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thekingandme · 4 years

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Daniel Fast - Day 40 Devotional

Daily Devotional 40

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." (Matt 16:24-27)

We are at the end of Daniel Fast, but I hope you are at the beginning of a fresh, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. We have looked at some hard things in these pages, and we have been encouraged by some of the most positive, uplifting words ever spoken by Jesus. Some are designed to blast; some are to build. All are to change our lives so that we walk more closely with Jesus.

The message of Jesus calls us to make choices about him, about ourselves, and about how we live. If it doesn't shake us up from time to time, we must already be dead! But too many of us read a book or go to a retreat and make changes, only to slip back into the same old patterns in a few days or a few weeks. With this in mind, hopefully this forty-day journey has allowed God to change your identity-not just your behavior. Change your behavior, and you'll probably go back to your old behavior. Let God change your identity, and you'll never be the same. We need consistency in our walk with God.

The message of Jesus is really very simple: If you try to selfishly grab for all you can get, you'll lose everything, but if you are willing to lose what you have for Christ's sake, you will be rewarded with meaning, purpose, rich relationships, and eternal rewards. The message is clear, but the heart is evil. The lure of the world causes Christians to look away and think real life is found apart from Christ. Even strong Christians can get off base. one of the saddest stories in the Bible is of a little-known man named Demas. His spiritual decline is noted in three passages written by Paul. In Colossians, Demas is walking with God and effective in his ministry alongside the great apostle. Paul mentions Demas in the same verse with Luke: "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings" (Col 4:14). But Demas began to slip. In his letter to Philemon, Paul only mentions Demas is there with him. In his last letter to Timothy, Paul tells the sad story: "For Demas, because he loved this world, is deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica" (II Tim 4:10).

Did Demas intend to slide downhill in his spiritual life and ministry? Of course not. But his affections changed. He went from loving Jesus to loving this world. It probably didn't happen an instant. It may have happened when he saw some other Christian who had more than he did. Demas may have sulked, I'm doing all this for God, and this bum has a lot more than I do. It's not fair!" The devil got a foothold in his heart.

Be on guard. Be aware of your own heart's wandering and rein it back to Christ when it starts getting away. Be aware of Satan 's schemes to get you to sin, and then to get you to feel so rotten that you don't experience God's forgiveness. Peter said that Satan "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (I Peter 5:8). What kind of animals do lions devour? I've watched enough nature shows to know the answer to that one: They eat the ones that aren't careful, those that aren't wary, lose who are sick and wounded, and those that are slow to respond to danger. Don't let Satan eat you, too.

I am a fan of "last words." I like to read what people wanted to say right before they died because those words were tremendously important to them. Jesus' last words to his men were credibly encouraging and challenging. He gave them the privilege of representing him to every person who ever lived! He reminded them: "I am with you always," so they would never be Lone. In Paul's last letter before he was executed in Rome, he wrote to his disciple Timothy. He wrote:

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (II Tim 4:6-8)

To Paul, his struggle to walk with God all day every day was a fight, and the strain of obeying day after day in all kinds of situations was like running a marathon. He may have stumbled sometimes, but he kept fighting and kept running. He finished. That's an incredible thing to be able to say at the end of your life, and because of that, Paul looked forward to the "crown of righteousness" God would give him and which he will give to you and me as we hang in there to fight and finish the race.

Will I be like Demas or like Paul? Which one will you be like?

One of my biggest hopes is that you have developed new disciplines as you have gone through this fast. In the early days of these devotional, we talked about how Richard Foster compares the Christian walk to farming. A good farmer has to do certain things in his field, but he can't make the crop grow. You and I can be faithful to pray, study the Scriptures, spend time with strong believers, and be involved in ministry. Those are habits that can last for a lifetime, and as we do those, the soil of our spiritual lives will be ready to grow the seed of God's word. In these weeks, I hope God has opened your eyes as you have read the Bible; I hope he has given you insight as you have prayed; I hope he has used the passages you have memorized at times when you needed encouragement or correction.

And I hope you will continue these disciplines for the rest of your life.

What is the next step for you as you close this fast? It would be easy for you to say, "Wow! That was good! (or That was hard! or whatever) I need a break for a while." Don't take a break. Find something challenging and encouraging to keep sharpening your spiritual sword. Here are some suggestions: -Find another Bible study to go through. Talk to your care group leader or a godly friend to find something to challenge and inspire you.

Focus on one book of the Bible for the next month. I recommend John, Romans, or Ephesians. Study it, memorize large portions of it, and let it marinate into your heart. In your study, use II Timothy 3:16-17 as a guide. First, read the book several times so you become familiar with it. Get a notebook, and each day study a paragraph. Ask yourself these questions: What does this passage teach me? How do I fall short? What am I going to do to change? How can I get that change into my daily schedule so it becomes a habit? Don't try to rush this process. Good Bible study takes time. Feast on the word slowly.)

-Go back through devotional again. Each time you go through material, you will gain more insights and apply the truths more deeply or in new ways. You might want to go through this material again right away, or you might want to pick it up again in a month or so. Either way, I encourage you to go through it again.

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