“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Hebrews 12:1-2

Last week we talked about the power of vision—and how a powerful vision can animate your faith.

The force of faith is a foundational pillar in the Kingdom of God; without it, we would not have biblical history as we know it (read Hebrews 11) or be able to enter the Kingdom of God.

“By grace you have been saved through faith.”
Ephesians 2:8

It is through faith that Christ dwells in your heart (see Ephesians 3:17)—and why you have been instructed to grow your faith (see 2 Peter 1:5).

Do you have a plan for growing your faith? Or more importantly, do you have a purpose for increasing the capacity of your faith?

Do you have the faith of a history maker?

All year I have been talking about this being the year of the history maker. As history makers, let’s end it together strong!

Only a limited number of seats remain at what promises to be an epic, history-making End Your Year Strong event! I urge you to come and expand your capacity to be and do more than you thought possible before.

Register Now!

You’ve heard me say so many times, “Your feet can never take you where your mind has never been” and that “you resemble those with whom you assemble.”

This is why it’s so critically important to broaden the horizons of your mind and expand your circle of associations. Come and blow the lid off your limiting beliefs and blow open the doors of your social sphere!

“The Lord shall increase you more and more.”
Psalm 115:14

Begin now to increase your faith by taking this destiny-defining step.

If you’re feeling limited by your means, ask God in faith. Perhaps you don’t have because you don’t ask! (See James 4:2.)

Throughout the New Testament, we are told to ask, and to keep on asking.

“And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”
Matthew 21:22

You’ve heard it said we only use ten percent of our brain capacity; I believe we use even less of our faith capacity. Imagine how we could shape history if we increased both our capacity to think as well as to believe!

Our potential is only limited by our capacity to imagine something greater and believe in our ability to achieve it.

This is an incredible time to be alive in history. What seemed impossible even a decade ago is commonplace today. With the democratization of information, ideas spread at the speed of light! Your ideas, your words, your thoughts can be amplified like never before—as well as the knowledge of God.

“The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
Isaiah 11:19

It’s as if the water table of faith and knowledge and possibility is rising around the world. Think about where you are in relation to it…and what your legacy will be as a result.

Take a moment to think about what you value most—and then let that determine who you will strive to become, what you will achieve, and how you will lead. 

“Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.”
John Maxwell

History makers are motivated by deeply-rooted core values that undergird their purpose and drive their passions.

Great organizations have as their compass a set of values that give meaning to their mission and focus to their vision. 

First among our values as a global ministry is faith. 

“We will leave a legacy of faith. We will continually pursue a mission that requires big faith. To this end, our words and actions will promote these faith-oriented goals.”

As an organization, Cindy Trimm Ministries International has ten core values that underscore everything we do. They are deeply held beliefs that I believe are worth sharing with you, our readers.

Because there are exactly as many weeks left in the year as we have values, we will be taking a deep dive into each one for the remaining weeks of the year. I believe it will not only bless and edify you, but also challenge you to build your faith in order to increase your influence.

By cultivating and honoring your values you will elevate your faith.

History-making faith is driven by strong Kingdom values. Think about the values you see described throughout the New Testament. How have those values been exemplified by the history makers you admire most? 

Now take a moment to think about your core values. What are the deeply held beliefs that most “authentically describe your soul”?

This week, activate your faith by acting on your values.

If you value rich Kingdom teaching, bondage-breaking worship, powerful prophetic ministry, innovative leadership training, and supernatural capacity building, register now for the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit. 

Your life—and perhaps history—will never be the same.

“We do not belong to those who shrink back…but to those who have faith.”
Hebrews 10:39

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 
Romans 12:2

What do you see for yourself when you look into the year ahead?

What images pop up in your mind when you think about where you’ll be three months from now—or three months into the New Year?

You’ve often heard me say:

“Your feet can never take you where your mind has never been.”

That’s why having a clear and compelling vision is so important to your success—and why I’ve made my teaching entitled “Gaining a Vision” available for free in our online store. (If you haven’t already, go check it out now!)

So, before you set your goals, make your plans, schedule your time, or budget your money, you must have a vision!

Where do you envision yourself in December?

Imagine spending two power-packed days with me and other visionaries at the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit!

Envision yourself there now tapping into the anointing and receiving divine downloads from heaven!

Put yourself where you see yourself and REGISTER NOW!

You must be able to see with your mind’s eye exactly where it is you want to be—exactly who and how you want to be.

When your vision is clear, you are able to align your actions, attitudes, and the assets you need to fulfill any desired outcome.

“The missing key in the quest toward sustainable success is clarity.”
Dr. Russ Irwin

“If you’re not clear on what you want,” adds Dr. Irwin, “you’ll never be able to stand up and claim it.”

Interestingly, it has been proven that the more clear you are about a desired outcome, the more your brain begins to align itself with that goal. This is a neurological phenomena call “expectancy theory.”

In other words, the more clarity you have concerning something, the greater the probability of it becoming a reality.

Having a clear and compelling vision animates your faith.

If faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (see Heb. 11:1), then what are those unseen things you’re hoping for?

As Helen Keller so famously said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Now, more than ever, we need people who can envision a better world—who can harness their faith through prayer, and an unwavering belief in the power and grace of God.

“For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:15

Now, in this significant prophetic year—the Jewish year 5777 entering into 2017 AD—is the time when God’s people must come together to declare His righteousness, faithfulness, steadfast love, and goodness.

God has a purpose for you and I in this hour; He has a vision He is wanting to share with each of us individually and together as His Body in the earth.

But before we can fulfill it, we must first be able to see it in our mind’s eye.

Before we can decree and declare it, we must first be able to imagine it!

Before we can step out in pursuit of that great thing He has in store for each of us to accomplish, we must be able to take hold of it in our mind.

Your imagination is a powerful force. Without the divine power of imagination, there would be no invention or innovation, or the deeply felt inspiration of all the beautiful things made manifest by artists, actors, authors, architects, and so on.

Your ability to imagine in your mind what does not yet exist is what makes you most divine.

Being able to hold a mental image of a non-existent potentiality is what makes us most like the Great Imagineer Himself. 

We were born to create a new thing out of what was no thing. To call forth and speak into and say to any mountain, “Be removed and cast into the sea” (see Mark 11:23)—but with the grand caveat of belief! 

“Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”
Mark 11:23

And that is why you must renew your mind. 

If you can’t conceive it, you won’t believe it, and therefore won’t achieve it. Renewing your mind to your own potential—and then giving you the tools to leverage that potential—is the primary aim of the End Your Year Strong event. 

If joining me in Atlanta Dec. 2-3 strikes you as “inconceivable,” that could be an indication your mind is in need of renewing!

Get a jumpstart on next year by getting clear on what is possible for you!

If you’re having trouble envisioning how things could be for you in 2017, register now—right here right now—to attend the Empowerment Event of the year! Your life will never be the same because your vision will never be more clear. 

I look forward to seeing your there!

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”
Hebrews 4:1

Today marks the beginning of Yom Kippur—beginning at sundown this evening and ending after sundown tomorrow; it is the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar.

It is the “Sabbath of Sabbaths” recognized as the day God’s people are closest to Him: Also known as The Day of Atonement.

“For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God.”
Leviticus 16:30

Yom means “day” and Kippur comes from a root that means, “to atone.”

The concept of atonement is powerful. Simply put, it means “at-one-ment”—or the state of being “at one”…or being “reconciled.”

Although the word “atonement” appears often throughout the Old Testament, it only occurs once in the New Testament of the King James Bible:

“But we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
Romans 5:11

In other words, we rejoice through Christ by whom we have been reconciled to God.

As Christians, our Day of Atonement—or Day of Reconciliation—is celebrated on Good Friday when we commemorate the work of the Cross.

Although on opposite ends of the year, it is also a time of new hope, new life, new beginnings—of all things made new by the Blood of Jesus.

“So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.”
Hebrew 4:9

We who have been reconciled—who are “at-one-ment” with God through Christ—are reminded repeatedly in the book of Hebrews to diligently labor to enter that rest.

Neglecting to do so would be to harden our hearts in disobedience.

Three times in that section of Hebrews we read, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 3:15, 4:7)—and as we learned last week, when something is repeated three times, whether a word or a number, we should pay attention!

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.”
Hebrews 4:11

So today, as we acknowledge the holiest of Jewish holy days, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, the original Day of Atonement, let’s not be negligent in entering the rest God invites us into through Christ.

Yet you may be asking, “How do I enter that rest?”

That may seem challenging in today’s increasingly hyperactive, hyper-connected, and hyper-opinionated world. But the answer is elusively simple: By faith.

“For we who have believed do enter that rest.”
Hebrew 4:3

You choose to believe in the One greater than the news reports you hear or the circumstances you see. You take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

You don’t allow your mind to “be anxious about anything, but in everything with thanksgiving you make your requests known to God” (see Phil. 4:6)—and you only allow your mind to think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, or worthy of praise (see Phil. 4:8)—because when you do, “the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9) and you will be at rest in Him. (See Phil. 4:7.)

That is called faith.

“You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26:3

 And to do otherwise would be disobedient. God does not call you to strive with anguish and worry. To live your life in a perpetual state of stress. He calls you to deliberately enter into His rest.

From the foundation of the world, God established His rest. He established the Sabbath, which was to be observed and kept holy above all else:

“If you keep from doing your own business on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight…then you shall take delight in the Lord and I will make your ride on the heights of the earth.”
Isaiah 58:13-14

Today, what is keeping you from entering God’s rest? What is keeping you from taking delight in the Lord and riding on the heights of the earth?

As we join our Jewish brothers and sisters in a time of introspection, repentance, and reconciling our hearts to God this Yom Kippur, let’s anticipate all of the good things He has in store for us at the dawn of this Jewish New Year.

Register NOW for two transformational days Dec. 2-3 at the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit!

Let’s press into the rest He has prepared for those who love Him—and begin tapping into the incredible things He has planned for all who are called according to His purpose.

Today, when you hear His voice, how will you respond?

Will you be among…

“The people who know their God [who] shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.”
Dan 11:32

Or among those who…

“…could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Hebrews 3:19

Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.

 “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!”
Traditional Yom Kippur Greeting

“But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”
Matthew 6:33 AMP

Today I want to talk to you about true prosperity and how to achieve it.

As we talked about last week, now is the time to position yourself to end your year strong. We are entering the last quarter of the year—and our big End Your Year Strong event is just over 8 weeks away!

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

If you’ve been following me for any time, you will know how important I believe the health and prosperity of your soul is to the health and prosperity of your life.

In fact, prosperity has little to do with temporal success and more to do with spiritual resilience and the fortitude of the soul.

Prosperity is the divine enablement to overcome obstacles in order to fulfill purpose and maximize potential.

If you look at the definitions of prosperous, you will see the first word in its definition is auspicious.

Auspicious has an interesting meaning. It is rooted in the word auspice, which indicates “a prophetic sign.” Thus, to be auspicious, means that things are going “according to favorable auspices,” or prophetic signs or words.

The Latin for “prosper”—prospere—is translated “according to expectation” or “according to hope”—and literally means “for hope.”

The word prosperous also means, “enjoying vigorous and healthy growth” or “flourishing.”

According to Merriam-Webster, prosper means “to become strong” as well as “to cause to succeed or thrive.”

These are the roots or inner components of prosperity.

Yes, to be prosperous also means “economic well-being,” and to prosper also means, “to achieve economic success,” but I would submit to you that those are really outer manifestations of an inner condition—an internal state of wellness, growth, and expectancy—of what I believe is true prosperity.

I have seen time and again that to be prosperous on the outside means nothing if you are not prosperous on the inside and that…

…being prosperous on the inside leads to prosperity being evident from without.

If you are prosperous on the outside only and lose your financial wealth, you are finished. If you are prosperous on the inside, however, you will always find a way to rebuild.

Prosperity is a spiritual state that not only gives psychological and emotional fortitude—even in the midst of the most adverse circumstances—but also the hope, faith, and love that never fails. (See Corinthians 13:8,13.)

For those who acknowledge prosperity merely by outward and financial measures, prosperity could be reduced to owning a big house, driving the latest new car, and living an opulent lifestyle.

So many people enjoy that kind of life, but live with holes in their souls.

If prosperity were simply a matter of “getting,” anyone could borrow large sums of money or con their way into financial wealth through crooked “investment” schemes.

Ambitious people could work long hours while ignoring their marriage and health, climb the corporate ladder by stepping on others, or any number of other ways people trade their souls to achieve “prosperity”—little-by-little, day-by-day doing whatever it takes to look prosperous.

I call this the Ebenezer Scrooge Syndrome: Living empty while facing death sitting on a pile of ever diminishing wealth.

Anyone who follows the news has seen where insider trading or ponsi schemes led to a quick fortune, even if it did eventually land the perpetrators in prison.

But before they were caught, were they truly prospering?

Consider the rich landowner who decided to build bigger barns in order to “eat, drink, and be merry” (see Luke 12:13-21) without realizing he would die that very night.

Such wealth creates a life that may feel good for a time, but always ends the same—full of regret, broken relationships, or spending your hard won accumulation of capital to regain the health you’d taken for granted.

There is another kind of prosperity that, while it may require us to be more patient and intentional, it is so much richer. It is a more pervasive prosperity—a prosperity rooted in wholeness.

It recognizes that true prosperity is not about making a living but building a life.

At the very center of such prosperity is one’s soul—one’s core being, potential, and vitality.

Real and abiding prosperity realizes that true riches are not measured by what we own, but by what we give—that the most rewarding balance sheet is not our net worth, but the extent to which we’ve positively affected the lives of others.

It understands that true physical health comes out of spiritual strength and a thriving soul.

It acknowledges that money is not an end unto itself, but a tool that can be used to extend God’s love and His Kingdom.

True prosperity is summed up in the lives we touch, the influence we exert for the better, and the joy we experience as we learn, grow, create, and connect with others every day of our lives.

It is about living in the fullness of Christ so that we can do more towards making our communities safer, our governments more effective, our families healthier, and letting our “lights so shine” that through the provision of God, others might see our good works and glorify Him.

It is about our style of living—versus a particular lifestyle. As Paul told Timothy, it is godliness that “is profitable for all things” (1 Timothy 4:8).

All prosperity begins with spiritual prosperity!

Prosper your soul and you will prosper in every area of your life. As Jesus told His disciples, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Get your copy of The Prosperous Soul, enroll in the brand new e-course, and join me for the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit where you will receive the divine downloads, supernatural impartation, and prophetic ministry you need to prosper like never before.

Invest in the life of your soul today. The dividends will last a lifetime!

“Dear friend, I am praying that everything prosper with you and that you be in good health, as I know you are prospering spiritually.”
3 John 1:2 CJB

If you are among our many readers who completed The 40 Day Soul Fast this past week, I want to encourage you to continue investing in the life of your soul as we head into the final quarter of the year.

Even though fall is in the air—and it may feel as though we are rapidly “falling” toward the end of 2016—we can keep from losing our footing!

We can press toward the summit of 2016 and end the year stronger than ever!

For many, this is the busiest season—with school underway, end-of-year deadlines, back-to-back holidays, and those final quarterly reports looming on the fast-approaching horizon—these fall months can leaf you feeling like you’re indeed falling!

Completing The 40 Day Soul Fast was a great first step to putting yourself back in the driver’s seat…but now you may be asking, “What’s next?”—how can I keep pressing toward that higher call rather than falling back into the quagmire of daily demands?

Prospering your soul will keep you moving toward your highest calling.

To stay on top of your game and finish strong, you must continue to nurture the life of your soul.

If you want to truly prosper in any area, let alone in every area, you must deliberately invest in the prosperity of your soul!

This is why I created The Prosperous Soul book, devotional, and DVD study.

And now, for the first time, The Prosperous Soul is available as an e-course!

If you want to accelerate your life in the year ahead, begin now by learning to prosper your soul in 8 key areas.

Join me in preparing for the End Your Year Strong event (December 2-3) as we embark on a powerful 8-week soul-prospering journey.

The very first step you can take now toward ending your year strong is to begin to “number your days,” just as Moses prayed the Lord would help him do…

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12

Take stock of where you are now and where you want to be at the end of the year.

Where would you like to see yourself three months from now? What will you need to begin doing now, and then continue to do in the coming weeks, to arrive at that destination?

One of the most effective ways to map your success is to number your days.

Rather than thinking of the next three months as the last quarter, reframe this critical time period as the first ninety days to finishing strong!

In fact, there’s a book by this title that I made my entire staff read a few years ago. Why? Because it emphasizes the incredible things you can accomplish when you set short-term objectives—and how creating that sense of urgency over the course of 90 days can change the trajectory of your life or business.

So, to help you make the most of every day between now and December, I encourage you to join me for The Prosperous Soul 8-week study.

Why not make every day your most prosperous day? 

And as you’re prospering more and more each day, you will be positioning yourself to end the year stronger than ever…and you will be poised to make the most of the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit!

Plan now to join me in December for a no-holds-barred time of prophetic acceleration, leadership commissioning, divine impartation, and strategic personal realignment! 

“Now we also may live new lives—now that we’re no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin…we’re free to live a new life in the freedom of God!”
Romans 6:4b NLT; 7:6 MSG

Welcome to the final week of our 40-Day Soul Fast series!

If you’ve missed any portion of our 8-week journey, you can revisit each week’s lesson by clicking here!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
Plan now to join me for the End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit – a time to recharge your spirit, restore your soul, and reset your mind so you can power into the year ahead with supernatural strength!

This week, as we mark the completion of our 40 Day Soul Fast, I want to set the stage for your continued growth as a world-changing ambassador of Christ.

You are continually being transformed as you renew your mind—your capacity to vessel the glory of God expands in tandem with your increasing knowledge of Him. (See 2 Peter 1:3.)

Imagine all you could do in an ever-increasing knowledge of God!

Imagine the incredible potential you carry to impact the world as a steward of God’s divine nature.

Be reminded about your true identity. Reconnect with God’s original intent for your life and recall who He has created you to be in Him—a soul set apart and set free from the slavery of sin and the bondage of death.

That resurrection life residing in you is what can heal the world!

I want to remind you of the power resident in you—of the power one healed soul has to change history simply by infusing the world it touches with God’s love.

Think of what Mother Theresa, William & Catherine Booth, John Wesley, Charles Finney, Oral Roberts, and Billy Graham did to change the world they lived in…

And what about Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Golda Meir?

People moved by something greater themselves are those who bring transformation and healing to bear on the world around them.

You too can become a history maker by learning to transform culture.

As we conclude our Soul Fast, I want to share with you three keys to lasting transformation—not only your own personal transformation, but also how you can leave a lasting impact on the cultures you’ve been seeded into…whether your company, community, city, church, or school.

Look at the life of history-maker King David. David knew how to not only bring continuous healing to his own soul, but how to bring that healing power into every situation he encountered.

Key Number One: Press Into the Spirit of God with “All Your Soul”

David had a “heart after God” and a soul that made “its boast in the Lord” (Psalm 34:2)—David knew full well that the Lord “redeems the soul of His servants” (Psalm 34:22)—he understood and esteemed the value of his own soul and when all else around him seemed to be falling apart, he was able to say “all is well with my soul.”

“My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.”
Psalm 119:81

“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”
Psalm 130:5

Key Number Two: Align Your Words with God’s Words

As a master psalmist, David understood the power of words. His declarations of God’s goodness and faithfulness not only calmed his own soul on many a long, lonely night tending his family’s sheep, but they also calmed the tormented soul of his life-long enemy, King Saul.

David continually brought glory to God through his words of praise and thanksgiving.

“Declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”
Psalm 96:3

“Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul.”
Psalm 119:169 MSG

Key Number Three: Take Right Action

David always took the high road and led his armies by his righteous example. He never sought to disgrace those God put in authority over him, even when they sought to kill him! He exemplified what Paul called “the fruit of the Spirit”  (see Gal. 5:22-23) and understood that “righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18).

“Faithful love and truth will join together; righteousness and peace will embrace.”
Psalm 85:10

“See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 139:24

Wherever you find yourself throughout the day, whether at home, your workplace, in your church or wider community, or the halls of your city’s government—you can change the atmosphere by staying tuned into the frequency of Heaven.  

Keep your mind stayed on Him (see Isaiah 26:3), keep your words aligned with His Word (see Ephesians 4:29), and your actions governed by the love of God (see Ephesians 5). 

Although we are at the end of our 40 Day Soul Fast, we are only at the beginning of walking in the newness of life God has prepared for us.

The journey has just begun!

I encourage you to continue to “possess your souls” as Jesus told His disciples toward the end of His earthly ministry (Luke 21:19)—and as Joshua instructed Israel in his epic farewell: “Vigilantly guard your souls: Love God, your God” (Joshua 23:11 MSG).

There is more to come as we continue to press toward the mark of our high calling!

“No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”
1 Corinthians 13:7

Welcome to Week Seven of our 40-Day Soul Fast series!

If you’re joining us for the first time, you can review Weeks One, Two, Three, Four, Five or Six—or anything you may have missed by clicking here!

Be sure to view the DVD-study video clips at soulfastmovement.com!

And don’t miss out on the final days of our special Soul Fast sale (one more week only! Sale ends September 12)…or an opportunity to meet in a town near you! Please see below to learn where I’ll be in the coming week!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Plan now to join me for End Your Year Strong Empowerment Summit – a time to reset your spirit, soul, mind, and body so you can explode into 2017!

As we enter the final weeks of our Soul Fast study, I want to remind you of the incredible power resident within your soul to change the world.

This week, that power is being revealed to us through Isaiah 58: What we’ve come to know as God’s Chosen Fast.

Ultimately, this is at the heart of the entire 40-Day Soul Fast journey—it is the destination at which we are striving to arrive.

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: To break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed; cancel debts.”
Isaiah 58:6 MSG

As we come to the end of our 40-day soul fast campaign, I want to emphasize that above what we think about who we are, or the thoughts we allow to occupy our minds, or the words that inhabit our mouths, is what we do.

What I’m interested in seeing you do is sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.
Isaiah 58:7 MSG

This is what Jesus came to teach humanity: The healing power of love.

Love governed all He did and was the divine force by which He operated. Jesus was moved by love, led by love, empowered by love, endured the cross by love, and by love was resurrected to intercede on our behalf—continually driven by love—at the right hand of Love itself, for “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16).

Everything Jesus did was infused with the love of God.

He demonstrated how we are to walk in the same kind of love. He filled us with His very own Spirit to lead us in the ways of love and empower us with an ever-increasing capacity to love.

Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.
Isaiah 58:8 MSG

It doesn’t matter how much you pray, worship, or discipline yourself if you are not walking in the love of God.

What you do can clutter your soul as much as what you think or say. Your behaviors are just as toxic to your soul as your thoughts.

This is why God was so adamant about the children of Israel rightly understanding the purpose and requirements of His “chosen fast.”

God reprimanded the children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah because they fasted in the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.

In Isaiah 58:6, God asked, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” He challenged them for their fasting of food and their showy self-denial, when He would rather they cleanse their lives of selfishness, self-promotion, pride, and greed.

God wants His people to purify their hearts, not their intestines.

The purpose of fasting in the life of the believer is to take “self” off the throne and allow God’s love to reign there instead.

The practice of self-denial should be evidenced by putting the needs of others before our own, not gossiping, complaining, or blame-shifting, not indulging ourselves in sinful behaviors, not abusing people or taking advantage of them, but by making ourselves available not only to the needy but also to our own families.

Take a moment to meditate on what God calls His “chosen fast” from Isaiah 58:2-12 (NLT):

They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry
and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.
Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.

Isaiah is telling us, as Paul told the Galatians, “faith works through love” (Galatians 5:6).

James told us that if faith “does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead)” (James 2:17 AMP).

In speaking of the great Father of Faith, Abraham, James wrote, “his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete” (James 2:22 NLT).

Jesus shed new light on what it means to “fulfill the law” and live righteously when He said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40 NKJV).

This is what we have come to know as “The Law of Love.”

Think about God’s Chosen Fast in light of 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 MSG:

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

In other words, if we don’t walk in the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22), then the gifts of the Spirit are of no use (see 1 Corinthians 12).

God seeks to develop our character, not our charisma.

God wants us to grow in godliness…or God-likeness…becoming more and more like Him.

Peter gave us a step-by-step strategy for growing in love…and therefore God-likeness…from a small seed of faith. Listen to how he explains the process:

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life . . . We have received all of this by coming to know him . . . And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins” (2 Peter 1:3-9 NLT).

This is how we prosper our souls. And as our souls prosper, we will live in health and prosper in every other way (see 3 John 2).

I ask you, what is the fruit in your life from having gotten all of the junk out of your heart, the clutter out of your mind, and your soul free from entanglements?

What evidence would you expect to see after having cleansed your mind from toxic thoughts, your soul from debilitating attachments, and your heart from unwholesome desires?

• What is different about you as a result of The 40 Day Soul Fast?

• How does a life lived from a detoxified soul look—and how will you keep it that way

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed; cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.”
Isaiah 58:6-8 MSG

“If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man.”
James 3:2

Welcome to Week Six of our 40 Day Soul Fast series!

If you’re joining us for the first time, you can review Weeks One, Two, Three, Four, or Five—or anything you may have missed by clicking here!

View the DVD study video clips at soulfastmovement.com!

And don’t miss out on getting your discounted Soul Fast resources…or an opportunity to meet in a town near you! Please see below to learn more!

Last week we talked about the importance of identity. The Bible says God has made us kings and priests in order to reign on the earth. (See Revelations 5:10.)

You belong to a royal priesthood.
See 1 Peter 2:9

The word royal is speaking of our kingly attributes as believers—and priesthood as being ordained to speak on behalf of God and “to bless.”

Too many of us have neglected our royal duty to decree blessings over our marriages, families, businesses, ministries, and every other realm of our lives.

The whole universe is waiting for you and I to take dominion, speak out, and give instruction.

That’s what we were created to do! The Bible says, “Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19 ESV).

All of creation waits in anticipation for God’s called out and anointed ones to bring it back into alignment with the Creator’s original intent—to declare His glory to the nations. (See Isaiah 25:3 and 66:19.)

Every word you speak is pregnant with regal, creative power.

You were created in the image of God, and one thing we know about God is that His Word carries immense creative power and always accomplishes what He intends it to.

Through the Prophet Isaiah, God said, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10).

That is how everything that exists was created!

God spoke out what He had seen in his mind.

He dreamed about creating the cosmos, but it was not until His Word framed what He saw in His mind’s eye did the earth, the sun, moon, and stars, as well as every plant, animal, and humanity itself, appear.

Imagination has no power until it is expressed—and the most powerful expression in the universe is the spoken word.

God spoke, and from “nothingness” came everything that exists in the physical universe.

Hebrews states that, “The worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3).

Words are powerful.

Not only that, words can be dangerous. James, the brother of Jesus, said, “The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire” (James 3:6 NCV).

Listen to how The Message explains it:

“It only takes a spark . . . to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.”

James also told us that if we could control the tongue, we would be perfect—“if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man” (James 3:2).

And then he gave us further insight into the power of our words by explaining that the tongue is like a small bit used to guide a horse, or the rudder of a great ship used to steer it:

“If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things” (James 3:3-5 ESV).

This is a powerful illustration of how we are to harness the power of our words in fulfilling our destiny.

How does the captain of a ship prepare to sail across the sea?

Once the pilot has set the ship’s course, he keeps the steering as steady as possible heading towards his predetermined destination.

Along the way, he may have to adjust the helm to go around storms, navigate currents, or avoid obstacles in the water, but he always steers with his focus more on where he is going than what he is going through.

If he constantly changes the steering from one minute to the next fixated on his present circumstances, the ship is more likely to go in circles than it is to arrive at the desired port of call.

For the pilot, the course is created first in his thoughts, communicated through the rudder, and then realized as the rest of the ship lines up with his intent.

For us, our lives only arrive at our desired goals if our words are perfectly aligned with the ultimate intentions of our thoughts.

Take time to carefully consider your course.

• Where are you heading and what will it look like when you get there?

Now talk about it. Line up your mouth—the rudder of your life—with where you are going. Then keep it steady and on course.

What happens to a ship if you head it in one direction at one moment, and then turn it in the opposite direction in the next—and keep doing that over and over?

Pretty simple—it goes nowhere.

This is what happens when people speak about the good things they are expecting to happen one minute, and then spend the next half hour talking about all the negative things happening to them that are keeping them from getting there!

Are you steering your life in circles?

Don’t forget you have the power to navigate your life around the storm—to press through toward the sun shining on the other side.

The “Son” never stops shining on your life, no matter how dark the clouds in the sky appear!

In the midst of what looks like catastrophe, keep speaking the blessing—keep the ship of your life on a steady course—and before you know it, the storm clouds will clear and you will have broken through your difficulty and left it far behind you.

Your every decree is pregnant with the power to revolutionize your life.

Words are worth your attention. Be mindful of what you are proclaiming, declaring, and asking.

Your words create a magnetic force that pulls the manifestation of what you speak—good or bad, blessing or cursing—from other realms, regions, and dimensions.

Words have power, presence, prophetic implications, and no geographical limitations. Once released into the atmosphere, they do not disappear and dissipate.

Choose to steer your life into blessings by filling the atmosphere around you with words of faith and victory.

Speak life into your dead areas—speak light where there may be darkness—you’ll be amazed at what God’s words in your mouth will do!

This week we are focusing on the characteristics of integrity, responsibility, potential, impeccability, and compassion.

Focus on what you are saying about yourself and others.

Maneuver the ship of your life by steering your tongue!

Think for a moment…

• What must happen in your heart for there to be a change in your mouth—in order to “speak for a change”?

• Think about how can you “speak for a change.”

Come into agreement with what God has already said in His Word about you and your situation.

Get God’s Word on it!

Then, fill your mouth with His promises and change your world!

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23