“I am praying for you!  Fasting is often a crisis driven response to circumstances we need God’s help in, and that’s a good thing.  God wants us to rely upon Him for all our needs. Yet, fasting is so much more than that and can bring us tremendous blessing in our relationship with God.  Fasting is a way to experience the presence of God in our lives amidst the everyday battle of this world for our attention.  Each month I want to invite you to join me for a time of just that- focusing on the abiding presence of God.  See Him, hear Him, experience Him.  A monthly, regular rhythm is not crisis driven, but the yearning of a child’s heart for more of our Father.  May you be blessed in Him!”
 -Pastor Damian

Key text: Jeremiah 4:1-6 
 In this passage we find God has sent His voice through the prophet Jeremiah to go to the city of Jerusalem, into the heart of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. God has referred to Himself as now divorced from the Northern Kingdom of Israel (remember the Kingdom split into two after Solomon’s death).  To the Southern Kingdom of Judah God calls to them as their Father to return to Him.  What I love so much about Jeremiah’s message is that God is showing the difference between His Law and His Grace.  Wherein the Law would not allow a divorced person to return to their spouse (Deuteronomy 24:1-4), Grace appeals and welcomes us back (Jeremiah 3:12-13)!

It's against this backdrop our text shines with bright invitation.  I want to encourage you to invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you in this text.  Don’t power through this but stretch it out throughout this fast.  Take a question and truly pause, reflect, seek, and invite its wisdom into your life.
 
Surface Reflection Questions to get us started.

• Read Jeremiah 4:1-6.  What stands out to you and why? Now, focus on just verse 3 with me.
• What is fallow ground, and how does this apply to our heart and relationship to God personally?  How does this relate to our relationship to God corporately as a local church?
• What does it mean to sow among thorns?  (Read and reflect on Matthew 13:1-23.  How much does this reflect our heart soil?)
• Are any of us beyond the reach and grip of God’s Grace according to Jeremiah?  Do you feel that you are in His grip of Grace right now? Why or why not?

Let’s dig a little into some of the fallow ground of our hearts.  What are some ways we can regularly tend our heart soil?

Read through these passages and invite their wisdom into your life and see if some of that fallow ground is softened.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  What is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus?  What does it mean to rejoice, pray, and give thanks?  How often are we to do this?  Is this attitude the source or result of what Paul is leading us to do? Make a list of 10 things you can say Thank You to God for right now.  Then, choose 5 people to bless and share with one thing you are thankful to God for them for.
• Colossians 3:16-17. What does it mean for the word of Christ to dwell in you richly?  What happens when we feed on God’s Word regularly? Looking back on just today, can you attach Jesus’ Name to things you have said, actions you’ve chosen, behaviors you have modeled? How can we be more in front of the day, ready to face what may come in Christ?  Choose a time you did not represent Jesus well to someone and reach out to own and apologize to them for this.  Trust me- this will turn some soil up in your heart!
• Luke 6:27-36.  Ugh!  This passage is not an easy one.  Read through this and focus on how your heart responds to each of these things Jesus addresses.  Do some parts frustrate you, anger you- or does Jesus’ direction come naturally?  How can we be prepared to do this before the opportunity comes to us?  Is there someone God’s wants you to bless right now- what are the reasons you are choosing not to? List 1-5 difficult people in your life and thank God for them and how He is changing you through them.
• John 15.  What stands out to you from this familiar passage this time as you read it? Mark a note, circle a word, highlight a verse and record this moment with the Spirit in your Bible.  Often, as we read and read again, we are reminded of what God has spoken into us.  This can be encouraging when we go through seasons it seems like He is not speaking or feels like He is far away from us and our circumstances.  What does it mean to abide in God and God in us?  This union Jesus describes involving God (Father, Son, and Spirit) takes place in us, and us in Him.  Regarding our text in Jeremiah, does this union seem like it happens on fallow ground?  Do you see any thorns or wild brush in this Divine abiding? 

Let’s make some application now.  
When we lived in Texas, both my older girls were much younger.  We had a fenced in yard they played in.  We labored to keep it free of things that could hurt them or hinder their enjoyment of playing and experiencing life.  We loved to both watch and participate as parents with them.  Picture your heart like that space where God delights to encounter and experience us along with us experiencing and taking delight in Him.  What are some things that need to get pulled up, tossed out, space created, etc?  What has this time of fasting done for you and what do you hope to carry forward from it?  Invite the Spirit to bring wisdom and strength for this goal.  

-Blessings!