I am so excited to see what God will reveal to us in these next 30 days as we set aside certain things to seek after the desires of our King! Just as He states in His word, “And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Before we continue, put this paper aside and seek the Lord in prayer. Pray that His will be done in your life along with our church!
As we have learned together, it is Jesus who we need to lead us into the next season of Adventist Fellowship. For the next 30 days we are going to make it a practice to be intentional on what we eat, watch, read, and do with our time. Subtracting certain activities and foods from our lives and replacing them with different things that can help us draw near to the heart of God. As we abstain from these things, we will also fast every Tuesday night to Wednesday night together as a church. Praying throughout that day that God would reveal His desires for our families, church, and community. Along with every Saturday night at the church we will have communion and socials.
We will make two lists. One list will contain the things that distract you from the presence of God on a daily basis. This could contain 5 or 15 things. Each person will vary depending on the season that they are in. The second list will be certain activities, apps, or foods that can usher us into the presence of God. As we understand God will never leave us or forsake us. There are times in our day that we are so preoccupied with certain things that we lose sight of his continued presence with us. Therefore, we want to be extremely intentional these next 30 days so that we will fill our days with things that can remind us of His presence and open our hearts and minds to His words of leading.
To help you decide what things you should abstain and do, I have created my own list of things that I will be doing to give you an idea. I will give a brief explanation of why I am doing each of these things to help you formulate your list. I want to be clear, everyone’s list will be different. Because everyone is in a different season in life. No one will have the ideal list to reach towards. Simply open your heart to your King and ask him to reveal to you what things He desires of you to abstain from and what things to replace it with.
Pastor Eliab’s List to Abstain
- All Social Media
- Social media isn’t inherently bad. But I have tracked the amount of time I spend on social media and it averages out to about 1-2 hours a day. With that amount of time I can pray, read, spend quality time with my wife, and so much more.
- Phone in the bed
When I wake up in the morning my first instinct at times is to check messages, emails, posts, and news articles. I want my first instinct in the morning to seek God in prayer or bible study. - All animal products
- As a movement, we believe in a wholistic approach. The things we put into our bodies can alter or state of mind and health (Daniel 1:15). Check out this sermon for more information https://www.youtube.com/live/GIZxkofzDso?feature=share
- Secular TV/Movies
- Not all Secular TV is bad. But for me, I want my mind to completely focus on God for the next 30 days. That includes my YouTube searches
- Secular books
- Same thing as the TV/Movies
- Secular Music
Things to Replace With
- Prayer every morning, afternoon, and Evening
- Set specific times in my day to meet with God. Either speaking to him or Journaling my thoughts
- Read my bible, devotional, religious book
- Vegan Diet
- For me this is doable. But maybe you can at least for 30 days just eat clean meats or go vegetarian. Do what is possible and what God is calling you to do. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.
- Religious movies/tv
- Such as the Chosen, Veggie Tales, and sermon on YouTube
- Prayer for my wife
- Placing my hands over her head and pray the blessing of Proverbs 31 over her
- Exercise once a day
- Either a walk with my dog, basketball, etc.
- Date Night with my Wife at least once a week
- My Wife is my biggest responsibility on this earth. God has called me to love her as He loves the church.
Make your list in the same manner. It is important to have something to replace the things that you are abstaining for. Spend time in prayer asking God to reveal what things you can you abstain from and replace it with.
Additional Idea’s to Consider
Those who are single, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” I share this verse with you to encourage you to pick someone who can join you in our church and who can keep you accountable, pray for, be completely vulnerable with, and encourage you for the next 30 days.
Those who are married, God throughout scripture uses the image of Marriage to reflect his relationship with the church (Ephesians 5:21-33). It is through our marriages that God is reflecting his love, faithfulness, and mercy to our community. Therefore we must utilize this time to strengthen our marriages in these 30 days so we can stand prepared for the next season of ministry for Adventist Fellowship. Consider having date night at least once a week. Or if that isn’t possible because you have small children, dedicate 15-30 minutes of your day listening to your spouse with minimal distraction. Hearing about their day, challenges, worries, and joys. Create time by subtracting other things that aren’t as important in order to strengthen your marriage. God’s number one desire is that our marriages grow into the love that He has for His church. This must supersede everything else! Even certain ministries in the church. (Come to the church if you are needing additional help with ideas, devotionals, prayers, or counsel we are here to help)
