There Are Times When We Must Declare War
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’”
Isaiah 58:6-9 NKJV
I went home and read Isaiah 58 and learned what God’s chosen fast was about. I learned that it was a fast that could break yokes and oppression. I continued to fast until lunch on the 35th day. I had been invited that day to a celebratory business lunch at an electrical contractor’s office. It featured a magnificent spread of my favorite deli foods, and as I looked at the array of choices, I sensed the Lord say “Go ahead and eat.” I did just that, and my fast ended.
I was not conscious of yokes snapping or fetters breaking during those 35 days. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen. I did lose 42 pounds, and I got my clothes altered. I wore a business suit to work at that time in my life.
The fast ended in mid-March. That spring I attended a meeting where Dick Mills, a recognized Prophet in my denomination, spoke a word (Job 11:6) to me that said God would double my wisdom and that my business would double, no triple, no quadruple, and that I would not have to work harder than my current commitment. My firm did $3 million in fees in 1982 and $12 million in 1986.
One of my clients in the Bay Area (San Francisco) called me in May. He knew a lady that he wanted me to meet. I really wasn’t interested in meeting a 50 year old woman who lived 400 miles from my home, but I agreed to call her. We were married in January 1983, and will soon celebrate our 27th anniversary. We share an understanding of God and a common theology, we are holiness Pentecostals, and we have yet to seriously disagree about anything.
Category: Living the Faith, Winter 2010
Followers
Fans
