Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. ¹⁵ And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. ¹⁶ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. ¹⁷ And when Yeshua knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? ¹⁹ When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. ²⁰ And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. ²¹ And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? (Mark 8:14-21 KJV)

I have been listening to Bible stories of the great works of God since I was an infant.  I was given my first King James Bible when I was only five years of age and could not yet read.  I “read” picture bibles, and listened to grandparents, parents, Sunday School teachers and preachers teach about God creating the entire universe in seven days, flooding the whole world in forty days, repopulating the earth with a handful of people and rescued animal.  I watched as the God of Israel turned the Nile to blood, overran Egypt with frogs, flies, lice, locusts, hail and fire.  I watched as Charlton Heston parted the Red Sea and the children of Israel passed safely to the wilderness of Midian.  I participated in various Christmas pageants, playing a donkey, a shepherd, a sage, and an angel.  I watched the King of Kings, the Greatest Story Ever Told, Jesus of Nazareth, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, and even the Passion.  I have a B.A. in Religious Studies, and a Masters of Divinity Degree. I have spent the greatest portion of my adult life reading, studying and researching the scriptures.  And yet, I still find myself relating to the disciples of Yeshua as they are portrayed in the story above.  

The disciples of our Master Yeshua, were blessed to have heard the Master teach in person. They did not have to read about Yeshua and imagine what he was like.  They were present in the synagogues, on the hillside, by the sea shore and in people’s homes when he taught.  Up to this point in the Gospel of Mark, the disciples have heard Yeshua teach (with authority), and observed him cast out unclean spirits, heal Peter’s mother-in-law, heal many of diverse diseases, cast out numerous devils, cleanse a leper, heal a man with palsy, heal a withered hand, heal a woman of a hemorrhage, raise a dead girl, calm a storm, feed 5000 people and then again 4000 more with but a few loaves of bread and a few fish.  One would think that after witnessing all of these miraculous events first hand, and after sitting day after day  in the company of Yeshua, while listing to the Master teach—one would have great faith.  But instead, we observe the disciples worrying about their failure to secure the necessary provisions for their journey.  They had just witnessed Yeshua feed 4000 people with seven loaves and a few small fish. After which the disciples gathered seven baskets full of leftovers.  They had also observed Yeshua feed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and gathered 12 baskets of leftovers.  Now, in the boat with Yeshua, the disciples are concerned about feeding 13 people with one loaf!  How could they so soon forget what Yeshua had done?  How could they so soon forget who Yeshua is?  The disciples were right in the boat with Yeshua, what could they possibly have to worry about?

Yet, I find myself empathetic to the disciples.  I too have heard and read all of the stories of the great and miraculous works of YHWH.  I too have head the testimony of the loving, patient nature of our God.

YHWH is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. (Psalm 103:8 KJV)

YHWH is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. (Psalm 145:8 KJV)

YHWH is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. (Numbers 14:18 KJV)

Know therefore that YHWH thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (Deuteronomy 7:9 KJV)

I have read and been told that nothing is impossible for God.

Is anything too hard for YHWH? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. (Genesis 18:14 KJV)

Behold, I am YHWH, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:27 KJV)

But Yeshua beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26 KJV)

And Yeshua looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:27 KJV)

For with God nothing shall be impossible. (Luke 1:37 KJV)

While I have hear all that YHWH did for Israel and while I have read of all that Yeshua did for others, when I am faced with my own temptations, tests, challenges, hurts, heartaches, etc, I find that I often forget everything I heard, read, or know from past experiences.  Anxiety, fear, insecurity, doubt and pain overwhelm my knowledge and my faith.  The miraculous stories of how YHWH delivered and sustained his people through persecution, famines, floods, wars and even lions’ dens all become distant memories in light of present pain and persecution. 

This failure of faith is purely the fruit of the fall.  In the Garden of Eden Adam and Havah were blessed with the ability to commune with the Creator.  Man was created with two natures, the spiritual nature through which the Spirit Creator could commune with man, and impart revelation knowledge and truth, and a carnal nature by which man could manifest this revelation knowledge to the world.  This carnal or animal nature contains man’s senses, to help protect and sustain the body that it may serve the revealed purposes of the creator.  In their created order, man was to be predominantly oriented to the spirit.  In other words, the Spirit of the Creator revealed knowledge to the spirit of man, which informed the soul of man, which in turn informed the flesh of man how to act and what to do in any given situation.  But at the fall, Adam and Havah chose to live predominantly by their carnal senses rather than their spirit.  (This is the mixed fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.) At the fall, Adam and Havah’s eyes were opened. 

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. ⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:5-7 KJV)

Now the first couple lived by what they saw, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched for themselves.  Adam and Havah would sensually experience the world around them and compare it to what the Spirit Creator had revealed to them.  With their senses awakened they would reason for themselves what was good and what was evil.  With their senses awakened Adam and Havah became their own elohim (authority).  The descendants of Adam and Havah progressively became more and more sensually oriented until finally what YHWH revealed is overwhelmed by what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched by the senses. 

The spies that were sent to scout out the land of Israel had received the promise of YHWH, that he would evict the Canaanites and others from the land of promise.  But when the spies saw the inhabitants of the land, they forgot all about YHWH’S promises and were overwhelmed by fear at what they saw and reasoned for themselves.

But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. ³² And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. ³³ And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:31-33 KJV)

As children of Israel and disciples of Yeshua, we are to be a people of faith!  We are to trust YHWH at his word.  We are to live, not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of YHWH. We are to live by the Spirit not our flesh.  We are to walk by faith not by sight.

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4 KJV)

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16 KJV)

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25 KJV)

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17 KJV)

For we walk by faith, not by sight: (2 Corinthians 5:7 KJV)

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 KJV)    

To fulfill this calling we must develop spiritual discipline.  We must learn to take our flesh to the cross.  Not just our lusts and desires, but also our proclivity to live by what we see instead of the word of YHWH.  Yes, in the real world we must carefully observe and evaluate our circumstance, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.  But we must evaluate them based upon the word and promise of YHWH.  We must not be naïve in our faith.  The saints suffer and even die.  John the Baptist and the Apostle Shaul both were beheaded.  Yeshua was crucified.  The Great Tribulation is promised to be worse than anything that we have ever seen in the history of mankind.  However, we are still called to tenaciously hang on to what has been revealed to us.  The promises of YHWH are sure, certain and true.  We must discipline ourselves not to make snap judgments based upon what our senses have experienced, but instead we must return to the word of YHWH and search out what the Sovereign Creator has promised about any given circumstance.  We must train up our spirit and strengthen our faith by standing firm upon the word of YHWH in spite of what we see, hear, taste, touch, or smell with our own senses.  We must learn not to reason but to believe.  This is no small matter and clearly demands the grace of YHWH.  Our Master, Yeshua gave us a perfect example of this discipline when he departed for prayer and communion with the Creator prior to acting upon any challenge.  While our senses are screaming at us and filling our heads full of external information, raising our blood pressure and anxiety levels, there is a still small voice speaking from within our spirit that is reminding us of the word of YHWH.   The Spirit of Truth speaks of YHWH and is trying to bring to remembrance all that our Master has taught us. 

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:16-17 KJV)

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (John 15:26 KJV)

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13 KJV)

But the Comforter, which is the Spirit of the Holy One, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26 KJV)  

Quiet prayer in the face of temptations, challenges, trials, and testings, is what will build our faith.  The Spirit will bring to mind all that we have forgotten or become suddenly blind to because of our fears, doubts and anxieties.  The testimony of scripture is overwhelming; YHWH is faithful to his promises!  Yet our immediate circumstances, pain and anxiety will blind us to this testimony unless we are able to hear the voice of the Spirit of YHWH speaking to our spirit.  Practicing this discipline regularly will help us to grow strong in faith in the times of our greatest challenges. Learning to listen to the Spirit of the Holy One is a critical discipline in our lives and walk.  Yeshua our Master declared,

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (John 10:27 KJV)

Note that we are to hear HIS voice and follow HIM…not hear our own anxiety and respond to it.  Now it the time to learn the Master’s voice.  We do this in quiet prayer, confirming everything we hear with the written word. If YHWH does not change then the voice of the Spirit will be consistent with the testimony of the scriptures.