Fasting: Renewing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NRSV
Series: Fasting: Renewing Your Mind, Body, and Spirit
Devotional: 1 of 4
We live in a fallen world where brokenness touches every aspect of our lives.
So many of our thoughts and feelings that are not in alignment with Scripture roam the halls of our minds. Ideas and images formed by a world set against God have lodged themselves into the undercurrent of our minds.
In time, what we allow to take up residency in our minds begins to shape the condition of our hearts. The thoughts, feelings, ideas, and images that dominate our minds begin to form the person we are becoming. It is here that our will and spirit begin to take shape.
Finally, our bodies produce a harvest from the seeds that have been sown into our minds and hearts. What has formed our minds and hearts becomes the automatic responses to how we think about and respond to God, others, and ourselves.
Again, the devastating effects of brokenness have left no aspect of the human experience untouched.
However, we are not alone in our brokenness. We can take heart in Psalms 34:18, which promises, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit."
God, full of grace and mercy, desires to renovate our mind, body and spirit. He cares deeply about our lives and wants to transform our whole person into the image of Christ, leaving no aspect of who we are untouched by His love. On this point, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
When we look at Scripture, there are many helpful practices from the Way of Jesus that God is inviting us to lean into so that He might renovate our lives (mind, body, and spirit) from the inside out. In this series, we will look closer at how the discipline of fasting (accompanied by prayer) is often used by God to bring about healing in the broken places of our lives. Fasting, like any other spiritual discipline, is an act of surrender where we posture our lives in the presence of God, allowing Him to do the work in us and through us that only He can do.
For today, begin to consider the true condition of your mind, body, and spirit. As you do, allow God to help you identify the broken areas of your life that are in need of renovation. And, finally, how might God want to use the practice of fasting to transform you more and more into the image of Christ?
OnThe3rdDay Devotionals
Devotionals that illustrate Biblical principles in a simple and short format that can be applied to your everyday life.
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