{"id":2640,"date":"2016-10-30T15:25:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-30T19:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=2640"},"modified":"2016-10-30T15:25:58","modified_gmt":"2016-10-30T19:25:58","slug":"our-righteous-act-of-fasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=2640","title":{"rendered":"Our Righteous Act Of Fasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Message by Dr. David Drake<\/h3>\n

rec1030-113125<\/a><\/h3>\n

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Series: “Inside \/ Out”<\/h3>\n

Living Today The Life Of Jesus<\/h3>\n

A study through The Sermon On The Mount<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Matthew 5-7<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Our\u00a0Righteous Act Of Fasting<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n

Matthew 6:16-18<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Matthew 6:16-18 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>16 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do,<\/i> for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.<\/span>
\n17 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0“<\/span>But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face<\/span>
\n18 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done<\/i> in secret will reward you.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Definition of Fasting: I abstain in order to obtain.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Fasting By Way Of Display<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n

16 \u00a0“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The “Use” Of Fasting<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When we fast, first we create a spirit of humility, repentance, & dependency on God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel 9:3-5 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by<\/i> prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
\n4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we fast, we focus on connecting with God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nehemiah 1:4-5 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0I said, “I beseech You, O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As we fast, we pursue God and His purposes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Acts 13:2-3 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
\n3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The “Abuse” Of Fasting<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

We abuse the act of fasting by desiring to get things from God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We abuse the act of fasting by developing a spirit of self-righteousness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Luke 18:10-12 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>10 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.<\/span>
\n11 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0“<\/span>The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.<\/span>
\n12 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0‘I fast twice a week; <\/span><\/p>\n

Proverbs 27:19 (NASB)
\n<\/strong>19 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0As in water face reflects<\/i> face, So the heart of man reflects<\/i> man.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Fasting By Way Of Devotion<\/u><\/b><\/h3>\n

17 \u00a0“But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 \u00a0so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.<\/p>\n

Devoted fasting does not reveal our outward appearance to men but our inward worship\u00a0of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Devoted fasting does not receive the praise of man but the reward of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB)
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.<\/span>
\n6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Message by Dr. David Drake rec1030-113125     Series: “Inside \/ Out” Living Today The Life Of Jesus A study through The Sermon On The Mount Matthew 5-7   Our\u00a0Righteous Act Of Fasting Matthew 6:16-18   Matthew 6:16-18 (NASB) 16 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermon-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2645,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions\/2645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}