ISSUE: #39

MEM

Message

Following the Passover are the Days of Unleavened Bread. Though these days are past for this year, it is never too late to put leavening out of our life. Most followers of Messiah understand that to put leavening out of our homes, represents putting sin out of our lives.

It is easy to recognize the obvious sins given to us in Scripture. Paul lists some of them in his writing to the Galatians (5: 19-21) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We need to be on guard concerning the sin of omission (knowing to do good and doing it not) as well as the sins of co-mission (doing what we know is wrong).

Other forms of leavening can be less recognizable; Yeshua warned his disciples to beware of the leavening of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6). In verse 12 it is recorded: Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Also in Luke 12:1 …He began saying to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

With this in mind read the following prayer from a recent e-mail:

Can we see when we or others are being lead astray by doctrines and teachings that oppose the way of Truth? Is our life one of hypocrisy? Ask our loving Father to give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and the wisdom of Yeshua that will cry out against the leaven in ourselves first, and then others.

"Father forgive us for our acceptance of subtle and outright sin. Purge the leavening from our lives and make us like our Savior and King, Yeshua the Messiah. Blessed be your name"

Be sure to read the children’s story. It also is an e-mail I received which portrays how we may allow a little leavening into our lives and because of wanting to be well liked by our children we allow just a little leavening into their lives.

Proverb

Proverbs 5:22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. (NLT)

Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at sin…

Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.

Proverbs 24:9 The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

Saying (s)

If we believe ourselves to be victims, we become victims to justify our belief. If we believe ourselves to be responsible and capable, we become responsible and capable to justify our belief. And in both cases, we reap the results – or the excuses – that our attitudes create for us. Stephen R. Covey

For as he thinks within himself, so he is… Solomon Proverbs 23:7

Bible Quiz

1. What did the soldiers offer Yeshua while He was on the cross?
2. What are the two elements of the Lord’s Supper (Passover)?
3. Where was Ben-Hadad king?
4. What reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life?
5. Why did Moses remove his sandals at the burning bush?
6. What king was hidden in the temple for the first six years of his life?
7. Who said, "If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man"?

Humility

The life of those who are saved, the saints, must bear this stamp of deliverance from sin and full restoration to their original state, their whole relationship to God and to man marked by an all-pervading humility. Without this there can be no true abiding in God’s presence…. Andrew Murray

Leavening gets into our lives because we are not diligently watching, not being alert to the forces of darkness, we fail to have a healthy abiding relationship with Elohim.

The humility Andrew Murray is speaking about is seeing ourselves in the eyes of our Creator. We have sinned, we tend to sin; we need to empty ourselves of self and allow the love of Yeshua to empower us to be lights, glorifying Him and not self. When self is at work we are deceived by the influence of the powers of darkness. We will soon think good is evil and evil good. Do not stumble around in the works of the flesh but rather humbly submit to the cleansing power of Yeshua.

Did you know:

Cathy Rigby was a member of the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team in the 1972 Olympics at Munich, and she had only one goal in mind - to win the gold medal. She had trained hard over a long period.

On the day she was scheduled to perform, she prayed for the strength and the control to get through her routine without making mistakes. She was tense with determination not to let herself or her country down.

She performed well, but when it was all over and the winners were announced, her name was not among them.

Cathy was crushed. Afterward, she joined her parents in the stands all set for a good cry. As she sat down, she could barely manage to say, "I’m sorry. I did my best."

"You know that, and I know that," her mother said, "and I’m sure God knows that too." Then. Cathy recalls, her mother said 10 words that she has never forgotten: "Doing your best is more important than being the best."

Lighter Side

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her
car, found four males in her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!" The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like mad. 
 
The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then it finally dawned on her the reason why. A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station. 
 
The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed. 
 

Children’s Story

In place of the story about Pierre we have decided to post a recent e-mail. Please consider the influence a little leavening can have in the lives of our children. A little leaven leavens the whole lump …..

Subject:  A Little Leaven

Some years ago when I was a pastor,  I walked into my church office after a Sunday morning service to find a sandwich bag on my desk containing three chocolate brownies.  Some thoughtful and anonymous saint who knew my love for chocolate had placed them there, along with a piece of paper that had a short story written on it.  I immediately sat down and began eating the first brownie as I read the following story:

Two teenagers asked their father if they could go the theater to watch a movie that all their friends had seen.  After reading some reviews about the movie on the internet, he denied their request.

"Aw dad, why not?" they complained.  "It's rated PG-13, and we're both older than thirteen!"

Dad replied: "Because that movie contains nudity and portrays immorality, which is something that God hates, as being normal and acceptable behavior."

"But dad, those are just very small parts of the movie!  That's what our friends who've seen it have told us.  The movie is two hours long and those scenes are just a few minutes of the total film!  It's based on a true story, and good triumphs over evil, and there are other redeeming themes like courage and self-sacrifice.  Even the Christian movie review websites say that!"

"My answer is 'no,' and that is my final answer.  You are welcome to stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over, and watch one of the good videos we have in our home collection.  But you will not go and watch that film.  End of discussion."

The two teenagers walked dejectedly into the family room and slumped down on the couch.  As they sulked, they were surprised to hear the sounds of their father preparing something in the kitchen.  They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven, and one of the teenagers said to the other, "Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he's going to try to make it up to us with some fresh brownies. Maybe we can soften him with lots of praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let us go to that movie after all."

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the sandwich bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was eating and the brownies in the story.  I kept reading...

The teens were not disappointed.  Soon their father appeared with a plate of warm brownies which he offered to his kids. They each took one.

Then their father said, "Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you both so much."

The teenagers smiled at each other with knowing glances.  Dad was softening.

"That is why I've made these brownies with the very best ingredients. I've made them from scratch.  Most of the ingredients are even organic. The best organic flour. The best free-range eggs.  The best organic sugar.  Premium vanilla and chocolate."

The brownies looked mouth-watering, and the teens began to become a little impatient with their dad's long speech.

"But I want to be perfectly honest with you.  There is one ingredient I added that is not usually found in brownies.  I got that ingredient from our own back yard.  But you needn't worry, because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your brownies.  The amount of the portion is practically insignificant.  So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think."

"Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is before we eat?"

"Why?  The portion I added was so small.  Just a teaspoonful.  You won't even taste it."

"Come on, dad, just tell us what that ingredient is."

"Don't worry!  It is organic, just like the other ingredients."

"Dad!"

"Well, OK, if you insist.  That secret ingredient is organic...dog poop."

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out into the waste basket by my desk.  I continued reading, now fearful of  the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and began inspecting their fingers with horror.

"DAD!  Why did you do that?  You've tortured us by making us smell  those brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell us that  you added dog poop!  We can't eat these brownies!"

"Why not?  The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest of the ingredients.  It won't hurt you.  It's been cooked right along with the other ingredients.  You won't even taste it.  It has the same consistency as the brownies.  Go ahead and eat!"

"No, Dad...NEVER!"

"And that is the same reason I won't allow you to go watch that movie. You won't tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality in your movies?  We pray that God will not lead us unto temptation, so how can we in good conscience entertain ourselves with something that will imprint a sinful image in our minds that will lead us into temptation long after we first see it?

I discarded what remained of the second brownie as well as the entire untouched third brownie.  What had been irresistible a minute ago had become detestable.  And only because of the very slim chance that what I was eating was slightly polluted.  (Surely it wasn't...but I couldn't convince myself.)

What a good lesson about purity!  Why do we tolerate any sin?  

On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every bit of leaven from their homes.  Sin is like leaven-a little bit leavens the whole lump (1 Corinthians  5:6).  Jesus, "our Passover" (1 Corinthians  5:7), and sin, don't mix.

"A Little Leaven", an article on compromise ©2007 David Servant and ShepherdServe.org. Used by permission.
Note: STT is not associated with or specifically endorses shepherdserve.org however this article has real value. We have placed this credit and link here at their request.

Quiz Answers

1. Wine vinegar - Luke 23:36

2. Bread and the cup (Unleavened Bread and wine) - 1Corithians 11:23-26

3. Aram (Syria) - 1Kings 20:1

4. Grace - Romans 5:21

5. God told him to because it was holy ground - Exodus 3:3-5

6. Joab - 1Kings 1:19

7. Samson - Judges 16:17