2017-11-30
2 Konings 4:8 DB
Die Bybel verwys na hierdie vrou as “‘n vooraanstaande vrou.” Dis omdat sy ‘n ‘vooraanstaande’ strategie vir haar lewe gehad het! Sy het ‘n slaapkamer in haar huis vir die profeet Elisa voorberei om te gebruik wanneer hy deur haar dorp gereis het. Gevolglik het sy haar hartswens ontvang: ‘n babaseuntjie. Later jare, toe haar seun skielik gesterf het, het God vir Elisa gebruik om haar seun uit die dood op te wek. Let drie dinge oor hierdie vrou se verhaal op: 1) Sy het ruimte vir God gemaak. 2) Haar droom is vervul. 3) Toe haar droom sterf, het God dit weer lewendig gemaak (sien verse 36-37). Sy het geweier om die opinies van ongelowige mense te aanvaar of om haar situasie met mense wat ongekwalifiseerd is om te help, te bespreek. Wees versigtig teenoor wie jy in ‘n krisis oopmaak! Maak seker dat hulle God ken en dat hulle woorde in lyn met Syne is. Hierdie vrou het geglo dat as God dit begin het, Hy dit kon beëindig. As Hy dit gemaak het, kon Hy dit regmaak. Die Bybel vertel ons dat Elisa homself oor die liggaam van die dooie seun uitgestrek het en hom warm gemaak het. Hierdie seun het egter meer as warmte nodig gehad – hy het lewe nodig gehad. Dus het Elisa weer op hom gaan lê en hy het lewendig geword. Maak nie saak hoe sleg dinge lyk nie, bly bo-op die situasie deur aan te hou om in God te glo. Bid die hele nag as jy moet, maar hou aan om op sy Woord te staan. Jou droom mag dalk nog nie ten volle lewendig wees nie, maar dit word warm. Dinge is aan die verbeter… God is aan die beweeg… die antwoord is op pad!
Sielskos: Gen 24:1-25:18; Joh 12:20-36; Ps 14; Spr 31:22-24
2 Kings 4:8 NIV
The Bible refers to this woman as “a great woman.” That’s because she had a “great” strategy for her life! She prepared a bedroom in her house for Elisha the prophet to use when he passed through town. As a result she got her heart’s desire: a baby boy. And later when her son died suddenly, God used Elisha to raise him from the dead. Notice three things in this woman’s story: (1) She made room for God. (2) Her dream came to pass. (3) When her dream died, God brought it back to life (See vv. 36-37). When her son died, the neighbours probably told her, “It’s over. Go ahead and bury him.” But she refused to accept the opinions of unbelieving people or discuss her situation with those who were unqualified to help. Be careful who you open up to in a crisis! Make sure they know God, and that their words line up with His. This woman believed that if God started it, He could finish it. If He made it, He could fix it. The Bible tells us Elisha stretched out his body on top of the dead boy, and he got warm. But this boy needed more than warmth – he needed life. So Elisha stretched out on top of him again, and he became fully alive. There’s a lesson here for you. No matter how bad things look, stay on top of the situation by believing God. Walk the floor and pray all night if you have to, but keep standing on His Word. Your dream may not yet be fully alive, but it’s getting warm. Things are improving…God is moving…the answer’s on the way!
Soul food: Gen 24:1-25:18; John 12:20-36; Ps 14; Prov 31:22-24
2017-11-29
Spreuke 22:7 NLV
Hier is ‘n idee om uit skuld uit te kom en daaruit te bly. In plaas van om daarna as jou ‘kredietkaart’ te verwys, begin om dit as jou ‘skuldkaart’ te sien. Volgende keer wat jy die lus kry om iets te koop wat jy nie nodig het of kan bekostig nie, sal dit dalk jou lus demp. Daar is ‘n verhaal oor ‘n nutsman wat na ‘n miljoenêr se huis uitgeroep is om die vloere te teël. Die ryk man se vrou het gesê, ‘Wees veral versigtig met die eetkamertafel. Dit gaan terug na Louis XVI se tyd.’ Die nutsman het geantwoord, ‘Dis niks. As ek nie teen volgende Vrydag ‘n betaling maak nie, gaan my hele woonkamer terug na die meubelwinkel toe!’ Daar word gesê dat die gemiddelde mens vandag ‘n kar bestuur wat deur die bank gefinansier is, met petrol wat met ‘n kredietkaart gekoop is, na die winkel om nog ‘n rekening oop te maak, om hulle huis waarop hulle ‘n verband van dertig jaar by die bank uitgeneem het, vol te maak met meubels wat op ‘n paaiementplan gekoop is. Die Bybel keur nie skuld af nie, maar waarsku ons teen die gebruik daarvan. ‘Soos rykes oor armes heers, so is die man wat geld leen. Hy is die slaaf van die man by wie hy leen.’ Dis in orde om vir noodsaaklikhede te leen, maar jy moet altyd vir luukshede betaal. Waar moontlik, betaal kontant of moet dit nie koop nie. ‘Die goddelose leen en betaal nie terug nie…’ (Psalm 37:21 NLV). Dis nie verkeerd om geld te leen nie, maar dit is wel verkeerd om geld te leen en dit nie terug te betaal nie. Die woord vir jou vandag is dus: Leer om binne jou vermoë te lewe.
Sielskos: Gen 20-23; Joh 12:12-19; Ps 146; Spr 31:18-21
Proverbs 22:7 NKJV
Here’s an idea for getting out of debt, and staying out. Instead of referring to it as your “credit card,” start seeing it as your “debt card.” Next time you have an “itch” to purchase something you don’t need or can’t pay for, that may just stop you from “scratching” it. People generally fall into three categories: (1) the haves; (2) the have-nots; and (3) the have-not-paid-for-what-they-haves. The story is told of a handyman who’d been called out to a millionaire’s mansion to refinish the floors. The rich man’s wife said, “Be especially careful with this dining room table. It goes back to Louis XVI.” The handyman said, “That’s nothing. If I don’t make a payment by next Friday, my whole living room set goes back to the furniture store!” They say the average person today drives a bank-financed car, over a bond-financed road, on gasoline they bought with a credit card, to a department store to open another charge account, so they can fill their house that’s mortgaged for thirty years to the bank, with furniture that’s been purchased on an instalment plan. Now, the Bible doesn’t condemn credit, but it cautions us about the use of it. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” It’s okay to borrow for necessities, but you should always pay for luxuries. So if at all possible, pay cash or don’t buy it. “The wicked borrows and does not repay” (Psalms 37:21 NKJV). It’s not wrong to borrow money, it’s just wrong to borrow money and not repay it. So the word for you today is: Learn to live within your means.
Soul food: Gen 20-23; John 12:12-19; Ps 146; Prov 31:18-21
2017-11-28
1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV
Spiritually speaking, you may not be as far along as you’d like to be, but thank God you’re still on the road. At one time you were a stranger to God’s grace, but now you belong to “the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19). Paul writes, “You received the word…which… effectively works in you who believe.” As long as you keep reading and believing God’s Word, it will keep working in you. Plus, you mature a lot faster when you learn to relax and start living by what God’s Word says about you, not how you feel. How you see yourself affects your spiritual progress profoundly. Until your self-concept lines up with what God says about you in Scripture, you’ll keep seeing yourself as unqualified and unworthy – and that will hinder your spiritual growth. When God told Jeremiah He’d called him as a prophet to the nations, Jeremiah informed God he was too young, wasn’t a good speaker, and didn’t have enough experience, etc. How did God respond? “Before I formed you…I knew [and] approved of you” (Jeremiah 1:5 AMP). So stop worrying about being rejected when you don’t perform perfectly. The world operates like that, but not God. Plus, if you were as perfect as you’d like to be, you wouldn’t need His grace. Like Jacob’s limp, sometimes God leaves things in us to remind us how much we need Him each day. So enjoy where you are right now and stop comparing yourself with other people. Don’t worry if they are farther along than you. They went through exactly the same places to get to where they are today.
Soul food: Gen 17-19; John 12:1-11; Ps 118:19-29; Prov 31:14-17
