One Week Fast: Day 6

Have you been redeemed? "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so" (Psalm 107:2)

The theme for today's fast is impactful testimony. How do we get the courage to share our testimony with unbelievers? Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned (Matthew 5:13). You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)."

Our country has strayed far from its founding principles. But the problem is that the church in America which is supposed to be a preserving salt has been losing its saltiness. Second Chronicles 7:14 gives us an example of what the Lord had done in the past when He promised, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." In the book of Judge, the Lord repeatedly came to the aide of His people when they repented. In response to the call of Samuel to "return to the Lord with all [their] hearts", "to put away the foreign gods", and "to prepare [their] hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only", God promised to deliver the people of God from their enemies (1 Samuel 7:3). After "they fasted", they said, “We have sinned against the Lord" (1 Samuel 7:6).

So . . . How can we be salt and light in this corrupt and dark world? Giving the Lord the right place in our hearts always proceeds telling others about Christ. If you "sanctify the Lord God in your hearts", you will "be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). When you "do all things without complaining and disputing", you will "become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:14-15). As we have been saying this week, we must begin by being people of worship, obedience, and dependence on God. The prayer that the Lord Jesus taught us to pray provides a good model:


As you live a life of fellowship, faith, and worship to our heavenly Father, as you live in hope and  submission to His will, as you live a life of total dependence on His provisions confessing your sin and forgiving others and receiving forgiveness from Him, then your light will "shine before men" and they will "see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). As you fast today, remember Isaiah 58:6-8:Although we are not righteous, when we are in Christ and live for Christ, He will clothe us in His righteousness. And His righteousness will go before us to shine a light for others. Learn from John the Baptist whose witness was needed to prepare the coming of the Lord Jesus. You must begin with humility as John said referring to Jesus as someone "whose sandal strap" he was "not worthy to loose.” Like John, we live in a dark world that sometimes it seems like we need to cry what he cried:To have an effective and impactful testimony, we must preach Christ, not ourselves, and say with John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).

If we fast and pray with humility and repentance, then God will pour His Spirit on us to enable us to win others for Christ. We are not trying to convert people to our religion, nor to get them to believe what we believe, we are "ministers of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18) bringing people to have a relationship with Christ Himself. We are not trying to give people Christianity but Christ Himself.

Today,

1. Pray that the Lord will give you more of His Spirit as you live in a manner "worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Phil 1:27).
2. Pray that the Lord will bring a spirit of repentance to the church in America.
3. Pray that the Lord will raise leaders who won't take away our freedom to share the Gospel, "the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).