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Prioritize the Vertical and Protest Hell

The cross embodies and reveals the Christian life. Jesus died on the cross to bring us to God and one another. We must live on both the vertical and horizontal planes. We should have a strong vertical connection with God in prayer, worship, and supernatural activity; and strong horizontal connections with fellowship and service. When we are out of balance, we become dysfunctional and ineffective.

When Jesus ministered at the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, He found a house where vertical activity was virtually nonexistent while horizontal activity was at a fevered pitch. Jesus cleansed the Temple, reclaiming it as a house of prayer for all people, and immediately began healing those who came to Him. This action was consistent with His teaching. Jesus condensed the Law into two basic principles, noting that our relationship with God must come first. What separates the church from the world is not simply our standard of love (John 13:35) but also that we know the living God, and He is in our midst. God’s house is not made of mortar and stone but of people (1 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 2:22).

Prioritize the vertical and protest hell. Fasting, for Christians, is about changing our priorities to match God’s. The believer’s fast is a hunger strike against hell. We push away our plates in protest against the spiritual bondage imposed by Satan on humanity. Our spiritual hunger strike pleads for heaven’s attention and help in bringing release to the bound.

Isaiah 58 records the Lord’s word through His prophet, correcting the people of Israel regarding their purpose in fasting. God is not chiding Israel for fasting; rather, He is reproving them for how they are fasting. They were being selfish. Their fasts were without spiritual focus, or worse yet, self-focused. The people used their time not eating for work or pleasure, not to pray or care for others.

Focusing on the self is one of the dangers we must avoid during any season of fasting. Fasting is about self-denial, not self-fulfillment. It is about seeking freedom from spiritual bondage, not just for ourselves but for those around us. We must follow Christ’s example. We must push back our plate because the world is lost and needs the gospel. The brokenness we experience in fasting allows God’s love to flow through us and prepares us to be God’s messengers to a broken generation.