Fasting

We just started a 21 day church/city wide fast on Monday. Greg and Carlee are fasting from sweets and I choose to fast all meals on Tuesday's and try to eat healthier (more veggies, less carbs.) during the week. We all have our list of things we are fasting for.... #1 being self-control (not just in what we choose to eat, but in actions and attitudes)
Carlee did such a great job yesterday, when Zachary asked me for a piece of candy after lunch. She did not ask for one, she just told me that she remembered she was fasting. This girl amazes and me! She is getting the idea. I was not expecting Carlee to join us in the fast, but I asked her if she wanted to participate. She said, "What's a fast?" "Why would people not eat food?" I explained with a glass of ice water (this illustration was demonstrated to me recently). I told Carlee to pretend that the ice represented all the junk (sin) in her life and the water represented God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus. When you take the ice out (or the sin), you have more room for water (or God). So when we choose to not eat certain foods and we hear our tummy grumbling or we our tempted to eat something sweet, we ask God to replace the grumbling or the temptation with more of Him and fill us with His love and His Spirit. It's when we are weak that He is made strong. So we fast to make ourselves weak and more dependent on God. We want everything in us to be Jesus flowing out..... so if that glass of water gets shaken, then all that's spilled is Him.
This fast is developing a new mind set. God is showing me how some of the things I do, even good things (like pray, worship, exercise, etc.) are not necessarily pure and right. One of my life verses is, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," (Matthew 5:8). God is refining my life, taking out the old thinking, changing it with His truth. He's bringing me to my knees and having me repent from things that are wrong. He is having me go to battle over those sins and walk in victory. I feel like I can barely say a thing or move an inch without Him showing me something that needs to change. It's a good place, yet a hard place to be. Right now it is an uphill climb.... but it is all worth it!!! Thankfully, I know the end of the story.