HUNGRY FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Read Time: 4 min 46 sec
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it."
Max Lucado
THE GOOD STUFF
LENT DEVOTIONAL 02: FASTING
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” - Matthew 5:6
Jesus calls us to desire righteousness as intensely and frequently as our bodies desire food and water. How can we hunger and thirst for righteousness with that same intensity? When we willfully choose to fast, to abstain from eating and/or drinking for a determined period of time, our bodies will constantly remind us of our needs. Nothing matches that primal need for sustenance like abstaining from that which is essential for sustaining our lives.
The spiritual discipline of fasting intentionally creates that sensation of need. Every time we feel the sensation, we take that as a reminder to pray and plead to the Lord. Never fasted before? Try fasting a single meal. Have an important decision or difficult trial? Dedicate a day or more to the Lord for fasting. Want to increase your discipline of prayer and reliance on the Lord? Set aside a meal or day once a week for fasting.
Only food and water can satisfy our stomach. Only abiding in Christ can satisfy our spirit. Just as our physical bodies cannot grow or survive without food or water, so our spiritual bodies cannot grow or thrive without constant reliance on Jesus Christ.
APPLICATION
However long you choose to fast, remember these 3 keys to fasting. First, have something specific you are praying about. Second, use your normal mealtime as an extra time for prayer in your day. Finally, every time you feel hungry or thirsty, take a moment to ask the Lord for strength, for righteousness, and for His Will to be done.
Jake van Gilse | Student Pastor
P.S. Join us tonight at 6pm for our second Lent Worship set on YouTube.
STORY
#TOGETHER🙏🏽
The Redeemer Student ministry sent off Pastor Cory and his wife Bre into Cory's new role as Witness Pastor with a huge celebration on Sunday, February 14th.
For the last 4+ years, the Freeman's have poured their heart and soul into these students to train them up in the ways of the Lord. They have planned camps and retreats, played crazy games, sang a song about Chick-fil-a fries, created space for intimate relationships to be built in Christ, and faithfully brought the Word of God each and every week.
It was a bittersweet night filled with worship and memories, but Cory made sure that the students knew they would still be doing life and following Jesus #together🙏🏽
Congratulate Cory and Bre on their new role and the amazing work they have done with the students in our church. God used them powerfully over the last 4 years to mold disciples of Jesus and to send these teens on mission into their schools and friend groups to share the message of the Gospel.
STAFF PICKS
WATCH
Our life mission is to glorify God by making disciples and oftentimes, that's intimidating. Francis Chan reminds us in his message, "Last Message to America," that the Holy Spirit prepares the hearts before us -- we just have to be bold in our convictions. We, as American Christians, often have hearts on fire but feet on ice. God deserves us to be all in by saturating in the Word; ready to give an account; trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit, and believing in the miraculous goodness of God.
- Michaela Causey, Ministry Coordinator
READ
The rise of mobile phones with high-quality cameras has led to a number of high-visibility racial confrontations, many of them fatal. It’s easy to call it out as sin and lament the loss of life, and it leads us to a simple conclusion: something still isn’t right here.
If you’re looking for a place to start wrestling through some of these topics and how it could interact with your own faith, I recommend Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. This book takes you on a historical, sociological, and religious journey from America’s earliest colonial days, through slavery and Jim Crow laws, to the Civil Rights era and today. You won’t like everything you read (which is probably good). It will probably even make you uncomfortable (it certainly did for me). You might find yourself disagreeing with the conclusions - but it will make you think. And that’s a great place to start.
- Brian Holt, Lead Ministries Pastor