Fasting Encouragement Day Four

Day 4 Romans 6

Good morning to you! Here we are, Day 4. At this point, if you are fasting food, you will begin to break through the hunger pangs and headaches and start to feel like the fog is lifting. It is an important moment in the fast as we are now stepping into a lovely sense of spiritual sensitivity. It is crucial now to pay close attention to dreams and intuition. God is speaking, and the posture of the fast enables us to hear better. Listen carefully for His voice throughout your day; He is committed to connecting with you.

You have likely faced resistance to your fast. Expect it. You are at risk of being transformed into a clearer image of Jesus, which is a hazard to the enemy. He won’t idly stand by; however, his resistance proves your progress! Keep going!

Today’s scripture points to a transition providing an opportunity to invite the Holy Spirit to examine our lives closely. As we are in a heightened state of sensitivity to the Spirit during the fast, this is an opportune time to allow the Spirit to do some soul searching.

Paul encourages his readers not to allow “sin to have dominion over you.” (6:14)

Romans 6:14 (ESV) 14 For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.

Paul expands on a thought he shared a sentence or two earlier that sin increased due to the law (5:20a). And later, he adds that the law provides a standard of living; and sin uses that knowledge as an opportunity to tempt people to live outside the standard (7:8). In 5:20b, he then says, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

Is he saying that we should sin even more so grace can grow? Of course not.

Romans 6:15 (ESV) 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

This grace isn’t a pass that frees people from the punishment of sin; instead, it is the freedom from sin’s power. Paul uses the imagery of slavery to help his readers see that to sin is to present yourself as a powerless slave to something that leads to death. However, grace empowers us to choose a better master, righteousness that comes from Christ, leading to “sanctification and its end eternal life.”(6:22)

Which would you rather be “under”? A master with power whose purpose is death or a master with power whose purpose is life?

You were created to be free. The lie of sin is that its consequences are less than its pleasures. Our fast holds many benefits, but one of the most profound is discovering areas where sin has managed to deceive us into slavery. It leads to purity. It isn’t a purity that is earned or achieved; instead, it is a purity resulting from the cleansing power of Jesus providing grace to overcome.

Today is a good day to ask the Holy Spirit to show areas of sin’s enslavement. To ask the Spirit to reveal hidden hang-ups and unknown deceptions that have exercised power over our lives and be empowered to choose a better master.

All my love.
Pastor Landen