Jan. 07, 2022

Breaking Ground for Breaking Through

Joel 2:12-14 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Joel 2:12 (HCSB)  Even now— ⌊this is⌋ the LORD’s declaration— turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Joel 2:13 (HCSB)  Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster.
Joel 2:14 (HCSB)  Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, ⌊so you can⌋ offer grain and wine to the LORD your God.

Daniel 9:3 (King James Version)  And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Romans 10:12 (King James Version) For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Psalm 145:18-19 (English Standard Version)
Psalm 145:18 (ESV)  The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:19 (ESV)  He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

Acts 13:1-3 (King James Version)
Acts 13:1 (KJV)  Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Acts 13:2 (KJV)  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.
Acts 13:3 (KJV)  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Ephesians 1:15-19 (KJV)
^{{Eph 1:15}}  Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
^{{Eph 1:16}}  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
^{{Eph 1:17}}  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
^{{Eph 1:18}}  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
^{{Eph 1:19}}  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Psalm 63:1-2 (KJV)
^{{Ps 63:1}}  O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
^{{Ps 63:2}}  To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.

Breaking through to Guidance

One of the rewards for fasting is continual guidance. This is not to say that one can fast once and have guidance forever. It is to say, whenever we fast appropriately, we can expect God’s guidance.

Isaiah 58:11 (King James Version)
 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

Isaiah 58:11 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
 The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

This is what early church experienced when they fasted. They received guidance upon which they acted.

Acts 13:2-3 (King James Version)
Acts 13:2 (KJV)  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.
Acts 13:3 (KJV)  And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

The result of this guidance through prayer and fasting will be:

1.  Having one’s natural and spiritual needs met.

Isaiah 58:11 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

Joel 2:15 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting.

Joel 2:19 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
The LORD will reply, “Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy your needs. You will no longer be an object of mockery among the surrounding nations.

Joel 2:25 (NLT2)  The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
Joel 2:26 (NLT2)  Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will my people be disgraced.

Joel 2:28 (NLT2)  “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.
Joel 2:29 (NLT2)  In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.

Joel 2:32 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.

Psalm 34:10 (New International Version)
 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

2.  Wisdom and grace to complete kingdom projects.

Isaiah 58:12 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.

2 Chronicles 26:5-11, 15 (English Standard Version)
2 Chronicles 26:5 (ESV)  He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.
2 Chronicles 26:6 (ESV)  He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.
2 Chronicles 26:7 (ESV)  God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the Meunites.
2 Chronicles 26:8 (ESV)  The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.
2 Chronicles 26:9 (ESV)  Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them.
2 Chronicles 26:10 (ESV)  And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil.
2 Chronicles 26:11 (ESV)  Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders.
2 Chronicles 26:15 (ESV)  In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Jeremiah 10:21 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
 For the shepherds are stupid: they don’t seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and their whole flock is scattered.

Jeremiah 10:21 (New Living Translation, Second Edition)
 The shepherds of my people have lost their senses. They no longer seek wisdom from the LORD. Therefore, they fail completely, and their flocks are scattered.

Jeremiah 10:21 (NET Bible - First Edition)
 For our leaders are stupid. They have not sought the LORD’s advice. So they do not act wisely, and the people they are responsible for have all been scattered.

Matthew 6:33 (King James Version)
 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

   The King and the kingdom require salvation of souls (evangelism).  

Matthew 22:2-3 (King James Version)
Matthew 22:2 (KJV)  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Matthew 22:3 (KJV)  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Matthew 22:8 (KJV)  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Matthew 22:9 (KJV)  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Matthew 22:10 (KJV)  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

   The King and the kingdom require sanctification of souls (discipleship). 

Matthew 22:11 (KJV)  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Matthew 22:12 (KJV)  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Matthew 22:13 (KJV)  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 22:14 (KJV)  For many are called, but few are chosen.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (KJV)  But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
2 Thessalonians 2:14 (KJV)  Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 10:2 (King James Version)
 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (King James Version)
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (KJV)  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 (KJV)  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.