Consumed: 40 Days of Fasting, Repentance & Rebirth

by Dean Briggs

Pride is the anointing of Satan. It is not trivial, like poor manners. It is an abomination to Him (Prov. 16:5).

original sin of the fallen cherub, causing fallen man to stink with the odors of hell.

only recourse is to vigilantly submit our entire person to the mercy of God and the prevailing reality of Christ, every day.

all pride and personal ambition must be humbled if we are to become the voice of the Lord to our generation. Jesus is the star of the show, not us. He is our message.

It was in the revelation of Jesus that John found gladness. He rejoiced in the promotion of the Lamb more than himself.

As the Lord renews you emotionally and spiritually, it is important to receive the confidence of His actions on your behalf. Every day, go before Him in a posture of submission and need, but do not only confess what you lack, thank Him for what He supplies.

It is only after the raising, lowering, smoothing and flattening of the rough ground—after investing time and emotion, responding to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, getting old wounds healed, facing sin habits head-on, choosing humility over pride—after that process, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

Daily, we must grab hold of the resurrection life of Christ, apply it to our lives and reject everything that is anti-life.

Fasting 1) trains you to a lifestyle of persistent discipline toward your most basic and per-vasive appetite, eating; 2) it serves to weaken the overall will of your flesh, thus enabling you to more successfully apply spiritual restraint to other areas; and 3) it tenderizes your heart to the Holy Spirit, on whom you must utterly depend for real, lasting transformation.

The process requires time, endurance, a certain godly stubbornness and a heart willing to receive both the correction and the kindness of God.

As the temple of the Lord, your body becomes a fit vessel for greater dimensions of supernatural activity.

Bring even the little things into your conversation with God, those small wandering moments scattered throughout a typical day, when your words, attitudes or actions fail to reflect the character of Christ within.

There is both a physical and a spiritual fast. In the physical fast, the body abstains from food and drink. In the spiritual fast, the faster abstains from evil intentions, words and deeds. By fasting, it is possible both to be delivered from future evils, and to enjoy the good things to come. We fell into disease through sin; let us receive healing through repentance, which is not fruitful without fasting.” — St. Basil of Caesarea (329-379)

literally born again, meaning born into a different quality and construct of life. You move from being a natural creature to a supernatural creature. You move from temporal to eternal. You are recreated, made alive. You might have thought you were alive before, but afterwards you realize you weren’t. Another dimension has beckoned your dead spirit to live in fellowship with God. It is a staggering event and happens thousands of times a day all over the globe.

There, it just happened again; somewhere, a new creation was born. Each time, as angels bear witness, they are awestruck and dumbfounded that frail humans can be elevated to the nobility and virtue of the Son of God,

We are not yet changed into the fullness of resurrection, when our body finally becomes every bit as alive with eternal life as our spirit is now with Christ.

the process will accelerate until all is finally subsumed in the perfection of His will.

What you are investing in now, even in the temporal framework of “flesh like grass,” has an eternal yield, manifested one day in the form of your resurrection. In that day, you too will be revealed as a son of God, a younger brother to Jesus, Who also denied the pleasures of the world for the greater joy of obedience.

Fasting emulates the Lord we love and serve.

Out of lovesick mourning for Him, we deny pleasures that might otherwise satisfy, lest we forget how much we miss Him.

A body subdued by fasting brings the human spirit freedom, strength, sobriety, purity, and keen discernment.” — St. Ignaty Brianchaninov (1807-1867)

You are on Day 29 of this journey. It is time to smash idols.

Idols also promise life, but they lie. They deceive. By life, they mean pleasure. By pleasure they mean bondage. By bondage they mean death.

Idols keep us trapped in what is passing away, so that we can never be satisfied and always want more. This is the nature of addiction.

According to Jewish oral tradition, Abraham smashed the idols of his father before leaving the land of Ur to become the father of our faith.

If our principal treasure be as we profess, in things spiritual and heavenly, and woe unto us if it be not so! on them will our affections, and consequently our desires and thoughts, be principally fixed.” — John Owen (1616-1683)

story of the old dog chasing a rabbit. After failing to catch the rabbit, the old dog was teased by several younger dogs. After listening to their jeers, the dog barked, “Foolish pups! While I was only running for a meal, that rabbit was running for his life.” Here’s the moral: the reward determines the way you run. A meal is a much smaller reward than life.

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Unless you approach God with a faith construct that includes wanting the reward He gives, He is not pleased.

“Hope for reward is the evidence of faith, which is part of pleasing God.”

We can’t truly come to God (in the passionate manner He longs for) unless we truly believe in His reward with all our hearts.

What do you hope for in this fast? You made the decision to seek God with fasting.

We live in tension because holy ambition and carnal aspirations so easily blend.

false humility, not authentic, Christ-centered humility. When that happens, we squelch the legitimate stirrings of the Holy Spirit urging man to spiritual achievement.

Fasting beckons us to deny the world and discover joy, not to become proud of the triumph of foodlessness.

Let pride be cursed. Let God be praised. He is coming again . . . and H...

Fasting is an effective and safe method of detoxifying the body. . .a technique that wise men have used for centuries to heal the sick. Fast regularly and help the body heal itself and stay well. Give all of your organs a rest. Fasting can help reverse the aging process, and if we use it correctly, we will live longer, happier lives.” — James Balch, M.D.

I’m weary of waiting, smelling, thinking, wanting . . . but never tasting. At the same time, I’m deeply troubled by the weakness of my flesh. It pains me to realize I can’t think about God for a measly five minutes straight without slobbering at the thought of day 41, when I finally eat again. Rest assured, these are normal thoughts. We’re human. And that’s precisely part of the point. We’re human. God alone is God. He knows our frailty.

How do we re-center once we reach the point where our minds constantly wander, and we begin to doubt our own sincerity? We need help and guidance. Better yet, we need an anchor. We are so easily moved here, there and yon by how we feel. We analyze how well we think we’re chasing God, and if it’s good we feel good, and if it’s bad we feel bad.

At this point in our forty days, perhaps the most useful, faith-enriching, God-centering act would be to surrender more deeply to His sovereignty. It is good that you fast. Don’t get lost in the mechanics, the superficial, the speculations. He is in control and we aren’t. Our lives are in His hands. On the grand scale of human history, entire nations come and go, while God alone remains.

Mighty Babylon, Assyria, Greece, Rome . . . all came to ruins. America perhaps should tremble at this, but the disciple of Jesus should have peace and confidence, for their life story has been transferred to an eternal Kingdom,

God is complete. He is undisturbed in His glory. His dominion is not enhanced by your fasting. You may be enhanced, but He never changes.

If you nervously start to reach the end of your forty days and think, “Have I done this right? It’s almost over, is it working? Is there anything I’m missing? I want to eat so badly I feel like a failure. What else should I do?” No, no. Don’t do. Be. His dominion is not diminished by your fasting fluctuations. Be His. Be true. Be still. Let his sovereignty anchor your hopeful, fearful soul.

The story you’re moving through isn’t your own. Ultimately, it’s not about you. Fasting should not immerse you more in yo...

Christian fasting, at its root, is the hunger of a homesickness for God.” — John Piper

Even the best language and symbolism are insufficient to bridge the gaps in our comprehension of His unfathomable splendor.