Have you ever fasted? Years ago, I did a radio interview on Healthline with fasting expert Joel Furhman, M.D.  Dr. Furhman shared some very profound thoughts about fasting that Tuesday morning with thousands of nationwide listeners. "A healthy body has enough nutritional reserves to survive a forty-day water fast," he said. "Fasting, in the strictest sense is defined as the voluntary abstinence from all food and drink, except water. This is a state of relative physiologic rest. Fasting enables the body to repair and rejuvenate its own tissues, by directly providing the conditions for recovery and removing the impediments that curtail your recuperative powers. The fast establishes a unique opportunity, vital for the restoration of health. The body will maintain health when the disease-causing stresses are removed. Within a short period of time, allergic and mucus-filled individuals clear their nasal passages, asthmatics breathe easier, arthritis sufferers report their pain is resolving, and cardiac patients begin to have increased circulation to their hearts. Healing has begun." This information is in Dr. Furhman's book "Fasting and Eating for Health."
     There are three very famous people in history that did forty-day fasts. The first was Moses when he went up to receive the Ten Commandments from the Lord on Mount Sinai: "And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." Exodus 34:28. Moses was obviously sustained by the miraculous power of God since this fast eliminated both food and water. 
     The second person in the Bible that fasted forty-days and forty nights was Elijah: "And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God." 1 Kings 19: 7, 8. 
     The third person in the Bible who fasted forty days and forty nights was Jesus. "Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered." Matthew 4:1, 2. Moses and Elijah had a very important work to do for God, as did Christ, but why was this long fast so necessary for our Savior? The difference with Jesus' long fast from the others was that Christ's abstinence from food and His victory over the enemy was done in our behalf and was to aid us in the work of overcoming. Let me explain why.
     The Bible teaches that Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," and because "He himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour [to help or aid] them that are tempted. Heb. 4:15; 2:18. What this tells us is that Christ endured every temptation that we will ever encounter, and by His first victory over Satan in the area of appetite, He gained the victory over appetite for the whole world for all time! That is why He is called our Savior: "For He shall save His people from their sins" and He "is able to keep us from falling." Matthew 1:21; Jude 24. And do not think you are the only one being tempted to such a degree, for the Bible also says: "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. 10:13). Beloved, Jesus is the only way to salvation.
      Satan knows that appetite is a huge temptation for all of us. That is why he "is constantly on the alert to bring the race fully under his control. His strongest hold on man is through the appetite, and this he seeks to stimulate in every possible way." Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 150. Even though the supernatural enemy is on the alert and seeking to destroy, the good news is that "the Redeemer of the world came from heaven to help man in his weakness, that, in the power which Jesus came to bring him, he might become strong to overcome appetite and passion and might be victor on every point."Counsels on Health, p. 125. Please understand that "the controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan." Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 59. Is it any wonder why Christ's first temptation was on the point of appetite?
      "From the time of Adam to that of Christ, self-indulgence had increased the power of the appetites and passions, until they had almost unlimited control. Thus men had become debased and diseased, and of themselves it was impossible for them to overcome. In man's behalf, Christ conquered by enduring the severest test. For our sake He exercised a self control stronger than hunger or death. And in this first victory were involved other issues that enter into all our conflicts with the powers of darkness.
      "The Redeemer of the world knew that the indulgence of appetite would bring physical debility, and so deaden the perceptive organs that sacred and eternal things would not be discerned. Christ knew that the world was given up to gluttony, and that this indulgence would pervert the moral powers. If the indulgence of appetite was so strong upon the race that in order to break its power, the divine Son of God, in behalf of man, was required to fast nearly six weeks, what a work is before the Christian in order that he may overcome even as Christ overcame! The strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite can be measured only by the inexpressible anguish of Christ in that long fast in the wilderness." Counsel on Diet and Foods, p. 186.
      It was heaven's devised plan that Christ should fast forty days and forty nights before He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, because Jesus had to taste the strength of appetite for every man living in every age: "Christ entered upon the test upon the point of appetite, and for nearly six weeks resisted temptation in behalf of man. That long fast in the wilderness was to be a lesson to fallen man for all time. Christ was not overcome by the strong temptations of the enemy, and this is encouragement for every soul who is struggling against temptation. Christ has made it possible for every member of the human family to resist temptation. All who would live godly lives may overcome as Christ overcame, by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. That long fast of the Saviour strengthened Him to endure. He gave evidence to man that He would begin the work of overcoming just where ruin began,-on the point of appetite." Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 186.
      Friends, let us not fool ourselves and say we have never been slaves to appetites. Both the devil and the food industry know it and use colorful advertisements to allure its victims to buy their many health-destroying products that slowly kill us as they deaden our minds. We are constantly being bombarded with propaganda that appeals to our depraved appetite, because "Satan is constantly on the alert to bring the race fully under his control. His strongest hold on man is through the appetite, and this he seeks to stimulate in every possible way." Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 150. Do you think it was coincidental that Christ's first temptation was on the point of appetite? Christ knew that uncontrolled appetite was the prevailing sin of the age, and, therefore, it was necessary for the Son of God to begin the work of overcoming right where the first Adam had failed. In the contest in the wilderness, Satan tempted Jesus to use divine power to turn the stones into bread after the Son of Man had fasted forty days and forty nights, and, thus, forfeit the plan of salvation since Christ would have used power within Himself that man does not have apart from God. Christ depended on His Father to perform the good works in Him just as we may do also (see John 5:30 and John 14:10-12).
      Few people realize that there were many issues at stake when Christ overcame Satan in the first temptation in the wilderness. Did you notice the sentence a few paragraphs above that said: "And in this first victory were involved other issues that enter into all our conflicts with the powers of darkness." What "other issues" did the writer mean? From the context of the quotes above I believe that some of the other issues involved in the first temptation were the following: 1) A depraved appetite brings with it physical debility, because a poor diet is a major cause of disease. Yes, two thirds of Americans are digging their graves with their teeth, because most of the chronic diseases in this country are self-induced due to poor lifestyle habits. Americans are slaves to the fiberless feasts of high-fat, high-protein diets of dairy products, dead animal flesh, and junk foods, including over 150 lbs. of sugar per person per year. Coffee, alcohol, and sugar-laden soft drinks are the beverages of choice, and when water is consumed, it often contaminated with fluoride and chlorine. One-third of the country is considered obese, and diseases of excess are fast killing Americans and those who adopt the same diet and lifestyle practices in other countries, like in Japan. Fast food means slow death; it is just a matter of time!
      Cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many of the autoimmune diseases are some of the modern-day plagues that have skyrocketing over the past 50 years as a result of overconsumption. When guests come to BellaVita, our Lifestyle Center, we have them fast for five days on live organic juices and detoxification formulas. The five day juice fast frees up the energy of the body, which can then be used for healing instead of digestion, and the detoxification formulas cleanse and regenerate the seven elimination organs of the body. Consequently, many of the disease conditions we see improve rapidly. Steve Meyerowitz explains in his book Juice Fasting and Detoxification: "Our bodies are natural healers. ...Without obstacles in its way, our bodies will automatically seek health through the process of eliminating poisons and balancing chemistry. There is a vital force within us that can heal and when that vitality is not exhausted by physical activity, drained by the task of digestion or enervated by stress, it is available to heal. Fasting, essentially promotes self-healing by casting off poisons. It is not so much a cure as it is an opportunity to rejuvenation."
      I believe the reason why so many people are sick in this country is because of the overconsumption of the wrong foods. Therefore it would only make sense that the opposite extreme, like fasting, would be the best remedy to improve health and aid in the work of overcoming a depraved appetite: "There are some who would be benefited more by abstinence from food for a day or two every week than by any amount of treatment or medical advice. To fast one day a week would be of incalculable benefit to them." Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 189. Indulging in eating too frequently, and in too large quantities, overtaxes the digestive organs, and produces a feverish state of the system. The blood becomes impure, and then diseases of various kinds occur. ... The sufferers in such cases can do for themselves that which others cannot do as well for them. They should commence to relieve nature of the load they have forced upon her. They should remove the cause. Fast a short time, and give the stomach a chance for rest. Reduce the feverish state of the system by a careful and understanding application of water. These efforts will help nature in her struggles to free the system of impurities. Ibid, pp. 189, 190}
      2). The second "other issue" is that overconsumption can lead to errors in thought and action. "Christ knew that the world was given up to gluttony, and that this indulgence would pervert the moral powers." What this means is that the wrong diet can negatively affect the moral powers and pervert judgment. Certainly we all know that alcohol and drugs can pervert judgment, but many of us fail to realize that stimulating foods like flesh foods, sugar and excitotoxins can do so as well. Also, when we combine all kinds of foods at one meal and overeat of them, this can causes fermentation and alcohol within the body resulting in a stupefying of the mind. We wake up groggy and hungover rather than vibrant and refreshed.   
     3) The third "other issue" is that over-indulgence of appetite can "deaden the perceptive organs that sacred and eternal things would not be discerned." I have commented on this very important point many times in the past, but you must first understand that "the brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man, and affect his inmost life. Whatever disturbs the circulation of the electric currents in the nervous system, lessens the strength of the vital powers, and the result is a deadening of the sensibilities of the mind (Counsels on Health, p. 616)" which lessens mental susceptibility making it more difficult to arouse the moral nature. (See Education, p. 209). Yes, the wrong diet can affect your spirituality.
 
To Be Continued 
Danny Vierra