{"id":351910,"date":"2026-07-13T15:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/?p=351910"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:43:00","slug":"fast-of-daniel-day-1-message-from-bishop-macedo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/post\/fast-of-daniel-day-1-message-from-bishop-macedo\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast of Daniel: Day 1 Message From Bishop Macedo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"border-left: 7px solid #365b81; height: 25%; padding: 21px;\"><big>In the first message prepared for the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/category\/fast-of-daniel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fast of Daniel<\/a><\/span>, <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.universal.org\/en\/bispo-macedo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bishop Macedo<\/a><\/span> addresses the theme, <strong>\u201cHow to Overcome Fear and Doubt?\u201d<\/strong> He explains that fear is a natural part of the human experience and can affect anyone. However, no one needs to be dominated by it. It is up to each person to <strong>resist and confront fear through faith<\/strong>.<\/big><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Word of God: A Powerful Weapon Against Fear<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The bishop emphasizes that the Word of God is a powerful weapon against fear. Throughout the message, <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.universal.org\/en\/bispo-macedo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bishop Macedo<\/a><\/span> explains that the best way to overcome fear and doubt is to <strong>turn to the Word of God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of being intimidated by negative thoughts, Christians should confront them through <strong>faith and surrender them to God<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>He advises that, in times of distress, a person should pronounce the name of <strong>the Lord Jesus, praise God, meditate on the Scriptures<\/strong>, and reject any thought that attempts to weaken their confidence.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, he highlights that confronting fear requires <strong>intimacy with the Word of God<\/strong>, as it is within the Scriptures that Christians find the strength to remain steadfast. The secret lies not in avoiding difficulties but in standing firm and <strong>refusing to give in to doubts<\/strong>.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"background-color: #f2f8fc; padding: 2em; border-left: 5px solid #ccc; margin: 1em 0;\"><p>Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Seeking the Holy Spirit Requires Total Surrender<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Placing God First Without Reservations<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Bishop Macedo further emphasizes that those who wish to receive the Holy Spirit must <strong>place Him first in their lives<\/strong>. This seeking demands <strong>complete surrender<\/strong>, without any reservations.<\/p>\n<p>He likens spiritual surrender to \u201cdiving headfirst\u201d into <strong>the ocean of the Spirit<\/strong>, encouraging those who are seeking the Holy Spirit to fully \u201cimmerse themselves\u201d without holding back.<\/p>\n<p>He invites everyone to <strong>value their souls<\/strong> and recognize that nothing in this world can fulfill the human being like the Holy Spirit. <strong>Only God\u2019s presence<\/strong> can bring about true life transformation.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Remain Steadfast During the Fast of Daniel<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Trusting in the Promises of God\u2019s Word<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>In conclusion, the bishop reminds us that fear cannot neutralize faith or hinder communion with God. He encourages all participants in the <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/category\/fast-of-daniel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fast of Daniel<\/a><\/span> to remain steadfast in their <strong>seeking of the Holy Spirit<\/strong>, trusting in the promises <strong>of the Word<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of his message, the bishop leads a prayer of surrender, inviting participants to place their lives before God and renew their commitment <strong>to seek Him wholeheartedly<\/strong>.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Watch the Complete Message<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_0Mkx4v5iOA?rel=0;controls=0;showinfo=0&#038;modestbranding=1\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; In the first message prepared for the Fast of Daniel, Bishop Macedo addresses the theme, \u201cHow to Overcome Fear and Doubt?\u201d He explains that fear is a natural part of the human experience and can affect anyone. However, no one needs to be dominated by it. It is up to each person to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":351927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[323,12],"tags":[6214,6173,6121],"site":[],"class_list":["post-351910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-school-of-faith","category-fast-of-daniel","tag-21-days","tag-fast-of-daniel","tag-the-holy-spirit"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/248"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351910"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":352022,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351910\/revisions\/352022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351910"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/universalchurchusa.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=351910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}