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SCRIPTURE:
“The
disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had
with them in the boat. "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for
the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." They discussed this with
one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." (Mark 8:14-16,
NIV)
OBSERVATION:
I asked myself how does Jesus react to the
disciples who forgot to bring bread?
"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out
for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself what is the significance of Jesus'
statements?
It is very interesting when the disciples realized that they had
forgotten to bring bread with them, Jesus' first response is
'Be careful'. This tells me that Jesus
already knew what was going on in the minds of the disciples. Jesus had
just fed the 4000 with bread and the disciples were again concerned that
they had forgotten to bring bread on the boat. I believe Jesus was
letting them know that they need to be aware of what is going around
them and what has already happened before the boat incident else what
happened to the Pharisees and Herod could happen to the disciples too.
That is why Jesus says,
"Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that
of Herod?"
Jesus is letting them know
that the 'yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod' is dangerous
therefore they need to be careful but even being careful is not enough.
They need to watch out else they will be succumbed into it.
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself what does 'yeast' mean?
According to
http://www.dictionary.com, I found out it could mean several things
such as but not limited to:
Yeast- something that causes ferment or agitation.
Yeast- a commercial leavening agent containing yeast cells; used to
raise the dough in making bread and for fermenting beer or whiskey.
Jesus does not talk positively
about yeast but negatively and as a double warning to the disciples: Be
careful and watch out!
I asked
myself why does Jesus do that?
It occurred to me that Jesus already saw the damage the Pharisees
and Herod were doing with their fermentation or agitation.
http://www.dictionary.com
defines agitation as:
Extreme emotional disturbance; perturbation.
The stirring up of public interest in a matter of controversy, such as a
political or social issue.
This is what the Pharisees and
Herod were doing wherever they went. Jesus had gone to Dalmanutha for a
purpose and the Pharisees with their extreme emotional disturbance and
the stirring up of public interest in a matter of controversy, such as
political or social issue actually drove Jesus and his disciples away.
Now Jesus is letting the
disciples know that when yeast or fermentation or agitation is not
controlled it will grow and become dangerous and that the disciples are
in danger of letting it happen to them because they are so focused on
not having bread instead of being focused on Jesus.
Also, Jesus is making a
profound statement and warning regarding the teaching of the Pharisees
and Herod. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod can also be
thought of as their teaching of agitation which only caused emotional
disturbance or perturbation.
IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. I realized if I am
not careful and take my mind of focusing on the Lord, I will turn my
mind to focusing on other things that will become my teaching whether I
like to admit it or not. When I am not focused on the Lord, I won't grow
in the Lord but I will grow in the other teachings that are not
God-focused. In other words, the other teaching will become like yeast
eventually endangering my own walk with the Lord. This teaching apart
from the Lord will cause agitation, emotional disturbance, and even
perturbation. So when I am faced with problems as the disciples were,
instead of focusing on the problem at hand, I need to first focus on
Jesus and what His teachings say to handle the problem. That way I won't
be on my own.
GOSPEL GIVES TESTIMONY
REGARDING Y.E.A.S.T:
When I have taken my mind of the Lord Jesus, I have put myself in a
vulnerability to the teachings of the world. When I have held on
to the teachings of the world apart from Christ, I felt agitated,
emotionally it caused disturbance, and there was a sense of perturbation
too all because I gave in to wrong attitudes such as COMPLAINING,
COVETOUSNESS, CRITICAL, DOUBTING, and REBELLIOUS ATTITUDE. These were
the same attitudes of the Pharisees that brought them down. And now
Jesus sees few of these attitudes creeping up on the disciples because
they have taken their mind of Jesus like I have done time after time.
Yet, though I have put myself
in danger and have lost opportunities because of my shortcomings, the
Lord Jesus is not done with me yet. Jesus still works in me and
continues to do so even if I have lost opportunities. When I yield to
the Lord, I can hold on to His promise of "All
things work together for good to them that love God and are fitting into
His plans!" (Romans 8:28, NIV)
Praise the Lord for His Word.
I need the help of the Gospel
which will give freedom and free me from wrong teachings I have abided
by. If I abided by Christ's teachings alone then I would not have been
in a mess that I got myself into. OUCH!
More than missed
opportunities, Jesus does not want the YEAST to affect my relationship
with Him and Him alone. I need to be careful whose teachings I am
listening to and following. Just as the Pharisees and Herod were guilt
of YEASTizing, (my own word), I can be too if I teach any other Gospel
than the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is
clear that there is no other Name in Heaven whereby we must be saved
except the Name of Jesus Christ!
Jesus
said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life! No man comes to the Father
except through me!" (John 14:6, NIV)
That means if I am leading
people to religion and religiosity, I am no better than the Pharisees
and based on Jesus' interaction with the Pharisees and disciples, His
Spirit does not want that for me neither.
So, when the Lord calls me to
preach or teach anywhere, it is to lead people to Christ and not
religion. When Christianity becomes a religion, its people become
Pharisees. We start living on WORKS-MERIT BASIS instead of a GRACE
BASIS. Everything we do or what we are is because of GOD'S GRACE. It is
His all surpassing GRACE that frees us from the YEAST OF THE PHARISEES,
as we YIELD TO JESUS CHRIST. It is His Grace that Saves and His Grace
that helps us live.
Saves
from what?
It saves me from being trapped
in the bondage of sin and death. Sin came into the world because of one
man, Adam and sin was destroyed because of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.
Now I know I can live victoriously because of the ransom paid in Blood
by Jesus on the Cross of Calvary to redeem me when I yield to Him. I
need His help to yield to Him always just as the disciples needed Jesus'
help.
It also saves me from wrong
teachings that I can be susceptible too if I am not focusing on Christ!
So, I thank the Lord for reminding me that the TEACHINGS I LEARN,
RECEIVE, HEAR, and SEE should always be BIBLICALLY SOUND.
Once I start using a LOVING
RESPONSE as an excuse for ABSOLUTE MORAL STANDARDS of GOD, then I start
SMUDGING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
That means as one example, I
cannot promote a HOMOSEXUAL SUPPORT GROUP that exists to give a haven
for PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALITY even though that will be seen as a LOVING
RESPONSE by the world.
But at
what expense?
It is at the expense of GIVING
UP ABSOLUTE MORAL STANDARDS OF GOD.
Lest it be misunderstood, I am
not saying NOT GIVING A LOVING RESPONSE ACCORDING TO THE WORLD'S
STANDARDS IS HATING.
There is not supposed to be
ANY HATE towards a person but towards their sin. That is what Jesus was
all about and so should we.
God is clear about
HOMOSEXUALITY, ADULTERY, FORNICATION, LYING, CHEATING, ETC
I don't see ADULTERY SUPPORT
GROUPS, FORNICATION SUPPORT GROUPS, LYING SUPPORT GROUPS, ETC because
they are as wrong as HOMOSEXUALITY IS WRONG but sadly we have
HOMOSEXUALITY SUPPORT GROUPS which is so sad.
Now a GODLY SUPPORT GROUP will
be EXODUS INTERNATIONAL. That is a LOVING RESPONSE THAT HOLDS TO GOD'S
STANDARDS. There they help people come out of homosexuality.
A loving response is always
accepting the person but not the sin. When my pastor addresses sins of
my life, he still accepts me as a person but not the sin that can
destroy quickly or sometimes slowly. Then we are eventually in the
wilderness away from the ABUNDANT LIFE Christ has prepared for us.
Even if homosexuality is how
people are born into, it does not mean, that person has to remain there
but can leave the lifestyle and find joy in Christ! If someone is born a
Crack-Addict, we don't let him remain there by providing a support group
to support his actions but DETOXIFICATION is begun even though it is a
struggle and painful.
Why should any of us think
that following Christ should be easy because it will not be easy when we
succumb to the standards of the world and not yield to Christ submitting
our lives over to Him. Then, we will experience His peace.
Jesus
said, "My peace I give you, my Peace is not like the peace the world
gives, so DON'T BE TROUBLED OR AFRAID" (John 14:26)
Jesus
said, I will not leave you as orphans in the storm but I will come to
you! (John 14)
Jesus will help us fight our
battles and we do not have to do it alone. A LOVING RESPONSE should never
be a substitute for GOING AGAINST GOD'S STANDARDS.
But the Good News is, that
because His standards are so high, we realize how futile we are and how
hopeless our living a victorious life apart from the Spirit of Christ
working in us can be. The Spirit of the Living God will work in us and
through us as we choose to submit and surrender our lives over to Him
even if we are guilty of the sins mentioned above but not limited to
those.
I know of those who have
HOMOSEXUAL TENDENCIES or even PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALS, whose life has
been transformed and turned around because they YIELDED TO THE SAVING
POWER OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
This does not mean there will
not be pain or struggle. A Christian will struggle to overcome a
weakness but it does not have to be done alone but with the help of
Jesus Christ through His Word, Prayer, His community of believers and
His Spirit working in that person.
I struggle a lot and need to
constantly focus on Christ not to yield to the things of the flesh. My
sin is not homosexuality but I have other sins I struggle with that are
still seen as sin in the eyes of the Lord. His moral standards is for
everyone. I am as guilty as the person who gets his support from
homosexual support group because of my own sins.
God's loving response to me is
not to LET ME LIVE IN MY SIN. God wants to get me out of sinful
attitudes, areas, etc. He has been using mostly my mommy, Pastor Hugo,
and Edwin to help me work through those.
It is so assuring to know, our
Salvation is found in Christ who makes a way for us to live for Him by
His Saving and Living Grace. That means, when we belong to Him, He will
convict us of our COMPLAINING, COVETOUS, DOUBTFUL, CRITICAL, and
REBELLIOUS attitude.
I need to be TRANSFORMED BY
THE LORD and never substitute a LOVING RESPONSE to take place of GOD'S
MORAL ABSOLUTE STANDARDS. A loving response can be like yeast yielding
to danger if I am not careful.
I ask you now dear friend, what has yeast done to you in your life?
Dear friend, Jesus specifically warned the disciples to be careful and
watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod. This alone should
let us know if we are not careful and watch out what we are doing in our
Christian walk, instead of adhering to the teachings of Jesus and
realizing what Jesus can do for us, we will succumb ourselves to the
teachings of the Pharisees and Herod. Those teachings will cause
emotional disturbance, perturbation, and controversy for our lives.
Jesus wanted the disciples to focus so much on Him because He has the
answers to life so Jesus gives them a warning about the Pharisees he had
just left. Now Jesus did not want the disciples to go that path nor does
He want you to go that path.
Yeast can hurt you if you are
not careful. This same yeast can make you addictive to the teachings of
wrong doctrine, etc and once you submerse yourself there then you will
let it grow and eventually it will cause emotional disturbance. Yeast
can turn to an infection affecting your life so it is so important to be
focused on Jesus and His teachings and being careful to the teachings of
those like the Pharisees and Herod even to this day. For there will be
people like the Pharisees and Herod who will cross our path like they
did Jesus' and the disciples.
Jesus knows what people
like the Pharisees, etc can do to our walk with Him. So, He warned the
disciples and through His Word is warning us too.
Anything I share with you all,
you need to test it with God's Word because anything I share that is
contradictory to God's entire Word from Genesis - Revelation should not
be followed. I say Genesis - Revelation because many times people have a
tendency to pick and choose Scripture that satisfies their belief in
certain teachings but God's Word is not there to pick and choose. His
entire Word is inspired by God to teach us, rebuke
us, correct us, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every
good work! (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
We need to hold on to the
teachings of the Word of God and not to the traditions of men. God's
Word will transform us and lead us. When we do that the yeast cannot
touch us.
There are 3 common views of
Scripture and only one is right:
1. Bible is the Word of God (Evangelical and biblical yielding to feast)
2. Bible becomes the Word of God. (unbiblical view yielding to yeast)
3. Bible contains the Word of God. (unbiblical view yield to yeast)
Once we get succumbed into the
yeast then we will also be succumbed away from the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and that is dangerous. For only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can
save us and transform us. It is the saving power of Jesus and His
miraculous work from the time of His birth to His death and resurrection
that saves us when we turn to Him in our shortcomings and failures.
There is no doubt, we all have
fallen short of the glory of God and it is by grace we have been saved
through faith. To hold on to that, we need to believe that Salvation is
a gift of grace and going the path of the Pharisees or Herod will not
save us.
It is Christ's blood on the
cross that was shed for you and me that saves us when we realize how
wretched we are and allow Christ to come in and take over the deed to
our filthy house so He can clean it and make us knew. It is His saving
Grace that also helps us LIVE BY HIS GRACE.
Yeast can be prevented in our
lives when we allow JESUS CHRIST TO SANCTIFY US. Praise the Lord!
May you come to experience the
love of Christ in your own life and His teachings alone to save you.
This means whatever someone preaches or teaches whether they are a
pastor, priest, teacher of the law as the Pharisees were, a reverend,
etc, their teachings must be tested by the Word of God. If their
teachings are contrary to God's Word, then you should not take it in and
that includes what I share with you all too.
"Yeast Escape, Always Savior
Trusting!" (Y.E.A.S.T)/"What has Y.E.A.S.T done to you?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for warning the disciples to be careful and
watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod when you knew they
were thinking about the bread they forgot. Oh Lord, thank you so much
for being so patient with them even when they kept forgetting what you
already did and can do. Thank you so much for being patient with us too
in your kindness and mercy when we forget your teachings and hold on to
our ways and become guilty as the Pharisees and Herod. We are sorry
Lord. Please Oh Lord for the glory and honor of Your Name, help us and
deliver us. Thank you so much Jesus. Hear our prayers and answer us Oh
Lord. Guide us and please lead us to always hold on to your teachings.
Thank you for dying for our sin and coming back to life to save us.
Thank you for shedding your blood for us and we are saved by your
Eternal grace. Thanks for your help! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!!
May
you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him
the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you
become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR,
JESUS CHRIST who comes to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How
do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
May
you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming
His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you.
Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.
If
you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a
daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be
alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them
come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to
wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as
you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart and finding your new
identity in Christ Jesus.
Make this your prayer. Don’t let
the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before
coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the
answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly.
Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!
Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking
you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you
though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to
Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer
will! Amen!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
