It’s Wednesday.
Which means I’m fasting.
Not because I’m trying to prove something.
Not because God needs convincing.
But because I do.
Every Wednesday has become a kind of return. A rhythm. A holy interruption in the middle of the week where appetite bows and awareness sharpens. Where hunger becomes a doorway instead of an inconvenience.
This morning, I went searching for a new Bible plan—something to stretch me, not soothe me. And in the opening devotional, two things leapt off the page and would not let me go.
The first was something I had never noticed before.
After Yeshua was water baptized, Scripture says He was “full of the Holy Spirit.”
But after the forty-day fast and the wilderness temptation, it says He returned in the power of the Spirit.
That distinction is not poetic.
It is linguistic.
It is intentional.
And it is everything.
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Full vs. Empowered — The Greek Distinction
In Luke 4:1, it says:
“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.”
The Greek word for “full” is πλήρης (plērēs).
It means:
• Complete
• Fully supplied
• Saturated
• Not lacking
He was not partially anointed.
He was not spiritually empty.
He was not waiting for something to happen.
He was full.
But then we read Luke 4:14:
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”
The word for “power” is δύναμις (dynamis).
It means:
• Explosive ability
• Miraculous force
• Activated strength
• Capacity in motion
He was already full.
But after fasting and resisting temptation, that fullness moved into dynamis.
Fullness is internal saturation.
Power is external manifestation.
He went into the wilderness full.
He came out carrying force.
That should undo us.
Because it tells us something profound:
There is a difference between being filled
and being forged.
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The Wilderness Was Not Punishment
Luke says He was “led by the Spirit” into the wilderness.
The Greek word for led is ἤγετο (ēgeto) — meaning guided, brought, conducted.
The Spirit did not abandon Him to the desert.
The Spirit escorted Him there.
We often assume wilderness means distance from God.
But in this passage, wilderness is proximity training.
He was full before the fast.
But something in the fast clarified authority.
Not identity — He already had that.
Not sonship — that was already declared at baptism.
But power aligned with obedience.
Forty days of hunger.
Forty days of silence.
Forty days of bodily discipline.
And then:
Dynamis.
This is not about earning the Spirit.
It’s about alignment.
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Discipline and Disciple — The Hidden IN
The devotional moved into fasting and discipline, and something in the spelling arrested me.
Disciple.
Discipline.
The difference?
Two letters.
IN.
Dis-ciple.
Discipl-IN-e.
And I couldn’t shake it.
Because to be a disciple requires something to be in place.
In alignment.
In submission.
In rhythm.
The Latin root of disciple is discipulus — learner, pupil, follower.
The root of discipline is disciplina — training, instruction, correction.
A disciple is one who learns.
Discipline is how one becomes shaped.
And what struck me is that these two words actually come from the same family.
They are not opposites.
They are a progression.
Identity first.
Formation next.
Disciple is the invitation.
Discipline is the process that forms the one who said yes.
But the IN caught my spirit.
Because the movement between the two is inward.
To move from disciple to discipline requires something to shift inside.
External admiration is not enough.
Internal formation is required.
You can follow from a distance for a long time.
You can admire truth.
Agree with truth.
Quote truth.
But discipline is where truth moves in.
And that is exactly why fasting is so powerful.
Fasting moves things inward.
It takes what we say we believe and reveals what is actually in control.
When you fast, your body protests.
Your emotions fluctuate.
Your mind negotiates.
And suddenly, you see what governs you.
Not because fasting makes you spiritual.
But because it exposes what was already there.
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Ethos — The Habit of the Holy
The devotional mentioned that Jesus had a habit of prayer.
The Greek word is ἔθος (ethos).
It means:
• Custom
• Practice
• Established pattern
Ethos is not occasional inspiration.
It is structured devotion.
Jesus didn’t pray only when crisis came.
He built a rhythm.
Early mornings.
Mount of Olives.
Withdrawal from noise.
He created sacred interruption.
And here’s what neuroscience now confirms:
Habits reshape neural pathways.
Repeated behaviors strengthen synaptic connections.
What you practice becomes easier.
What you repeat becomes default.
Fasting disciplines the body.
Prayer disciplines the mind.
Silence disciplines the nervous system.
When we consistently return to our “ethos” — our sacred practice — we rewire stress responses. We quiet the amygdala. We activate the prefrontal cortex. We strengthen regulation over impulse.
Spiritually, this is renewing the mind.
Neurologically, it is neuroplasticity.
Your spirit, soul, and body are not separate systems.
They are one integrated field.
When you fast, you are not starving your body — you are recalibrating your whole being.
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Full vs. Filled With Power — What It Means for Us
Yeshua was full at baptism.
He was affirmed.
He was declared Son.
He was anointed.
But the wilderness tested what had been declared.
And fasting revealed what was internalized.
For us, that means:
You can be full of the Spirit and still need formation.
You can be called and still require refinement.
You can be chosen and still need wilderness.
The wilderness doesn’t make you worthy.
It reveals what is already true.
But it burns off what competes.
After forty days, Satan tempts Him with:
• Appetite
• Identity
• Authority
All three are human pressure points.
And after resisting, He returns in dynamis.
Not because the Spirit arrived late.
But because alignment produces release.
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The Body as Gatekeeper
“Our spirits, souls, and bodies are intimately connected.”
That line in the devotional struck me deeply.
Because fasting proves it.
When the body is undisciplined, the soul is noisy.
When the body is submitted, the soul becomes attentive.
Psychologically, hunger heightens awareness.
Neurologically, fasting increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which enhances clarity and focus.
Metabolically, it shifts fuel sources.
Spiritually, it quiets competing appetites.
Fasting teaches the body it is not master.
And when the body bows, the spirit rises.
That is not punishment.
That is partnership.
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What Is Your Mountain?
The devotional asked:
What is your special place?
Yeshua loved the Mount of Olives.
He returned there.
That was His ethos.
We need a place.
A rhythm.
A return point.
Because calling is sustained by habit.
Not hype.
Not emotion.
Habit.
If discipline is the “IN” that forms a disciple, then fasting is one of the most honest mirrors we have.
It shows us:
• Where we grasp.
• Where we numb.
• Where we negotiate.
• Where we truly trust.
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The Unexpected Revelation
This is what I felt this morning as I sat with all of it:
You can be full and still be invited deeper.
You can be called and still be shaped.
You can be loved and still be trained.
The wilderness is not absence.
It is amplification.
And fasting is not starvation.
It is sharpening.
Yeshua did not fast to become Son.
He fasted as Son.
That distinction changes everything.
We do not fast to earn love.
We fast because we are loved.
We do not discipline to become disciples.
We discipline because we already are.
And maybe that is what the “IN” truly means.
The Kingdom does not begin with external performance.
It begins within.
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Today, as I fast, I feel the invitation again.
Not just to be full.
But to move in power.
Not just to follow.
But to be formed.
And maybe the wilderness isn’t where God strips you.
Maybe it’s where He strengthens you for what’s next.
———
I Hear the Spirit Say…
“You have been content to be full,
but I am inviting you to move in power.
Do not confuse saturation with activation.
Do not assume that because you feel Me
you have yet seen all I desire to release through you.
The wilderness was never meant to empty you.
It was meant to align you.
I led My Son into the desert full—
not lacking, not striving—
but full.
And I led Him out carrying force.
You fear the wilderness because you think it is distance.
It is not distance.
It is refinement.
It is where appetite bows
and authority rises.
You do not fast to earn My Spirit.
You fast to quiet the voices that compete with Mine.
When you discipline your body,
you are not punishing yourself—
you are reminding your soul who leads.
You wonder if you are strong enough.
But strength is not formed in applause.
It is formed in hidden alignment.
The “IN” you noticed—
that inward work—
that is where I build you.
Inside obedience.
Inside surrender.
Inside quiet yeses no one else sees.
Do not rush this shaping.
Do not despise the hunger.
It is making room for dynamis.
There is power waiting on the other side of restraint.
There is clarity waiting on the other side of quiet.
There is authority waiting on the other side of appetite.
You are not behind.
You are being prepared.
Stay with Me in the wilderness.
Let your body learn what your spirit already knows.
You are full.
Now I am teaching you how to carry power.”
