28 Days 2020: Day 1

Welcome to our 28 Days of Prayer and Fasting.  Our focus this year is on the harvest.  I am believing God for a great harvest of people coming to know Him as a result of the ministry of DSC.  For the next 28 days our regular SOUL Journal will be suspended and we will be doing a prayer and fasting devotional.  A couple of things I would ask...

Purpose to read the devotional each day.  Using the app on your phone you can easily access the devotional by going to SOUL Journal entries.

The other thing I would like is for you to interact.  Use the comment section to share what God is saying to you.  In order to make comments you must sign in to Disqus (it does not take very long to do so) and on your phone or computer click on the blog title in order to see the comment section at the bottom of the page.

 

Get ready for a great 28 days.

 

DAY 1: CONSECRATION

Read 2 Chronicles 29

 

Hezekiah succeeds his father Ahab to the throne.  Ahab was a wicked and idolatrous king.  He did not follow God’s commands.  Now along comes Hezekiah and his first act of rulership is to assemble the priests who have been out of commission because of his father.

I like what the sequence...

Hezekiah realizes that they have sinned and they are under a curse not God’s blessing.  He recognizes his place is not to be king and priest, but to be king.  The king sets the moral tone but the priests performs the spiritual duties.  So instead of trying to act as the priest he gathers the priests who have been inactive and speaks vision to them. This was the way that God had set it up and Hezekiah's father had disobeyed God.

Now the priests spring into action - the action was to consecrate themselves.  They did not just go into action they prepared themselves spiritually.

Hebrews tells us that God rewards those who passionately seek Him.  The consecration is the beginning of that diligently seeking Him.

Only after the priests have consecrated themselves did they go into the temple to purify it and to do what God had commanded them to do.

What does it mean to consecrate ourselves?

In a general sense, the term “consecration” refers to the act of dedicating oneself to a specific purpose or intention. To “consecrate” yourself essentially means to wholly dedicate yourself to something of greatest important.

It means to be set apart, to be holy, to show oneself holy, to treat as holy, to dedicate, to be made holy, to declare holy, to behave, to act holy, to dedicate oneself. 

It is the act of  withdrawing someone or something from profane or ordinary use. 

• The Lord set aside Aaron and his sons, consecrated them, and made them holy for the priesthood (Ex. 29:21).
• The altar was made holy, and anything coming into contact with it became holy (Ex. 29:37).
• The Tabernacle, the ark, the table of showbread, the altar of burnt offering, and all the smaller accessories and utensils used in worship in the Old Testament were anointed with a special anointing oil so they became holy. Whatever came in contact with them became holy (Ex. 30:26-29).
• The men accompanying David as his military were declared holy (1 Sam. 21:5)

So consecrated things are set apart to be holy and anything coming into contact with them was made holy.  Think about that for a moment and what are the implications for you and your life.

 

In this first week we will be looking at this understanding of consecration.  Will you take time today to ask God to give you more insight into what it may mean for you to consecrate yourself for His purposes?  Using the definitions above what are some ways you think a consecrated life would look like for you?

 

Ecclesiastes 1

ScriptureEcclesiastes 1:2-3  “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”  What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun? Observation-What does it say?  The author of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon, the second son of David and Bathsheba.  Solomon was given the name of Jedidiah by God, through the prophet Nathan, which means “God’s beloved.” (2 Samuel 12:25)  In the opening of this book, Solomon sets out his point of the book using the literary device of pessimism. Here he begins by stating how fruitless the pursuits of this world are, only to later show the contrast of a fulfilling life found in God.  Understanding-What does it mean?  It’s interesting that Solomon opens with what should be glaringly obvious to us, we spend a lot of time trying to distract ourselves from how broken we are.  In following sports teams, shopping, fitness, whatever it is that distracts us from chasing after Jesus is a fruitless pursuit. But how do we find a meaningful life?   I recently read an article by a guy named Rob Shaul, a gym owner and graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard academy, about being fulfilled in life.  He starts the article by saying there are no shortcuts in life, and that you don’t really want to take the shortcut anyway. Shaul went on in his article to discuss that fulfillment was found in commitment and discipline.  This sentiment is something that has been repeated in the writings of several elite level coaches. Another coach, Dan John, who was one of the oldest U.S. Olympians competing in the discuss into his forties, stated that the road to success is simple but it isn’t easy.  In his writings, he also highlights the importance of discipline in order to achieve success. While Solomon isn’t interested in worldly success, and the coaches aren’t necessarily concerned with our spiritual well being, the truth seems to ring true.  If you are looking to find meaning in life, it requires discipline, and meaning in the Christian life requires disciplining our life to the word of God. Throughout the Bible we are given notions of true love being found when we are disciplined to God’s word.  Deuteronomy 6 tells us that we should bind the commandments to our forehead, and study them day and night. In Colossians 3, we are told to do everything as unto the Lord. But how can we do things for Him, unless we know what he has asked us to do? That knowledge can only come from reading God’s word, which requires discipline. Life Application  Jesus, I don’t want to waste my life aimlessly trying to distract myself.  Help me to find your joy in the discipline of Your commands, and in studying your word daily.  Like Paul, help me to train myself like an olympian, but with the knowledge that my reward is everlasting life spent with You.          

 

-Tyler Galloway

Matthew _10

Scripture Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Observation  Mark 10:1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them. Understanding  Total dependence on God  Mark 10:15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Children totally depend on their parents for their well being food, love, warmth, and joy. They should depend on them, after all, they know better, they will provide the best care for them and give them what they need in all aspects of life. Us humans fall so short in parenting but how much more is our perfect Father in heaven going to give us what we need. He will take care of me as I follow him on his journey that he’s invited me to join. Our “riches” are what we need and have come to depend on. We find it difficult to let go of our “riches” because we find it’s difficult to let go of our “self”. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6) and we must deny our self and take up our cross daily and follow Him (Matt. 16:24). Jesus said that even the food he eats is to do the will of the father (John 4:34) Application  Let it go What “riches” are we holding onto that is keeping us from following after Jesus? You may say, “I follow Jesus, I follow the 10 commandments and I go to church”. The rich man did all the right things too! (Mark 10:17-22) When Jesus was talking to the rich man, he said for him to let go of everything, then come follow Him. Even though he did all the right things and followed the commandment, Jesus wanted to take him on a journey. And sadly that’s where a lot of us fall short.  What is keeping you from following Jesus on the journey he has specifically for you? Father, we need you! Holy Spirit show us what things are standing in the way from wholeheartedly following after Jesus. Search our hearts and reveal to us! We want to move into this new year with a decrease of ourselves and an increase of Jesus! We want to move with Him! In Jesus name, Amen!

Deborah Lee