There is nothing inherently wrong with reading about politics while you're fasting. However, it's not the best use of your time during such an activity.

The point of fasting is to starve natural and carnal pleasures, and follow after spiritual pleasures instead. Fasting is meant to be a period of spiritual emphasis, where you decrease attention towards secular activities and information, and align yourself to more spiritual pursuits, such as prayer, the study of the Scriptures, meditation, reading Christian books, and similarly beneficial activities.

So, to make the most of your fasting period, try to stay away as much as you can from non-spiritual endeavours so you can devote as much of your time and attention to God as possible, for the best results during your fast.

I can add an exception: if for example, the Spirit of God instructs you to check out some news because of, say, something He wants you to pray or intercede about, for instance - that's also possible. It can certainly be the case - a very specific case, and there would be nothing wrong with that either.

I've just focused on the general purposes of fasting and what's best to do with the time you fast.

God bless you.

It's interesting how, in the attempt to claim and swerve and say what we want, we fine-tune the questions we ask to fit what we want to say, and we think ourselves right for doing so.

This question in itself, is partly pointless. Not because it can't be answered. But because, the fact is, whether Jesus called Himself God or not is not the point at all. That's not the most important question.

The question is, Is Jesus God? That's the question. And that's the real question we've been dancing around, but many have tried to find a way to discredit this question, so much that it has now come to the point of "okay, the man Himself should have said He is God". But no. Nowhere is it a requirement that He Himself has to say it before it would be true.

Unless you're claiming that, in the Bible, only the words recorded as spoken by Jesus are true, and anything else that anyone else wrote is not true. And please, if you believe that, you ought not to be paying attention to the Bible at all, because the Bible doesn't say that about itself.

If the Bible is what we know it is (which is, the inspired word of God, written not by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1.21) - if that is true, then it doesn't matter whether the words that prove that Jesus is God came from the mouth of Jesus, or came from the writing of another man who (we all believe) was inspired by God to write it.

Now, if you have a problem with this, then I submit that your real issue is the authority of the Scriptures. Because if you believe in the authority of the Scriptures, then once they show the deity of Jesus, you won't have to come back and say "show me where He Himself said it". Your problem is not whether Jesus said it or not, your problem is you don't believe the Bible.

Now that said, what exactly do you mean by "unambiguously"? Because it's clear enough for some, why is it not clear enough for everyone? It's what you choose to see, and what you choose to accept.

I have not read the entire thread before my post, so I would likely repeat some things that have been said by other well-meaning Christians already, but I'm going to do so still anyway, because someone may learn from my post.

3 things:

1. Jesus was a Jew, and Jews are very careful about blasphemy against God. Believe me that not only would He Himself not say anything blasphemous, He would not let others say it about Him, if it was not the truth. So anywhere you find anyone else saying something that interprets to mean Jesus is God, and you don't find Jesus refuting, rejecting or forbidding it, you better know it's true. There are several Scriptures for this one, and I believe you know them - that's what you've been fighting against in the thread the whole time, I'm sure. I'm just letting you know: if Jesus didn't forbid it, you can take that as your first indication of it being true.

2. The Bible shows that Jesus is in fact God. Equal with God, has the same attributes as God. It's not a simple statement but the conclusion is that simple. So many Scriptures to show that. I go back to the point I made earlier. If you believe all the Bible (and not just the ones that are marked as the words of Jesus) then there is no discussion here. But, if I have to judge from listening to the original post, you probably won't even accept anything short of Jesus saying "I am God". Nothing else will do for you, I guess. In which case, well, we can't help you.

3. The doctrine of Jesus' deity is a difficult one, despite all the explanation that has been given here. And honestly, it's not something you learn. It's revealed to your heart. Same way, when you're born again, it's known to you in your heart. Ask any Christian, and they'll tell you they KNOW they are a child of God. How do they know? They may not be able to tell you, but that doesn't change the fact that they KNOW. They KNOW that God knows them. They know that they have received something they didn't have before being born again. That's what I'm talking about. The Spirit of God in your heart is what testifies to who Jesus is for you, and without that, it will just be English and lots of explanation and trying to be mathematical with the Bible and the words - what we call the letter of the law. Scripture says, "the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." That's what that means; if you follow only the book, without the Spirit of God who reveals it, you will end up missing it.

I hope that you reading now can appreciate this. If you don't, you can pray about it. God Himself will answer you and speak to you in your heart what you should know about the personality of Jesus Christ.

I'll close with this: perhaps the clearest indication of Jesus saying something that was understood and received as He declaring that He is God, is found in John 10:30-35, where He said, "I and My Father are one." You can interpret it how you want, but according to the Bible, the people that He was talking to, who were present when He said it, interpreted it and understood the interpretation as he making Himself equal with God, for which reason they felt He deserved to be stoned to death, when you read on to vs 33.

Now, you and I were not present there, but if those who heard Him, understood it enough to react this way, I think you and I should know better than to question their reaction.

And in response to that reaction, Jesus simply said, BELIEVE ME. What do you think that means? What did He want them to believe? Obviously what they were thinking was unbelievable, that Jesus is God, which He had just implied, or perhaps stated, in His speech.

Now, respectfully, if that whole episode doesn't convince you (along with the several other Scriptures that clearly show him as God), I respectfully submit that nothing will.

God bless you and have a lovely day.

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You'll get the full audio, official video and lyrics all here:

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Enjoy, download, share, recommend!

God bless you!