Skip to main content

Holy Days Instead of Holidays


I just listened to an excellent teaching by Mike Bickle from the Zechariah conference at IHOP-KC in September. I strongly encourage you to take an hour and listen to this teaching.

http://mikebickle.org/resources/resource/3373?return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmikebickle.org%2Fresources%2Fseries%2Fzechariah

I want to share a few of the words that really impacted me.

5Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: "When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? 6When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous?" (Zech. 7:4-7)

Eat and drink: In both their fasts and feasts they focused on themselves without regard for their relationship with the Lord or His larger purposes for their nation. Whether in times of fasting with mourning or in feasting with celebration, the same issue is key:
  • Their national feasts were to be a time to remember God's goodness with gratitude. Their holy days became merely holidays where they enjoyed food and recreation without taking time to rededicate themselves to God.
  • Fasting and feasting are both to be based on the same value of desiring a deeper relationship with God. Fasting was not just about obtaining blessings to make their life easier and feasting was not just getting time off for more recreation. They viewed the feasts as time off from God, instead of it being a day to draw closer to Him.
It is much easier to celebrate holidays than Holy Days in our culture. I love eating, drinking and relaxing and enjoy celebrations where these things are encouraged.

As we fast and pray during the Global Bridegroom Fast this week, I am choosing to go without those tasty foods and drinks that I enjoy so much. I don't want to do this out of obligation. I also don't want to finish this fast with excessive feasting.

I want to celebrate God's goodness with thanksgiving, prayer and worship. I want to draw near to Him and devote extra time and energy to cultivating deep and meaningful relationship with my God and Savior. I also want to spend myself more in seeking the advancement of God's kingdom instead of being so worried about the condition of mine. I want to offer my small sacrifice of tasty foods out of love and with great joy.

I invite you to find ways in your own life to celebrate Holy Days this season and not just the holidays.

Still Counting Gifts:
  • #640: Spring like weather in December
  • #641: Extra time in recent weeks with my squishees, Noah and Kingston
  • #642: Extra time in the HOP this morning
  • #643: Finally feeling inspired to write about something
  • #644: Hope in my heart
  • #645: Remembering that my struggle is not with flesh and blood
  • #646: The full armor of God that protects me
  • #647: Time to connect with friends and celebrate Christmas
  • #648: Opportunities to trust that God will provide for me and my family
  • #649: Space in my life to breathe

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What do I fix my eyes on?

Do you ever notice themes popping up in your daily life and wonder if God is saying something?

You read something that stands out to you and then you hear a song reinforcing the same message. You find this topic coming up in conversations throughout the day. Maybe you even see it appearing in your newsfeed on social media. Your heart moves a little bit every time you see or hear this theme.








This has been happening to me this week. The theme is actually a question: What are your eyes fixed on?

I'm preparing to lead See You At The Pole at my school tomorrow and the theme is Fix Your Eyes. It comes from Hebrews 12:2 which encourages us to fix our eyes on Jesus and follow his example in how we handle difficulties and suffering.

Then, I read this amazing blog post this morning by Sharon Hodde Miller about how being a people-pleaser and addicted to approval ultimately causes you to become completely self-focused. (Check out When the Self-Help Gospel Isn't Helping You Anymore on www…
Post a Comment
Read more

Heart Revival

Hey you guys,

It's been almost two years since my last post. What?!

I know some of you probably forgot that I even used to do this, but I hope that you're as excited as I am that I'm coming back to blogging. It's a new season and God has been stirring up lots of creativity and courage in me recently. I'm happy to tell you all about it.

In case you missed it, I became a mom to sweet Elias last summer. In fact, he is about to turn 1 year old on Monday and I can't believe it! Guys, he is absolutely the sweetest, calmest and most delightful baby you can ever imagine and I still tear up sometimes in gratitude when I remember that he is my little boy.

One of my life dreams to be a stay-at-home mama has been partially fulfilled in that I only work three days a week during the school year. I work 2 1/2 days at RCS Elementary School and it is an amazing place. Shortly after I got there, they put me in charge of the two chapel services that happen each week. Guess what? …
1 comment
Read more

Transition, transition, transition

Wow, it's already the middle of September! This past month has flown by for me.









I just finished my fifth week of the new school year.

I am loving The Quiet Collection by Emily P Freeman to help me have a sane September. (This blog post appearing is a partial fruit from one of those devotions which encouraged me to stop overthinking things and create.)

I'm remembering how vital my crock pot is if we want to have a hot dinner on a work day.

I have completed 8 of my 21 days of working out goal for this month!

I have done some hard stops for prayer, gazing on beauty, snuggling one of my loves and remembering how to breathe deeply.

One of the discoveries in this season of transition is that I have believed that busy=bad. My sweet, slow-paced summer schedule has been swapped out for one that is much more highly charged with many responsibilities and activities that are looking for a place within my week. I have found myself feeling shame over how full my schedule is and afraid that …
Post a Comment
Read more