Leaving Our Leaven Behind

[Albert Finch]

Matthew 16:6 -- "Watch out! Jesus warned them. 'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'"

Ephesians 1:17 -- "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him."

The Pharisees emphasized knowledge over revelation and their blatant disregard for God's voice. Of all the people that Jesus encountered, His harshest statements were toward the Pharisees and Sadducees. He called them "dead tombs" and a "brood of vipers"? They were more interested in asking provocative questions and they tried to justify themselves with their own so-called "knowledge" of the Old Testament. And because of their spritual ignorance, they missed out on the most important move of God in history -- the Messiah. They proved out the Scripture that says, "Where there is no vision (no redemptive revelation of God), the people perish." (Proverbs 28:18).

God wants to move us from living a life full of head knowledge into His understanding and His revelation. That takes us moving into a different spiritual posture. We have to start listening to what the HOLY SPIRIT is saying, waiting on Him and His revelation, and start walking that out instead of being satisfied with just knowing about it.

We need the reality of scripture working in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's the difference between knowledge and revelation. One HAS, the other DOES.

God is giving us the best opportunity of all: to work with the very Bread of Life and participate in what God is cooking. One of His requirements is just that we leave our leaven behind and follow His directions.

　

Affirmations

I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me the mysteries that are locked in scripture.

I hunger for and receive revelation as part of my everyday life.

I seek on-going, life-changing revelation from God.

On-going revelation and encounters with the power of God launch me into understanding of things I've never understood before.

I must have my own revelation from the Father of who Jesus is. I refuse to settle for a shallow mental understanding of Him.