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# Do Less Not More: Lent I
- URL: https://www.belonging.house/do-less-not-more-lent-i/
- Published: 2026-02-23T16:30:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-25T00:49:56.000Z
- Description: Going offline is Like Being Cloistered.
- Author: Christ John Otto
- Tags: Lent, freedom, fasting, Spiritual Warfare, Podcast, #Migrated-1784940061448, #Import 2026-07-25 00:49

Do Less Not More: Lent I

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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedAs I approached Lent this year,  
the Lord said   
"Do less,  
not more."  
  
When God speaks to us,  
it is often desceptively simple.  
God invites you to do something  
and then you discover   
that the thing he asked you  
was either not what it was about at all,  
or completely impossible,  
and you are left desperate for his help.  
  
Today we heard a story we have all heard before.  
It is deceptively simple.  
  
God formed a man  
out of the dust of the earth.  
The Lord breathed into his nostrils  
the breath of life  
and that creature became a living soul.  
And then God   
put the man   
into a beautiful garden  
and gave him simple directions.  
Name every creature  
and be fruitful and multiply.  
  
And there was a another detail  
there are two trees  
in the garden,  
and the man is told  
you can eat everything in the garden.  
You can eat all the plants  
and you can eat from the tree of life.  
We forget this detail.  
But you must not eat from the tree  
of the knowledge of good and evil.  
If you eat this tree,  
you will die.  
  
And then God created a woman  
to be the help of this man,  
because it was not good for him to be alone.  
  
And there was a creature in the garden,  
who was subtle,  
crafty,  
or  
clever.  
He was smart  
and had been around.  
You see,  
this garden  
was intended as heaven on earth  
where man and God would live together in relationship  
and where God and man would   
reign over the earth.  
And this serpent  
was not a snake,  
but a spiritual being   
described in other places as "a son of God."  
The same word is used for the firey serpents who attacked  
the Israelites in the wilderness  
and the serpent made of bronze.  
And this serpent  
came to the woman  
and he said,  
"I hear that you were told you can't eat from   
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."  
And the woman  
rightly,  
said God said they could eat every tree,  
but that one.  
And the serpent said,  
"oh."  
  
And then he did what the demonic always does,  
he gave her the truth  
with a twist.  
It wasn't an outright lie,  
it was a distortion.  
And the distortion  
always twists the character of God.  
"Well, you will not die,  
you will know good and evil,  
and then you will be like God."  
  
You see,  
the enemy was trying to keep this young thing  
from knowing the truth.  
She already was like God.  
She didn't know who she was   
and so she fell into the trap.  
And she began to enter a dialogue with evil.  
  
And so,  
the woman  
took the fruit,  
she gave it to her man  
and they ate.  
And then  
their eyes were opened,  
and they had that experience  
we all have.  
They saw the promise  
and the blessing  
slip through their fingers.  
And the words  
that we said on Wednesday  
were spoken by God:  
you are dust,  
and to dust you shall return.  
You are now going to die.  
Death entered the world.  
Through one man.  
  
Let's fast forward.  
The effects of this little episode have now   
spread throughout the world.  
And now,  
instead of a beautiful garden  
we are in a desert.  
He is in one of the driest places on earth.  
The sea is dead.  
The sand is white.  
  
We have another man.  
This one is alone.  
And he is out in this dry place  
with no food and no water.  
And this same serpent comes  
this time he has a different name.  
He is not very creative,  
and he uses the same tactics.  
  
He distorts the truth,  
and again  
tempts Jesus with more than what God says.  
The temptation is always to the more.  
Do more than the directions.  
And so he says  
turn bread into stone  
tempt God by attempting suicide  
rush the process and worship me.  
  
And this is the interesting thing.  
The snake uses the Bible to tempt Jesus.  
And Jesus  
retorts with the Bible.  
But Jesus isn't using the scripture   
because it has magic power.  
Jesus is quoting the scripture  
and telling the serpent  
one thing.  
  
I know who I am.  
And this is what the scripture says of me.  
I came to fulfill.  
I am the one the scripture speaks of.  
I am the LORD your God  
and you cannot put me to the test.  
  
And Jesus  
out of his center  
of being and well-being  
rebukes the devil  
and he must flee.  
This isn't about some method   
that Jesus used to overcome temptation.  
Jesus didn't do anything.  
Jesus was.  
  
Do you get this?  
Jesus was a different kind of human being.  
He knew who he was.  
And the Power, Presence, and Person  
of the Holy Spirit  
in him  
moved from the inside out.  
  
A few weeks ago  
the Lord asked me to invite our community   
to intentionally fast from media  
during Lent.  
There is amazing power in agreement.  
Fasting from media  
is a very difficult thing  
in this world.  
And for many of us,  
we use media  
as a form of anesthetic to deal with the pain  
coming from the days we live in.  
The first thing you have to experience  
is detox  
and withdrawal.  
It takes a couple days   
to accept the pain  
and the noise you feel  
when you remove the distraction.  
And then we have people  
who want to do more than what God asks.  
God said turn off the media,  
and that is really hard.  
  
He didn't ask you to do a lot of heroic extra things.  
He asked you to get quiet and do less.  
And I have had a few reports   
of folks in our community   
trying to give up a lot of stuff   
in addition to the media fast.  
This media fast is the hardest thing   
you are going to do.  
Trust me.  
And it is painful.  
  
It is just as disobedient to do more   
than God asks  
than to not do what God asks.  
  
When you do more than God asks  
that is what Paul said to the Galatians,  
you are adding to gospel,  
and that is witchcraft  
because you think your activity is going to give you favor with God.  
Your activity  
will only open up the door to a curse.  
  
God isn't asking you to do more for him.  
God is asking you to make space  
so that you will come into agreement with him.  
This year has already been interesting,  
because we have seen   
a lot of powerful shifts in lives  
in the first three days,  
because a handful of people have come into agreement  
to fast and pray.  
This is probably the most powerful thing we have ever done  
as a community.  
  
And this is the point,  
and the point of lent.  
  
We forget who we are.  
When you come to Christ  
Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:17  
that you are a new creation.  
That is not a metaphor.  
Paul is not saying,  
now you have been born again  
and you agree with Bible stuff,  
and you have to try to live a moral life.  
  
No.  
Paul is saying to you,  
you are filled with the breath of life.  
You have died with Christ in baptism  
and you are now  
reborn by water and the spirit,  
and you are now  
a totally different being.  
You are more than your original parents  
Adam and Eve  
who were innocents  
and easily duped by the serpent.  
  
You are "holy" beings.  
You are "redeemed"  
not innocent,  
but restored.  
You are more than you were  
and you can live out of that place.  
You can rest in who you are  
and when the enemy comes at you  
you do not have to do anything  
or try to outsmart him.  
You simply have to say,  
I am in Jesus.  
Jesus is in me.  
I am a new creature  
and this is the truth.  
I can breath.  
  
Greater is he who is in me.  
I don't have to do more  
to have influence in heaven or against the devil.  
I don't have to hustle to build something.  
I only have to do what God says.  
Nothing more  
nothing less.  
  
That's good news.  
  
That's the kingdom.  
  
We have seen so much power flowing   
in this community   
from this simple act of obedience.  
We live in a church  
where everyone does what is right in their own eyes.  
  
Imagine if all the Christians  
actually did whatever God said,  
and just that.  
We would be unstoppable.  
  
As we begin lent,  
I want to invite you to join us in this fast  
at whatever level you are able.  
And if you are trying to do more than   
God asks,  
or you are pushing back against me   
and my leadership  
in this area,  
I want to gently ask you to repent.  
We deal with a lot of witchcraft,  
and most of it comes from   
the baseline of rebellion and stubbornness in the   
church in the US.  
Most of the witchcraft and spiritual attack  
I deal with  
comes from Christians  
who are not listening to God.  
The days for this are past.  
  
God is calling us   
toward the passover of the Lord,  
Easter,  
and to a renewing of our calling to be   
bearers of the glory of God.  
Repent,  
and believe the gospel.  
Amen.

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