Daniel Fast Day 4
FRUITFULNESS
Real Help Not Fake Devotion
“Houston, we have a problem!” Most of us are familiar with these words that were popularized by the 1995 movie “Apollo 13”. The movie was based on the real-life event of the Apollo 13 launch on April 11th, 1970. Although the actual quote by Astronaut John “Jack” Swigert was a little bit different, what Swigert actually said was, “Okay, Houston. I believe we’ve had a problem here”. Needless to say, they had a problem that needed to be solved or it would’ve cost them their lives. As Christ’s disciples, we have a problem that needs to be addressed because it will affect our fruitfulness in God’s kingdom. However, knowing about the problem and dealing with the problem are two very different things.
We have a problem with a nature that is contrary to Christ and more than complimentary to the world. Unfortunately, even though we know we have a problem, we throw fake solutions at the real problem and it produces nothing but fake devotion and empty results. We have an inside problem that we try to solve with outside solutions. We appear to be committed to solve the problem but unfortunately, they are nothing but non-productive methods of self-denial that are rooted in man-made solutions instead of a Christ-centered reality!
Paul writes to the Colossians and says, Colossians 2:20-23(NLT) “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”
This is our reality; we have died with Christ and that death has liberated us from the very power that governs our old nature! Our actions, no matter how righteous they would seem, are simply our attempts to solve a problem that only Christ can and has solved. No matter how ardent, stringent, or disciplined our actions might be and no matter what level of strict devotion they seem to portray, it is all useless if they are not rooted in our relationship with Christ. We cannot take our ideas of how to serve God and raise them to a level of requirements for conquering our evil desires. Fake devotion cannot and will not ever produce the freedom we need! Let me explain it like this: We don’t fast because we want to be free, we fast because we are free. We don’t pray so we may appear to be religious, we pray because we love to talk to our Heavenly Father. We don’t give because we want to brag about how much we give, we give because it makes us more like our Father! We don’t serve because as a Christian I must serve (which is true), we serve because Jesus told us to serve and then showed us how to serve. This applies to all of our spiritual disciplines. None of our spiritual disciplines are done from a place of duty, rather they are done from a place of love and affection.
Fake devotion will always focus on you, whereas real devotion is focused on Christ. If you are struggling in your spiritual disciplines, don’t check your capacity barometer such as: “I struggle to fast, I am too busy to pray, I don’t have time to serve, I don’t have enough money to give…” When you do and say these things, you are checking your capacity barometer. That is you relying on you to serve Christ, not relying on what He has done for you. Instead of checking your capacity, check your Christ reality barometer!
Romans 7:4-5(NLT) “So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”
Did you see that? We died and then we were united or joined with the One who was raised from the dead. Because of that death and that newfound relationship, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. Our Christ reality is that we died with Jesus and are united with the risen Jesus so the power of our sinful nature is destroyed not because we do good things, but because we died in Christ. You are dead! Dead people don’t struggle, they are simply dead. Dead people cannot be hurt, cannot be offended, cannot be tricked, dead people cannot get mad, because they are dead! Last time I checked, dead people don’t sin much…
Fake devotion cannot produce true spiritual fruit and provides no help in conquering our evil desires.
Until we realize that we died with Jesus and are united with Him, we will always look to fake solutions. Things that appear to help but in essence, are simply fraudulent agents disguised as real solutions. Natural processes cannot produce supernatural changes. Fruitful living can only come through those who died with Jesus and are united with Him.
Romans 7:6(NLT) “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”
Prayer and Reflection:
Father, thank You for sending Jesus. Jesus, thank You that You were willing to pay the ultimate price for my freedom. Holy Spirit, thank You that I can live in Your resurrection power and I don’t have to rely on self-effort. Lord, I pray, help me to see where I have applied fake solutions to real problems, especially in the arena of my spiritual walk. Remind me daily that I am dead because I died with You.
Thank You that You have given me the power to overcome any and all evil desires within me. I am grateful for Your grace that supersedes all my failure, and Your power that releases me from bondage and enables me to live in the freedom You have ordained for me! Thank You Jesus for true freedom and true devotion. May all of my brothers and sisters in Christ experience this freedom and may we all be released as holy ambassadors to a lost and dying world. Thank You, Lord, for freedom in the Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name, Amen!
Real Help Not Fake Devotion
“Houston, we have a problem!” Most of us are familiar with these words that were popularized by the 1995 movie “Apollo 13”. The movie was based on the real-life event of the Apollo 13 launch on April 11th, 1970. Although the actual quote by Astronaut John “Jack” Swigert was a little bit different, what Swigert actually said was, “Okay, Houston. I believe we’ve had a problem here”. Needless to say, they had a problem that needed to be solved or it would’ve cost them their lives. As Christ’s disciples, we have a problem that needs to be addressed because it will affect our fruitfulness in God’s kingdom. However, knowing about the problem and dealing with the problem are two very different things.
We have a problem with a nature that is contrary to Christ and more than complimentary to the world. Unfortunately, even though we know we have a problem, we throw fake solutions at the real problem and it produces nothing but fake devotion and empty results. We have an inside problem that we try to solve with outside solutions. We appear to be committed to solve the problem but unfortunately, they are nothing but non-productive methods of self-denial that are rooted in man-made solutions instead of a Christ-centered reality!
Paul writes to the Colossians and says, Colossians 2:20-23(NLT) “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”
This is our reality; we have died with Christ and that death has liberated us from the very power that governs our old nature! Our actions, no matter how righteous they would seem, are simply our attempts to solve a problem that only Christ can and has solved. No matter how ardent, stringent, or disciplined our actions might be and no matter what level of strict devotion they seem to portray, it is all useless if they are not rooted in our relationship with Christ. We cannot take our ideas of how to serve God and raise them to a level of requirements for conquering our evil desires. Fake devotion cannot and will not ever produce the freedom we need! Let me explain it like this: We don’t fast because we want to be free, we fast because we are free. We don’t pray so we may appear to be religious, we pray because we love to talk to our Heavenly Father. We don’t give because we want to brag about how much we give, we give because it makes us more like our Father! We don’t serve because as a Christian I must serve (which is true), we serve because Jesus told us to serve and then showed us how to serve. This applies to all of our spiritual disciplines. None of our spiritual disciplines are done from a place of duty, rather they are done from a place of love and affection.
Fake devotion will always focus on you, whereas real devotion is focused on Christ. If you are struggling in your spiritual disciplines, don’t check your capacity barometer such as: “I struggle to fast, I am too busy to pray, I don’t have time to serve, I don’t have enough money to give…” When you do and say these things, you are checking your capacity barometer. That is you relying on you to serve Christ, not relying on what He has done for you. Instead of checking your capacity, check your Christ reality barometer!
Romans 7:4-5(NLT) “So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”
Did you see that? We died and then we were united or joined with the One who was raised from the dead. Because of that death and that newfound relationship, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. Our Christ reality is that we died with Jesus and are united with the risen Jesus so the power of our sinful nature is destroyed not because we do good things, but because we died in Christ. You are dead! Dead people don’t struggle, they are simply dead. Dead people cannot be hurt, cannot be offended, cannot be tricked, dead people cannot get mad, because they are dead! Last time I checked, dead people don’t sin much…
Fake devotion cannot produce true spiritual fruit and provides no help in conquering our evil desires.
Until we realize that we died with Jesus and are united with Him, we will always look to fake solutions. Things that appear to help but in essence, are simply fraudulent agents disguised as real solutions. Natural processes cannot produce supernatural changes. Fruitful living can only come through those who died with Jesus and are united with Him.
Romans 7:6(NLT) “But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”
Prayer and Reflection:
- How real is this fact to you, that you died with Jesus and are now united with Him?
- What area do you struggle with and what has been your approach to overcome it? Are you applying the real solution or is it covered up by a fake devotion?
- What is holding you back from going all in on what Jesus did for you?
- What must change for you to stop measuring your life with a capacity barometer and start looking at it with a Christ reality one?
- Spiritual disciplines are not to gain God’s favor but they do reflect our devotion to Christ. If you were to evaluate your spiritual practices, what would it communicate concerning your devotion?
Father, thank You for sending Jesus. Jesus, thank You that You were willing to pay the ultimate price for my freedom. Holy Spirit, thank You that I can live in Your resurrection power and I don’t have to rely on self-effort. Lord, I pray, help me to see where I have applied fake solutions to real problems, especially in the arena of my spiritual walk. Remind me daily that I am dead because I died with You.
Thank You that You have given me the power to overcome any and all evil desires within me. I am grateful for Your grace that supersedes all my failure, and Your power that releases me from bondage and enables me to live in the freedom You have ordained for me! Thank You Jesus for true freedom and true devotion. May all of my brothers and sisters in Christ experience this freedom and may we all be released as holy ambassadors to a lost and dying world. Thank You, Lord, for freedom in the Holy Spirit. In Jesus Name, Amen!
Posted in Daniel Fast 2024