Posted: 11/03/2008 at 8:52am | IP Logged

going about trying to prove their own righteousness, they have the

wrong attitude to receive His. For Christ means the end of the struggle

for righteousness-by-the-law for everyone who believes in Him." (Romans

"If you try to be justified by the law you automatically cut

yourselves off from the power of Christ. You put yourself outside the

If deception were easy to detect, it would not be deception. Satan

is the master deceiver, for he disguises his voice to sound just like

the voice of the Lord. He appears as an angel of light and tells you

something that is right and good, and yet it is calculated to land you in a

 Many years ago I

thought I heard the voice of the Lord telling me that I should fast.

This was to be a fast in preparation for launching out into a new phase

of my ministry, as well as to heal me of a number of physical problems.

How many times I have tried to comply with that "word," I

cannot tell. But each time I tried, I failed. Then I would be faced

with periods of condemnation and depression. Somehow, as time

went on, the thought settled over me that I would never be healed or

never be anointed for a powerful ministry if I didn't complete

that long fast. And furthermore, I was willing to accept that

thought! I felt I deserved the pain of a long fast because I believed

my physical problems were related to years of intemperance, and I had

read how men and women of God had been launched into

powerful deliverance ministries immediately after a long fast. So I

was willing to suffer through a long fast in order to pay the price

However, as the months rolled on into years, and my struggle

to achieve this fast became more intense, I began to question the

source of this guidance. At times I was sure it was God, but at times I

was not so sure. What I did not realize was that slowly but surely, the

basis of my trust was being shifted away from Jesus to another

foundation. I found myself able to believe and perform when

I can remember many times during this long struggle that I cried

out in bitterness, "0 God, I wish I had never heard of fasting!"

Fasting had become my only hope. It had taken the place of Jesus as my

The Devil fortified his hold on me by quoting scriptures,

"Remember Naaman, the leper? He didn't get his healing until he obeyed

the word of God through the prophet to go and dip seven times in the

Once I fasted 14 days and was helped physically but the killing element

was in the fact that it was a growing, death-dealing legalism that

was not only strangling my own spiritual life, but was being poured out

I had fallen into the same error into which the Galatians fell, that of

having begun in the spirit, I was now seeking to be made perfect by the

flesh. I had made my religious observances my Savior. Jesus had become

secondary. He was there to help me, but I must do the work. If I could

perform, I would be blessed. If I could fast, I would be healed,

anointed, cleansed, blessed, and mightily used of God to bring life to the

people I ministered to. It had come to the point that everything in my whole

The enemy kept bombarding me with scriptures: "The Spirit drove

[a strong word of compulsion] Jesus into the wilderness to fast." Then

Satan would say, "The reason you feel so strongly about this fast is

because you, too, are being driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to

fast. And just as Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit, so will you be

able to release the captives like Jesus did."

Not only did my foundation shift, but my focus shifted as well. I now

had my eyes on the fast, or rather on myself. If I could do it . . . if I

could only do it . . . then my whole world would be brighter and happier.

I began to suffer pain at night, with long hours of sleeplessness, as

I fought off thoughts of self condemnation. Even when I slept, I would

dream dreams of being exposed as a hypocrite, or see myself rejected

as ineffective and powerless as a man of God. The words of Job so clearly

"I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery

have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, 'How long before I

get up? The night drags on and I toss 'til dawn . . . when I think my

bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you

One morning after I had walked my daughter Judy to her school bus

stop, I decided to take a longer walk. It was such a beautiful morning, and

yet I was still under this struggle inwardly, feeling like an enemy of God

rather than a friend—much less a beloved son. For though my root problem

was a struggle for righteousness-by-the-law, I knew I had failed God on

As I walked along, the words of an old hymn we used to sing in my

youth back in Texas began to rise up in my heart and I started to sing it. As

"My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

On Christ the solid rock I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand

When darkness seems to hide His face,

I rest on His unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale,

On Christ the solid rock I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

Oh, how I needed to hear and receive those words ! How

desperately I needed my foundation restored. It was Jesus and not

fasting, not prayer, not gifts, anointing, or any other thing. He was

indeed the end of the struggle for righteousness, peace, power, healing,

anointing, guidance, fulfillment, and everything else. The struggle was all a

subtle snare. I had been caught up in self-effort. I was no less a Pharisee

than Saul of Tarsus, whose fanatical religious zeal for God took him to the

Praise God, the struggle is over! I have a Savior again. His name is

Jesus. He is for me, not against me. He is my Healer. He is my perfect

fast! It is the power of His Spirit whose anointing abides upon me. Fasting

has its place and temperance in all things, yes! But it is JESUS, JESUS,

JESUS, who is The Fountainhead, The Vine, The Rock from whence we

are hewn. All else must be an outflow from the life of Jesus within.

That which issues out of a framework of law or legalism promotes

death. That which proceeds forth from a framework of grace ministers

I again received Christ Jesus as my Savior, my Lord, my life, my strength, my

healer, my health, my authority to heal, my power to minister, and . . . I

have in faith received Him as my forty day fast! The Lord reminded me

that not only was his death accredited to my account, but his life also.

Everything he did has been accredited to my account, and that includes his

forty day fast. In Christ I have fasted forty days which brings to me all the

benefits of that fast! He will surely take the struggle out of my walk with

"For I can testify about them (the Jews) that they are zealous for

God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know

the righteousness that comes from God, and sought to establish their

own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of

the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."

The most subtle deception of all is when the Devil urges us to do a

perfectly good thing at the wrong time or with the wrong motive. It is

simply being out of step with God that makes life a mess of confusion

whether you are a Christian or not. It is all important that we live life

daily with a deep and abiding certainty of God's loving acceptance, and

The Devil does not usually move against us with one decisive

stroke. He plans his moves ahead. I am sure he would make a great chess

player. As I look back on the experience I have related above, I can

see that it took him years to maneuver me into a position where I

would be vulnerable to bite on his bait and swallow a ton of legalism

concerning fasting. He has intricate plans to devastate us and take

away our joy and effectiveness. But by the grace of God we shall resist

him steadfast in the faith!