The Bible says that before Jesus ate he was visited by the devil and tempted to end his fast before the appointed time. The devil tempted him by trying to get him to turn rocks into bread. The same has happened to me. It is strange that pizza is my least favorite food and when I smell pizza now it is the biggest temptation that I seem to have. Who know, when I come off this fast, Pizza may be my favorite food. I am definitely going to take the family out for pizza soon after the fast just to see if my tastes have changed.
I gave up sweet tea about six or seven years ago because I was just drinking way too much of it but I am considering trying it again after coming off this fast. I definitely intend to eat differently, to try some new things, and to eat much less and more healthy.
With all that said, satan is tempting me with food but I have withstood those temptations. Last night I had a meeting at Mt. Olivet UMC and they were making Chocolate Eggs for Easter and the aroma was overwhelming and to be honest this was a great temptation as well but I don’t believe this one was from satan, this one just happened to be at the church where I was in a meeting.
I have no intention of giving in. I have officially started day 29 at the time of this writing and I have yet to feel a hunger pain, it is simply amazing. Fasting is like running a Marathon, you do it one day at a time and our bodies are designed to do much more than we will ever require of them. I believe that God wants us to be healthy and that He wants us to be examples to the world in the best way to live. I am convinced that as Christians we should live “fasted lives.” What do I mean by “fasted Life”? I mean that the Bible teaches us people have fasted from the earliest of time, Church history teaches us that Christians have followed the Bible’s teaching to fast through history, Jesus in the New Testament teaches that He expects us to fast.
There are health benefits but there are also spiritual benefits. There is a factor where a person grows closer in relationship with God while fasting, that is happening with me. I have been given time to study and learn so much over the past 28 days and I believe the process has only just begun. Twice now I have dreamed that Misty and I along with the kids and grandkids were welcomed in to a mansion and invited to stay there at no charge, it is an awesome place. I have absolutely no idea what it means. It is a beautiful place, we are the only ones there and there are lots and lots of rooms, all of the plush, and each time we have chosen different rooms to stay in. There are elevators in this place it is so huge.
OK, God is at work. I feel awesome. For those who are concerned that I will die from not eating, I feel the best I have felt in a long time, my body is at complete rest. I do not have a lot of energy. I couldn’t attempt to run a race and at the same time I can go to work each day and do the office work without hindrance. I am still at a weight loss of 32 pounds, it seems unless I do some type of activity out of the ordinary that the weight loss has slowed down. I still suspect the overall weight loss will be around 40 pounds for the 40 days.
God is at work. I can only wait and see what God is about to do.
Ronnie
