Giving God Control

http://youtu.be/0wiVjOo3sQQ  - Lord I Give You My Heart - Michael W Smith

Galatians 5:22-23



But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!


Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Self-Control - ugh!


Good friends treated Larry and me to dinner at Cheddars tonight. The food was so delicious! Tilapia with mango salsa!

It was wonderful. About half-way into my meal, I was feeling a little full, you know what I mean, when you realize that one more bite just might be too much. But it was so good....

So I didn't stop. I took 3-4 more bites. Before long I began to wish that I had not felt the need to "clean my plate".

I never eat dessert. Well, hardly ever. But our friend ordered two large chocolate chip cookies topped with 2 scoops of ice cream. Yum-yum! It looked so good. Maybe just a bite or two, surely that wouldn't hurt anything.

I was wrong. I didn't stop at one or two bites. And now I'm miserable. If I could just go back and do it over, or should I say - undo it. I would have stopped half way through the Tilapia, and I wouldn't have even been tempted by the cookie and ice cream dessert. But I can't go back. What's done is done, and I'm paying the price.

If only I had used more self control.

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. I don't hear many sermons about it. I don't think we Americans like the word all that much. After all, we're living in a country where over indulgence is a way of life. Too much food, too much t.v., too much _____________ - You can fill in the blank. We have access to so much of everything. It's really obscene.  And we don't like to tell ourselves "no" very often. At least, I don't.

As I sat staring at my computer screen feeling like a beached whale, I thought back to church
Wednesday night.  We talked about fasting. I began to see a connection between self-control and fasting.

Matthew 6:16

“And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.

One of the men in the class asked, "why we don't fast?"   Great question.
 
According to the Hayford Bible hand book, the Verb "fast" occurs 22 times and the Noun fast occurs 26 times. And the verse in Matthew says "WHEN you fast", not if you fast.  So I began to wonder.  Could Fasting be more than a suggestion?  We've certainly made other things "set in stone" rules without much more inference.
 
Possibly, it's just one of those things that people did back in bible times - not really relevant for us today - especially not relevant for us Americans, right?  Or could it be that fasting requires more selflessness than most of us are willing to endure?  Are we just too self-indulgent to go without food for a day or two?

Seems to me that Fasting is a perfect example of exercising self-control.

I've fasted in the past - not often -  and usually more for medical reasons. At times, Periodically, I have gone one day without eating solid food just to give my body a little break.  One day isn't long enough to suffer from malnutrition,  although to hear me tell, you'd think I was starving!  But one day is usually just enough to help give my insides a reprieve from all the garbage I eat; I almost always feel better after fasting for a day. 

But I don't think that's the kind of Fasting Jesus was talking about.
My fasting, for the most part, has been selfish fasting - I fasted so I would feel better. 

Bible Fasting has a totally different focus.  Fasting is a tool, not unlike Prayer. It's a discipline that I can use to help me to take my eyes off myself and my little world, and instead focus completely on my relationship with Jesus.  For that little while when I'm fasting, I'm  seeking spiritual food instead of physical sustenance.

Luke 5:33-35
One day some people said to Jesus, “John the Baptist’s disciples fast and pray regularly, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are your disciples always eating and drinking?”
Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

I'm no bible scholar but this passage indicates to me that when Jesus was no longer on the earth with His disciples, time spent in fasting and prayer would help the disciples feel His presence more.  I think He's indicating that fasting would be something that could help them stay centered and in communion with Him. 
I don't think Fasting is a magic trick to get God to do what I want Him to do.  Instead, it's a time of turning my eyes to God and away from the worries and cares of the world; its a time when I am fully and completely relying on Him for all my needs.  When I get a hunger pain, it serves to remind me that He is the true Bread of Life.  When I feel hungry, I pray.

Fasting should be done with humility and generally, in private.  No one should even know I'm fasting.  If I'm making a big to-do over my self-sacrificing, then my focus is on me, not on my relationship with Christ.  Jesus told the disciples - don't make a fuss, don't draw attention to yourself when you are fasting.  Fasting is NOT to be done so others can see how "righteous" I am.  Fasting is all about drawing nearer to God.

Fasting doesn't have to be about giving up food.  For some people, medically that's not safe.  Fasting can be giving up T.V. or anything that might play an important role in my life.  Doing without Facebook or Texting might be more of a sacrifice for some.   The goal is godly self-control.  Bringing my body, my thoughts, my actions into submission to Christ; placing Him above all other things that might steal my attention and time from Him. 

Corinthians 9:24-25
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.


Paul says we are training just like an athletic, we, too,  train our bodies.  We work them hard.  We give up certain foods.  We might give up drinking or smoking.  We take control of our bodies so that our bodies will br fit for the task ahead of us.  Winning the Race, right? 
 
I want to get the best out of this life, and I like having fun just as much as the next guy.  But this life isn't going to last forever.  I don't want to waste time chasing after things that don't really matter at all. My future is with Christ. My focus should always be centered on the Eternal life He has promised me. 
 
How can I get the best out of this life?  That's easy.  I can listen to God's instructions and do the things He directs me to do. He wants my happiness and joy more than I do.  I'm His child!  So I can trust that what He has planned for me will be much better than what I might settle for when I'm seeking "fun" for myself.   
 
I can just imagine how frustrated He must feel when I'm doing things my way instead of listening to Him.  Can't you hear Him saying: 
 
"Child, I have so much more for you if you'd just listen.  I know your future, and I will guide you around the potholes and  through the detours of this world if you just listen and obey." 
 
But do I listen?  Not always.  Sometimes  I simply ignore his instructions.
Other times I don't listen because I'm distracted, and I cannot hear Him for all the noise and chatter. 
 
Fasting is a sacrifice I can lift up to God.  When I willingly give up something that's important to me in order to have more time for what's most important, I believe God honors my offering. and is more than willing to meet with me for a time of sweet communion. Having that precious time with God is worth so much more than than a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream.
 
Self control is not about punishing my body by refusing to eat or by over exercising; it's not about cutting myself or any other method I might use to feel "in control" of my life.  Self Control that is a fruit of the Spirit is when I give up "self" - and  invite the Holy Spirit to take control.  Fasting helps me do that.
 
http://youtu.be/MV63_Vmf-74 - All I Need is You Lord - Hillsong

Lord, please draw me close to You.  There are so many temptations and distractions in my life, and some of those distractions might even be good things, but when I get so caught up in those "good things" that I fail to spend time with my Father, when I don't sit with Jesus and focus on Him, those good things become a tool for the Enemy to take my eyes away from what's most important: my relationship with You.  Clear my mind.  Purify my heart, renew my spirit.  Give me strength and determination to be more in control of how I spend my time.  Help me to always make my time with You my first priority.  I want to know You better.  I want the peace that being in Your presence gives me.  I need You more than anything else in this world.  Show me how to use fasting as a time when I give you full control over everything.  In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights.  Why?  Surely, He was close to His Father!  Yet He knew what was coming.  After His baptism, He knew the battle had begun.  The Enemy would do everything in his power to keep Jesus from accomplishing His God given mission.  Even though Jesus was God, He was not relying on His rights as God. He faced every temptation that the Enemy threw at Him - not as God but as a man. As a man, He knew that He would need to feel His Father's presence in a powerful way. He needed God's strength.  Jesus kept His eyes on His Father so that He would not be controlled by His physical wants and needs. He completely focused on what God wanted for Him.  Jesus used Fasting and Prayer to stay connected in mind and spirit to His Father.

If Jesus needed to Fast, how in world can I think I don't need that kind of close communion with God to enable me to stand against the enemy? 

http://youtu.be/FMrAafe7Mns - With All I Am - Hillsong