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21 Day Fast – The Day After

Posted on April 27, 2009 | Filed Under West Rome, What I'm learning

Good morning everyone. I have to say, it was a beautiful day getting up and eating some stuff that I haven’t had for a while. I know many of you are too busy drinking your fourth cup of coffee to read this right now, buy you’ll get to it later. We had a great day, yesterday, celebrating what God has done in our lives over the last 21 days. Relationships are being healed, people’s financial situations are being corrected, and people are being saved. How awesome is that?!!! God has come through on His promises that He always blesses our sacrifice. However, I still don’t think He’s done. I know that He has even bigger things planned for His church and it really fires me up that He allows me to be a part of it. There is no place in the world I’d rather be.
My prayer now is that we will all step up to the challenge and allow God to continue to work in our lives as He has over this time. The last thing I want to do is starting eating more and stop spending my time with Him. He must remain the priority. He has reminded me through this fast that He is the sustainer, not what I eat. I pray that our whole church family is never the same again.

21 Day Fast – Day 18

Posted on April 23, 2009 | Filed Under West Rome, What I'm learning

Well, we’re nearing the end of our 21 Day Fast. However, I believe God still has some things He wants to do. I am really looking forward to seeing what He has going for the next four days. I am fired up for all of the people in our church that have taken part in the fast and have persevered through the tough stuff to get where they are today. I just know that God is going to bless our efforts and He is going to show off in our lives. I also know, for many of you, that you might not have been as “successful” with your fast as you had hoped. You need to know that fasting is not about perfection and God is honoring every minute that you spend trying to honor Him through this time. Allow God to remove those mistakes and ask Him to help you finish strong. I know He will come through for you.
For myself, this has been an amazing ride. God has spent time walking through my life pulling out some junk that didn’t need to be there anymore. Then He took a while to show me who I am in Him. I think He knows that, when you have to deal with all the junk, you need a reminder of who you are. He’s good like that. Anyway, He’s also shown me great things about what a blessing my family is and how to lead them to be even more like Him. Taylor and Jordan have joined Tiffany and me during the fast. They have done a super job and are learning about what God did in Daniel’s life and how He can do great things in theirs. I’ve also learned a lot about our church. Things about what He has planned and where we’re headed for the future. I’m looking forward to the future as He clarifies all of His plans and shows us the specifics of how it all works. This is going to be amazing.
One thing that is just so cool is how clear God’s Word becomes when you’re fasting. When you really do get rid of all the stuff that gets in your way and just listen to Him. Know wonder He tells us to “be still, and know that He is God.” There just might be something to that after all, huh!
God is so awesome!! He’s already done great things with more to come. Keep going strong and we’ll celebrate together this Sunday. I would recommend, if it’s at all possible, be here this week. You don’t want to miss it.

21 Day Fast – Day 11: A Big God

Posted on April 16, 2009 | Filed Under West Rome, What I'm learning

Man, I was just reminded tonight that this fast really isn’t just about me. It’s not just about God pulling stuff out of me to make me more of what He wants me to be. It’s not just about me getting closer to Him. It’s not just about our church seeing Him more clearly for direction in the future. It’s really ALL about Him! It all is all the time. I have noticed as I worked through some issues, God has always been there. It may be through one verse that someone mentions. It may be through a statement that I hear from someone that doesn’t even know what they’re sharing with me. It may be a song on the radio that was at just the right time. The truth is that God is HUGE!!! He really does have all the power and all the strength to get us through whatever we may face. He really does love us enough to do what’s best for us. He really does have a great plan for my life. I am learning to take my mind off of what I am dealing with and place my focus TOTALLY on Him. Scripture says, “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” If I truly just seek Him, all the other stuff will be taken care of. How cool is that?!! I challenge you as we continue the fast to transition from seeking different answers for your own needs to seeking Him for Who He is. I bet we’ll find out that He has more answers than we gave Him credit.

Have a great day! 10 more days to go!!!

21 Day Fast: Day 9

Posted on April 14, 2009 | Filed Under West Rome, What I'm learning, XL

I hope those of you that are taking this journey with me are enjoying all the great things that God is doing in your lives. However, if you’ve not figured this out, it’s not always a ball of fun. It is easy to preach to other people about letting God pull the junk out of your wells and clean you up. It is not so easy when God begins to deal with you. God is calling things out of my wells from years past and helping me deal with them as I need to. Phil. 3:13 says, “forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead…” What I have learned over the years is that word “forget” doesn’t really mean to never remember. It means to learn from, deal with, and move on. That is exactly what God is calling us to do with the junk that He has pulled out of our lives. We must not give the devil a foothold into our hearts by continuing to dwell on the things that God is no longer dwelling on. We must accept God’s forgiveness and move ahead. We must remember the we are His children, that there is no condemnation in Jesus, and He has freed us from all that we USED to be. I pray for you, as I learn myself, that you will experience a freedom over these days that you have never known before. God promises that He will bless our sacrifice and I know He will bless the one you and I are making right now.

I really wanted to share this part of my fasting experience because these are not usually the stories that we hear. We just hear how great thiings are and how much God is blessing people’s lives. That is so true and I never want to stop hearing that. I just want some of you to know that it’s ok if this is a tough time for you. If you are struggling to remember who God made you. If you’ve forgotten that you are no longer guilty of the sin that God has already forgiven. You are not alone. Many people are going through that feeling. The good news is that God is using this time to show us who we are. This will serve as a reminder for you that you are God’s Child! There is nothing you can do that is going to change that in you. He will always love you. He will always forgive you. And, yes, His plan really is always better than yours.

Have a great day. And, don’t forget who you are!

Jarrod

21 Day Fast, 1-4

Posted on April 9, 2009 | Filed Under West Rome, What I'm learning

Wow, this is amazing. God has really shown me some cool things over the past 4 days. If you don’t know, West Rome is undergoing a 21 Day Fast that started on Monday, April 6th. That makes this day 4. God is showing up in people’s lives like crazy. He is really walking through my life making sure all the wells are cleaned out so that I can experience the living water that is God! It’s not always pretty, but it leads to a wonderful end. We know that, if we go through the tuff clean out stage, the end result will be more of God in our lives. That makes the whole thing worth every minute.

One thing you learn when fasting is just how little control you have over food in your everyday life. For me, these first few days have not been so much about the hunger, which is there by the way, but it’s been about the habit. Since I’m not eating anything at all like I normally do, the habits are showing up pretty regularly. I notice at certain times of the day I would just get up and begin looking for something to eat. I stop at the Sonic about every morning on the way to work to get a 44oz Diet Coke and then head to work. I’m usually planning lunch with Mick, Wes, and whoever is in, by 9:00am. (You never want to be too late) Then, that 10:00pm hour when you’re watching tv and eating everything you can find. That’s a tough one. So, I’m really learning what it means to control my body and take control away form “King Stomach”. I pray that God really changes me and my habits through this time.

I really believe I, my family, and our church will all be changed as a result of this 21 days. If you’re interested, go to www.westrome.org and jump in. We’d love to have you on board.

Remember, God will come through. Just trust Him for your strength and energy to make it. He will not let you down.

Peace,

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