Fasting-Day 1

Some of you may be wondering why Cj and I are fasting and why for so long, so I will explain that now before I go into detail of how I am feeling and the physical changes I go through.

(A year ago, all of this would have sounded pretty crazy and extreme to me, lol.) We are participating in a corporate fast along with many of the members of our church (and other churches). The reason we do this is to start out our New Year by honoring God, and regaining our spiritual edge. Kind of like sharpening your weapon before battle. We as Christians are God's weapons...and we must make sure that we are sharp to do battle against the enemy in the coming year. What would happen if we were spiritually dull?? The fact is, life dulls you...and you must take time to regain your edge! 

Today's sermon by (our) Pastor Ken highlighted many of the reasons for our choice and strengthened our decision to do it :) I will list a few key points below:

Jesus fasted by choice for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11). He did so as a spiritual test before beginning his ministry. We all go through some sort of test before beginning a new (improved) season in our life and we must make sure that we are ready and strong enough for what is to come. Satan tried to tempt Jesus while he was fasting because he saw what he thought to be a weakness (hunger)...but that weakness was only physical and Jesus proved that he was still very spiritually strong in spite of it.

There were three areas that Satan tried to tempt Jesus...and these are the same three areas that he is after in our lives.

#1.) Satan is after your Word edge! 

(Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” --Matt. 4:3-4)

When you are fresh on fire for Christ...the Word (Bible) comes alive to you. You are hungry for more and it is captivating. Revelation comes to you through the Word and you cannot get enough. After being dulled a while, it is not so much so. The enemy wants the Bible to be boring to you...he wants it to seem dry and wants you to lose interest. We have to remember that "You are clean because of the Word." It keeps our minds fresh and our hearts in the right place. It is what we need to hold onto.

#2.) Satan is after your holiness edge! 

(Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and,‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” --Matt. 4:5-7)

Fasting and praying will make you more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and the sin in your life and heart, so that you are able to conquer it and be free of it.

#3.) Satan is after your worship & serving edge! 

(Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' --Matt. 4:8-10)

When your spiritual edge is sharp, worship is alive for you...it energizes you. Ministry and the areas where you are serving are a joy, and not a duty. We must examine our hearts to make sure we are serving for the right reasons. Are you serving for rewards in Heaven or rewards on Earth?

(Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. --Matt. 4:11)

This is what we want for our lives. For the devil to flee from us and for us to be open to hearing God and what He wants for our lives :)

Now for more on how I feel and other misc. things...

For the past 4 months or so, we have been on a very tight budget....this led us to eat a lot of CRUD!! (Think Top Ramen and other cheapola junk.) We are told that we are to treat our bodies as a temple and God wants us to take care of ourselves well physically. This means eat healthy and exercise. I haven't been good about either one these pat few months and I can feel the negative repercussions...I feel and look completely different than I did this past summer!!

-My skin is very bad compared to usual. I have a lot of breakouts that I do not normally have.

-My energy levels have fallen to the point where I feel like I NEED coffee and/or a nap to get through each and every day.

-I get random headaches...more like migraines...for no reason or trigger.

-My mood has gone south and my temper is shorter than usual.

-I have trouble sleeping soundly throughout the night.

-I have gained a good 23lbs and 6in on my waist.

Cj and I chose (with the guidance of God through prayer) to do a 7 day water only fast followed by a juice only fast (fresh fruit and veggies & a juicer) for the remainder of the month.Yeah, sounds crazy....but the health benefits are amazing! It will give our bodies a chance to reboot, get rid of the toxins and CRUD, and start off fresh and clean so that we may go on with a healthy diet and exercise plan.

Here are a couple of sites explaining the benefits of water and juice fasting:

http://www.gaianstudies.org/articles4.htm

http://drbenkim.com/fasting.html

www.fatsickandnearlydead.com (We watched the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix and it was incredibly interesting)

The girls have decided to fast from "treats:" cookies, cake, candy, etc. They wanted to be a part of what we are doing for God :)

SOOOO......Day 1!

Cj: 
Weight:203.2lbs
18.6% body fat
40.1% lean muscle
Waist=38"

Me:

Weight:132.0lbs

24.3% body fat                                                                          

36.9% lean muscle 
Waist=32"

I feel pretty good today. I have drank about 70oz of water. Feeling a bit tired and hungry. Had a short headache and some stomach growls. Overall though, not bad. I have been craving salty foods, like Top Ramen broth, lol. It's funny that I kind of keep forgetting that I am doing this and instinctively in my head go, "What should I make to eat?" and then I remember...It was weird making the girls lunch and dinner today and smelling their food. That made my stomach rumble a bit :) Took a long nap after church (about 4 hrs) and dreamt about food...but I think that is just because I have been thinking about this whole process so much more than my actual hunger. I have heard and read that days 2-4 of a water fast are the hardest with the most symptoms of detox.....so we shall see what I feel like for the next few days. I will be posting (hopefully) every evening :) Cj feels a lot better than I do. He is happy and full of energy!