“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 them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)

Take a close look at the various aspects of the kind of fasting that is acceptable to God.

Every one of them seems to be aimed at those who are at least at arm’s length from us.

We often think of those who are shackled by chains of injustice living in countries where justice is not available to all.

We see those bound by the cords of the yoke belonging to cultures that are not our own.

We label those who live under authoritarian regimes “the oppressed.”

The hungry, the wanderer, the naked are not usually residents of our middle class neighbourhoods.

With our attention focused on those who are at a distance from us—geographically or socio-economically, we may be tempted to skip the final category of people tucked in at the tail end of these verses.

That’s right. Our “own flesh and blood.”

Here is how some other translations put it:

“Do not hide from relatives who need your help.” (New Living Translation)

“Don’t refuse to help your relatives.” (God’s Word Translation)

“Be available to your own families.” (The Message)

If we want to reap the rewards of the Isaiah 58 Fast outlined in the verses that follow–

e.g. our light breaking forth like the dawn,

our healing appearing quickly,

the glory of the Lord being our rear guard, etc.—

We need to not only take care of the needs of those we do not know, but also those who are the best known to us—our relatives, our flesh and blood, our own families.

By highlighting this group of people, the Holy Spirit is asking us to evaluate how well we fare in meeting this condition of the Fast.

This must be really important to God, as evidenced by the emphasis throughout Scripture on how we treat one another in our families.

Here are a few examples:

“Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)

“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (I Timothy 5:8)

So, here are a few questions to ask ourselves, for starters:

• How well do I honour my father and mother?
• Am I harbouring any unforgiveness in my heart or nursing a grudge against any member of my family?
• Am I providing for my own household as I ought to?

Would you ask the Holy Spirit to give you a report card on these three subjects?

When He gives you a passing grade, praise God!

When He gives you anything lower, would you ask your Teacher why?

Wait till you hear from Him.

Then, go right ahead and fix the problem right away, so that you will never be accused of “turning away from your own flesh and blood.”

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” (Isaiah 58:9-10)

A year ago this time, we had just begun what would later come to be known as The 4 C’s Fast

The focus for this Fast came from the verses you just read.

To be more precise, it came from the very first line.

“The pointing finger and malicious talk.”

It was in some ways a total surprise that the Holy Spirit would highlight these six words.

In the context of the entire passage, they seem incidental.

After all, the emphasis of the Fast is on doing justice and acts of mercy.

However, it was tough to ignore the reference to the finger and the talk.

Could it be because when we focus on justice issues, we tend to point fingers and engage in malicious talk?

Over the past 30+ years of serving in a denomination that is known for its commitment to social justice, I have certainly seen and heard both in copious quantities!

However, the truth is that you don’t have to be around social justice activists to experience the pointing finger and malicious talk.

Just sit around a group of people at a coffee shop such as Tim Horton’s in Canada. You will have to conclude that without both of these elements, the silence would be deafening!

Some of us may not even need to leave home. Just hanging around our families should do it 🙂

Sorry to say this, but if a camera crew had been following me during the waking hours of a typical day a year ago, they would have gathered substantial evidence to secure a conviction on both counts L

Sulojana and I are pleased to report that there has been a noticeable change in both of us over the past year.

Not only in us, but also among the members of our congregations.

We chose to refrain from The 4 C’s–Criticizing, Condemning, Complaining and Comparing.

It should not surprise you to hear that the Holy Spirit has been moving in our midst with greater power than ever before.

At a Pastors’ Conference last January, a speaker recalled how he had asked Bill Johnson, Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California to pinpoint one thing they did that was responsible for the ongoing revival in their church.

Bill pointed to a decision they made to fast from all negativity.

No pointing fingers. No malicious talk.

Instead they started teaching and practising a culture of honour.

That was the distinguishing mark. The tipping point.

Wow!

The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:29-30: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Is he pointing out a link between unwholesome talk and grieving the Holy Spirit?

Ouch!

That in itself should motivate us to make a conscious attempt to eliminate the pointing finger and malicious talk from our repertoire, amen?

Would you make a commitment to do so for the next 21 days? Beginning today.

You too will discover that “your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

Please do not let the pointing finger and malicious talk keep you from advancing toward your destiny.

When we introduced The Joel 2 Fast on Feb. 19, we sensed that the Lord wanted us to feed on 8 specific portions of His Word over the 40 days, chewing on each passage for a period of five days.

He also gave us these Six Steps to follow:

1. Read the passage out aloud once and in silence once.

2. Take a minimum of 10 minutes to seek God’s revelation.

3. Journal your revelations.

4. Pray according to the revelations. e.g. Confess sin, Praise God for victory, Pray for someone else, etc.

5. Thank God for every one of the 7 results. E.g. “I thank you God for bringing prosperity, removing my enemies, etc…”

6. Share your experience with an Accountability Partner.

True Confession Time.

Yours truly has been stopping with Step #4 over the past three days.

With good reason.

At the end of the 4^th step, it would seem as though we had completed the assignment. Praying according to the revelations is a fitting conclusion, isn’t it?

In a sense we cannot argue against it. If all we did was finish with Step 4, that would still be a very rewarding experience.

However, that would be incomplete.

Because, you see, every time God calls for a fast, He always promises at least one reward.

In the Joel 2 Fast, He actually offers seven that I can count.

1. Bring Prosperity (v. 19, 22, 24, 26)
2. Remove enemies (v. 20)
3. Bring the “rain” in season (v. 22, 23)
4. Restore what was lost (v. 25)
5. Pour out His Spirit on all flesh (v. 28, 29)
6. Work wonders (v. 30, 31)
7. Grant salvation and deliverance (v. 32)

In the DWOD for Dec. 13, we discovered that the call to fast in Isaiah 58 was followed by the promise of, count them, 10 different rewards!

As much as it may be difficult to swallow the idea of fasting with the expectation of a reward, this is exactly what Jesus promises in Matthew 6:18:

“Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Yes, the same Jesus who wants His followers to keep fasting in the Secret Place makes it very clear that there will be nothing secretive about the rewards that follow.

The Fifth Step is a reminder to keep these rewards in front of us when we fast.

But it is more than that.

In praising and thanking God in advance, we are actually receiving those rewards in the spirit realm.

Very soon they will start manifesting themselves in the physical.

The people of Judah realized the truth of this fact in II Chronicles 20:20-22.

They started singing: “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”

They were praising before anything praiseworthy had happened.

“Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.” (v. 22)

Wow!

This is why The Fifth Step of the Joel 2 Fast is so critical for us as well.

I, for one, am following up Step 4 with this declaration:

“I praise you, Father, for bringing prosperity, removing enemies, bringing the “rain” in season, restoring what was lost, pouring out Your Spirit on all flesh, working wonders and granting salvation and deliverance. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

How about you?

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.

Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.

Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.” (Joel 2:15-16)

As we saw in yesterday’s DWOD, God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”

But this is no reason to procrastinate.

It is implied that the window of time may be quite narrow.

This is no time to dilly-dally. This is no time to slack off. This is no time to put off until tomorrow.

The Message version puts it this way:

“Blow the ram’s horn trumpet in Zion! Declare a day of repentance, a holy fast day.

Call a public meeting. Get everyone there. Consecrate the congregation.

Make sure the elders come, but bring in the children, too, even the nursing babies,

Even men and women on their honeymoon— interrupt them and get them there.”

Can you not sense the urgency in these words?

Let no one be left out. Gather the entire community—elders, children, nursing babies.

Even members of the community who would normally be allowed to enjoy their privacy, such as newlyweds are not to be exempt.

Remove the “Do Not Disturb” signs from the doorknobs of the honeymoon suite. And then disturb them. Get them out of there!

There is no time to be wasted.

As the apostle Paul put it: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Yes, we are on a forty day fast. But, let’s not put off repenting till the very end.

Let’s get ‘er done right away.

The sooner we do it, the sooner we will realize that God is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.”

One of our fasters did this on Day 1.

The picture accompanying this post is a series of pictures the Lord gave her as soon as she obeyed the command to repent.

This is how Sulojana and I interpreted them for her.

“All three pictures are connected. They follow a sequence.

The picture of a man washing a woman is really Jesus washing you clean. This is probably a reference to an intense “cleansing” process such as Sozo or Restoring The Foundations.

The pedestal washbasin is God’s way of saying that you have the Holy Spirit to keep you cleansed all the time right where you are, e.g. at home. We call this process “sanctification.” Simply put means, you are being made more and more like Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

The cup with the three golden strands is how God sees you. As you are being cleansed, you are becoming a very valuable vessel in God’s hands. The three golden strands could signify Father, Son & Holy Spirit or faith, hope and love (I Corinthians 13:13)

The bottom line is that the Lord sees you as a clean vessel being used in very privileged places by Him. The cleansing to which you are willing to submit yourself is the process by which He gets you from where you are to where you will be.”

What an awesome way to start off the Fast, eh?

I would have to say that she sensed the urgency of repentance and acted on it right away.

I hope and pray that you will follow suit.

“Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.” (Joel 2:13)

The word translated “repentance” literally means to turn around. Stop going in the direction that you are headed. Reverse your course. Turn.

What would motivate someone to make such a move?

Remember the words of this fiery preacher?

“Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Joel 2:13)

John the Baptist’s message makes it very clear that the motivation for repentance is the fear of the consequences.

“Turn or Burn.”

Your choice!

At one of our study sessions, we went around the room recalling the first time we made a commitment to follow Christ.

One young adult shared how her decision was made at the end of a dramatic presentation that aroused in her the fear of hellfire.

What choice did I have but to choose salvation?” she recalled with a laugh. “I wasn’t even 10 years old yet!”

Members of the group wanted to know if that decision “stuck.”

She laughed again: “Of course, not!”

The fear of hell got her attention enough to warrant making a decision for Christ.

But it was inadequate to keep her committed to Him for the rest of her life. By itself.

In later years, it was only when she discovered the love of the Father for her that she was able to (re) turn to the arms of Love.

Verses 1-11 of Joel 2 describe “the day of the Lord” as “a day of darkness and gloominess,”  “great and very terrible”, marked by “a flaming fire that devours the stubble.”

In other words, the consequences of making the wrong choice are very clearly outlined.

Nonetheless, the motivation for turning to God is not because of what He will do if you don’t turn to Him.

Rather, it is because of who He is that you would want to turn to Him.

Joel 2:13 echoes these words of David in Psalm 103:8-10:

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.”

When you reflect on these attributes of our loving Father in heaven, do you not find your heart being stirred up?

You want to turn to Him out of gratitude for who He is, not out of fear of what He will do to you. Amen?

No wonder the apostle Paul writes that “the goodness of God leads you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4)

May this be the motivation for our (re)-turning to God as well.

 

Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” (Joel 2:12)

Once again this Lent, the Lord is directing our churches to observe a 40 Day Fast beginning today.

I am sensing that He wants me to invite all of you who are so led to join us on this Fast as well.

We are being led to focus on Joel 2:12-32 as the key passage for this year’s Fast.

You may listen to an audio of this post by clicking here. Or use the audio player below:

40 Day Joel 2 Fast, Feb. 19-Mar. 30, 2013

There are two main things that God wants His people to do as part of this Fast.

1. Turn (Return) to Him with all their heart (v. 12, 13)

2. Fast as an entire community—elders, children, nursing babes, priests, etc. (v. 16, 17)

In return God wants to do seven amazing things for His people.

1. Bring Prosperity (v. 19, 22, 24, 26)
2. Remove enemies (v. 20)
3. Bring the “rain” in season (v. 22, 23)
4. Restore what was lost (v. 25)
5. Pour out His Spirit on all flesh (v. 28, 29)
6. Work wonders (v. 30, 31)
7. Grant salvation and deliverance (v. 32)

We are encouraging our folks to focus on:

• Coming Together in Unity &
• Come Clean in Totality

To come together in unity, we need to:

• Pay attention to what divides us or threatens to divide us and seek reconciliation.
• Focus on the same purpose as a community and
• Eliminate ALL NEGATIVITY (as we did last year with the 4 C’s)

To come clean in totality PERSONALLY, we need to

• Pay attention to everything that prevents us from being totally in the right with God.
• Confess our sin, repent and lead lives of holiness.

The Lord is directing us to read and reflect on 8 different passages of Scripture and seek His revelation on every passage for 5 days each.

Feb. 19-23—Joel 2:12-32

Feb. 24-28—Isaiah 58

Mar.01-05—Psalm 51

Mar.06-10—Exodus 20:1-17

Mar.11-15—Ephesians 4

Mar.16-20—I Corinthians 12

Mar.21-25—Matthew 18

Mar.26-30—Matthew 5:1-16

We are following these SIX STEPS with every passage:

1. Read the passage out aloud once and in silence once.

2. Take a minimum of 10 minutes to seek God’s revelation.

3. Journal your revelations.

4. Pray according to the revelations. e.g. Confess sin, Praise God for victory, Pray for someone else, etc.

5. Thank God for every one of the 7 results. E.g. “I thank you God for bringing prosperity, removing my enemies, etc…”

6. Share your experience with an Accountability Partner.

As with all our fasts, what you give up FOOD/DRINK-wise is between you and the Lord. Please consult your physician to make sure that you are not jeopardizing your health in any way.

We also reduce/cut out MEDIA intake–e.g. TV, Internet, Facebook.

Please refrain from THE 4 C’s—Criticism, Condemning, Complaining & Comparing AT ALL COSTS! We shall ELIMINATE ALL NEGATIVITY!

Please ADD an ACT OF SERVICE to your life every week. e.g. visit a shut-in, phone a lonely person, invite someone to your house (even from church!), write an encouraging note, etc.

If you are saving some $$$ by giving up something, put it in an envelope and ask the Lord where to direct it at the end of the Fast.

There you have it, the 40 Day Joel 2 Fast.

Would you please let us know if you are joining us on this Fast? Simply add a comment below. Thanks.