have ever known. Praise God though that, that story didn't just stop there. We know that He rose again and is now interceding for you and yes for me, even me!

We will not suffer that much agony, but we will go through difficult times, but we must not forget that even through the darkest trials God is right there by our side. God never left Jesus' side, in fact He came down and stood right by His Son's cross, with thousand upon thousand's of angels. When we think that God has left us to die on our own, He is simply carrying us through the most difficult storm!

I want to trust God no matter what, don't you?