Well, the fast is over…quick huh?  It lasted 12 days; 7 days juice and 5 water.  The last three days I was sick…VERY SICK.  I had to cancel everything, couldn’t move well, stomach was a mess, blanked out a couple of times…heck, it was simply miserable.  Friends were even concerned I would end up in the ER.  Now you would think I would tell you it was simply one of the most terrible experiences of my life, but absolutely not!  God called me to it for a purpose.  He called me to fast, I took it upon myself to get revved up for a 40 day fast, God ended it with my getting sick, BUT He gently spoke to me and told me “You did it again”.  What was it I did?  I took something that was pleasing to Him and made it into a “works” related thing (doing it under my power instead of His).  I moved the focus off of Him and onto me.  He called me to fast for His glory, not for 40 days…I made the 40 day call.

In my life I must be careful to take something which is good, something God calls me to, and turn it into something that is about me instead of Him…taking something made for His glory and making it an ultimate of mine.  He told me when He called me to fast I would understand His glory more…I do.  He showed me how I can take His glory and turn it into something about me so easily.  He gave me something to watch out for as I walk His road on His terms…I can easily attempt to steal God’s glory and if I do it will end badly.

I do believe that I will fast again very soon.  I am going to mentally prepare through prayer and ask God to glorify Himself in what I do and be on guard for any temptation to make it for my own glory.  In the meanwhile I am continuing to assist Tammy in getting ready to move to Kenya, finishing the last of our tent-making (the work God has given us to meet our daily needs which enabled us to spend our last three years full-time in the ministry without compensation), and presenting the ministry to whoever will listen…hopefully all for His glory, not mine!  God bless you.

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This is Chuck McDonald typing.  What you have been reading in the past has been blogging from my wife, Tammy.  I am going to be a “guest blogger” maybe once a week…we will see how it goes.  I am not going to give you much of a background on our ministry since Tammy has been handling that well for a few years, but rather I am going to let you know what makes me tick and what I consider the reason for life…giving glory to God!

To rush right in, I am starting a fast today.  There are many reasons to fast, but mine was started because God called me to it.  I have prepared by taking only juice for the last 7 days and now I begin the 40 day water fast (I believe I will also have hot tea).  What is this fast all about?  It is about understanding better that life is all about God.  He made this known to me about 4 years ago when my wife underwent cancer.  I won’t go into details on that either since she is going to do a upteen-part series on how the ministry came into being soon which will include that revelation.  I believe that now He is going to take me into a deeper understanding of what that means, even to the extent of not having food for 40 days and placing my total reliance for my very physical existence on Him.

A songwriter wrote something like this…when I yearn for the Holy Spirit over life itself then Christ will live in me (paraphrasing a lot).  This is what I truly believe and I think that my desire for this has prompted our Lord to tell me to fast so that I can understand this better.  I look for my yearning for Him to increase, to hear Him more clearly so I can humbly follow His direction better and for my love for Him to grow so that everything in my life will flow from that love….tall order I know, but I know that all things are possible with God….and remember, He called me to this fast.

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