Day 17

Reading:
I had a question posed to me by a fellow participant in the Daniel Fast. She asked, "How is God leading you to the scriptures you are reading?" Thought about this question throughout the day... specifically the "how" part.

I think (more like I know) that I have to have God's Word in me daily to live in victory. I don't have to read the Bible, I want too. It is the only thing that keeps my head sane, my actions appropriate, my words gentle and keeps me focused on Christ instead of sin.
Every morning when I wake up, that is my first priority. I go to my closet. I pray outloud or on my face or on my knees or I write in my prayer journal. I want that intimate time with Him and He will never deny His children when they come to Him. On that note...
Every morning might not be THE BEST quiet time you have ever had, ever! Some day's you may read without thinking you got anything, but other days it is so meaty. Sometimes I want meat and cannot find it, sometimes I want to rush, but God is showing me something huge.

I have one book at a time that I read through and always come back to that when I don't know what my heart wants to read. I may want to read about Jesus' miracles one day, then about the fruit of the spirit the next day, I may need to go to the empowering verses of Romans 8 to conquer the day ahead or cry out to God along with the Psalms. Every day is different for me and I love the ebb and flow of God. I have tried many times to read through the bible in a year and it just does not work for me. Too ridged and structured. My personality is ridged and structured and I need my time with God, to be free and led by God, whatever He pops up into my heart. He is ALWAYS there to direct me into His Word.

Today when I woke up, I only heard one word: Josiah. So, I looked up all the verses about him. Here is what I learned.
Matt 1:11- Josiah is in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Prophetic word in 1 Kings 13:2, "A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you (the alter) he will sacrifice the priests of high places (those worshiping idols)..."
Love what is recorded about him in 2 kings 22:2, "He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left."
Then chapter 23- JOSIAH CLEANS HOUSE! (Removing evil in the name of the Lord)
- Removed and burned articles made for Baal and Asherah
- Did away with pagan priests
- Tore down quarters of the male shrine prostitutes
- Broke the shrines at the gates
- Desecrated the alter to Molech so no one could sacrifice their children
- Demolished, cut down, burned, smashed, defiled all things that were against the Lord
- Rid of mediums, spiritists, household gods and all other idols in the whole town

23:25, "Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him tho turned to the Lord as he did- with all his soul and with all this strength..."

Menu:
Oat cereal w/ walnuts and banana
Grape juice and 1/2 date muffin
Avocado, Rotel, black beans/rice w/ chips
Pear with peanut butter (together, yum!)
Noodles w/ broccoli in tomato sauce

High/Low:
- Today, EVERYTHING tasted good. My husband and I were talking the other day how neither of us wanted to eat anything the last few days. I didn't eat dinner one night because it was like I felt sick that I couldn't have something fattening, so my stomach went on strike. BUT today, everything I ate was like manna from heaven. Full of flavor, very satisfying and a gift from Him!
- Got a little too excited putting our Easter menu together. We are hosting a family lunch and that is when we are breaking our 21 day fast. Don't want to zoom by the good work that God is doing just to focus on eating "real" food in a few days.

NHP