(Hopefully, prayerfully) fasting praise reports!

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. But when the meds ran out, I began to get sick again. Bronchitis tends to linger. At the doctor's office one lady said she was sick for 6 weeks with the stuff going around in this area. I am praying to get all well fast this time, of course. Whether it is an excuse or not, I do seem to focus better on the Lord when I feel better.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of the Universe, and thank You my Abba, in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach, for persistence in fasting, and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our patience.

Romans 11:28-32 "As far as the Gospel is concerned, they {the unbelieving Jews} are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobediencce so that He may have mercy on them all."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. Definitely can say I am feeling closer to the Lord Yeshua, though there is so much more, I know.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for the progress in fasting and in loving, and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our kindness to others.

Jeremiah 32:35 "And they built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom] to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire [in worship also of and] to Molech--which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind or heart that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for the progress in fasting and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our gentleness to others.

From Ezekiel 16 "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Samaria did not commit half the sins you did...However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting, but I know this must be a fast for life, in most parts of it. It's kind of like I would be dumb to go on a fast from all junk food, then decide to go ahead and start eating transfatty acids and refined "pseudo foods" again - would not be smart. Without the Lord I would be that dumb, have been that dumb more times than I would care to admit to the world.

But in His strength, and only in HIS strength, I have been strong and only remember 2 times of being tempted with junk food during this fast, which is over 3/4 through. Those temptation times were weak. I have learned that if I am suffering strong temptation, I am going to lose! When the Lord is working through me, though, then I just don't even think much, if at all, about the no-no areas. It's either Him or me dong it. I have, and always would, loose. He always wins. So simple.

Something occured to me, since I still don't feel all healthy yet, and feeling so weak and tired has been a source of concern to me. (Yes, I did go back to the doctor and she recommended lots of sleep and protein.) Each time that I remember going on a 40 d & n fast, there has been something very concerning happening (not health related before). On the other hand, it always works out okay, that is to say the Lord always makes it turn out fine in the end - whatever the problem was.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for progress in fasting and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our faithfulness.

Jeremiah 49:34- "This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'See I will break the bow of Elam,
the mainstay of their might. I will bring against Elam the 4 winds from the 4 quarters of the Heavens; I will scatter them to the 4 winds and there will not be a nation where Elam's exiles do not go. I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who seek their lives; I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger,' declares the LORD. 'I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them. I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials', declares the LORD. 'Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,' declares the LORD."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting...although...any folk out there wanting to go on a very strenuous fast (and I didn't even think mine was that strenuous) be verrrry careful. The doctor had mentioned that I seemed to maybe be anemic. I have not gotten the blood test results back, but taking more iron improved my functioning and comfort level dramatically w/in an hour. I know the Lord wants us to fast safely.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for perseverance in fasting and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our gentleness.

Isaiah 45:25 "But in the LORD all descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. About a week left to go on the "official" fast.

Today one of those "close moments" times. How quickly they can be forgotten. How elusive they are. Even now I am forgetting. But I know I saw/felt a realm of love one can dwell in, right here on earth, that is so totally different from this world. And it is possible, it is so possible for us to live that kind of life, and I am sure at even richer and deeper levels, right here on earth. The LORD desires it for us. This is a 3 dimensional world, but while we walk upon it we can live in a multi dimensional world of agape love and heart-level insight into Heavenly truths if we only will let the Lord cause us to do so. I see more clearly that as we seek Him, we do indeed find Him, at the level of our earnest searching.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for perseverance in fasting and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our goodness.

From Isaiah 18: "...Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide {Ethiopians}, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers...They will be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them in the summer, the wild animals all winter...At that time {in a glorious age to come} gifts will be brought to the LORD from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers - the gifts will be brought to
Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Amighty."

Isaiah 19, from The Jewish Study Bible, Tanakh version: "...I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian: they shall war with each other...And a ruthless king shall rule over them...{But}In that day {per my understanding an expression used very frequently by Isaiah which means "in the glorious age to come"} Israel shall be a third partner with Egypt and Assyria as a blessing on the earth; for the Lord of Hosts will bless them saying, 'Blessed be My people Egypt, My handiwork Assyria, and My very own Israel.'"

Marginal notes from The Jewish Study Bible chapter 19, referring to the last 3 verses: "This chapter ends with a remarkable universalist perspective. {I believe that "universalist" refers to the doctrine of "universal reconciliation" of all mankind which is taught in ancient Jewish writings, and - as can be seen in these notes - is believed to be foretold in the Bible. This universal reconciliation is to occur in a future, glorious age. There are various ages mentioned in the Bible. How many there are I don't know but will be resesarching.}...[Verses 23 through 25 are describing] The universal kingdom of God. Even the archenemies of Israel will recognize the one true God....Some rabbinic commentators (Targum, Rashi) were troubled by verse 25 [the last one here and in the chapter], which puts Israel's enemies on an equal spiritual footing with Israel...other Rabbinic authorities (such as Radak)...insist the v. carries the strong universal message it so clearly presents.

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. The most difficult part (aside from getting sick and I felt a whole lot better after I added some fried eggs and some warmed up canned beans to my diet yesterday) of the fasting has been making the time to go into the prayer closet. Yet that time of prayer, I know, is the most important part. Since I want to lead the fasted life, I have been wondering about how to squeeze in that time pretty much daily. Today in front of me there was a woman in a car whose bumper sticker said "My prayer closet is my car." Of course...

I do pray in the car in the mornings on the way to school. But in the afternoons on the way bck I pretty much let my mind wander aimlessly, and certainly not usually that fruitfully.

"Bring every thought captive..." Okay, that will be my new goal when this part of the fasting is over, to start doing prayer closeting in the car. Someone said, "Prayer is not preparation for the work. Prayer is the work." So true. So true.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for perseverance in fasting, and for inspiration to see the obvious, and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our self-control.

Acts 3:19-21 "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, Who has been appointed for you - even Jesus. He must remain in Heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as promised long ago through His holy prophets."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting, & Shabbat Shalom!

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of All that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for persistence in fasting and that Yeshua is the Author and Finisher of our praise.

Revelation 5:13 "Then I heard every creature in Heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them singing: 'To Him Who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory forever and ever.'"

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for persistence in fasting and that Yeshua takes away the overwhelming burdens of the world, the flesh and the devil, and gives us HIS Burden, which He makes easy, sweet and light.

1 Corinthians 12:3 "Therefore I want you to understand that no on speaking under the power and influence of the [Holy] Spirit of God can [ever] say, Jesus be cursed! And no one can [really] say Jesus is [my] Lord, except by and under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit." Amplified Bible

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. I am just now starting to feel physically pretty healthy. I have learned that too strenuous food fasting (and I did not think it was even that strenuous) is dangerous. Of course Paul tells us that rough treatment of the body does not help our souls. People say, on the websites about juice fasting, that when you get sick you are "just going through a health crisis." I don't think so. (Where is the evidence they show for that theory??) I think you are just starving and that this is very unhealthy. Anyway, grateful to feel better.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for persistence in fasting, and for a return to good health, and that Yeshua is our Wonderful Counselor and Rabbi.

Phillipians 2:9-11 "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a Name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

 

[FranklinNoble]

Just wanted you to know that I'm still reading this thread, and I'm encouraged by your progress.

 

[Amethyst]

Franklin - That is sooo kind of you. I really do appreciate the support (not to mention the prayers)! I have noticed the numbers of readers each day, usually around 10-12, but sometimes more. Somehow that is encouraging and helpful.

--------------
Still fasting. I do not feel, overall, that I have gotten as close to the Lord as I would have hoped, but progress has been made in a small-to-moderate (though, how can one assess, really, what the Lord is doing in our hearts - sometimes so much more than we think at the time) but significant ways. The most important thing is my remembering that I am to lead the "fasted life" and that this particular fast is a beginning, and important, but not the end. It is reeeeally encouraging to me that I felt the Lord telling me when I would finish this fast, and after numerous, numerous failures (more than just listed here) He has caused me to be persevering. We make our little plans. And then we feel like failures when we don't carry them out. But sometimes they are not working because the Lord has a better idea, a better time in mind for us for His own reasons.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach, for determination in fasting, and that Yeshua fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, feeling the ugliness of our temptations and of the devil for us, so that in Him our fasting could be easy and so that through Him we could defeat the adversary every time.

1 Corinthians 15:26-28 "The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He 'has put everything under His feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, Who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him Who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all."

 

[Amethyst]

Still fasting. Less than one day to go on the "official" fast. It will be good to have things, again, like wine with dinner and some of the sweeter fruits. I have been making up an updated list of "fast for life" guidelines, though. Only through the strength of Yeshua HaMashiach can I ever stick to them, but I believe He will help me.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and King of the Universe, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for persistence in fasting and that Yeshua, our Great Rabbi, taught us, "Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you."

Deuteronomy 32:39 "See now that I Myself am He! There is no god beside me.
I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My Hand."

 

[Amethyst]

The "official" fast ends tonight. I am so thankful to the Lord for getting me through it and most of all for making me realize this is to be a start of a new lifestyle.

In case anyone has been following along and is interested, I did make a comment, in the last week of February, that I felt I had a new insight into the Lord's love for us which was extremely helpful to finishing the fast. I will comment on that more later, after I have had more time to study the subject, not to start anything controversial
but as a form of closure. I need more time to be able to study on this topic first, though.

Blessed be Thou O El Shaddai, Creator and Ruler of all that is, seen and unseen, and thank You my Abba in the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach for encouraging me in, and causing me to finish, this fast and that Yeshua offers us so incredibly much to us, new life in Him and the strength to finish the race with perseverance in every good thing.

Ephesians 2:6-10 "And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus."

 

[Amethyst]

Well, in case anyone was following along in late February, when I began adding Bible verses, I did say that I would mention how feeling that I better understood the love of
the Lord seemed to help me in the fasting process. I had been praying to know better how the Lord loves us. Then I came across the doctrine of "universal reconciliation" which I had heard of before but had not really studied.

If others disagree, oh well, I'm perfectly happy that they get to have their own opinions. As for me, though, it was fascinating to realize, through the readings, that Jewish scholars pretty consistently do not feel that the concept of hell, such as we understand it, or everlasting torment, is anywhere in the Torah/"Old" Testament.

The word sheol just means a holding place for the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous. The word gehenna just means death and/or destruction. These two words have been translated as hell most often in English Bibles. However, it is fascinating, to me, to realize that Moses and the other great prophets, though accurately prophesying doom and gloom for the people of Israel, never once threaten them with eternal punishment! All the dire prophecies are related to life on earth! (This is probably one reason why certain Jewish leaders, namely the Saducees, did not even believe there is an afterlife.)

In the "New" Testament the words translated as "eternal" and "punishment" into English from the Greek actually, according to scholars from the past and in the present (though certainly not all) actually mean "age-lasting" and "refinement/pruning." I am not a Greek scholar! However, I do see that the word for "eternal" is cognate with our word aeon. I do see, as is pointed out on the universal reconciliation websites, that the same word being translated "everlasting" is being used elsewhere in the Bible where it obviously could not mean eternal. I need to study this more, though. There is always something new to learn in the Word. We think we know so much in this culture. But sometimes it is the age of disinformation as much as the age of information, and that includes in Christendom, mho. It's sure been true for me that ideas I once thought I had a scholarly grasp on turned out to need changing after I studied more deeply.

Anyway, guess that gives the idea. Have a few, short, more ideas about fasting, but will include them later.

 

[Amethyst]

Well, I assume this will be my last post here. I want to say Thanks to anyone who read these posts. It was encouraging to see numbers on the string adding on. Made me feel more accountable somehow.

It has been so helpful, in fact, that I have decided to go on with posting progress (or sometimes, I would assume, maybe not progress so much) but in the Journal section.
The thing is, I sure need to keep mostly fasting for life, and I feel a need to make a whole lot more progress, particularly, in the area of bringing every thought captive to the Lord.

May the Lord richly bless all readers, in Yeshua's Name I pray.