ROCK CHURCH SEPTEMBER FASTING
Fasting Focus: For the first 15 days, we will fast “pasta”, and the last 15 days, we will fast all “red meat.”
Prayer Focus: Being obedient by following the fast each month is developing character.
But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect Law, the Law of liberty, and abides by It, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25 (NAS)
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same Image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NAS)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NAS)
“Looking good is half the battle.” This statement is half right.
If you look like Jesus, the battle is won. Here’s your makeover plan:
“Put on righteousness” (Job 29:14);
“Put on strength” (Isaiah 51:9);
“Put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12);
“Put on incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:33);
“Put on the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11);
”Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the Image of Him Who created him” (Colossians 3:10);
“Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another… but above all these things put on love” (Colossians 3:12-14);
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).
Consider yourself in training to become a fully developed Christian. Therein, your character is deep, rich, wide, impactful and destined for a fame that will chase you down–as it chased Him down… then pulled Him up.
Like Jesus, your destiny is up. Only with a cross can you get there. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).
What is your cross? I believe it is His Great Commission: an outgoing path to follow Him and a duty to reflect Him. It is Godliness: “Be holy for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
The character you need to develop is not the character of you alone, it is the Character of Christ in you. By reflecting Him, you shine in the dark skies–giving the lost His Light to follow.
