Topic: JESUS DID NOT ABOLISH FASTING – Bishop Mike Okonkwo Devotional 26 September 2021 [The Redeemed Evangelical Mission]

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JESUS DID NOT ABOLISH FASTING

“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.” 

Matthew 4:2 KJV

We live in a generation where the Word of God is being perverted and different interpretations are being given to God’s Word. If care is not taken, it would be so easy for you to lose focus and be distracted, especially when you begin to believe everything. The world wants you to believe anything and minimize the impact of God’s Word but it is the Word of God that brings impact in people’s lives.

So, you can’t just read what you want in the scriptures and then say this other one is no more important. Today, people are trying to redefine the scriptures. That is why you see those who have no business talking about certain aspect of the scriptures saying all sorts of things and subscribing to all manners of error. Unfortunately, people who are supposedly believers who should know better are allowing themselves to be confused. 

There is no confusion in the Bible. The scripture has capacity to interpret itself.
Some people will tell you that fasting is obsolete; that Christ did not fast. Who said that? The Bible says “after he had fasted.”  I checked that word ‘fasting’ and it means abstinence from food. Another root meaning is, you cover your mouth. You eat through your mouth, and when you cover it, that means you can’t eat.

Fasting didn’t end because Jesus died on the cross. Fasting existed ever before Jesus came. So, Jesus didn’t redeem you from fasting.  After the church was born, they were still fasting. When they were releasing the Apostle Paul and Barnabas, the Bible says: “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away” (Acts 13:2-3 KJV).

In the book of 2 Corinthians 11:27, Paul said he fasted often. It means that it was his lifestyle and it should also be our lifestyle as believers.

Further Reading:    Luke 4:1-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Isaiah 1-2; Evening- Galatians 5