{"id":37055,"date":"2025-08-20T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=37055"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:19:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T22:19:17","slug":"mark_8_14-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/mark_8_14-21\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Listen to Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark 8:14-21 \u00a0(CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is Mark 8:14-21.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 8:14-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Aware 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?
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.”
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-21: The disciples were concerned about how they had forgotten to bring bread with them on the boat (v14).\u00a0 So when Jesus says, \u201cWatch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod\u201d (v15), the disciples immediately assume that Jesus is talking to them about how they had no bread (v16).\u00a0 But Jesus wasn\u2019t rebuking them for not bringing bread.\u00a0 Jesus was warning them not to be influenced by \u201cthe yeast\u201d, that is the unbelief, of the Pharisees and that of Herod.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Two big lessons:<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0don\u2019t assume that whenever Jesus speaks to you that He always speaks, or worse, that He\u00a0must<\/em>\u00a0speak, to your most immediate felt need or concern<\/strong>.\u00a0 People can make that mistake when they listen to sermons at church and complain, \u201cOh, this doesn\u2019t apply to my current situation.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 Sometimes Jesus has more important things for you to know that are bigger than whatever you yourself are concerned about at that moment.\u00a0 When listening to Jesus, we need to change our frame of reference from ourselves to Jesus if we really want to hear and understand what Jesus is saying.<\/p>\n

Second,\u00a0guard against unbelief<\/strong>.\u00a0 Like yeast, unbelief can spread quickly in a group.\u00a0 So Jesus tells them to guard against it.\u00a0 How can you guard against the yeast of unbelief?\u00a0 Here are a few tips:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Remind yourself often of the incredible works God has accomplished.\u00a0 \u201cAnd don\u2019t you remember?\u201d Jesus asks (v18).\u00a0 Just as Jesus reminded the disciples how many basketfuls his disciples picked up after feeding the crowd of five thousand and the crowd of four thousand, we need to remind ourselves of the amazing things God has done in our lives, starting with creation, the cross and the resurrection, and every other miracle God has done in your life that causes you to be in awe of God.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Regroup often with people who have a soft heart toward God, since iron sharpens iron.<\/p>\n

–\u00a0Pray that you would always have a soft and humble heart toward God.<\/p>\n

Jesus, I pray that I would always have a soft and humble heart toward You.\u00a0 May I not easily forget the works You have done in our lives and how real, powerful, merciful, loving and wonderful You are.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

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copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Mark 8:14-21.\u00a0 With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and see what sticks out to you in this passage.\u00a0 Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?\u00a0 After you\u2019ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Mark 8:14-21 (NIV)
\n14\u00a0\u00a0The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
\n16\u00a0\u00a0They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”<\/p>\n

On verses 14-21: The disciples were concerned about how they had forgotten to bring bread with them on the boat (v14).\u00a0 So when Jesus says, \u201cWatch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod\u201d (v15), the disciples immediately assume that Jesus is talking to them about how they had no bread (v16).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37055"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37058,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37055\/revisions\/37058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}