Entangled or Established?

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2, NLT).

What does that scripture mean? How is it possible to not “copy the behavior and customs” of the world when it surrounds us and everything we see and do is affected by the world in which we live?

A key to not being so attached to the world that we conform to it in every way is the next phrase: “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

How can we let God accomplish this? How can our minds be renewed? Paul gives a hint: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5, KJV).

When we receive Jesus in our hearts, He doesn’t want to just be a doorway to heaven at the end of our lives. He wants to renew our minds and recreate us in His image. As we allow him to do so, our minds will be renewed and transformed, and our lives will be completely changed. As such, we will avoid copying the behavior of the world and becoming entangled with the things of the world.

This is what the Lord desires of us: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1, KJV). He wants us to experience the freedom that comes through knowing Him and patterning our lives after the example He gave us. When we become more like Him, our lives will be purposed to further the kingdom of God.

This means something different for each person. When Jesus was on earth, not every individual who believed in Him became a full-time disciple. Joseph of Arimathea believed in Him, but the part he played (providing the tomb for Jesus’ body) was very different from the part Mary Magdalene played, whose calling to follow Him was very different from that of the 12 disciples.

You have a unique calling from God, a purpose that only you can fill. How can you learn to know and understand that purpose, to know “God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect?” You know it by allowing your mind to be transformed through the power of Jesus. As you do so, you will come to know His will in your life, and you will have the strength to follow it.

This is how you keep free from being entangled with the things of the world, even though you are in the world. This is how you become established in the Kingdom and help others to do the same. This is how you fulfill your God-given purpose.

Question . . . how are you doing? Do you find yourself caught up in the trappings of the world? Do you feel like you have to fight off the easy outs that the world-system offers? Believe me, you are not alone. We are called to be very intentional as we open our hearts to the comfort, understanding and direction our Lord generously provides. And then we can be intentional about living our lives according to God’s ways . . . and discover and live in the peace and rest only He can provide.

The Daniel Fast Daily Devotional for Lent

MY GIFT TO YOU!

Announcing the release of The Daniel Fast Daily Devotional for Lent which is a Kindle book and available through Amazon for FREE through February 17th.

ASH WEDNESDAY – Today is Ash Wednesday. Lent will start at sunset tonight (February 13th) and continue until the celebration of Resurrection Sunday (March 31).

Lent is a powerful time of prayer and fasting when millions of believers focus on Jesus and His life and ministry. It’s a time of personal reflection and examination. It’s a time of growth and drawing closer to the Lord.

Lent is a season for denominations that follow the Church Calendar (Liturgical Calendar), including Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians and some Reformed Churches. Lent is also observed by a growing number of individuals who want to enter into an extended period of prayer and fasting.

During the Lenten Season, there are 40 days of fasting. These fasting days commemorate the 40 days following Jesus’s baptism that He spent fasting in the desert before starting His public ministry. The fast is “paused” on Sundays as believers celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and acknowledge that He is alive today!

Corrected Not Condemned

During the Daniel Fast we spend time examining our hearts and work to align our ways with the way of the Lord.

The other morning during my daily quiet time, I found I was doing a good job of “beating myself up.” Have you been there? My guess is that you have. So often we are our biggest critics! So I was feeling pretty frustrated with myself and kind of low.

Then I heard the Lord say in my spirit, “I only correct – I don’t condemn.”

Oh, that was a huge message with loads of truth in it. I meditated on that message for a while and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. And I’ve come to realize that the differences between correction and condemnation really show up the way our Lord works with us and the way the enemy tries to steal, kill and destroy us!

Think about the meaning and purpose of correction. When pilots correct their course while in flight, it’s because they are not aligned with the direction necessary to reach the desired destination. So they make a few changes and get back on the proper flight path.

When parents or teachers correct children it’s to instruct them of the right way to behave so the child can have success.

Proverbs 3:12 says, “For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Correction is all part of reaching success. It’s necessary and part of growth. Correction is life-giving and filled with hope and care.

First Peter 5:10 teaches us, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” Sometimes our “suffering” is the correcting and learning process – but all along we are on our way to good results!

Romans 12:9-10 reads, “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.”

We want correction from our Lord and we want to keep our hearts open to His chastening. Correction is moving forward to better results. It’s full of love, life and care.

But condemnation is totally different. Condemnation is what the enemy does to make us feel worthless, low and defeated. And we want to guard our minds and heart from his death-giving ways! Condemnation partners with shame, sorrow, self-loathing. It can paralyze us and keep us stuck. Satan’s condemnation is what Christ abolished for us!

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:18-19

So the next time you are feeling bad about yourself . . . or when you’re picking yourself up from a fall . . . checkout what’s going on in your thoughts. Are you feeling condemned or are you being corrected. Then choose life and grow rather than be defeated and stuck!

I hope this helps! Our God is so good!

 

Daniel Fast on Paula Today

God is so good to have opened another door so others can learn about the Daniel Fast! I appear on Paula White’s television ministry program on January 6th and 7th where we talk about the Daniel Fast and its many benefits.

Susan Gregory and Paula White - The Daniel Fast

 You can check your Christian television schedule to learn of when the show will broadcast in your area . . .

The Daniel Fast and Fasting for Food

I am delighted to announce a new partnership with Compassion International, one of the most respected child-advocacy ministries in the world, and Richard Bloomer who is an associate professor at the University of Memphis. Richard and his team of researchers have conducted clinical studies that show the health benefits of the 21-Day Daniel Fast.

Together, we are all working to recruit men and women who are using the Daniel Fast to begin the New Year – to help raise funds so children who don’t have enough to eat can receive the food they need.

Go to http://Daniel-Fast.com/FFF.html to see a short video about this great opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of hurting children. This is an exciting new program and truly puts the power of Christ’s love into action as we help those in poverty by “fasting for food.”

You can also visit the Fasting for Food site: http://FastingForFood.com

The Daniel Fast for the 2011 New Year

It’s hard to know how many men, women and teens around the world start the New Year with an extended period of prayer and fasting. Estimates range from hundreds of thousands to millions. One thing we know for sure is that the trend is gaining. Very likely, more people than ever will begin 2011 with a New Year fast.  It seems that the preferred method of fasting is the Daniel Fast, which is a partial fast where some foods are consumed and others are restricted.

There is no “official” date to start the 21-day New Year fast, but from what I’ve been able to gather from my research and from the hundreds of email messages I receive each week, most people will begin the 2011 New Year Fast on Sunday, January 9th and complete the fast on Sunday, January 30th.

In years gone by, the common start date for the New Year fast is the first Sunday in January. However, since that’s on January 3rd in 2011, and so close to the New Year when many families will be traveling, many leaders have decided to start the New Year fast on the following Sunday, January 9th.

Jentezen Franklin, the pastor at Free Chapel churches in Gainesville, GA and Irvine, CA has been a prominent promoter of the New Year fast. He teaches about prayer and fasting in the churches he pastors and on his television broadcasts. Many of those joining Jentezen Franklin in this corporate fast will use the Daniel Fast as their method of fasting.

A corporate fast is when as few as three and as many as thousands of Christians join together for a period of prayer and fasting. Many church leaders call their congregations to a period of corporate prayer and fasting. Likewise, many leaders of Christian causes will ask those called to provoking change in the world through intercession to join in a corporate fast. During this time, those fasting will pray for God’s will to be accomplished in the matter for which they are praying.

But you don’t need to fast with other people. Many individuals choose to start the New Year with a period of prayer and fasting for personal needs or to pray for the needs of those who God has placed in their care. Many husbands and wives choose to start the New Year with prayer and fasting and if they have children who are old enough to be introduced to the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting, it might be a family practice.

Personally, I think it’s wise to start the New Year with prayer and fasting. The purpose of fasting is to draw closer to God, to pray that His will be done, and to study the Word and the ways of the Lord. In these shaky times you and I can either be controlled by circumstances and the tough times – or we can partner with the Lord and through our prayer release His will into our lives and our situations.

If you want learn more about the Daniel Fast, receive a copy of the Daniel Fast Guidelines or find helpful resources that will assist you toward a successful fast, visit www.Daniel-Fast.com and join with hundreds of thousands of men, women and teens around the world as they focus their lives on God for a powerful period of prayer and fasting.

Daniel Fast – does it change God or change you?

I am now entering into my fourth year of teaching people about the Daniel Fast, a method of spiritual fasting practiced by millions of people throughout the world. Over the years, I’ve answered literally thousands of questions about the Daniel Fast and God has blessed me to make friends with men and women from more countries than I can count.

One thing I’ve noticed is that many people have a serious misunderstanding as to why they fast. And the greatest misunderstanding is that God will think of them as “better Christians” or accept them more readily if they complete a successful Daniel Fast.

But here’s the truth . . . you will not change God’s mind about you through prayer and fasting. The only thing that changes God’s mind about you – or I should say the only thing that will change your position with God – is Jesus Christ.  Because you believe in Christ and abide in Him and His word . . . that’s what makes you acceptable to God. Jesus makes you righteous and able to enter into the presence of the Holiest of Holy. The sacrificial blood of the Jesus did all the work that you will ever need to be acceptable to God.

Another misunderstanding about fasting is that we can change God’s mind by praying harder or more diligently when we fast – as if we need to counsel God so He can make the right decision about a matter.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God greatly desires His will be to “on earth as it is in heaven.” He wants the very best for you and everyone in your family. He wants you healed. He wants you free of worry and stress over money matters. He wants you to have loving and healthy relationships. His Word is full of what He wants – His will for you and for me and for all of humankind.

We don’t need to convince God or inform Him or guide Him. Instead, it’s the other way around. God is eager to shower you with love, healing, peace and goodness. He is good! He is love.

So what are the spiritual laws that God designed so that His will can be done on earth as it is in heaven?

It’s prayer. Prayers from God’s people serve as a conduit to release His will from the spiritual realm into the earth realm. Prayer is the essential element.

One of my favorite Bible teachers likens this spiritual law to a power plant. The power plant is there and eager to release its power to whatever needs it. So let’s say you have a light bulb that you want to use to manifest light. The power plant is where it is ready to release electrical power. The light bulb is with you ready to receive the electricity. But there is a missing part . . . the conduit – the wires. Once the right wires are in place the power plant can release the power – and the light bulb can receive it.

The same is with our amazing Father. He is in heaven full of power, love, mercy and grace. His will is to have His power released in the earth to relieve burdens, bring order to chaos, heal the brokenhearted, remove disease and so much more. But before His power can be released there needs to be the conduit – men and women declaring His will through their prayers. Intercessors are required to stand in the gap for those who can’t pray for themselves. Prayer warriors must voice the will of God for the needs in our world.

Prayer taps into the power plant – the almighty God in heaven – and allows Him to release His power and His ways into the earth realm – His will on earth as it is in heaven.

So prayer and fasting is a period of time where God’s children can separate themselves from their typical activities and focus on God and pray that His will be released in the earth. Jesus says in Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Notice all the elements? Prayers to heaven – the need on earth – the release of God’s power.

Enter a time of prayer and fasting using the Daniel Fast as your method of fasting . . . study God’s Word to learn His will for a situation . . . and then use your consecrated period of time to pray His will into the circumstances! He already knows everything you need. He’s the almighty God. He doesn’t need us to inform Him or convince Him or move Him.

Instead, God needs you! He needs you to pray . . . and sometimes prayer needs to be intense and focused . . . and that’s when it’s time for a fast! Fasting was designed by God to help us change what we’re doing in our typical days so we can pray that His will be done – on earth as it is in heaven.

Be blessed on your fast.

Christian Fasting

More and more followers of Christ are discovering the power and benefits of Christian fasting. In fact, Christian fasting is growing at such a fast rate that this site alone has had more 1.5 millioin hits since I started it in December 2007. I hope you take some time to look around this blog and the http://www.Daniel-Fast.com site. It’s packed with lots of information about Christian Fasting and also about The Daniel Fast.

There are several types of Christian fasting. Many people think of totally abstaining from food, which is indeed a type of fast. However, the type of fast that is growing in popularity is a partial fast based on the fasting experiences of the Prophet Daniel. It’s called the Daniel Fast and serves as a type of fast that one can employ during any time of the year and for whatever length of time one feels led.

With that in mind, the benefits of the Daniel Fast are best gained over at least 10 days. Most often the fast is practiced for 21 days, yet this is not a requirement.

The Daniel Fast is a partial fast in that some foods are restricted, but not all. I often explain it to people as a vegan diet with more restrictions. All foods are plant-based and the only beverage is water (see Daniel 1). Additionally, there are no sweeteners, deep fried foods, stimulants (including caffeine), processed foods or man-made chemical on the fast.

When you begin Christian fasting, think of it similar to going on a vacation. You plan your vacation and it has a purpose, you prepare for your vacation before you start it, when you are on your vacation, you behave differently, and when you return from your vacation you reflect on the experience.

Christian fasting is similar in that you will plan, prepare, act differently , and then reflect on your fast when it is complete. The purpose of fasting is to bring you into a closer relationship with God. You are setting into motion a heightened focus on prayer, meditation, study and devotion for a specific purpose.

Please take your time to investigate this blog as you consider your fast. And may you continue to grow in the love and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as you experience this special discipline of prayer and fasting!

A New Daniel Fast Website

Okay, after the last few weeks of designing and putting together a new Daniel Fast website, autoresponders and a new shopping cart . . . I think rocket science really is easier!

Please take a look a the ‘new Daniel Fast site that I am currently building. It will be one of the support sites where I can offer all kinds of tools and helps to support you in your Daniel Fast.

You can find the site here: www.Daniel-Fast.com

Please visit it periodically as it will be changing almost every day. The same is true of this Daniel Fast Blog. Now that we have entered 2009 you will find new content, thoughts and information every day.

God bless you and I hope the very best for you as you enter the 2009 Daniel Fast.

The Daniel Fast Blogger says, “Thank you!”

Thank you so much to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ who have added their comments to this blog, written words of encouragement and supported me by purchasing the Daniel Fast Cookbook and The Daniel Fast for the Body, Soul and Spirit.

You have blessed me! And I give God thanks for you every day!

Many of you know that 2007 was a huge struggle for me . . . but praise be to the Most High God! He is faithful and has sustained me and ministered to me in mighty and tangible ways! One of the most significant ways is through you and your support.

We serve an awesome and holy God. My heart if full of praise for Him today!

My hope for you is that you too are drawing closer to Jesus every day, receiving the everlasting love He has for you, and accepting His blessings in your life.

Be blessed and praise the Lord!