FASTING: ENHANCING SPIRITUAL PLEASURE

Love for God will make you “spiritually violent” for the Kingdom of God; violent enough to endure persecution and even martyr- dom. The Bible says the violent will take the Kingdom by force (Matthew 11:12). A holy, violent love will make us live very dif- ferently before God. The passion behind this love is so strong, so violent, it will keep us from ever quitting or giving up. Let our hearts be molded into the heart of a lovesick bride and let us be- come individuals like John the Baptist, who fasted and lived in the desert in order to grow in his love for God (Matthew 11:18).

Our greatest pleasure comes by feasting on the person of Jesus. Our pursuit of intimacy with Him involves fasting food because it brings our body into its proper relationship with the life of the Spirit. As we fast food, we seek to feast on Jesus. Fast- ing does not restrain our pleasure, it enhances it.

Does this sound odd? It’s because we live in a culture that thinks backwards. We have been taught that we will experience more life if we pamper our bodies. This is wrong, even on a purely natural level. Though our souls live in physical bodies, they were not designed to be slaves to physical pleasures and passions. If we want our spirit man to gain ascendancy over our flesh, we must deliberately silence the compulsions of our natu- ral man. Only in properly denying some of our fleshly passions,

can both the physical and emotional aspects of our person ex- perience the superior pleasures of life in the Spirit. Additionally, God actually ordained that fasting would strengthen our physi- cal bodies, not weaken them. We typically approach fasting as if we are waging war on our bodies, when in fact fasting is intend- ed to release warfare in the spirit realm. It is the world’s system that wages war against us, both physically and spiritually. God created our physical bodies for fasting. Fasting is given of God to serve and help our natural frames enter into the highest places in the experience of God.

Consider also Mary of Bethany, the woman who broke the alabaster box of perfume. Mary was not an apostle. She was nev- er famous, never wrote a book, never led a conference and didn’t say much as far as we are told. Her passionate love was in secret; she just loved the Lord ferociously in secret. She took all she had, all her earthly treasure, that alabaster box filled with spike- nard worth thirty thousand dollars, and lavishly, extravagantly poured it upon the One she loved.

A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, say- ing, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me…As- suredly, I say to you, wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” (Matthew 26:6–13)

Something magnificent happens when human beings rec- ognize the value of the pleasure of this romance and choose it instead of the dust of this world. Something amazing happens when we look at God and see His incredible worth. Something superb happens when we fall in love with Him and put our own

gold in the dust. We find gold in Him. God will reward those who consider Him to be their highest gold forever.

If you return to the Almighty…you will remove iniquity far from your tents. Then you will lay your gold in the dust…yes, the Almighty will be your gold…for then you will have your delight in the Almighty. (Job 22:23-26)

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