Have you ever tried fasting? It does have some good aspects. So far this year, I’ve experienced three different types of fasts:
- I intentionally took 40 days out of January and February to live on liquids only. That became a special treat for clarifying mind and body to begin this year. My spirit was thoroughly blessed through that experience.
- Then 30 days of unintentional electronic fast when my computer died on my trip to Asia helped in prioritizing my research, teaching and communication adapt-abilities. It will take a while to catch up on the workload induced by that catastrophe!
- A third fast was travel and separation from Laura for 23 days, which is something I never get used to!
Extended times of fasting are not a frequent exercise for me, but I’m discovering them to be highly profitable. Some of us need to spend greater amounts of time with our Father. Having a mind and body clarified from the cluttering or inhibitions of physical and spiritual toxins goes a long way to enlighten our spirit. The question was posed to me about what spiritual revelation highlighted such a lengthy food fast. None really! Insights actually started to come after it was over! Plodding through the first four or five days of consuming lots of water to stave off hunger pangs, and celebrating each day’s achievement by realizing that “I could probably do this one more day!” were small attitude and habit forming steps that have culminated in a bunch of subtle life style changes. I found it’s true that six weeks (40 days) of effort does change habits! Otherwise, I found that going without food for that long wasn’t such a life shattering experience as I had expected.
Afterward though, has been a different story. I’m still the grumpy guy I’ve always been, but slight attitude changes and nuggets of insight have begun to creep up to my conscious level. (That’s where I missed a computer. Now I have all these bits of scribbled notes to sort through!) I’ve begun to treasure this time of prioritizing of spirit, soul and body activities. It’s been an effective discipline to urge my spirit to take higher precedence over soul chatter and body busyness. And realizing the unique niche I have in being the recipient of your prayer, (probably unwittingly) during these fasts, leaves me in awe. Having my spirit lifted up by a Body of Believers, to Almighty Spirit tends to produce good fruit from a fallowed body and fertile mind.
I sure appreciate being lifted up, while working alongside many of the folks that I’m teaching, to have INQUISITIVE mindsets! It is become common to hear statements like:
- “We’ve never heard teaching on this kind of material before.”
- “Your style of presentation is unique.”
- “You make us think!”
Thanks HEAPS for your part in what I’m doing! …. John
Blessing on your spirit, soul and body
May you also be blessed with profound understanding in messages from Almighty Spirit to your spirit that provides assurance to your soul. (The Spirit testifies together with our own spirit, assuring us that we are children of God. Romans 8:16)
(Original post Mar 22, 2015)
