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Isaiah 58:6-8 (NIV)

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”

I love this passage about fasting in Isaiah 58! Often, we focus so much on what to give up during a fast that we lose sight of what God, our loving Father, wants to give us through it. Fasting is more than abstaining from food—it’s a spiritual practice where we use hunger as a reminder to pray, seek God, and rely on Him fully.

Types of Biblical Fasts

The Bible highlights several types of fasting, each with unique spiritual purposes. Let’s take a closer look:

1. The Complete Fast: Abstaining from all food and relying solely on liquids, as demonstrated by Moses and Jesus during their 40-day fasts.
2. The Daniel Fast (Partial Fast):
   Found in the Book of Daniel, this fast involves abstaining from rich or indulgent foods. Daniel and his companions requested a diet of vegetables and water instead of the royal food and wine:
   • “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food…” (Daniel 1:12-13 NIV)
     Later, Daniel fasted for 21 days:
   • “I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” (Daniel 10:3 NIV)

   The Daniel Fast is a partial fast, emphasizing simple, plant-based foods while abstaining from meat, dairy, sweeteners, and processed foods. It’s not just about physical health but also spiritual clarity and deepened prayer.

3. The Absolute Fast: Refraining from all food and drink for a short, intense period, such as Esther’s three-day fast to intercede for her people (Esther 4:16).
4. The Fast of Repentance: A communal fast seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy, like the city of Nineveh’s response to Jonah’s warning (Jonah 3:5-7).
5. The Social Justice Fast: Found in Isaiah 58, this fast focuses on serving others—sharing resources, lifting oppression, and bringing justice.

What God Offers Through Fasting

Isaiah 58 teaches us that fasting is not just about what we give up—it’s about receiving what God desires to pour into our lives.

1. Freedom
   Fasting breaks chains, both physical and spiritual. God promises liberation from injustice and oppression, offering increased favor and freedom from harmful patterns, addictions, or spiritual strongholds.
2. Vision and Empathy
   Fasting opens our spiritual eyes and ears. Isaiah highlights sharing food, providing shelter, and showing compassion as a way to live out our faith. Fasting creates space for God to show us how to serve others more effectively, deepening our connection with Him and those in need.
3. Transformation
   Isaiah declares that light will break forth, and healing will appear. Fasting invites God to transform our hearts, circumstances, and communities. It positions us for divine intervention and lasting change—both spiritually and physically.
4. Guidance and Protection
   Verse 8 assures us that fasting aligns us with God’s leading and ensures His protection. He promises to guide us on paths of righteousness and guard us every step of the way.

The Daniel Fast and Its Purpose

During our 21-Day Fast we will be focusing on the Daniel’s Fast as an excellent example of how fasting draws us closer to God while promoting discipline and focus. By abstaining from rich foods and choosing simple nourishment, Daniel and his companions demonstrated their devotion to God’s principles. The fast led to:

• Physical Strength: At the end of 10 days, Daniel and his friends appeared healthier than those eating the royal diet (Daniel 1:15).
• Spiritual Clarity: During his 21-day fast, Daniel received profound visions and revelations from God (Daniel 10:5-14).
• God’s Favor: Daniel’s commitment set him apart, and he gained wisdom, insight, and influence in a foreign land.

The Daniel Fast teaches us to set aside worldly indulgences to experience God’s provision, clarity, and power in our lives. Remember, fasting is denying ourselves a food we are accustomed to and enjoy, then when the hunger for that food pulls on us, we use that “pulling” as an alarm clock to pray and seek the face of God. Let’s push in as we believe to start the New Year experiencing days of deliverance!

“And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord… But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping.”

Ezra 3:10–13

Ezra shows us that God’s work often resumes before it feels resolved. The exile has ended. The people have returned. Worship has restarted. And yet, when the foundation is laid, the moment is marked not by clarity, but by complexity. Joy and grief rise together. Celebration and sorrow occupy the same space. Scripture does not correct this tension; it records it. God receives the sound without asking the people to simplify their emotions first.

The foundation itself is telling. This is not a finished temple, not a restored glory, not a return to what once was. It is groundwork. It is preparation. It is faith expressed in stone before anything impressive stands. God does not rush them past this moment, because foundations are not about visibility; they are about faithfulness. What is laid here will carry weight long before it carries beauty.

The older generation weeps because memory has weight. They know what was lost. They know what will never be fully recovered. Their tears are not resistance to God’s work; they are evidence of history. The younger generation rejoices because hope has momentum. They see possibility where others see comparison. Both responses are true. And God does not ask either group to surrender their honesty in order to worship.

Ezra teaches us that renewal does not erase the past; it builds through it. God does not demand that His people forget what was broken, only that they trust Him enough to build again. Faithfulness, in this moment, is not a grand opening, it’s a ground opening. It is a foundation laid over fracture, fatigue, and memory-and declared sufficient for now.

The question Ezra leaves us with is not whether God is at work. He clearly is. The question is whether we will, despite small beginnings, recognize that God often starts His most enduring work at ground level- and keep building?

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father,
Teach us to trust You in seasons that feel unfinished.
Give us patience for foundation work and grace for mixed emotions. Help us build faithfully where You have brought us back,
even when our ground remembers loss. Establish what You are forming beneath our surface, so that what rises later may endure. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭51‬-‭53‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Mary says God shows His strength not first in public spectacle, but in quiet disruption. He scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. Before thrones fall, assumptions do. Before systems collapse, inner narratives are undone. God’s strongest moves often happen where no one applauds-inside the unseen places where we decide we no longer need Him. Pride rarely looks dangerous at first; it simply convinces us we’re sufficient. That is the tragedy of the proud: they feel secure right up until they are scattered.

Then Mary goes further. God brings down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. Thrones, in her song, are not permanent structures; they are temporary furniture. Power that elevates itself will eventually be lowered. Humility, on the other hand, does not scramble for position-it waits. Mary is teaching us that you don’t climb your way into God’s favor; you go low enough for God to pick you up. Exaltation in the kingdom is never seized; it is received.

Finally, she names what many are afraid to say out loud: God fills the hungry with good things and sends the rich away empty. This is not a condemnation of wealth itself, but of self-sufficiency. The tragedy of the rich is not what they possess, but what they believe they no longer need. Full hands often mean closed hearts. Hunger, by contrast, becomes an invitation. God does not shame emptiness; He responds to it. He fills those who know they are lacking and frustrates those convinced they are complete.

Mary’s song confronts us with a choice. We can cling to pride, position, and self-made fullness-or we can risk humility, hunger, and dependence. One path feels strong but ends scattered and empty. The other feels low but ends lifted and filled. God’s strongest moves still follow this pattern. The question is not whether He will act, but whether we will be found low enough, open enough, and hungry enough when He does.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, help us to sing Mary’s refrain of humility in our lives, especially during this season.
We reject pride and embrace humility. Let not our hearts be so full of things and self and we forget You. Our desire is to draw close to You, and to be raised to life. Let us be the Magi of our day, emptying our treasures before you, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Luke 1:46–55

Across all four gospels there are some 80,584 words, and only about 192 of them belong to Mary. 15 verses. That’s it. And about 71% of those words are poured into one moment, one song, in Luke 1. The mother of Jesus is at the center of the greatest story ever told, and the Spirit lets us hear her voice only in brief, concentrated glimpses. Heaven seems to be saying: you don’t need a lot of words to leave a deep mark—but you do need the right ones.

Most of what Mary ever says in Scripture is her song. My soul magnifies the Lord… He has looked on the lowliness of His servant… He who is mighty has done great things for me. We read it once in Luke 1, but that doesn’t mean she only sang it once. Songs like that do not stay locked in a single moment. You can almost hear it echoing later: on the road to Bethlehem; in the confusion of Nazareth; at Simeon’s strange blessing and the sword he promised; in the long, silent years when Jesus was growing; under the shadow of a cross where her soul was being pierced just as foretold. Mary’s song is not just a Christmas carol; it is a lifetime confession.

Mary’s recorded words show us a pattern. She asks honest questions. She yields herself completely. She sings of a God who sees the lowly, overturns the proud, fills the hungry, and keeps His promises. Then, for the most part, she lives quietly in the path of that song. Her life becomes the long, hidden obedience underneath her own lyrics. We are not given endless speeches from her; we are given a center, a core confession, and then we watch her carry it through pain, misunderstanding, and joy.

Most of us will not be remembered for many words either. A few sentences. A handful of prayers. A small collection of “yes, Lord” moments. The question is not how much we say, but whether what we say is the kind of truth we can keep singing when our heart is breaking. Mary’s very few words invite us to let God form in us a song so rooted in His character that it can be whispered again at the foot of every cross we face.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, take my many scattered words and gather them into a true song, one I can sing at the start, in the middle, and even in the darkest place, until my whole life quietly agrees with it. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

 

Over thirty years of ministry, I’ve focused with intention on Mary’s early journey to the stable, this blessed Christmas season, I want to draw attention to a portion of scripture the often goes overlooked- Mary’s song, part 1:

Luke 1:46–50

“And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.’”
— Luke 1:46–50

Mary sings before anything looks safe or finished. Joseph hasn’t married her and Nazareth hasn’t heard from an angel. There is no manger, no shepherds, no wise men- just a promise, a cousin who believes her, and a future that suddenly got very complicated. Yet her first words are, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” She is still at the beginning of the story, but she talks as if because of God’s goodness, the end is already settled.

Mary does not pretend her life is easy. She calls herself lowly. The word carries the weight of humiliation, smallness, being looked down on. Young, poor, pregnant before the wedding, living under Rome- she is not exaggerating her pain. But right in that low place she says, “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Knowing at the start does not mean denying the valley; it means daring to believe, “He sees me here.”

Then she says something outrageous for a girl in her situation: “From now on all generations will call me blessed.” Her neighbors will whisper other words, but she lets God’s future verdict speak over her present confusion. She looks at the tiny, hidden beginning inside her and calls it “great things” because the Mighty One is the One who started it. She does not know the details of the road ahead, but she knows enough about His character to sing at the beginning.

You may be at the start of something you do not understand, or even in the middle: a calling, a hardship, a change you did not choose. You don’t have a map, only a few uncertain steps. Mary reminds us that we don’t wait for everything to make sense before we worship. We let who God is interpret where we are. We trust that the mercy that has flowed “from generation to generation” has reached our address too!

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, teach me to know You at the start or the middle, and everywhere in between. I want to trust Your gaze in my low place, to receive Your future word over my present life, and to call Your hidden work in me “great things,” even before I see the ending. In the season, I worship you, in Jesus’ name, amen!

“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” – Luke 22:19

At the table, while everyone is still eating, Jesus takes bread into His hands. Ordinary bread, mid-meal, no spotlight. He gives thanks, and as He gives thanks His hands begin to apply pressure. Gratitude does not wait for perfect conditions. In the very act of thanksgiving, the bread is broken, and from the breaking comes sharing. Take, thank, break, give. This is the Savior’s rhythm.

We love to thank God for the great things, the clear answers, the full baskets. Jesus shows us how to bless God when life is pressed and pieces are all we hold. He gives thanks, then He breaks, then He gives. He teaches us to praise God with pieces, to bless in brokenness, to be thankful while pressure is being applied, and to trust that even in our fragments there is food for someone else. What leaves our hands in pieces can enter another’s hands as provision.

The table becomes a picture of our lives. Christ places our stories in His hands, He gives thanks over them, He allows the shaping pressure that makes them shareable, and then He gives us to others. We are empowered for this kind of gratitude by His command and His promise: do this in remembrance of me. Remembering Him keeps our thanks from being sentiment. It becomes faith. We remember His body given, His love steady, His presence near. Remembering fuels thanksgiving in the middle, not just at the end.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, Jesus gave thanks while the bread was still whole and while His hands were already applying pressure. Teach us at Covenant Life Church to bless You in brokenness, to praise You with pieces, to be thankful under pressure. As we remember You, place our lives in Your hands. Take us, pray over us, break what needs to be shared, and give to us for the life of others. Thank You in the breaking. In Jesus’ name, amen.

“Therefore I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.” – 2 Samuel 22:50

Leah’s pivot – “This time I will thank the LORD” (Gen 29:35) – names a son Judah (from yādāh: thank/praise). Years later Jacob speaks that root-word over him: “Your brothers shall praise/thank you” (Gen 49:8). Gratitude moves from one mother’s vow to a tribe’s identity.

From Judah to David is eleven generations (ten from Perez to David; Ruth 4:18–22), and when David arrives, thanksgiving doesn’t stay private – it scales.

David, a son of Judah, makes thanks the nation’s language. Personally, he vows, “I will give thanks… among the nations” (2 Sam 22:50 // Ps 18:49).

Publicly, he institutes thanksgiving – appointing Levites “to give thanks and to praise” (1 Chr 16:4, 7; 23:30; 25:3).

Liturgically, he hands Israel a refrain: “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever” (1 Chr 16:34; cf. Ps 106; 107; 118; 136).

What began as Leah’s “this time” becomes David’s at all times – from tent to temple, from Israel to the nations.

Thanksgiving is not garnish in David’s kingdom; it is governance.

It gathers tribes, steadies leaders (Judah’s scepter, Gen 49:10), and turns victories into worship rather than self-promotion. Under Judah’s banner, gratitude goes first – and everything else falls in line.

What if we said – “Let thanksgiving lead.”

Let’s pray:

Father, thank You for Leah’s this time, Jacob’s blessing, and David’s songs. Let thanksgiving lead my life – shaping my words, ordering my work, and witnessing to Your steadfast love. Let Judah go first – let thanksgiving lead. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Judah, your brothers shall praise/thank you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies… Judah is a lion’s cub… The scepter shall not depart from Judah… Binding his foal to the vine… he washes his garments in wine…” –
Genesis 49:8–11

Leah’s “this time I will thank the LORD” (Gen 29:35) becomes Judah’s name and Jacob’s prophecy. If we wear Judah’s gratitude, here’s what thankfulness does in a life:

Gratitude draws honor (v. 8): “Your brothers shall praise/thank you.” Thankfulness softens rivalry and attracts trust; it turns influence into shared worship, not self-promotion.

Gratitude gains leverage over enemies (v. 8): “Hand on the neck of your enemies.” Thanks chokes out fear, envy, and bitterness, giving holy advantage over inner and outer opposition.

Gratitude makes you lion-hearted (v. 9): A cub that matures, then rests. True strength is courage with restraint—able to act, then un-anxiously be still.

Gratitude steadies authority (v. 10): “The scepter shall not depart.” Thankfulness sustains long-haul leadership; it keeps the staff in hands that serve.

Gratitude lives from abundance (v. 11): Vines so plentiful you tie a colt to them; garments washed in wine—images of overflow.

Thanksgiving trains the heart to see and share God’s plenty.

Let thanks reign.

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, the God of Judah, teach my heart to thank You until honor displaces rivalry, courage outlasts noise, and Your scepter rests on servant hands. Let thanks reign in me and through me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“She conceived again and bore a son and said, ‘This time I will thank/praise the LORD.’ So she named him Judah; then she ceased bearing.” – Genesis 29:35

Leah had been naming sons out of longing-Reuben, Simeon, Levi-each a hope that Jacob would finally see, hear, and hold her. With the fourth child, she pivots: “This time I will thank the LORD.”

The Hebrew verb is yādāh-to thank, praise, confess-pictured as open hands.

Genesis 29:35 is the first time this word is used in the Bible. It reminds us that gratitude in Scripture is not clenched-fist striving; it is open-handed acknowledgment of God’s faithful love right in the middle of heartache.

Leah’s circumstances haven’t changed. Jacob’s affection hasn’t suddenly arrived. What changes is Leah’s direction: from chasing human approval to resting in divine care. She names the child Judah (“thanks/praise”)-and through Judah, God will one day bring Jesus. Thanksgiving is not cosmetic; it is covenant-deep, and woven into redemption.

This is where biblical thankfulness first steps onto the page: not in a feast, but in a fracture; not after everything is fixed, but while the heart is still tender. “This time” becomes a holy refrain-today’s deliberate choice to thank God in the middle of things.

Open hands. A new name. A new direction. Let Leah’s words become ours: This time, I will thank the LORD.

Let’s pray:

Lord, teach me yādāh- to be thankful, I open my hands to You today. In the places I’ve been grasping, give me Leah’s courage to say, “This time, I will thank the LORD.” Let gratitude reorient my heart and anchor me in Your faithful love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

John 18:37 – “In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

When Jesus told Pilate that He came to testify to the truth, He wasn’t speaking of shifting opinions or cultural trends. He was declaring an eternal reality. The truth He spoke then is the truth that remains now. Human voices may question it, crowds may deny it, soldiers may mock it – but truth is unchanging because it is rooted in the eternal Christ.

Philosophers through the centuries have wrestled with truth. Some, like Plato, taught that truth must exist beyond the shadows of perception. Others, like Aristotle, insisted truth is that which corresponds to reality. Their words point to something deeper: truth cannot be reinvented; it must be discovered. And Scripture shows us that truth is not only discovered – it is revealed in the person of Jesus.

Science, too, gives us echoes of this. The laws of gravity don’t rewrite themselves each century. Water still cycles from evaporation to rain, just as Job observed millennia ago. DNA carries the same code of life in every generation. Creation reminds us that what is true in God’s design does not change with time.

In a world of shifting headlines, evolving philosophies, and fleeting trends, the words of Hebrews anchor us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” That means the truth He revealed to Pilate is the truth we can cling to today, and the truth that will outlast every power, every empire, and every doubt.

Truth is unchanging because it comes from the One who never changes.

Let’s pray-

Lord, You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank You that Your truth does not shift with culture or crumble under time. Help me to stand on Your unchanging Word with courage and faith, trusting that what You spoke then is still true now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.” – John 18:39–40

Pilate offers the crowd a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, between the innocent Son of God and a guilty rebel. It should have been an easy decision. Truth Himself stood before them. But the voices of the mob drowned out the clarity of conscience. The people chose Barabbas.

The tragedy here is more than historical-it is deeply human. We, too, face moments when we must choose between Christ and compromise. Between truth and convenience. Between obedience and rebellion. And too often, like the crowd, we deny truth in order to preserve comfort or avoid conflict.

Barabbas represents the quick fix, the revolutionary with a sword, the one who promises change through force. Jesus represents the slow, self-giving truth of God’s kingdom. The crowd chose the shortcut over the Savior. We do the same when we seek immediate relief over eternal redemption.

This moment is also a profound exchange of grace. Barabbas deserved the cross, but Jesus took his place. The guilty went free while the innocent was condemned. In that sense, we are all Barabbas. We are the ones set free because Jesus bore our penalty. What the crowd saw as a rejection was actually the stage for redemption.

Truth does not vanish when denied. It remains, steady and unchanging, even when the crowd shouts against it. The question for us is: when the world raises its voice, will we stand with the mob-or with the Messiah?

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, I confess the times I have denied You by choosing the easy way instead of the true way. Thank You for taking my place, as You did for Barabbas, and setting me free by Your sacrifice. Give me courage to stand for truth even when the crowd shouts against it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate.” – John 18:37–38

Pilate, the Roman governor, finds himself face-to-face with Jesus, who has been accused, beaten, and handed over by His own people. In a moment of history that echoes across centuries, Pilate asks a question that every human heart eventually wrestles with: “What is truth?”

This wasn’t just a question of philosophy-it was a question of eternity. Standing before Pilate was not merely a man, but the embodiment of truth itself (John 14:6). Yet Pilate, blinded by politics, pressure, and his own pragmatism, could not see it.

The irony in this moment is striking. Truth is not abstract. Truth is not a set of shifting opinions. Truth was standing there, bound in chains, appearing powerless yet carrying ultimate authority. Pilate thought he was the judge, but in reality, he was the one being judged by his response to Jesus. That same tension remains for us today. Truth often looks weak in a world that prizes power. Truth seems small in a culture drowning in competing narratives. Yet truth is not up for a vote. It is a person. And His name is Jesus.

Pilate walked away from the question without waiting for the answer. How often do we do the same? We’re too busy, too distracted, or too afraid of the cost of truth. But Jesus’ invitation still stands: “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” The question isn’t whether truth exists-it does. The question is whether we will recognize it and align our lives with it. Will we stand on the side of truth, even when it costs us something?

Let’s pray:

Lord Jesus, You are the way, the truth, and the life. Forgive me for the times I have walked away from Your voice. Help me to not only hear Your truth but to live it out courageously, even when it costs me. May I be found on the side of truth, with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.