The War We Must Win!

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 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 58:5-11

 The following is an important message from Min. B.H. Clendennen entitled, "The War We Must Win."

• Let God deal with ourselves before we ever go pointing fingers at anyone else.
• When a man is born again, he is a new creation; but there is still that old man to be dealt with.
• The flesh - the old nature - is the body of the devil just like the spiritual born again man is the body of Christ.
• The warfare we are up against is the warring of the flesh against the spirit; and it has to be won on an individual basis.
• There must be a burnt offering to bring about the death of the old man in order for Christ to increase within us.  This is the purpose of the fast.
• Fasting is not a bargain with God or a way to force God to accept the ways of the flesh.  Fasting chastens the flesh.
• It is the flesh which stomps up the outpouring of God's Spirit, bot the Devil.
• Every appetite of the human is fed by a spoon.  If we are intemperate with food, then we will be intemperate in other ways, i.e. prayer, bible study, etc.
• When we are broken by fasting, then the light of God will break out from within us and the river of living waters will flow.