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40 DAYS - Day 2 - 2.22.21

Love Goes the Distance
40 Days of Prayer, Scripture & Fasting - Day 2 – Monday, February 22nd – Pastor Chris Whetlor

Read Mark 2:18–28 and focus on 2:18–22 below
Remember to Pause | Read | Reflect | Listen |Pray | Journal |Practice | Encourage/Share |Fast

"John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "While the groom is with them, the attendants of the groom cannot fast, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast, on that day.

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."

In the scripture reading today, we see the clashing of Jesus versus the establishment, the impending new way versus the old way. We see one of the first instances of Jesus talking about his death, messiahship, and removing the old wineskins (Mosaic Law) with new wineskins (the Way, Truth, and Life). We see Jesus challenge unrighteous human-made pious religious law with a call to a Spirit-filled righteous life of piety (Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7). We see the beginning of the establishment's last days as the new way begins to form in the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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One of the challenges we see is in the role of fasting. Jesus does not dismiss the action of fasting. What Jesus does point to is that fasting had become not heartfelt obedience to the Mosaic Law, but rather a pious-filled ascetic that demonstrated how spiritual a person wanted everyone to see they were. Fasting is a spiritual discipline designed to be tough but one that draws us closer to God. In fasting, there is surrender to the will of God and movement from our self-will. The Jewish religious establishment of the day could not do something that those filled with the Holy Spirit recognize and do, surrender to God’s will through fasting.

Prayer Focus – Pray for The Wild Children's Ministry Leaders and Volunteers as they minister the Gospel in our Kid's ministry from newborns to 4th grade. 

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