Many, many years ago, so long in fact that it seems like eons, I was asked,
along with several other church members, to go up to the altar to pray for those
who went forward for prayer. I agreed, but unfortunately, my heart was not in
it. I kept on thinking, "Who am I to pray for the needs of others? I'm a nobody.
I don't deserve to be at the front of the church!"
My problem was that I had a completely erroneous belief system. To me, only
those called by God to receive the gift of healing should be asked to go forward
and pray, and just like Moses and Gideon, my reaction was, "Not me Lord!" What
was really happening, however, is that I was missing out on opportunities to
help others experience my Father fully.
That all changed one day. A man came forward and asked me to pray for his hurt
knee. I did, and when I finished my prayer, he looked me in the eye and said:
"You don't know how much I appreciate you praying for me."
I left the altar puzzled. I was able to bless someone by my prayers! I realized
then that God had come through big time for me. Eventually I discovered that
through Him I can do all things; not on my own merits, but on His! And
eventually, this led me to pursuing His Holy Spirit fully.
My thoughts and my beliefs will determine how I interact with the Kingdom of my
Heavenly Father. We will act according to our beliefs. Healing and miracles will
occur when we stand by our Father, trusting Him fully. Jesus confirms this when
He said: "The kingdom of heaven is like
yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it
worked all through the dough." (Matt 13:33b, NIV2)
Whenever my wife adds yeast to dough, I am always mesmerized to see the bread
rise in such amazing proportions. Not all breads react the same way, however.
One day I wanted to surprise my wife by baking raisin bread for her. I did
everything by what I had learned from observing my wife, but my bread never
rose. I ended up with raisin bread cookies. I was so disillusioned!
My wife was excited that I had tried to surprise her, but her first question
surprised me: "Did you put yeast in the bread?"
"Yeast?"
Without healthy yeast, no bread will ever rise.
But is all yeast good?
Not at all. According to Jesus, there are yeasts that will leave us wanting.
While on a boat, the disciples realized that they had forgotten to bring bread.
They had but one loaf with them, not enough to sustain them when hungry.
Suddenly Jesus declared: "Be careful . . . Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees
and that of Herod." (Mark 8:15, NIV2)
Immediately the disciples concluded: "It is because we have no bread." (Mark
8:16b, NIV2)
That would have been my answer as well, back when I felt that I was a nobody in
faith. I would deserve the same reprimand that Jesus gave them: "'Why are you
talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your
hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?
And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how
many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?' 'Twelve,' they replied. 'And when I
broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did
you pick up?' They answered, 'Seven.' He said to them, 'Do you still not
understand?'" (Mark 8:17-21, NIV2)
The disciple had experienced these miracles first hand. They were the ones who
had handed the bread to thousands of people who were hungry, and amazingly they
never ran out of food. It had been a true miracle. Still, they missed the point
completely. Their hearts were still quite hardened, just like me when I wondered
why I had been chosen to pray for others.
In the Bible, Jesus actually refers to three kinds of leaven. The first one is
real yeast that makes bread rise. The other two yeasts are Herod's yeast and the
yeast of the Pharisees, and these are the two yeasts that we have to be aware
of, for these will destroy any inkling of faith. Their influence will rob us
from the nutrients necessary to move mountains. It all comes down to what kind
of yeast we use.
I, along with the disciples, had been influenced by the bad yeast. Our hearts
had been hardened by these influences. Next time we will discover what is meant
by each of these types of yeast. In the meantime, I would encourage anyone who
read this to prayerfully consider what this truly means. You will be quite
astonished, for God will lead you to victory. May our hearts be pure, and may we
not be influenced by ineffective yeast. After all, we don't want to end up as
flat bread!
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.