Yeast in the Dough
How many of you LOVE change? I mean, really enjoy it, look forward to it, think that change is the best thing on earth? Very few.
Yet, as much as we resist change – resistance is truly futile. Change happens. Look at the kids in this room – they are constantly changing.
At a deeper level, to be a Christian is to welcome change. For God has a plan for each and every one of us, and in order for His plan to be fulfilled, we must be changed. If we are going to cooperate with God in making us fully into what we were created to be, we must be changed. And the transformation that He is doing in our lives is complete, and begins deep within and works it way outward.
Look at Luke 13:20 - Jesus is trying to help us understand the true nature of God’s Kingdom.
"…What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem." Luke 13:20-22
• Some think that the Kingdom of God is about political power.
• Others think it is all about imposing legalistic morality upon people.
• Others think that God’s Kingdom is about simply providing good feelings & eternal security.
But Jesus says… “It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
Yeast in the dough. Interesting analogy. (Pass out bread dough to kids)
What does YEAST in the dough do?
• It permeates everything it touches. No part of the dough is left untouched.
• It causes the dough to rise up, in order that it might become a wonderful, airy loaf of bread.
What IS Yeast?
• Yeast is a living micro-organism the creates massive changes in the right environment. If you have flour, sugar, water and yeast – at the right temperature – you’ll soon have bread!
And Jesus says: “Do you want to know what my Kingdom is like? It is like yeast in the dough.”
What does this mean to me?
• It means that you are the dough and that He is the yeast!
• When you accepted Christ into your life, you welcomed His LIFE into yours. And the result is that nothing can remain the same! His life, in yours, changes everything!
We’ve discovered the fact that we – as human beings – are made up of three distinct parts: Body, soul and spirit. When Christ – the yeast – comes into you – the dough – He intends to change all three of those parts.
1. Christ changes your SPIRIT.
Your spirit is what was made in the image of God. Your spirit was designed to be in fellowship with God, but when sin entered your life, your spirit was corrupted, cut off and killed.
When Jesus comes into your life, He makes three major changes in your spirit:
A. Christ gives you a LIVING SPIRIT. – Ephesians 2:4-5
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4, 5
Before you came to Christ, your spirit – the connecting point between you and your Creator – was dead in sin. You couldn’t connect with God. You couldn’t hear His voice. The lines of communication were dead. But, because of God’s great mercy and love – He reopened your spirit. He renewed what was dead – and made you alive again!
Anything you now feel about God, is because Christ gave you a LIVING SPIRIT.
B. Christ gives you an ETERNAL SPIRIT. – Titus 3:7
"so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:7
“HAVING THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE…” – Here’s the truth: You will never die. The true you lives for ever. Sure, your body will wear out and die, but you will live forever! So many people in this life on earth focus on making a name for themselves, on finding some purpose, some sense of significance – but here’s your significance: You will – from the moment of faith on – live forever with Christ in glory!
I don’t understand much about heaven. I don’t understand what it will mean to be free from the effects of sin and death. I don’t understand what it will mean to not be limited by the clock. But, I know that God promises that in heaven there will not be suffering and there will not be tears, and there will not be death – and so for now – I worship Him.
My life matters because my life is eternal. And Christ is the one who makes this possible: He gives me an ETERNAL SPIRIT.
C. Christ gives you a HOLY SPIRIT. – Acts 2:17-18
""‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." Acts 2:17, 18
Here’s one of the most significant changes that occurs when you come to Christ: He puts Himself in you. Christ gives me His Holy Spirit to live in me, to guide me and to empower me!
I am, able in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible, if doing the impossible will accomplish the purposes and will of God! When you try to overcome challenges in your own strength – how does it work out? But there is not one situation in life that I cannot overcome, because I am baptized in the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit. This is a major change: I have been given, His Holy Spirit.
Change may not be so bad after all. Living Spirit, Eternal Spirit, Holy Spirit. But there’s more…
2. Christ changes your BODY.
Before I came to Christ, and submitted myself to Him, allowing Him to change my spirit, my physical body could do nothing but sin. No matter what, I sinned. I lusted, I coveted, I protected, I went after what I wanted to go after, regardless of what it was.
My body was in control of my life. Which, if you think about it, makes me no different than an animal.
But, that was before the change. That was before Christ.
Romans 6:13-14 says…
"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Romans 6:13, 14
Look what has happened:
1. Your body has been bought by Christ.
2. Your body is now being offered to Christ as an instrument of righteousness.
3. Your body no longer answers to sin as the Master.
When you and I walk in the power of our renewed and changed spirits, the Holy Spirit overflows into our bodies and empowers us to live free from sin. That’s new. We aren’t slaves to sin any longer. We may still sin, but sin is not our master. Christ is.
Sounds like a good change to me.
3. Christ changes your SOUL.
Prior to coming to Christ, our souls were very messed up. Our minds were scattered, our emotions were all over the map, and our wills didn’t know which way to go. But when you allow Christ access, He changes your soul.
1 Corinthians 2:16 says… “…we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16
The longer you walk with Christ, the more you will think like Christ. He changes your mind.
Philippians 4:7 says… “"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
When you walk with Christ, He gives you peace. Your emotions are guarded and protected by His Presence. When you call upon His name in faith, He gives you His peace. You can count on it – and most of you have experienced it.
As we do this, we then can take James 4:7 to heart as well…
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7
For as we find our peace in Him, we are more willing to submit to Him. And as our lives align more and more with Him, the devil doesn’t have the influence in our lives that he used to have, and so he moves on to more receptive ground.
Christ centered change look like a new mind, emotions at peace, and a will that is submitted.
CONCLUSION:
When the yeast works into the dough, the transformation is thorough and complete. Every part of the dough is changed.
When Christ comes into your life, His intent is clear: He plans to change you 100%. Every part of our lives needs the touch of Christ.
In Jesus’ parable we need to know who the characters are:
• The yeast is Christ.
• The woman is the Church – kneeding the yeast into the dough.
• The dough is People – welcoming the life-changing presence of Christ into our lives.
This week I was journaling, and the Lord spoke a prophetic word into my life… I’d like to share it with you:
“Doug, I am working my purposes into your life. This time is crucial. Stand in it with me. You are loved, deeply and I will waste nothing. You are to keep looking to me. I will lead. Your assignment is to be YEAST IN THE DOUGH. Alive, below the surface, looking insignificant, but yeast changes the dough. There is coming a season of rising. The dough will rise. Stay in the dough. Stand firm in me. Fight the enemy. Seek my face. I will do what I will do. And my will is superior to anything you might seek to create. Blessed are you, Doug. Few pastors in this era will undergo as thorough a transformation as you are, and fewer still will have a congregation that will stand with them through the change. This change over time will alter everything in ministry. You will see. You will not be disappointed. Trust me. Stay in it with me. I am that author of all of this. It was my idea and I have what it takes to pull it off. You just stay listening, abiding, trusting. I will do it. Do you believe? I know you do. Stand firm.”
Change isn’t a bad thing. Not when Christ is the author of it.
Yet, as much as we resist change – resistance is truly futile. Change happens. Look at the kids in this room – they are constantly changing.
At a deeper level, to be a Christian is to welcome change. For God has a plan for each and every one of us, and in order for His plan to be fulfilled, we must be changed. If we are going to cooperate with God in making us fully into what we were created to be, we must be changed. And the transformation that He is doing in our lives is complete, and begins deep within and works it way outward.
Look at Luke 13:20 - Jesus is trying to help us understand the true nature of God’s Kingdom.
"…What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem." Luke 13:20-22
• Some think that the Kingdom of God is about political power.
• Others think it is all about imposing legalistic morality upon people.
• Others think that God’s Kingdom is about simply providing good feelings & eternal security.
But Jesus says… “It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
Yeast in the dough. Interesting analogy. (Pass out bread dough to kids)
What does YEAST in the dough do?
• It permeates everything it touches. No part of the dough is left untouched.
• It causes the dough to rise up, in order that it might become a wonderful, airy loaf of bread.
What IS Yeast?
• Yeast is a living micro-organism the creates massive changes in the right environment. If you have flour, sugar, water and yeast – at the right temperature – you’ll soon have bread!
And Jesus says: “Do you want to know what my Kingdom is like? It is like yeast in the dough.”
What does this mean to me?
• It means that you are the dough and that He is the yeast!
• When you accepted Christ into your life, you welcomed His LIFE into yours. And the result is that nothing can remain the same! His life, in yours, changes everything!
We’ve discovered the fact that we – as human beings – are made up of three distinct parts: Body, soul and spirit. When Christ – the yeast – comes into you – the dough – He intends to change all three of those parts.
1. Christ changes your SPIRIT.
Your spirit is what was made in the image of God. Your spirit was designed to be in fellowship with God, but when sin entered your life, your spirit was corrupted, cut off and killed.
When Jesus comes into your life, He makes three major changes in your spirit:
A. Christ gives you a LIVING SPIRIT. – Ephesians 2:4-5
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4, 5
Before you came to Christ, your spirit – the connecting point between you and your Creator – was dead in sin. You couldn’t connect with God. You couldn’t hear His voice. The lines of communication were dead. But, because of God’s great mercy and love – He reopened your spirit. He renewed what was dead – and made you alive again!
Anything you now feel about God, is because Christ gave you a LIVING SPIRIT.
B. Christ gives you an ETERNAL SPIRIT. – Titus 3:7
"so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:7
“HAVING THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE…” – Here’s the truth: You will never die. The true you lives for ever. Sure, your body will wear out and die, but you will live forever! So many people in this life on earth focus on making a name for themselves, on finding some purpose, some sense of significance – but here’s your significance: You will – from the moment of faith on – live forever with Christ in glory!
I don’t understand much about heaven. I don’t understand what it will mean to be free from the effects of sin and death. I don’t understand what it will mean to not be limited by the clock. But, I know that God promises that in heaven there will not be suffering and there will not be tears, and there will not be death – and so for now – I worship Him.
My life matters because my life is eternal. And Christ is the one who makes this possible: He gives me an ETERNAL SPIRIT.
C. Christ gives you a HOLY SPIRIT. – Acts 2:17-18
""‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." Acts 2:17, 18
Here’s one of the most significant changes that occurs when you come to Christ: He puts Himself in you. Christ gives me His Holy Spirit to live in me, to guide me and to empower me!
I am, able in the power of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible, if doing the impossible will accomplish the purposes and will of God! When you try to overcome challenges in your own strength – how does it work out? But there is not one situation in life that I cannot overcome, because I am baptized in the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit. This is a major change: I have been given, His Holy Spirit.
Change may not be so bad after all. Living Spirit, Eternal Spirit, Holy Spirit. But there’s more…
2. Christ changes your BODY.
Before I came to Christ, and submitted myself to Him, allowing Him to change my spirit, my physical body could do nothing but sin. No matter what, I sinned. I lusted, I coveted, I protected, I went after what I wanted to go after, regardless of what it was.
My body was in control of my life. Which, if you think about it, makes me no different than an animal.
But, that was before the change. That was before Christ.
Romans 6:13-14 says…
"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." Romans 6:13, 14
Look what has happened:
1. Your body has been bought by Christ.
2. Your body is now being offered to Christ as an instrument of righteousness.
3. Your body no longer answers to sin as the Master.
When you and I walk in the power of our renewed and changed spirits, the Holy Spirit overflows into our bodies and empowers us to live free from sin. That’s new. We aren’t slaves to sin any longer. We may still sin, but sin is not our master. Christ is.
Sounds like a good change to me.
3. Christ changes your SOUL.
Prior to coming to Christ, our souls were very messed up. Our minds were scattered, our emotions were all over the map, and our wills didn’t know which way to go. But when you allow Christ access, He changes your soul.
1 Corinthians 2:16 says… “…we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16
The longer you walk with Christ, the more you will think like Christ. He changes your mind.
Philippians 4:7 says… “"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
When you walk with Christ, He gives you peace. Your emotions are guarded and protected by His Presence. When you call upon His name in faith, He gives you His peace. You can count on it – and most of you have experienced it.
As we do this, we then can take James 4:7 to heart as well…
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7
For as we find our peace in Him, we are more willing to submit to Him. And as our lives align more and more with Him, the devil doesn’t have the influence in our lives that he used to have, and so he moves on to more receptive ground.
Christ centered change look like a new mind, emotions at peace, and a will that is submitted.
CONCLUSION:
When the yeast works into the dough, the transformation is thorough and complete. Every part of the dough is changed.
When Christ comes into your life, His intent is clear: He plans to change you 100%. Every part of our lives needs the touch of Christ.
In Jesus’ parable we need to know who the characters are:
• The yeast is Christ.
• The woman is the Church – kneeding the yeast into the dough.
• The dough is People – welcoming the life-changing presence of Christ into our lives.
This week I was journaling, and the Lord spoke a prophetic word into my life… I’d like to share it with you:
“Doug, I am working my purposes into your life. This time is crucial. Stand in it with me. You are loved, deeply and I will waste nothing. You are to keep looking to me. I will lead. Your assignment is to be YEAST IN THE DOUGH. Alive, below the surface, looking insignificant, but yeast changes the dough. There is coming a season of rising. The dough will rise. Stay in the dough. Stand firm in me. Fight the enemy. Seek my face. I will do what I will do. And my will is superior to anything you might seek to create. Blessed are you, Doug. Few pastors in this era will undergo as thorough a transformation as you are, and fewer still will have a congregation that will stand with them through the change. This change over time will alter everything in ministry. You will see. You will not be disappointed. Trust me. Stay in it with me. I am that author of all of this. It was my idea and I have what it takes to pull it off. You just stay listening, abiding, trusting. I will do it. Do you believe? I know you do. Stand firm.”
Change isn’t a bad thing. Not when Christ is the author of it.
posted by Doug Love at 8:56 AM
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