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In the name of the glorious 
Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

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Spirit forever. 
Amen. 

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Glory be to the everlasting 
mercies which sent you to us, O 

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Christ, the light of the world 
and the life of all. 

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Give us. 
Wisdom by your law and enlighten

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our impulses by your knowledge. 
Sanctify our souls by your 

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truth, and grant that we may be 
obedient to Your. 

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Words. 
And may fulfill your 

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commandments at every hour. 
O you. 

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Who enlightens the rationale 
with the knowledge of your 

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greatness? 
Do enlight, O my Lord, our 

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thoughts that we may meditate 
upon your holy and divine 

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scriptures at all times, O Lord 
of all Father and Son. 

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And Holy Spirit forever. 
Amen. 

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Six days remaining to the end of
our fast and for the. 

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Celebration of the. 
Crown of the Feasts, the holy 

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feast of the resurrection of our
Lord from amongst the dead. 

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Those who have neglected this 
great fast, it's never too late.

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Do it for these last remaining 
days. 

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Last remaining 6 days now. 
Often times when I would prepare

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the congregation of the faithful
for the Great fast, that is on 

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the Sunday entering the Great 
Lent or the Great Fast. 

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I would somewhat discount the 
nitty gritty aspects which 

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people would harp on or cling to
pertaining to food. 

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Stressing and emphasizing that 
we need to be extra cautious and

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alert when examining food 
products for fasting. 

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For example, reading the 
ingredients for each food broad 

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product to avoid any milk 
contents, any traces of cheese 

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or any dairy, etcetera, 
etcetera. 

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After all, our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, praise me to His 

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name, teaches that it is not 
what goes into a man that 

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defiles men or defiles him, but 
rather what comes out in Matthew

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chapter 15. 
However, however, today on this 

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podcast, in this episode, I 
would like to call myself out on

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this and claim that I stand 
myself corrected after diligent 

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examination into the ACT of 
scrutinizing food products and 

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the deep intent behind it all. 
Why should we be extra cautious 

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now? 
I know it's not about food. 

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I know it's about depriving 
yourself from the pleasures of 

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the flesh and stopping from 
sinning. 

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But why should we be extra 
cautious when it comes to food 

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products? 
Well, since fasting is a process

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of disciplining and subduing the
body and its desires, that is 

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its evil desires and weaknesses,
which are the target, the target

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that Satan aims, his trickery 
and temptations, we must go 

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hard. 
We must go all out, and we must 

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go all the way. 
You see, when we are reminded in

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the Holy Scriptures that Christ 
our Lord, our God our king, our 

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life giver and the forgiver of 
our sins, who had not known sin,

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made himself to become sin in 
our place, that we would become 

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the righteousness of God in him.
Second Corinthians chapter 5 

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verse 2. 
Paraphrase when we are convicted

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if there is any such reaction 
these days, but giving it the 

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benefit of the doubt. 
When we are convicted by the 

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fact that Christ our Lord our 
King, our God our life giver and

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the forgiver, our sins, stripped
himself and took the form of a 

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servant and was in the form of 
the children of men, and was 

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found in fashion as a man, and 
he humbled himself and was 

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obedient unto death, even the 
death of being crucified. 

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Philippians chapter 2 verses 7 
to 8 again for our sakes. 

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And St. 
Theodore of Absustia, one of the

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church fathers, comments on this
and says by emptying by the word

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emptying, the Holy Scripture 
signifies becoming of no 

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account. 
Just as in Corinthians, Paul 

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speaks of faith as if it has 
been made of no account or 

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emptied of significance if 
Christ be not raised. 1 

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Corinthians 1514 When we recall 
God's commandment to Adam in 

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Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 to 
17 in the Garden of Eden, saying

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to him from all the trees that 
in paradise you shall eat from 

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the true of knowledge of good 
and evil, you shall not eat from

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it because in the day that you 
will eat from it, you will die 

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the death. 
And this was in order to keep a 

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relationship of love and 
obedience with God. 

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How about Romans chapter 8, 
verse 32, when it's rebuking us 

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with the fact that God did not 
show pity upon his son, but he 

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handed him over for the sake of 
all of us. 

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This is for us to reinstate us 
to one more time, justify us and

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make us right, bring us into the
righteousness of God. 

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You see, from these verses, 
beloved, we learn and are woken 

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up to the fact that the holiness
to which you and I have been 

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called is not something to be 
taken lightly and carelessly, 

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but rather seriously in every 
way, in every shape and form, 

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including the scrutinizing of 
our food products during Lent, 

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which is again subduing the 
body. 

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We must accept that what God the
Father did and continues to do 

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through God the Son, by God the 
Holy Spirit, by the power of God

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the Holy Spirit was to and is to
bring us and to keep us in 

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righteousness away from sin and 
separation from God. 

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Go back and re listen to those 
verses and read them again. 

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When we during the period of 
fasting are serious and nitty 

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grit at the food aspects of our 
Lent, we are portraying 

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seriousness about the subjection
of the body and its deprivation 

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from all its desires and 
pleasures. 

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You see, we subdue the body to 
stir up the soul, to lust, to 

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yearn for the Lord in the night 
and the Spirit within us to rise

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to His presence. 
According to Isaiah chapter 26, 

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verse 9. 
How? 

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By praying, fasting, reading the
Holy Scriptures, attending 

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Church, if we are serious and 
nitpick in every aspect of our 

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flesh which will return to thus 
how much more than an extra 

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serious and intense will we be 
in every aspect of our 

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spirituality and relationship 
with God? 

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Now this all can be summed up in
three very significance 

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significant points. 
Why do the above? 

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Why go to that discream? 
And again, the disc disclaimer 

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is it's not only about food. 
I understand, but we're talking 

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about how important the food 
factor is because many people 

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have their own philosophies. 
When fasting, I'm going to not 

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drink Coke. 
Oh wow, excellent. 

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Not drink Coke. 
But I'll have my fish and I'll 

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have my in and out and I'll have
my burgers. 

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Why? 
Because the flesh wants that. 

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Well, what type of a fast is 
that? 

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Are you subduing the flesh? 
This all can be summed up in 

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three very significant points. 
Why we do this is because of 

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motive, intent, and purpose. 
The Holy Scriptures are precise 

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and clear that in all that we 
do, the motive should be to draw

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near to God. 
The intent should be to please 

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God and the purpose should be to
glorify God. 

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So let's apply what we've been 
discussing about our fast, the 

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nitty gritty details of our fast
and mostly the food aspects. 

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Let's apply this number 1.1. 
Our motive in examining in depth

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the ingredients of the food we 
consume during fasting, amongst 

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many other things which go 
without saying, should be to 

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draw us. 
Need to God. 

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Now you may say, how is that 
going to draw me new to God, 

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Rabi, when I pick up a a packet 
of chips and I'm reading the 

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ingredients to be cautious as to
what I'm going to consume 

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because right now I'm fasting, 
I'm depriving my body. 

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How does that work then? 
Well, by being serious about 

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subduing our bodies to the Max, 
to provoke our soul to 

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spirituality by which and 
through which we can worship 

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God, according to John chapter 
4, verse 24, This draws us 

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closer to the desire and the 
will of God #2. 

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Our intent behind examining 
deeply the ingredients of the 

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foods we consume during fasting 
should be to please God. 

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How does that please God? 
By being serious about subduing 

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our bodies to the Max, To 
provoke to stir up our soul to 

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spirituality, because of the 
righteousness of our commitment 

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level, at which God looks upon 
favorably and to which He will 

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say, well done, good and 
faithful servant, Matthew 2523. 

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We are then pleasing to God. 
Why? 

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Because these words of well done
good and faithful servant 

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express satisfaction from our 
Lord when we go all the way. 

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Yes, when we do examine every 
food that we are going to 

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consume during Lent, and lastly,
our purpose in examining in 

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depth the ingredients of the 
foods we consume during fasting 

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should be to glorify God as we 
have ascertained. 

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And if you ask how? 
Well, simply, when we fulfil 

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points one and two, we express 
and affirm the seriousness of 

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our concern towards our sinful 
nature and state, which sees us 

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deprived of the glory of God. 
Because as it stands and as 

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sinners we do not have our own 
glory and we surely lack 

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ascribing genuine glory to God. 
However, when we mourn and feel 

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sorrow for our sins and 
separation from God due to the 

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overwhelming empowerment of our 
fleshly desires and cry out, oh 

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Lord have mercy upon us sinners.
God will be glorified by our 

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deeds which go to extremes. 
Beloved, again, we're talking 

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about examining the fruit 
products or depriving ourselves 

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from how many of our social 
aspects God will be glorified. 

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And that glory is our reply to 
God's gift of fasting to 

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overcome and to defeat Satan and
sincerely worship him. 

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Our God and him we serve alone. 
So if you have been a little 

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laxed and complacent regarding 
the food aspects and elements of

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fasting, because it's not about 
food or if it's not about food, 

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well why are we then abstaining 
from non fast food? 

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Why are we going total vegan? 
Well it is about food because 

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Christ fasted, God said to Adam 
do not eat. 

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Moses fasted for 40 days and 40 
nights before he received the 

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commands. 
So it is about food. 

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So if you've been a little 
relaxed and complacent regarding

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the food aspects and elements of
fasting, do it this week and you

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will see that though the body is
weak, yet the Spirit is ready to

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draw NI to God, to appease God, 
and to glorify God. 

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I know, I know, I know. 
Again, I know that fasting is 

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not merely going all out vegan. 
It's not merely about that, but 

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going all out vegan is a 
starting point. 

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To show remorse and discipline 
again. 

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To draw near to, to appease and 
to glorify God to whom be 

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praise, glory and honor, now and
at all times and forever. 

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Amen. 
We hope you enjoyed this week's 

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message. 
Please don't forget to rate and 

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00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,200
review this podcast and share 
with your friends and family. 

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For any future topics, 
suggestions, or to give us 

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00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,480
detailed feedback, please visit 
our link in the show notes 

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00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:47,280
linktr dot EE forward slash 
Double edged Sword Until next 

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00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:48,360
time. 
God bless you all.