Factory Settings

Welcome

Welcome to Celebration Church. We are so glad that you are here. Thank you for worshipping with us today. If there is anything we can do for you and your family, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We are a family and we are with you.

Let’s grab our Bibles and see what God wants to speak to us today. I have a few passages I want to share with us today.

Scriptures

Isaiah 43:18–19 CSB

18 “Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. 19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

Joel 2:12 CSB

12 Even now— this is the Lord’s declaration— turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

Matthew 6:17–18 CSB

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

God is doing something new but it requires us to turn to Him with all our hearts and with prayer and fasting.

Prayer

Today, I want to kick off our new series with a message about resetting our hearts, minds, and hands. I have entitled today’s message, Factory Settings.

Lord, we thank you for allowing us to gather in your name. I pray that you speak to us, challenge us, inspire us, encourage us. Give us open eyes, open ears, and open hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Illustration

We live in a world with so many conveniences and luxuries. I am old enough to remember a time when we didn’t have smart phones. Back when you had to remember phone numbers, look up directions on MapQuest and print them out. Now, we have the blessing of multitasking. There is an app for everything. Grocery shopping, banking, travel plans, emails, notes, the list goes on. I still remember when I was eager the newest apps and features. I learned about this idea called “jail breaking”. It is a hack that allows you to take the barriers off. Take off the restrictions. This allowed me to access apps that weren’t necessarily approved. It was fun. It took my multi-tasking to another level. Then…my phone started acting weird. It started slowing down and glitching. Turns out, this new jail break, broke my phone. It was a disaster. I took it to the experts. He told me I clogged the phone up with things that should not be in it. The only thing I could do was reset it to factory settings so that it could function the way the manufacturer intended.

Transition

I think our lives are not much different than that. We have our conveniences. We juggle so much. We multi-task. We even step outside of boundaries of rest and eventually find ourselves clogged. Adam and Eve didn’t like the limits of the Tree of Life, they wanted to define things on their own terms, Knowledge of Good and Evil and it left them exposed to...Unforgiveness. Fear. Slowed down. Not functioning in an optimal way. Our manufacturer had a vision when He created us. He had an intended purpose for us. We wanted us to be fruitful.

Jeremiah 29:11 CSB

11 For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

However, life, the enemy seems to cause a traffic jam in our soul and makes it difficult for the plan of God to flow in our lives. We add life hacks and shortcuts in hopes that it will be sufficient, but it actually makes us more vulnerable and slows us down. This is why we engage the presence of God. It allows us to go back to the manufacturer and reset to factory settings. Reset to worship. Reset to wholeness. Reset to joy. Hope. Grace and peace.

This is why fasting is such an important demonstration of our faith, it resets our filter so that we can properly hear from and be in alignment with our creator. Fasting resets us to our creators settings.

Definition

Fasting is not a weight loss strategy, but it will help get rid of the things that weigh you down. Fasting isn’t a way to get what we want; that is a spiritual hunger strike. Fasting is how we offload the apps that have us spread too thin. Fasting resets our hearts, minds, and hands to God’s intended purpose. Fasting resets us to our creators settings.

Practical Fasting

Fasting is act of abstaining. Most commonly from food altogether, either from necessity or desire. In medical terms, fasting is the detoxification of the body through the restriction of food.

Spiritual fasting entails setting aside activities as well as reducing the intake of food and replacing these activities with the exercise of prayer and preoccupation with spiritual concerns. The NT word which is translated “fasting” literally means one who has not eaten, one who is empty. It cleanses the pallet to give us the opportunity to taste and see that the Lord is good.

Fasting is like a tune up for your soul. We accumulate after market parts. However, when we fast, we are going back to manufacturer and resetting everything.

Throughout scripture, we see fasting appears at pivotal moments throughout the spiritual journey of God’s people. Nehemiah fasted after hearing about the condition his family was living in. Daniel famously fasts in Daniel 10. It’s where we get the Daniel fast from. It resulted in a supernatural visitation that no one else could see! When we fast, we posture ourselves to be exposed to the activity of God.

I have 3 thoughts that I want us to write down.

Observation/Points

Fasting gives us clarity.

Exodus 34:28 CSB

28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.

The people of God are fresh out of Egypt. They had been exposed to polytheistic world where there was a God for everything. It could have been possible for them to view Yahweh as just another God. Moses gets summoned by God to come up the mountain. While there, requests to see the Glory of God. God passes by him and declare who He is…The Lord compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, faithful love and truth, keep my promises, forgiving but filled with justice. While there, Moses receives the 10 commandments. Moses gets clarity about God, purpose, vision.

Have you ever gone to a perfume shop and noticed coffee beans there? There is a thought that it can be hard to distinguish one smell from another so the coffee beans are meant to introduce a strong aroma to cleanse the sense so that you can make distinction between the fragrances.

When we fast, it cleanses our spiritual senses so that we can distinguish what is God and what isn’t. Maegan and I don’t make any major decisions without fasting and praying because we want to be led by the Spirit, not driven by the flesh.

Fasting gives us strength.

Esther 4:15–16 CSB

15 Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.”

The people of God are under attack. A law has just been passed to essentially eradicate them. It is chaotic. Fear is everywhere. Only the king can fix this. His wife is Jewish. She represents the people of God. She’s in a position that she can influence change but it comes at a risk. The king doesn’t like to be approached by anyone unless he summons them. Esther calls for a fast. She knew she needed strength to approach the king. Her life was on the line, but nevertheless, she persisted.

Fasting gives us the strength to face our fears, weaknesses, vulnerabilities. My mom is a woman of prayer and fasting. She raised me to be the same. I recall when our family had a crisis. It came to our attention that one of our family members had been sexually abused. Emotions were high, anger, rage. I called us to a family fast. We needed to get the mind of God. We needed God’s strength. Fasting for the believer is like spinach for Popeye, it gives you the strength to endure whatever it is you are facing.

Fasting brings us closer to God.

Matthew 4:1–11 CSB

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

Jesus in wilderness. The enemy shows up. Tries to get Jesus to take a shortcut. Temptation to remove God from the equation. (wealth without stewardship; sex without covenant; influence without submission) Jesus was fasting and responded with the Word. Jesus was so in tune with God, He used God’s Word as a response to every temptation. Fasting brings us closer to God. When we are close to God we don’t compromise to get what He has already given us.

Closing

I remember when I fasted for the first time 20 years ago. I didn’t really have a strong grasp of it, but I knew it was something that I could not miss out on. I planned and executed it. It’s amazing you realize how much you crave something when you can’t have it. Initially, I had a headache. My body was detoxing. Then I hit the “zone”. It’s very similar to how Neo recognizes that he is “the one” and what used to be a challenge was now an opportunity. He had a different attitude. Perspective. Purpose. That’s how it felt for me when I got into my fasting zone. I felt so clear, so strong, so close to God.

God wants to do a new thing. Let’s turn to Him with prayer and fasting, anoint ourselves and watch what God does.

I want to strongly encourage everyone of us to engage in this fast with us. It may look a little different. Food, sugar, soda, video games, social media, news. Do something. Let’s reset our filters, get back to factory settings so that we can function the way our creator intended.

Keys to a Successful Fast

Make a decision

Make a plan

Make adjustments

Here to Help

Resources will be available

Prayer

How to study the Bible

Foundation classes

21 Days of Freedom

Invest in the things of God and the things of God will be deposited in you. Fasting resets us to our creators settings.