Blinded by Material Matters

"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread." Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked 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 8:15-21

Jesus is warning the disciples here about spiritual matters, about the spiritual warfare that is happening during Jesus’ ministry whereas the Pharisees are trying to create doubt, discontent and agitation among the follower’s of Jesus in order to bring Him down and stop the building of His Kingdom. The disciples however are blinded and do not understand what Jesus is talking about, even in the midst of recent miracles performed before their very eyes, their hearts continue to be consumed with present, worldly, physical cares such as not having enough bread to eat, when Jesus had time and time again proven that He has the power from heaven to meet their every need. Today, what is the condition of your heart? What is your mind being consumed with? Is your mind being saturated by present concerns through which our Lord has promised to carry you? Hasn’t your Father been there for you in the past? Don’t you remember the miracles that He has already performed in your life, how He has forgiven you and loved you unconditionally; how He has met your needs of old and restored your relationship with Him and with family and friends; how He has healed your broken heart and physical ailments; how He has so graciously given you that peace that passes all understanding and that great joy that is unexplainable and yet a very real part of your life? Jesus is asking you today to set the temporal matters of this life aside, to let Him worry about meeting your needs and to set your sights on the Spiritual battle that is happening all around you for the redemption of human hearts and to discover what role you are to play in this much more important and eternal matter of how God would use you today to reflect His love to others in order that you could act out, in a very real way, God’s purpose for your life. Don’t let the enemy blind you today with unimportant issues when God has already proven that He can and will handle those in your life, instead, tune in to His Spirit who is begging for your attention in order that you too could be used by God!

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