True Sacrifice

I am about 2/3 of the way through my church's 21 day fast called 504, for the number of hours in 21 days. At the beginning, I started out by taking things slow, eating fruits and vegetables with a few exceptions. Then I was able to eat just a couple small meals of vegetables and now I have gotten down to drinking water and eating one small meal of steamed vegetables. The first couple of days is always the hardest they say, and it's definitely true. What helped me the most was taking the time that I usually spent eating or using media to read my Bible, pray and go to chapel services offered throughout the weeks. I was also able to use some of my free time to get back to painting which I haven't done in years. It's great being able to let my creative side out every once in a while instead of just taking in information all the time.

Anyways, during the past several days, I felt like God was pushing me farther into this fast. After a while, just eating lots of fruits and veggies didn't seem like enough. I've been trying to live mostly on water and I don't even feel hungry anymore and I still have energy to spare. The first night I worked during this phase, I just prayed "God, if I'm going to get through this night of work, it will be by your grace alone because I can't last long by myself with just water." That whole night and other nights after, I have had plenty of energy to get through my day.

Fasting entails personal sacrifice so that we might die to the flesh and grow closer to God.
Today in church, Pastor Pierre spoke about true sacrifice with the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel.
People may think that they know this story of how God used Elijah to turn the hearts of the Israelites back to Him, but he put sacrifice in a new perspective for me with his sermon.

The story comes from 1 Kings 18.
Israel is ruled by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who, according to history, have some of the worst reputations of all the Bible characters. They led the nation of Israel into pagan worship to the god, Baal. You would think that after CENTURIES of God's signs and wonders protecting them, Israel would have the strongest faith of any nation in history, but nope, they didn't. Israel suffered from a 3 year drought, kind of harsh on an already desert climate.

God protected the few people who stayed faithful to Him out in the wilderness and sent the prophet Elijah to bring Israel back in line with God's commandments.
To do this, Elijah proposed a little spiritual experiment to test the validity of Baal's authority and power. As the leading religion in the nation, they probably couldn't refuse, else they be looked on as cowards.
Sacrifices were to be made to each god on an altar and whichever god answered with FIRE, they would be the true God of the Israelites. The prophets of Baal went first of course, and the sky was silent even though they cut themselves and danced like crazy to get an answer. Elijah must gotten tired of this because he basically said "Enough! Now it's my turn."
He gathered everyone close so that they could see how a sacrifice should be when you want to get God's attention.
1. Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which had been TORN down (in a violent manner).
--You must first repair the place in your life of SACRIFICE and PRAYER. These two things are what the enemy goes after the most because without them we are more vulnerable to attack.
Then, after preparing the sacrifice, a trench was dug in a circle around the altar.
2. Water, a scarce commodity in a long drought, was poured all over the sacrifice, soaking everything and overflowing to fill the trench around it.
--You must sacrifice something that is valuable to you; something that would cost you much to give up (that's why it's called sacrifice, not giving).
--The water also soaked the wood. For anyone who has ever built a fire, you know that wet wood=no fire. How would the sacrifice burn?
Elijah was testing God so that when He showed his power, there would be no mistaking it for a fluke.

Elijah prayed for God to show up in such a way that the people would turn their hearts back to Him.

IMMEDIATELY! Fire came from Heaven that was so powerful that it burned up everything! The sacrifice, wood, all the water and even the stones of the altar!
It wasn't a small flame either, but a GIANT burst of fire.

The people turned back to God that day upon seeing the miraculous sign.

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What was emphasized in this telling of the story was not how the people turned their hearts once again, but how we are to give sacrifice out of love to God.

It was said that God requires 3 things of our sacrifices:
1. It should be without blemish; something that you love most
2. Has to be a sacrifice to you and actually cost you something
3. It has to be done by faith in God

If you were to give someone that you love dearly a gift, you wouldn't give them something used and tattered and broken. You would want to show your love to them by giving them a gift that is meaningful to you both, that you spent time and/or money on to get for them.
Don't give God your leftovers from your paycheck after you paid the bills, bought groceries and put away for savings. Give to God first before all of that in faith that your needs will be provided for in time.

I also challenge you to give even more than just your tithe. Maybe not in the offering bucket but maybe by helping someone in need buy their groceries or giving to charity or volunteering somewhere. Do something that stretches you beyond your comfort zone instead of falling into a rut of routine.
As you practice sacrificing and giving of yourself, the idea of generosity becomes more and more easier and familiar as it becomes a part of who you are as a person.