Can you believe it? We have come to the last day of our fasting together. It is important for us to realize that this is a new beginning not an ending. When we look at something like this "being over" we have a tendency to let down our spiritual guard and the enemy comes after us.

I think a good way to look at it is like going through Boot Camp, when you join the military. While you have made it through Boot Camp, you are at the beginning of your military career not the end. In many ways this fast was a Spiritual Boot Camp, to break down our will, so that we might fully surrender ourselves to Jesus, so that we may be teachable and moldable in His hands.

God desires us to be malleable or teachable in His hands. We see a great picture of this in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 18, when God takes Jeremiah down to potter's house to watch him working on the wheel and this is his observation and the Lord's conservation with him. "But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."

Realize that coming out of this fast, the enemy is going to come after you, so you have to be prepared. Make sure you are putting on the armor of God everyday (Ephesians 6:10-18). Know that you will face adversity and trials, they are a necessary part of the process (James 1:2-4). Remember we are in a fight and you are called to be a warrior, don't be surprised when you come under attack (Ephesians 6:10-18, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, 1 John 4:4). Don't forget that our greatest weapons are the Love of Christ and the Word of God (1 John 4:18, Matthew 5:43-48, Ephesians 6:17-18, Hebrews 4:12, Romans 10:17). As Paul reminds us, "After you have done everything, STAND!"

It is vital for you to press in harder at this moment and allow God to continue the work He has begun in you. This makes me think of God's words in Isaiah 43:18-21, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."

Let God continue the new things He has started in you. This is a long distance race and you have run a good leg so press into the things of God and keep on running. Hebrews 12:1-2, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Picture a group of runners in the blocks waiting for the gun to go off, as soon as the race begins they blow out of the blocks when you realize that the front runner is all bundled up in winter clothes. It is obvious to everyone else watching that he is encumbered by all this unnecessary clothing. As the other runners begin to catch up, the front runner begins to discard the outer clothing and once again takes the lead. This is the picture that the writer of Hebrews is giving us and I believe this has been a big purpose of our time of fasting. Throwing off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us so we can run the race God has set out before us.

To coin a well used phrase from a movie, "Run, Forest Run!" Now is the time to run. Just like Forest Gump who had been held back by leg braces, that hindered him from running, as he began to run, his braces broke off and he began to run freely and never looked back. May we realize that God has given the death blow to all of our sins, our shortcomings, our struggles so that we do not need to live under the burden of them but can freely run the race God has set out for us.

This is the beginning and not the end. Allow God the Master Potter to continue to mold you into the men and women of God he has created you to be. And run the race set out before you and don't look back.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

Running for the prize set before us, PC & Ishtar