“Jesus said to him, ‘“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’”
~ Matthew 4:10
Hi James and Ellen,
Ask your dad and/or ma if they have ever fasted. To fast is to not eat for a period of time. To fast is to maybe skip a meal or to not eat from sunup to sundown or to not eat for twenty-four hours or to not eat for another length of time – like even up to forty days and forty nights. Do you know why you would want to fast? You may want to fast for health reasons. You may want to fast to help you to focus better as you listen for God’s voice. Fasting can be a time of being remorseful before God as you recount to Him your sins and a time of being grateful before God as you thank Him for His grace. You may use fasting to ask God to help you with a decision – such as what college that is His will that you attend, what you are to study while in college and who you are to marry. Fasting can just be a time of talking with God. You may want or need to drink water when you fast. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have fasted a number of times. Sometimes when your grandmaa and grandpaa have fasted, your grandmaa and grandpaa have fasted with other guys and gals. When your grandpaa was the director of the resident Bible education center in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez in Bolivia, your grandpaa would plan a time of fasting for himself, your grandmaa and all the Centro de Capacitación (C. de C.) guys and gals who were studying in the Bible education program. Your grandpaa one year planned a thirty-six hour fast at the Bible education center. When your grandpaa was the Field Director for the South America Mission (SAM) Bolivia field missionary team, your grandpaa would plan a fast shortly before SAM’s annual Bolivia field missionary team conference. When your grandpaa planned a time of fasting at the rural resident Bible education center and with the Bolivia field missionary team, your grandpaa would have at least two guys and/or two gals praying together for a period of time – such as for a half an hour or an hour. Your grandpaa would draw out of something slips of paper that would have the name of your grandpaa, grandmaa or a C. de. C. guy or gal or the slips of paper would have the name of a SAM Bolivia field team missionary guy or gal. From the moment that a fast began in Concepción or began in Santa Cruz, your grandpaa would always have at least two guys and/or two gals praying together about different things. Your grandpaa would begin with a list of prayer requests that your grandpaa, grandmaa and the C. de C. guys and gals or the SAM Bolivia field team missionary guys and gals would pray about during their slots of time to pray.
Your grandmaa and grandpaa have fasted at other times – by themselves. Your grandpaa knows that fasting is something that pleases God. When your grandpaa fasts by himself, your grandpaa is not to tell other guys or gals that he is fasting. God blesses His specially elected guys and gals who use a fast to spend all their time with Him to talk with Him and to listen for His answers to their questions and requests. When a guy or gal fasts for the purpose of using his or her time to spend time with God – to talk with Him and to ask Him for His help about something or some things, this really irritates planet Earth’s ruler. Do you know who the ruler of planet Earth is? The ruler of planet Earth is Satan – or the devil. God will not let Satan – or the devil, do anything to you without His permission but . . . Satan – or the devil, would like to rule over all the Christ-followers who are living on planet Earth without having God – as the Holy Spirit, always getting in his way through pressing on His specially elected guys, gals and kids to not to listen to him and to not to do what he wants them to do. Satan – or the devil, is who makes or designs wickedness. Satan – or the devil, is the author of malevolent actions and malicious attitudes. Satan – or the devil, knows that no matter how hard he tries that he cannot win against God but the loser will keep trying. Jesus is the antithesis – or the direct or complete opposite of Satan – or the devil, as Jesus is Who brought hope and goodness to planet Earth when He came to planet Earth to live and die for God’s specially elected guys, gals and kids.
Matthew in his Matthew Book – in Matthew 4, recounts when Jesus and Satan – or the devil, met face to face in a desert. God – as the Holy Spirit, led Jesus into a desert – where Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Jesus was very weak and hungry after He fasted forty days and forty nights. Even though Jesus was God’s Son or God the Son, Jesus was born incarnated on planet Earth. To be incarnate is to have flesh and blood. After Jesus had fasted in a desert for forty days and forty nights, Satan – or the devil, who is really no more than a lowlife coward, visited Jesus. Satan – or the devil, visited Jesus for the sole purpose of tempting or testing Jesus. Satan – or the devil, was really hoping that Jesus would be tempted by the temptations that he had planned for Jesus. The first temptation that Satan – or the devil, had for Jesus was a challenge to Jesus to turn rocks into bread if Jesus really was Who Jesus said Who He was. Jesus told Satan – or the devil, that He lived on His Father God’s words and not on bread. Satan – or the devil, then challenged Jesus to jump off Herod’s temple – which was fourteen stories high, and if Jesus was really over angels, that angels would catch Him before He crashed on the ground. Jesus told Satan – or the devil, that He could not tempt God – His Father. Satan – or the devil, then had Jesus transverse with him to a high mountain where Satan – or the devil, pointed to the whole world and promised Jesus that He could have everything that he – the devil, already had if Jesus would worship him. Verse 10 has Jesus’ response to Satan – or the devil “Jesus said to him, ‘“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’” When Satan – or the devil, tempted Jesus after Jesus fasted, Jesus established that only God is to be in our thoughts.
Matthew 4 (179)