A Follower's Thoughts - Correll Pritchard
/Fasting and Self-Denial
Fasting and Self-Denial sometimes go hand and hand. Think about that for a moment. When you fast, you deny your body of nutrition, right? In Matthew 4, starting in verse one, it says, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward, he was famished." Imagine not eating nor drinking anything for that long! That had to be an ordeal! On top of that, guess what happened next? Here comes Satan trying to tempt him. Verse three says, "the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Just let that sink into your thought process for a moment. Imagine not eating for that long and then being tempted with food! Just think about it. Isn't that the way Satan works anyway? He catches us at our most vulnerable moments then he tries to leap on us. Guess what? The best answer to Satan's temptations comes in verse four. Jesus answers him by saying, "It is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." There is the answer and the only answer that will fight off the temptations of the devil. The word of God!
There are times when fasting and self-denial do not go hand in hand. After all, self-denial does not always center around what's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It could be a lust for more money, more power, more worldly possessions; the lists can go on and on. The choice is ours to make. Listen to God or listen to the devil. Understanding God's truth or being led by the devil's lies.
As I go through this Lenten Season, I will be practicing fasting and self-denial. But most of all, I will be digging into the word of God. James 4:7 says it clearly, "Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." My Lenten plans are to submit myself to God. So that when Satan's temptations come my way, I will be able to deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow Jesus, not only in these 40 days of Lent but 365 days every year.
Self-Denial & Fasting, Spiritual Discipline Worth the Work - Tammy Wendling
/As I sit here contemplating Lent and the spiritual discipline of self-denial and fasting, I'm in my make-shift home office (you know, CoVid). This space was, not so long ago, my youngest daughter's bedroom. The last renovation we did in this space was when one child moved out and an older sister moved to a room of her own. To make both of their bedrooms new and unique, we decided to paint - easy, quick fix, and the kids would be happy and set for the duration. Since it had been a while since we had painted anything, I checked the internet for suggested steps to prepare these rooms to be painted. Good grief, what an ordeal this was going to be! I wanted a simple fix and to move on. I took the "must do" steps, paired it back, kept it simple, and everything seemed fine. Except, looking at it now, the quick fix doesn't look so great. There are specks of paint on the ceiling, and a couple of places are even peeling up a bit. I guess the "ordeal" of more extended preparation and more involved steps had value and merit after all.
It occurs to me our spiritual lives are often like the decision and quest for a quick fix. Each new year, each Lenten season, we make well-intended plans and start reading the Bible more often, attending worship regularly, offering kindness to those that cross our paths, etc. Even with the best intentions, often these devoted efforts only work for a short time, and we fall back into old patterns. Like this peeling paint in my daughter's bedroom, it works great for a bit, but now we're back in the same place, needing to paint again. Perhaps doing the necessary and recommended prep work in our spiritual lives would also produce better results.
We consider what it means to put ourselves and our wants/needs last during this focused week of self-denial and fasting. Well, that's a cultural novelty today - putting ourselves last… We often consider fasting as a time to deny ourselves one food or another. It's so much more and includes any particular activity in our lives that has come to mean more than it should (electronics, hobbies, eating, work, etc.). The goal of fasting and self-denial is to connect our physical self to the spiritual. It means we learn to give our spiritual life prominence each day rather than the physical. It means we devote our whole spiritual attention to God. In doing this, we re-center ourselves with God and less with the messes and materialism of the world. We prepare to live fully with Him forever - not temporarily (like this paint job gone wrong).
We're moving through this season of Lent in self-reflection, repentance, and hope. As we set our eyes on Easter, let's embrace the "ordeal" and do the work to get our spiritual lives in order.
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'"
Matthew 16:24
Self Denial and Fasting - David Hand
/The first thing that comes to my mind when the word self-denial is brought up this time of year is the Disciples.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross, and follow me." -Matthew 16:24
"Jesus tells his Disciples that following him will require self-denial and sacrifice. We do not gain virtue points by saying no to eating a hot dog or not eating chocolate during the season of Lent, but we do learn the habit of setting aside our desires to make room for pursuing God’s will." (Sytsma)
"We willingly give up some good things to better experience the best of things. We create margin in our schedules, we clear clutter from our lives, and crowd out noisy distractions in our heart so there is space for us to again taste and see the glory, grace, and goodness of Jesus." (indycrowe.com)
(Sytsma, Bill, https://todaydevotional.com/devotions/practicing-self-denial-2012-05-13)
(https://indycrowe.com/2019/03/06/a-word-on-self-denial-and-fasting)