AMAZING SPIRITUAL GROWTH DURING THE 2011 FAST CHALLENGE. By Pastor Fernando

Of all the fasts we have done in our church in the past, this 2011 fast challenge has been one of the most rewarding personally. Above all, God brought me closer to Him. It's amazing what happens in our relationship with God when we dedicate few days to focus not on our personal needs, but in our intimacy with God. I was able to hear God's voice clearly about key areas in my life and I had some of the best devotions of the year during the last 21 days. God revealed to me some blind spots, junk that was hidden in my heart, and that had the potential to steal great blessings in the future. This fast was a great time for repentance, recalibration, and reorientation.

I'm looking forward to hear what God has done in the lives of those that took the challenge. As we celebrate Easter this weekend, I'm aware that the power of the resurrection was not just displayed two thousand years ago but it is also at work in our daily lives. HE IS RISEN!

EXPECTING MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS DURING 2011

We are looking with great expectation for the great miracles God has reserved for us during 2011. Every year our church fasts and prays during the 21 days before Easter. And each year God brings amazing breakthroughs in our lives as we draw closer to Him through fasting combined with prayer.

Last year many people experienced many miracles because of their involvement in our fast challenge. The following testimony is one of many...

To be honest, I wasn't too excited about doing this fast. But I felt in my heart that I had to do this for my 7 year old son. He was diagnosed few years ago with issues related to ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD. One of the manifestations of Autism was his inability to communicate verbally. Even though he could speak and repeat few words, he was incapable to have a basic conversation. Our family has been praying for a breakthrough for the last few years, but nothing seemed to work. In the middle of the fast, God opened a door to provide our son with a promising cutting edge therapy. We had no financial means to pay for this expensive treatment, but somehow God provided all the funds. After several months, our son was able to communicate verbally and have small conversation with us. But the best part of the miracle was to hear him pray for the first time, thanking God for his recovery. God is certainly faithful!

I would definitely recommend anyone who is in need of a major breakthrough in their lives to accept the challenge and join the church during these 21 days of fasting and prayer.

2010 CHURCH WIDE FAST IS HERE!

This year I'm looking forward with great excitement about what God is about to do in our lives as we pray and fast. Last year, the Lord did great miracles because of our engagement in this spiritual discipline. I want to share an email sent by a dear friend that joined us last year in the fast challenge. It's been edited to keep the privacy of the sender. This is one of the many miracles God did during our fast...

Early in the year, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She has gone to our doctor for mammograms and check ups on a regular basis. She then discovered a lump in her left breast and had a biopsy performed. The specialists found that a blood clot had formed with a small cancerous tumor inside that clot. It came on so quickly that the surgeon said that he had never seen anything like that before. After prayers from our church and getting prayed over at a healing ministry, surgery was performed, the clot and tumor was removed and all other tissues that were tested came out cancer free. She took that gene test for breast cancer and that came back negative as well. My honey is doing very well and has totally recovered.

For the past 15 years I have lived with a very fatty liver. How it got that way I have no idea. After a biopsy and blood tests, the specialist told me that I am either a 650 pound man or an alcoholic. For my cure, he told me never to take another drink. Since I do not drink alcohol, that was easy, but knew that it was advise that would not help me. I asked him if I could change my diet and he said that it would not matter. When a liver gets to be fatty and severely enlarged, it secretes enzymes in your blood and tests can easily detect how bad your liver is based on the count. A normal liver count is 40. My last test, in February of 2009, revealed a count of 91. My personal doctor told me that the ultra sound test showed my liver was very large.

After doing our church fast for three weeks and being prayed over at the healing ministry during this past April, I went back for another blood test. My count is now at 46 and my liver is smiling once again after 15 years. For those that find this difficult to believe, I have blood tests at my doctor's office that supports the above.

DAY 6. I'M NOT GIVING UP!

Today is day 6 in our fast. Big kudos to all of you who have pressed on doing this fast so far! The first 5 days are the most difficult, so keep going forward, especially making time to spend with God.

My guess is that several things, some of them difficult, have happened during this first few days of the fast. When Jesus decided to fast for 40 days, our Lord was constantly harassed by Satan. Temptation increased during His fasting. But the Lord was able to persevere through all His trials. It would not surprise me if some of you have been attacked by the enemy recently. This is normal. Remember that the enemy does not want more of God in your life. So keep pressing on! Don't give up! Your reward is coming!

And if you have been knocked down by the enemy in the beginning of your fast, be encouraged. Remember that fasting has nothing to do to impress God. If you gave room to temptation, just be humble and go before God in repentance. The enemy may win a battle, but you can win the war. We have 15 days ahead of pursuing God with a sincere heart. God's mercies are new every morning. So get up! Keep moving forward!

CAN WE DO A DIFFERENT FAST THAN THE DANIEL'S FAST?

This is one of the questions that are more frequent in our church about the 21 day fasting challenge. Some people are new to fasting and may be doubtful about their ability to make it. Some others have medical conditions that will hinder them from a Daniel Fast. And also, some people have parties and important events where following the fast is not reasonable at best and disrespectful at worse. So what they can do?

First of all, remember that fasting is not about going on a diet. The purpose of fasting is to displace ourselves from the center of our world, and dedicate quality time and energy to seek God. Don't get stuck in the legalisms of what to eat or not to eat. The Daniel's Fast is only a suggestion of a pattern clearly established in the Scriptures. Maybe you can only fast meat during the 21 days. That's fine! Or maybe you will fast only coffee. That's good too! The point is to seek the Lord in a way that breaks our normal patterns and that takes us deeper in our dependence on Him.

This is very important to understand. Maybe you can go through the 21 days following the Daniel's Fast to the detail. But if you don't make efforts to spend quality time God during these 21 days, your fast will simply become a diet. On the other hand, maybe you are fasting only coffee, and you are making a conscious effort to spend time with God, doing daily devotions, praying, seeking God's will for your life, then your fasting will bring forth the spiritual results you are expecting. You will have a better sense of God's will for your life.

Finally, remember that we are doing this fast together, as a church family. Don't feel disqualified because you cannot do a Daniel's Fast. Try to join us in this challenge in a different way. Fasting one meal a day is another great suggestion. Many people use their lunch break at work to seek God rather than eating lunch. That's a great way to fast too!

OUR MOTIVES TO FAST!

Last Sunday I shared with our congregation the importance to have the right expectations and motives when we do fast. The following is a summary of what I shared:

• We are not fasting to gain some special favor with God. So no need to be legalistic about this. Don’t get stuck in the details. Just join us in whatever way you can.

• We are not fasting to manipulate God to give us something we want. But you can bring to God issues that matter to you. Think through them.

• Fasting is not about changing God’s will, but about us changing according to the will of God.

You see, fasting really deals with our selfish nature—the desires to our own personal fulfillment. Fasting helps us to displace ourselves from the center of our world and places God and His people in the center instead. As we fast we purify our hearts from default human selfishness.

As we read in Isaiah 58, there was a season when the Israelites lost the correct purpose of fasting. We read in Isaiah that Israel became frustrated with God because God wasn’t answering their prayers made when fasting. They tried to impress God with self-infliction, with putting sackcloth and ashes on their heads, and with regular and rigorous fasts. But God had to remind them that all the theatrics were meaningless unless they deal with their selfishness while fasting. God was really strong about it!

3 “You are living for yourselves even while you are fasting… 4 What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5 You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like a blade of grass in the wind. You dress in sackcloth and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD? 6 No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned… 7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. 8 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.
Isaiah 58:3-8

God is saying here that our light shines brightly not when we fast for selfish reasons, but when we take care of the poorest of the poor, when we focus on other people's needs, and when we work in our character flaws. If we fast correctly, then we are going to fight against our selfish tendencies and be willing to be more compassionate towards those in need. The more we do that, the more intense the light will be. And just like we measure physical light by watts, we can measure our spiritual light with compassion. We must be willing to go with compassion into the most darkened places and glow the light of Jesus.

What's a Daniel Fast?

I recently found a good blogsite that has great information called The Daniel Fast. You will find a link in the right column! They even have a Daniel Fast cookbook for sale. Pretty Amazing. Check it out! I copied this portion from one of their posts:

Foods to include in your diet during the Daniel Fast

All fruits. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon

All vegetables. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

All whole grains, including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

All legumes. These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans.

All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages: spring water, distilled water or other pure waters.

Other: tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to avoid on the Daniel Fast

All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.

All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.

All sweeteners including but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.

All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.

All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.

All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.

All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.

Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.