And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Luke 13:20, 21.
This parable illustrates the penetrating and assimilating power of the gospel, which is to fashion the church after the divine similitude by working on the hearts of the individual members. As the leaven operates on the meal, so the Holy Spirit operates on the human heart, absorbing all its capabilities and powers, bringing soul, body, and spirit into conformity to Christ.
In the parable the woman placed the leaven in the meal. It was necessary to supply a want. By this God would teach us that, of himself, man does not possess the properties of salvation. He cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. The truth must be received into the heart. Thus the divine leaven does its work. By its transforming, vitalizing power it produces a change in the heart. New thoughts, new feelings, new purposes are awakened. The mind is changed, the faculties are set to work. Man is not supplied with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience hitherto dead is aroused. But man cannot make this change himself. It can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All who would be saved, high or low, rich or poor, must submit to the working of this power.
This truth is presented in Christ’s words to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:3-8).
When our minds are controlled by the Spirit of God, we shall understand the lesson taught by the parable of the leaven. Those who open their hearts to receive the truth will realize that the Word of God is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character.—The Review and Herald, July 25, 1899
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 18
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Prayer Requests
—-E continues to need God’s leading. Please pray for her and her children. R
—-Prayers needed again for my father Randy who is still in the hospital, he’s very depressed and now battling Covid. He can only have one visitor for 1 hour a day. Louise
—-Please continue to pray for Sharon who had a stroke recently. Mike
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Dear Friends,
As a little girl, I would spend every evening with my grandfather, Edwin Harmon, as soon as he came home from work. I would beg for him to tell the same stories of his life. Sometimes he must have tired of repeating those familiar stories as occasionally he would tell me something new and different. One day in answer to my request for a story, he took a pad of paper and wrote something on it. Then he tore it off and threw it away. I thought that was very strange. He began to tell me a story that had happened to a friend of his in the early part of the last century. Then he took a soft lead pencil, tipped it to the side and began to color the paper softly. To my amazement, the message that my grandfather had written appeared.
When he had written a message on the pad of paper, the pressure of the pencil had affected the page underneath. That page, although seemly untouched, had taken on the impress of what was written above. When shaded lightly by the soft pencil, the message became clearly visible. Then he told me that if I ever needed to see what someone had written, I could do what he had just done.
He did not bring out any spiritual lesson in his story even though there is one. All that we do and say has an effect on those around us. In everything we are an example for good or for evil. In scientific studies, they have shown that a person takes on the characteristics of another after being around them for as little as ten minutes. That is something to ponder when we think of the friends we have, the programs we watch, the music we listen to. Paul gives us a rule with which to measure all we look at on TV, what we listen to on the radio, our words, and our associations with others, “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil 4:8 Peter adds, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:22-24
May we carefully guard the “avenues of the soul.” May we be “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation [conduct], in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1 Tim 4:12 May we so live that our words, our thoughts, our actions will affect those around us for the right, that they may be drawn to our Dear Saviour is my prayer.
Rose
Leaven in Our Heart