Phil 3:19

Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.



In this world, food is the center of everything! Every holiday, birthday, family get together...everything is about food.
Here in this chapter, Paul warns the church that there is no confidence in things of the flesh. Even food is a distraction to the will of God.
Today, read about the following people who allowed food to distract them from the will of God.

• Adam and Eve: ate their way out of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:17)
• the children of Isreal: ate their way out of the promise land. They had manna from heaven to nourish them, but wanted meat. They said they were better off in Egypt! So they ate the meat and died, never making it to the promise land! (Numbers 11)
• Esau: ate his way out of his birthright, his inheritance! He sold his birthright, his future blessing, over a bowl of stew! (Gen 25: 19-34)
• Sodom and Gomorah: The scripture says they had "fullness of food" and they were gluttons. Not only that, but they didn't give or pray. (Ezek 16:49-54)

God calls every Christian to fast. In Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus tells us we should be fasting. He gives us instructions on praying, giving, and fasting. He specifically says "When you fast..." not "if". If we aren't following His direction, are we eating our way out of our promise? Our inheritance? Our blessing? If you want God's will for your life, his direction in your time of trouble, fast. Learn to fast and make it a lifestyle as King David did. Position yourself for a blessing. Every biblical fast had outstanding results. What did they know that we don't? Nothing! We just choose not to do it.

Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship




Living sacrifices....I struggled to understand what the really meant for years. How do I do that?

Now that Christmas is over, Easter is approaching, which means, so is Lent. When Trey started leading worship at Liberty Hill, a Methodist church, I learned to observe Lent and Ash Wednesday. I did not grow up Methodist and I totally thought of it as something only Catholics do. I know, I know, I was totally wrong. I didn't even know what it was so I started a little research project on my own and here is what God showed me. Lent, is the period of the year leading up to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, penitence,and self-denial (fasting)— for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. It lasts for 40 days, the 40 days before Easter. The forty days represent the time that Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Most people pick something to give up during the 40 days of Lent (food, TV, computer, etc)as a rememberance of Christ and His sacrifice.. This was my first exposure to fasting and what it meant. On Ash Wednesday,the beginning of Lent, we get ashes on our foreheads to honor Christ as the ultimate sacrifice, the fulfillment of the old testament law, the replacement to animal sacrifices. But really, those ashes on our foreheads symbolize that WE are the living sacrifice, that we must die daily to ourselves so that Christ can live in us. I finally understood what all that meant when I read Purpose Driven Life. Warren says that we have to die everyday to ourselves. As living sacrifices, we have to ability to crawl off the altar. We have to willingly place ourselves back there every morning when we wake up. Fasting is a fantastic way to do that. You offer God a huge piece of yourself everyday, thus dying to your flesh and becoming that living sacrifice. If we starve the flesh, we will feed the spirit....and God will fill that starving flesh with Himself...the greatest gift of all.

Wow! Is all I can say about today. I had an amazing quiet time last night and was so excited about starting the fast this morning. God really spoke to my heart and I was so pumped about seeing what he was going to do. Well.... as soon as my feet hit the floor this morning, guess who was waiting to tear me down???? Yes, the enemy. I woke up in a horrible mood. The baby didn't sleep well last night, and then I had to get up relatively early. It was like I had this huge chip on my shoulder and everything just seemed to go wrong. I had to write out some bills and since I only get paid once a month and the last time I got paid was the middle of December and I won't get another check until the end of January, I began to worry about how we were going to make it the rest of the month. Didn't the Lord speak to me last night and assure me that he will provide my DAILY bread?? It was like he went ahead and laid this on my heart because he knew the enemy was going to throw this in my face. Jon and I talked about what was wrong with me and he said, "Look at you Nikki, it is just day one and you are already under attack, where is your faith??" and boy was he right. I was letting the devil steal my joy, peace, and excitement I had last night when I heard from the Lord.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6

Congratulations. If your hungry, you are about to be filled.

Today, take time to praise Him. Before you start asking God for "stuff", praise Him and bless Him. Honor the One who is about to bless you, who is about to change your life.

When you start a fast: (from FASTING: jentezen franklin)

1. Check your motives:

'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?" Zech 7:5

2. Know your specific needs:

"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" 1 Cor 9:24-27

Don't fast aimlessly. Know exactly what you are fasting for. This is part of your training.

3. Be determined to minister to God

HAPPY FASTING!

Emily introduced me to a book by Jentezen Franklin a few years ago during one of her fasts. The book is entitled, "Fasting". She was so excited about it that I went out and bought it and read it within a few days. I thought the teachings were fantastic and Jentezen does a great job at explaining how and why you should among giving and praying, fast. When I first read the book, that was it, I just read it. I took the things to heart that Jentezen was explaining, but never really thought about how it applied to my life.

The New Year is here! It's really hard to believe that the album will be out in less than 90 days, March 22nd. This album has been long awaited, long prayed and fasted over and the excitement is building. I am in awe at what God has done.

God gave me a vision for Trey many years ago early on in our marriage. It was a BIG vision, something only God could do and I had no idea how we were gonna get there, but I knew my God could do it. It was easy to convince people around us who worshiped under Trey's ministry to catch the vision God planted because of his enormous talent. The hard part was the perseverance that was demanded of us while this vision is taking its time until fulfillment. Not everyone remained in the boat. I suppose if God had handed it to us so easily we would have missed some very key lessons. We have experienced God while waiting, truly experienced Him. How can you experience God if you never have a need? Many steps occurred over our 10 years together that are puzzle pieces to get us here, right in this moment. Here are some of the biggest ones:

1. God allowed me to get into Emory School of Medicine. Only by His mercy....So, GOd moved us to Atlanta.

2. God lead us to a church being planted in Marietta where Trey was trained under a great worship leader and we met some key people that have shaped our lives forever....So, God gave Trey training.

3. God lead us to another church plant, a bigger one, because we had the experience needed. This was a pivotal moment in our lives. There, the fulfillment of Trey's anointing was realized (maybe not by him, but by every one else). This church is Liberty Hill and the love of those people so molded us that we became different people. They encouraged and prayed for Trey and his ministry like nothing I have ever felt before...So, God gave feet to the vision.

4. They believed so much that money was given so that Trey could record with a well known producer in hopes to get his voice out there. Trey met this producer who fell in love with his voice and gave his music to Echoing Angels' producer....and there you have it...God opened a door.

So here we are. And there are dozens of things in between those 4 points that got us here. God called and we listened. Obstacles mounted in front of us, but the choice was clear. Had we not chosen His way, I don't where we would be...most certainly not about to release an album. God is so much bigger than we give Him credit for. The master conductor. I am so humbled to be chosen for this journey. Don't get me wrong...I doubted along the way. During the time we were at Liberty Hill, I became frustrated with God and why His vision was taking SOOOO long. Why hadn't Trey been discovered? Why hadn't God put him in the right place at the right time? Why was God being silent? Trey was willing, a servant heart, saying, "here I am , send me." In devotions one night during the summer of 2007, this was the verse God showed me;

Habakuk 2:

"Write down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald may run with it.

3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come and will not delay.

Wow. If you read Habakuk chapter 1, the prophet Habakuk is pleading with God, just as I had done. He is desperate for answers and this is what the Lord tells him. So, I wrote it down on paper, and I begin to tell anyone who would listen what God was gonna do. And we waited....it was six months later, a full year after Trey had recorded with that producer, that EA called. The cool thing about this verse is God gave it to Nikki recently too, only confirming for me what was said long ago. Now really, Echoing Angels stepping into our lives is point 5. Because that wasn't the vision yet, but a HUGE leap forward that God gave to us, an important part of the fulfillment. And all the while we were praying for God to move on our behalf, Echoing Angels was praying for a new lead singer. And Trey was an answer to their prayers. And now we all stand together waiting on point number 6. I wait eagerly to see if this new record is the revelation of the vision. I pray earnestly that "appointed time" is now......

Tomorrow we start our 21 day Daniel Fast. We begin every year with this fast, to get our priorities in line with God's. Many of the above mentioned "happenings" occurred only because we fasted and prayed. I am such a believer in fasting and am so passionate about it. It has opened many doors that otherwise would still be shut if we hadn't answered God's call to fast. We fast this year for many reasons, but mostly for the continued vision and fulfillment. I can't wait to see what God is going to do this year! I will be sharing each day on the 21 day fast so be looking out for that. I will share things that God has shown me through fasting. Hopefully it will serve as a guide for those of you who join us. Hundreds of thousands around the world will be entering the 21 day fast this month so pray and see if you should fast with us! God won't let you down! I promise!

Not sure about other traditions around the country, but on New Year's day my family and I eat collards, black-eyed peas and cornbread. We have been doing this since I was a little girl, and my parents ate this when they were growing up too. I ate with my in-laws today since Jon and the guys are on their way home from Virginia. It is funny because when Jon and I first started dating we were unaware that each of our families did this. Maybe its a Southern thing, or maybe everyone does this, but New Year's wouldn't be the same without it.

I am looking forward to what 2011 is going to bring. 2010 was bittersweet. My second little boy was born, which was the highlight of my year. We found out the Christmas before that I was pregnant, so much of 2010 was anticipating his birth. 2010 also brought some great struggles. I had gotten to the point to where my faith was being so tested that I pretty much gave up. I almost demanded answers from God and when I thought I could not go any further, he came through with the answers of which I was desperately seeking. Now, all things haven't been roses since then, but my GOD has provided and strenghtened me with comfort during my times of doubt. God revealed some pretty magnificent things last year and I can only believe that these were just a sweet taste of what more is yet to come.

God has been speaking to me through his spirit about doing a fast at the beginning of the year. I know a lot of churches do this corporately at the beginning of the year, but I haven't truly felt called to do one until now. I believe he has directed me on the type of fast that he wants me to do, when to do it, and what to fast about. There are many things in my life that I want to see God move in. Specifically these include some of my unsaved family members, the direction and will of God in the ministry in Echoing Angels, and the overall year of 2011. To be perfectly honest, I am a little nervous about starting the fast. I am afraid that I will let my flesh take over and not complete what I feel God has called me to do. However, when I think about all that I am asking God to do I feel convicted about not pulling through on my end. I am excited to see what happens so stay tuned for continuous updates from all of the Echoing Angels ladies!!