The gospel is ultimately about humanity being restored to God’s kingdom community. Only through practicing Kingdom community will individuals grow fully in the grace and knowledge to be found in Jesus. Furthermore, it is through Kingdom community that a fragmented world can best witness the power of the gospel and the nature of God’s work. As love springs up in the lives of normal people, those who don’t know Christ will be compelled to ask what is happening.

God is asking you to do a spiritual house cleaning, a purging of soul, if you will.  The most effective method as noted in Scripture is found in Matthew 6:1-18.  God gives three essential disciplines for the believer, the last being fasting.  The Scripture states, “When you give, when you pray, AND when you fast.”  There is evidence to suggest that fasting was part of the believer’s everyday experience in the early church.  Sadly, this spiritual discipline is almost completely gone in today’s Modern Church, but God gives tangible rewards to those who seek Him in this manner as found in Matthew:

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, sothat it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father,

who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:16-18