I'm creating a thread for those past, present and future who decide to engage in the forty day fast, water only. Formally invited will be two other members, one who is a blogger and is currently in day 18, and another who I saw posting on it a few years ago, having completed it twice, and gave helpful advice concerning it.
I'll also be adding multiple teachings to this thread, including the following I will post at the bottom of this OP on the value of emulating our Lord's example by doing so, from one of the Bible Studies I wrote on this subject a few years back.
For any who participate in this tread and embark on a 40 day fast, please post your answers to the following questions at your convenience. I want a chronology of everyone's experience in doing so to serve as an educational tool for any who follow in the future:
1. What were/are your reasons and objectives for the fast?
2. What physical changes did you/ have you experienced as you progressed?
3. What were the results of the fast, i.e. did you obtain what you were hoping to achieve?
Thanks in advance to any who reply.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
@YHWH_will_uplift , @Vicomte13
_____________
Was Christ's Wilderness Experience An Example To Believers?
A close look at the Gospels reveals that virtually everything Christ was doing before He started His ministry was intended to serve as a pattern for believers to follow after. For starters, He insisted on being baptized in water, despite knowing full well that John's was a baptism of repentance. The conversation between the two reveals that even John the Baptist knew Jesus did not need to participate in a baptism unto repentance:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?” But having answered, Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now. It is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John suffered Him to do so. (Matthew 3:13-14)
The day after His baptism, John saw Jesus walking up and told his disciples, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world":
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from Heaven as a dove and remain upon Him. And I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man upon whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)
Just as John would testify, Christ was in fact the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. So what then was He doing receiving the baptism unto repentance? Despite John's objection, Jesus told Him it was proper for them to fulfill all righteousness. By this Jesus meant that He would allow it, despite not needing repentance. The only logical explanation is that He was setting a pattern for believers to follow, though I don't think this truth is as of yet well understood, and only even became possible after the Day of Pentecost.
But the pattern is as follows:
1. Be baptized in water to signify death to the flesh.
2. Receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be "born from above," which thereby also signifies being born unto newness of life "in Spirit."
3. Engage in an extended period of intense fasting, for the "mortification" of the flesh, in advance of the coming temptations of Satan.
4. Go on to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by confirming it through signs and wonders following, being weak in the flesh yet strong in the Spirit, in keeping with Paul's words elsewhere where he told the Corinthians, "Whenever I may be weak, then I am powerful." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
I'll also be adding multiple teachings to this thread, including the following I will post at the bottom of this OP on the value of emulating our Lord's example by doing so, from one of the Bible Studies I wrote on this subject a few years back.
For any who participate in this tread and embark on a 40 day fast, please post your answers to the following questions at your convenience. I want a chronology of everyone's experience in doing so to serve as an educational tool for any who follow in the future:
1. What were/are your reasons and objectives for the fast?
2. What physical changes did you/ have you experienced as you progressed?
3. What were the results of the fast, i.e. did you obtain what you were hoping to achieve?
Thanks in advance to any who reply.
Blessings in Christ,
Hidden In Him
@YHWH_will_uplift , @Vicomte13
_____________
Was Christ's Wilderness Experience An Example To Believers?
A close look at the Gospels reveals that virtually everything Christ was doing before He started His ministry was intended to serve as a pattern for believers to follow after. For starters, He insisted on being baptized in water, despite knowing full well that John's was a baptism of repentance. The conversation between the two reveals that even John the Baptist knew Jesus did not need to participate in a baptism unto repentance:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and You come to me?” But having answered, Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now. It is proper for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John suffered Him to do so. (Matthew 3:13-14)
The day after His baptism, John saw Jesus walking up and told his disciples, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world":
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the One I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from Heaven as a dove and remain upon Him. And I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man upon whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29-34)
Just as John would testify, Christ was in fact the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. So what then was He doing receiving the baptism unto repentance? Despite John's objection, Jesus told Him it was proper for them to fulfill all righteousness. By this Jesus meant that He would allow it, despite not needing repentance. The only logical explanation is that He was setting a pattern for believers to follow, though I don't think this truth is as of yet well understood, and only even became possible after the Day of Pentecost.
But the pattern is as follows:
1. Be baptized in water to signify death to the flesh.
2. Receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit to be "born from above," which thereby also signifies being born unto newness of life "in Spirit."
3. Engage in an extended period of intense fasting, for the "mortification" of the flesh, in advance of the coming temptations of Satan.
4. Go on to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by confirming it through signs and wonders following, being weak in the flesh yet strong in the Spirit, in keeping with Paul's words elsewhere where he told the Corinthians, "Whenever I may be weak, then I am powerful." (2 Corinthians 12:10)
