FOCUS YOUR LOVE TO GROW DEEPER WITH GOD
Spending time with God is the only time you will get to learn and know about the Father's desires, this is what helps us to have a relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How else will you be able to understand what it will take to love the Father and become more like Jesus? Our devotions over the next three weeks will be focused on developing a better relationship and greater love for the Father. The amazing thing about this is that once you establish a relationship with the Father, everything else falls into place.
However, I have discovered that the hardest thing for any of us to do is to love the other people He has placed on this earth alongside us, in our life, at work, or in our family. I know you are thinking, "Hey, I got a connection with the Father and I am very close to my Lord," and that may be very true. In fact, we need to be careful who we associate with since the bible warns that bad company corrupts good character (1 Cor 15:33). Instead, we should choose to associate with people who will motivate us to get closer to our Father.
Rarely the first topic discussed is falling madly in love with Jesus and being completely smitten. All of us experience excitement when we begin dating, when we prepare to wed, and when we consider spending the rest of our lives with the person of our dreams. Jesus and the Father want us to have the same connection with them. When we wake up, they are the first thing on our minds. When we read the Bible that morning, we are anticipating the wonderful message we will encounter. When we sit still and think about all eternity, we picture what it would be like to spend all of forever with the love of our lives. This is what that closeness to the Father is like. Never fail to keep your gaze fixed on the Lord. His heart already beats for you, and you are already the apple of His eye. Make time with the Lord a significant part of your day; offer Him your best since He has already given you His very best.
Challenge Yourself
I challenge you to come up with ten things that will help you grow closer to your Father, the love of your life, as we continue our fasting and fitness journey over the next weeks. It might be a love song, a poem you write to Him, or it could be as simple as purchasing flowers to put about the house or at your desk at work with a note stating that they are for your father, whom I love. In whichever way you choose to embrace the Father, express your deep longing for Him. In the coming weeks, ask the Lord to reveal to you whoever He wants you to connect with for the purpose to spread His grace and love. Since the time we have on earth is actually time that the Lord has loaned us, we should not waste it on selfish pursuits. Instead, we should use it to be enjoyable and pleasant company for others, while falling in love each day with the Father. Because we are all on the same road to the Kingdom of Heaven, let's present an example for those who are on a different road and be the light by displaying our closeness to the Father. Let's embrace, embark, and empower others through the love of our Father and through His Son.
3 Scriptures To Mediate On And Questions To Ask Yourself
1 Corinthians 6: 19
Mark 9: 25-29
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Let's meditate on these verses to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord because we are focusing on developing an intimate relationship with God through fasting and exercise. We must maintain good health because the body is the temple of God, and God expects us to care for the body He has given us while we are here on earth. We must take care of our bodies because diseases, sickness, and illness were never designed for us. So why fasting, Jesus told His disciples that only this kind may come forth via fasting and prayer. If we don't sacrifice the flesh, we will never be able to get rid of things or free ourselves from wickedness, therefore we must sacrifice the flesh.
Things that are occurring in our personal lives must be eliminated, especially when they are causing us to be separated from our Father. Lastly, the verse that comes to mind is "Love." The Lord gives us lessons on how to love one another by modeling for us how He loves us—through His kindness, patience, and determination to not get angry at us or keep track of our transgressions. I'm hoping that these verses will be helpful as we go through this path of losing weight, getting active, and getting our minds, bodies, and souls right with the Lord as we fall deeper in Love with Him.
Scripture #1: Who does your body belong to?
1 Corinthian 6:19 (NKJV)
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit whois in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Scripture #2: What do you need God to deliver you from or help you to overcome?
Mark 9:25-29 (NKJV)
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
Scripture #3: How are you loving God and others?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Closing Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father
I pray that we start each day focusing on you and placing you at the center of our thoughts. I pray that You keep us, protect us, and take care of us exactly as You do. Open our minds and hearts to all the significant and deep things that are meaningful to you. Please remove anything and everything from my heart, mind, life, and body that does not align with what you are calling me to do during this time of fasting and praying. Give me clear directions on how to move forward on this life's journey that you have given me. Help me daily to recognize my sin and be merciful and forgiving toward everything that offends and displeases you. Please surround me with the right people to help me to be the person I need to be for you and others. My life is not my own, and I pray that every day I will have the opportunity to glorify and exalt you through it. I hope that my Intimate Fasting and Fitness Challenge will bring us closer together and deepen our love. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love this!