Encouraging God #2
A ruler of the synagogue, Jairus (meaning, whom God enlightens) came to see Jesus, he fell at his feet and asked Jesus to come to his house to pray for his daughter.
Then the woman who was suffering from bleeding for 12 years came up to Jesus to touch his fringe. Jesus was on his way to Jairus' house. The crowd was around him. The disciples were with him. Jesus stopped, looked around, and took time talking to this woman! What if I were Jairus? Ahhhh... 'Excuse me, but my daughter is dying, we don't have much time. Jesus needs to be there now, please..." Then I am not sure if I could be happy for this woman who was healed. Because someone from the house came and reported that Jairus' daughter died... while he was spending some time with this woman. Jesus was on his way to his house. I would have cried with such a disappointment. I don't see how Jairus reacted. A woman who suffered for 12 years was healed. But Jairus' 12 year old daughter died.
But Jesus is not restricted by the time frame. He was not too late.
Beth Moore said this in her "Beloved Disciple."
"A loved one's death is not a time to quit bothering Jesus." "He doesn't have our limitations or rationalizations. Has a death left you with unfinished business? Finish it with Jesus."
When I was doing the study last year my aunt passed away. These words from Beth Moore in the textbook was very encouraging to me. We don't know what happened to the loved ones who passed away without Jesus but we can bother Jesus about it until He gives us peace. I don't have the answer, but I pray until I have peace with Jesus. Beth's words gave me renewed confidence in Jesus.
Sometimes we think we were pushed aside but Jesus never forgets about us. He is never too late. He makes a way where there seems to be no way... Jesus raised the girl from the dead.
Then the woman who was suffering from bleeding for 12 years came up to Jesus to touch his fringe. Jesus was on his way to Jairus' house. The crowd was around him. The disciples were with him. Jesus stopped, looked around, and took time talking to this woman! What if I were Jairus? Ahhhh... 'Excuse me, but my daughter is dying, we don't have much time. Jesus needs to be there now, please..." Then I am not sure if I could be happy for this woman who was healed. Because someone from the house came and reported that Jairus' daughter died... while he was spending some time with this woman. Jesus was on his way to his house. I would have cried with such a disappointment. I don't see how Jairus reacted. A woman who suffered for 12 years was healed. But Jairus' 12 year old daughter died.
But Jesus is not restricted by the time frame. He was not too late.
Beth Moore said this in her "Beloved Disciple."
"A loved one's death is not a time to quit bothering Jesus." "He doesn't have our limitations or rationalizations. Has a death left you with unfinished business? Finish it with Jesus."
When I was doing the study last year my aunt passed away. These words from Beth Moore in the textbook was very encouraging to me. We don't know what happened to the loved ones who passed away without Jesus but we can bother Jesus about it until He gives us peace. I don't have the answer, but I pray until I have peace with Jesus. Beth's words gave me renewed confidence in Jesus.
Sometimes we think we were pushed aside but Jesus never forgets about us. He is never too late. He makes a way where there seems to be no way... Jesus raised the girl from the dead.
leaven is leaven
The following is a quote from this site.
I have been thinking about this topic for a long time. Then last week as I came across a messianic website Then I suddenly remembered about one evening in 1988 or 1989 . A friend of mine came over to give me something in a container. I cannot remember what she called it, but it was a bread starter. It was like some bread dough in a small container. She told me to use it to bake some bread but to save a portion of the new batch before I baked a loaf of bread. She said that this bread dough started long ago (sort of like chain letters??) and it hadn't been broken. She wanted me to give the saved portion to someone else so that she could do the same and give a new portion to another person. Just like #2 of the Dictionary.com definition:
2. fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
It looks like Amish people do this.
Now I can understand the concept of not using the old batch into new batch a little more. Just like we are made a brand new christian when we believe in Jesus, the old cannot be there. We are brand new, born again. Just like we cannot put the new wine in the old skin. Our bread needs a brand new ingredients, not to be mixed with the old. Yeast does the function the bread starter. But the concept of 'old' can be better understood with the 'bread starter' method because if the yeast if everywhere in the air, I don't know which one is old.
Matthew 16:5-6 (King James Version)
5And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Here's my thoughts. My friends' bread starter got started long time ago and it continued, adding little more of the new batch. Jesus didn't want us to continue our old way like Pharisees and the Sadducees' traditions. The law is over.
Galatians 3:19 " Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people."
Our Father is so wonderful.
The word "yeast" comes from the Sanskrit 'yas' meaning "to seethe or boil". Yeast is a living organism and is in the air around us. It is a member of the fungus family and is a single-celled fungi of which there are about 160 different species. Baker's yeast as well as brewer's yeast belong to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae species. Louis Pasteur in the 1850's is credited with first discovering and understanding the fermentation process which led to the development and cultivation of the yeast we use today.
Baker's yeast, like baking powder and baking soda, is used to leavened baked goods
(breads, Danish pastries, brioche, croissants). The difference between these two leaveners is that baking powder/soda react chemically to produce the carbon dioxide that makes the baked goods rise. Yeast, on the other hand, is a living organism and the carbon dioxide it produces is the result of the yeast feeding on the dough.
leaven (according to dictionary.com)
–noun
1. a substance, as yeast or baking powder, that causes fermentation and expansion of dough or batter.
2. fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
3. an element that produces an altering or transforming influence.
I have been thinking about this topic for a long time. Then last week as I came across a messianic website Then I suddenly remembered about one evening in 1988 or 1989 . A friend of mine came over to give me something in a container. I cannot remember what she called it, but it was a bread starter. It was like some bread dough in a small container. She told me to use it to bake some bread but to save a portion of the new batch before I baked a loaf of bread. She said that this bread dough started long ago (sort of like chain letters??) and it hadn't been broken. She wanted me to give the saved portion to someone else so that she could do the same and give a new portion to another person. Just like #2 of the Dictionary.com definition:
2. fermented dough reserved for producing fermentation in a new batch of dough.
It looks like Amish people do this.
Now I can understand the concept of not using the old batch into new batch a little more. Just like we are made a brand new christian when we believe in Jesus, the old cannot be there. We are brand new, born again. Just like we cannot put the new wine in the old skin. Our bread needs a brand new ingredients, not to be mixed with the old. Yeast does the function the bread starter. But the concept of 'old' can be better understood with the 'bread starter' method because if the yeast if everywhere in the air, I don't know which one is old.
Matthew 16:5-6 (King James Version)
5And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Here's my thoughts. My friends' bread starter got started long time ago and it continued, adding little more of the new batch. Jesus didn't want us to continue our old way like Pharisees and the Sadducees' traditions. The law is over.
Galatians 3:19 " Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people."
Our Father is so wonderful.
neither root nor branch
It is scary to think 'what if I don't believe in God.' Where else shall I go? Not by emotion, but by knowing (hearing, reading, etc...) God from many possible ways I want to stay with God. The emotion is natural, God gave it to us. So where else shall I go? The LORD has the word of life! Fortunately I don't doubt that God loves me (Lord, let me keep the faith) because it is about His love coming to me totally, and nothing to do with my deeds or even my personality. God is love. So he loves even me. 
I read Malachi this week. 4:1 says, "For the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble; the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says Adonai-Tzva'ot, "and leave them neither root nor branch. (Complete Jewish Bible)
Adonai Tzva'ot = The LORD of hosts
The LORD is the Almighty God. This verse suddenly reminded me that He is the one who is in control! Is it bad to be happily grafted into the root? We should keep reading and studying the word of God in the Bible, and yet not be proud about discovering the root (Judaism) and dwell in the satisfying state that we are grafted into the olive tree, the root of Christianity. Some churches focus on evangelism and I see that we need the love they have towards the neighbors. God loves variety. Balance must be the key. Am I reading the word? Am I loving others???
Micah 6:8 (New International Version)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
I read Malachi this week. 4:1 says, "For the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble; the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says Adonai-Tzva'ot, "and leave them neither root nor branch. (Complete Jewish Bible)
Adonai Tzva'ot = The LORD of hosts
The LORD is the Almighty God. This verse suddenly reminded me that He is the one who is in control! Is it bad to be happily grafted into the root? We should keep reading and studying the word of God in the Bible, and yet not be proud about discovering the root (Judaism) and dwell in the satisfying state that we are grafted into the olive tree, the root of Christianity. Some churches focus on evangelism and I see that we need the love they have towards the neighbors. God loves variety. Balance must be the key. Am I reading the word? Am I loving others???
Micah 6:8 (New International Version)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
