Day 37

Okay, I have been so lame with this whole fasting blog thing. Please forgive. Just too much going on to remember to do this very often. My bad. I have learned so much about myself and God during this time of fasting. It has really been nothing short of amazing how I feel spiritually, emotionally, and physically. I have only been able to equate it to how I felt when I was a brand new believer (1982). I'm seeing things with new eyes, like God has fine tuned my perception. I see spiritual things in conversations, behaviors, and occurences that I didn't see before. I see God working where I didn't think He was. My prayer times have been rich. My own conviction of sin, attitudes, thoughts has been deep. I have not been feasting on food, but I have been feasting on God and His word. It has been wonderful, and part of me doesn't want it to end. But I am looking forward to the wonderous gift of food that God has provided for us. So I will renew myself to stay focused on the things that God has taught me during this fast, and keep them in front of me. I pray God's blessing on you Genesis fasters, that He will abundantly bless you during these last days of the fast.

spiritual growth

So I'm making the rounds with our small groups, talking and discussing the Fearless Vision Campaign, and I'm so encouraged after meeting #1 last night! I'm encouraged by people who are growing spiritually through our 40 day fast, and who are seeing it happen in other people's lives as well. We chatted about all aspects of Fearless, but the one issue that kept coming up was how exciting it was to see people being transformed through sacrifice and God working in their lives. I am likewise encouraged. I would love to hear from you about how God is moving in your life during our 40.

Pastor P

juice fasting hazards part 2

So I was making my usual dinner of Spicy Tom (juiced tomatoes, bell pepper, celery, cucumber, carrots, garlic, onion, and half a chili pepper)and a weird thing happened, I had my face over the entry port and while the chili pepper went in some shot out and hit me in the face. I immediately felt my lip start to burn, and didn't think much about it, and then the top of my eye lid started burning. So I thought I better go wash that off. I'm not sure how I did it but I washed pepper residue from my eyelid right into my left eye. Not Good. Suddenly my left eye felt like it was stabbed with a needle, and I couldn't get it to stop! I'm beginning to freak out a bit, and Karen calls poison control and gets me into the shower to flush for 20 minutes with cold water. Unbelievable. So the lesson is: when Juicing cover your port and wear safety goggles if you are juicing chili peppers. On another note it feels good to be over half way through the fast. I'm looking forward to what God is going to do in my life in the second half.

Pastor P

19

(posted by Krystofer James)

Wow.
In this time between the prayer event and my 1:00 am prayer spot, I'm reflecting on how great our time together was.

If you were there, you obviously know how cool the prayer event was. If you weren't, let me tell you that you missed one of the coolest things I've been a part of at Genesis. (Though I'm sure it was plenty of fun watching the D-backs lose... again). ;-)

Seeing our people all over Discover Church, connecting with God in myriad ways... it was just plain rad. I played and sang for nearly an hour-and-a-half, and the time just flew by. I was encouraged by the people I saw there, coming alongside each other in this halfway point of the fast. From my perspective, it was freeing and worshipful to be able to just follow the Spirit from song to song without worrying about multimedia or sound - I hope to be able to worship with more of you in that kind of setting.

well, baby Olivia is starting to stir, so I need to wrap this up.

in short - keep up the good work, Genesis.
I believe God is honoring your efforts and you were a blessing to me personally tonight.

shalom,
Krys

day...what is it?

I'm not really counting days because I don't really think that's helpful to me, and I don't want to be so focused on the end of the fast that I miss what God has for me in the midst of it. It has been very interesting for me to experience the body and spirit interaction that the fast has allowed to happen. My spirit has become more and more hungry for the things of God, as my body has had less and less cravings for food. We went out to dinner with some good friends who have become like surrogate G'parents to our kids. We went to a fancy Italian restaurant and they were very concerned about me and felt bad eating in front of me. I was amazed out how undifficult (?) it was. It's like God has realeased my body from craving food. So I want to encourage all you fasters out there, feast on God!! if you haven't had solid time with God, make it happen. if you spend 15 minutes reading your bible, go for 30 minutes! if you have never meditated on his word, or spent more than 30 seconds praying, try to push yourself to see if you don't find yourself getting more and more hungry for God. BTW, if you aren't receiving the fasting email devotions that Pastor Jaime has put together....you are missing something huge!! They are amazing!! She has done such a great job of tailoring them for us. If you want to get on board then email her at J.howard@genesis-church.com and she'll hook you up!! Praying for you my friends: that God continues to change our hearts to be more like the heart of Jesus.

The most dangerous thing about fasting

So be careful when you are slicing up

those hard pears my friends. Almost lost a digit today! But God is good, much peace in my life right now, even with lots of crazy stuff going on.

Day 11

it's funny. I thought I would be counting days on this fast, but I haven't been. I've slipped into a rythym of sorts. I get up, have some time with God, juice for the day, make my kids breakfast. That's another thing: I didn't think I would be able to handle being around food, but it's like God has turned off my cravings for it, and I find myself craving more time with the Father. Some people may think that because you're the pastor of the church this is just part of the program, but it's not always true. But it is true now. I get home, juice some more, or make some broth, and I'm satisfied. I feel like I'm a new Christian all over again. That's the only way to describe how I feel, like I'm born again, again. God is good.

How is your "God time" during your 40?

I am soooooooo encouraged to hear about the fasting sacrifices that everyone is making: tv, sport's talk radio, 2nd glass of wine, food, all reading materials except for the bible, junk food, carbs, soda, alcohol, anger, internet, food on the weekends, food one day of the week, sweets, eating out, excess spending, cussing, bad driving (road rage?), ice cream, radio, attitude, complaining, and gossip. I know that God is going to honor your sacrifice, and that He is going to move in your heart, grow your faith, expand your spiritual horizons and work in us as a commuity of Believers. I know that many of you have been caught up in the food fasting, juicing all kinds of weird concoctions of fruits and veges...but...I really want us to focus on what God is saying to us in the midst of our fast. When God's people fasted in scripture, people were often moved to repent, to change their ways, to be more compassionate, more generous, more like Christ. Imagine our entire Church experiencing these things individually. Imagine our whole church becoming more like Christ, more mature in our faith...together. Remember God doesn't necessarily respond to our fast, but He responds to the change in our hearts as we humble ourselves before Him through sacrifice. Praying for us all.