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Fasting

Grace and Strength, Personal Growth, Relationship with God

5 Essential Practices for a Vibrant Spiritual Life

5-essential-practices-for-a-vibrant-spiritual-life

I was talking to a friend the other day.  “What should I do if I just feel blah about God?”, she asked, “I’m just not growing any more – not motivated, not changing – it’s tempting to just give up on God’s even being real at all. Where is the excitement, the joy, and the passion people say should be part of the spiritual life? Why does “everyone else” seem to find prayer so rewarding while I sit over here at a loss?”

She was asking me different questions but really they all boil down to the same crux of the matter. How does one bring a stagnant spiritual life back to life?

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Grace and Strength, Relationship with God

5 Key Sources of Grace – GraceFilled Life Series

Sources of Grace – Christian Life of Grace Series Continued…

In my last post in this series we talked about what Grace really is (and how it has been distorted), and that while it is all around us, much like oxygen, we still need to tap into it ever more fully and more deeply in order to truly use it to its full potential. Just as an athlete learns to breathe, we need to learn how to recognize, and respond to Grace in order to run this race and at the end be able to say with St. Paul,

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.  – 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Fasting, Personal Growth, Relationship with God, Seasonal Reflections

11 Effective Ways to Fast without Giving up Food

How to fast without giving up food? Is that even possible? Isn’t fasting by definition, “the foregoing of food” (literally: “to abstain from all or some kinds of food or drink especially as a religious observance” (Oxford Languages)?

But ever since Social Media has been a thing, I’ve heard of people giving it up and calling it a fast… It’s obviously a “thing”, so maybe we need to look at the purpose of fasting beyond the words on the page and see if there might be other ways we can reap the rewards.

If you can’t fast (because of age or health, for example) or have been “fasting” but without much success, this post is for you.

Fasting, Personal Growth

How to Fast When Traditional Fasting is Too Much

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. – Matthew 9:15

If we are disciples of Jesus, we should be fasting – and not just during Lent, but all the time!

Problem is, it is WAY too easy to make excuses and justify ourselves out of a calling that can seem daunting and uncomfortable.

But what about when the “excuses” are justified, and traditional fasting is simply too much. How can we experience the benefits of fasting in a more sustainable way, that is approachable for more people?

Fasting, Seasonal Reflections

Why Fast? 5 Surprising Reasons to Embrace Spiritual Fasting

Growing up the focus was always on making sure we were fed. We lived, laughed, and loved around the table. Meals were everything and treats were the solution to every problem as well as the perfect means of celebrating every joyful moment. We had a generous, loving, and happy home. When I was first introduced to the concept of fasting, I could not wrap my brain around why anyone in their right mind would ever think that voluntarily depriving oneself of such a bonding, healing, and delicious necessity could possibly be a good thing.

I fought the concept tooth and nail for over 10 years.

But, somehow, despite all my best efforts and my long list of excuses, I could not silence the incessant tugging at my heart that somehow fasting was more than just a good idea (or a bad idea), it was a calling.

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