Believers' Prayer Meeting with The Saint | R 16 W 2 D 4.

Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad you came.

Happy Thirty-Seventh Day of the Lenten Season.

We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel. We are on verses 2 and 3 of Chapter 10, The Daniel Fast. It reads,

"In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."

We continue with our meditations and discussion on "A Fasted Life" compared to "Intermittent Fasting," as we dissect Isaiah 58. We move to verse 8. It reads,

“Then your light shall break forth like the morning, 

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you; 

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."

Here in verse 8 and the following verses, God begins to detail the benefits of fasting which are pleasing to Him. What a way to start by telling us, "Then your light shall break forth like the morning." The word light here can be interchanged with the words, "blessing, goodness, freedom, and deliverance, amongst others."

The Good News and New Living Translations illustrate this. Here is their rendition of the first part of the verse:

“Then my favor will shine on you like the morning sun..." (Isaiah 58:8a, Good News Translation)

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn..." (Isaiah 58:8a, New Living Translation)

Here we see the words "Favor and Salvation" being added to the midst. We have already done a deep study on "Favor and Goodwill," as part of this overarching study of "The Book of Daniel." We took our text from Daniel 1:9.

The word salvation is equally, if not even more, powerful compared to favor. It comes from the Greek Noun and Verb Soteria and Sozo, respectively. It describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, destruction, and peril; restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health, and well-being.

What easily comes to mind is John 10:10. It reads,

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

The word life here can easily be replaced with the word salvation. Jesus came that we might have salvation. And, not just the salvation of our spirits, but of our soul and body. He came to work for us complete deliverance - spirit, soul, and body.

God in Isaiah 58:8a is telling us when we fast in a way that is pleasing to Him, it works for our complete salvation. Salvation breaks forth in our life as the breaking of dawn. Every ground the enemy had hitherto taken is restored back.

I love the way the second part of the verse adds, "Your healing [restoration] shall spring forth speedily," "Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear." The short circuit is never on God's side. It is always on ours.

When we fast correctly we restore the connection to our source. Our source of all that is life, good, and perfect.

The Saint.