2018-07-21
2 Timothy 1:10 NLT
It’s no surprise that God has a heart for hurting parents. After all, God Himself is a father. What parental emotion has He not felt? Are you separated from your child? So was God. Is someone mistreating your child? They mocked and bullied His. Is someone taking advantage of your child? He, the Son of God, was set up by false testimony and betrayed by a greedy follower. Are you forced to watch while your child suffers? God watched His Son on the cross. Do you find yourself wanting to spare your child from all the hurt in the world? God did. But because of His great love for us, “He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things” (Romans 8:32 NCV). Note the words “all things.” There’s nothing God can’t do in answer to prayer! Perhaps you’ve prayed but your child has died. No pain compares to that of losing a child. Maybe you’ve said, “Jesus resurrected Jairus’ child, why didn’t He save mine?” God understands your question. He buried a child too. And He hates death more than you do. That’s why He “broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality.” For those who trust Christ, death is nothing more than a transition to heaven. Your child may not be in your arms today, but your child is safely in His. After losing his son at birth, David looked forward with hope and said, “I shall go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23 NKJV). And so will you.
Soul food: 2 Sam 22:31-24:25; Luke 8:26-39; Ps 140; Prov 18:21-22
2 Timoteus 1:10 NLV
Dis geen verrassing dat God ‘n hart het vir ouers wat seer het nie. God is immers self ‘n Vader. Mishandel iemand jou kind? Hulle het sy kind gespot en geboelie. Maak iemand misbruik van jou kind? Jesus is deur vals getuienis veroordeel en deur ‘n gierige volgeling verraai. Word jy geforseer om toe te kyk hoe jou kind ly? God het sy Seun op die kruis gesien. Vind jy dat jy jou kind van al die seer in die wêreld wil spaar? God het ook so gevoel, maar, ‘As God werklikwaar nie sy eie Seun gespaar het nie, maar Hom ter wille van ons aan die dood oorgegee het, is daar tog geen manier waarop Hy nie ook alle ander goeie dinge aan ons sal skenk nie’ (Romeine 8:32 NLV). Daar is niks wat God nie in antwoord op gebed kan doen nie! Miskien het jy gebid, maar jou kind het gesterf. Daar is geen pyn wat met die verlies van ‘n kind vergelyk kan word nie. Miskien het jy gesê, ‘Jesus het Jaïrus se kind uit die dood gered, hoekom het Hy myne nie gered nie? God verstaan jou vraag. Hy het ook sy kind begrawe. Hy haat ook die dood. Dis hoekom Hy ‘…die mag van die dood verbreek het en aan ons… die weg gewys het na die onverganklike lewe.’ Vir diegene wat op Christus vertrou, is die dood niks meer as ‘n oorgang na die hemel toe nie. Jou kind mag dalk nie vandag in jou arms wees nie, maar is veilig in God se arms. Nadat hy sy seun by geboorte verloor het, het Dawid met hoop vorentoe gekyk en gesê, ‘…Eendag sal ek na hom toe gaan…’ (2 Samuel 12:23 NLV). Jy sal ook.
Sielskos: 2 Sam 22:31-24:25; Luk 8:26-39; Ps 140; Spr 18:21-22
2018-07-20
Lukas 8:55-56 NLV
Jy kan jou heel beste vir jou kinders doen en steeds staan waar Jaïrus gestaan het. Jy kan vir hulle lief wees, hulle beskerm en vir hulle bid, en steeds jouself om middernag in ongevalle of by die rehabiliteitskliniek tydens besoekure bevind, waar jy tussen twee stemme kies: wanhoop en geloof. Wie sou Jaïrus kwalik geneem het as hy opgegee het? Toe hy die eerste keer na Jesus toe gegaan het, was sy dogter kritiek, maar steeds lewendig. Terwyl hy egter met Jesus gepraat het, het die boodskap gekom: ‘…Jou dogter is dood…’ (vers 49 NLV). In daardie oomblik het Jesus na Jaïrus gekyk en gesê, ‘Moenie jou ontstel nie. Vertrou My net en dit sal goed gaan met haar’ (vers 50 NLV). Of dit nou is om die kind se siekte in sy spore te stuit of haar uit die dood uit op te wek, Jesus was die antwoord op Jaïrus se probleem. Hy is ook die antwoord op jou familie se probleem. Let twee dinge op wat Jesus gedoen het: 1) Hy het die mense weggestuur wat getreur het, maar geen geloof gehad het nie (sien Lukas 8:52). Wees versigtig wie jy naby aan jou toelaat, veral in tye van krisis. 2) Hy het die ouers in geloof verenig. ‘Toe hulle by die huis aankom, wou Jesus niemand saam met Hom laat ingaan nie, behalwe Petrus, Jakobus en Johannes, en die dogtertjie se pa en ma (vers 51 NLV). ‘Jesus vat haar toe aan die hand en sê hardop: ‘Staan op, my kind!’ En op daardie oomblik het die lewe in haar teruggekom, en sy het onmiddellik opgestaan!.. Haar ouers was oorstelp…’ (verse 54-56 NLV). Wanneer jy bid en jou geloof in Christus plaas, kan Hy dinge in jou familie doen wat jou sal verstom!
Sielskos: 2 Sam 20:1-22:30; Luk 8:16-25; Ps 133; Spr 18:17-20
Luke 8:55-56 NKJV
You can do your very best for your children, and still stand where Jairus stood. You can love them, protect them, and pray for them, and still find yourself in an emergency ward at midnight or a drug rehab clinic on visitors’ Sunday choosing between two voices: despair and belief. Who would have faulted Jairus for giving up? When he first went to Jesus, his daughter was critically ill but still alive. Then while he was talking to Jesus, word arrived: “Your daughter is dead” (v. 49 NLT). In that moment Jesus looked at Jairus and said, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed” (v. 50 NLT). Whether stopping the child’s sickness in its tracks, or raising her from the dead, Jesus was the answer to Jairus’ problem. And He is the answer to your family problem too. Notice two things Jesus did: (1) He dismissed those who mourned, but had no faith (See Luke 8:51). Be careful who you let get close to you, especially in times of crisis. (2) He united the parents in faith. “When Jesus went to the house, he let only Peter, John, James, and the girl’s father and mother go inside with him” (v. 51 NCV). At that point He “took her by the hand and called, saying, ‘Little girl, arise.’ Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately…And her parents were astonished” (vv. 54-56 NKJV). When you pray and put your faith in Christ, He can do things in your family that will amaze you!
Soul food: 2 Sam 20:1-22:30; Luke 8:16-25; Ps 133; Prov 18:17-20
2018-07-19
Lamentations 2:19 NKJV
The story of Jairus is the story of a pleading parent and an ever-present Savior. So, “Pour out your heart…before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your…children.” Parent, you can do this. You can be a loyal advocate and a faithful intercessor. You can bring your parenting fears to Jesus. In fact, if you don’t, you might take your fears out on your children. Fear turns some parents into prison guards who monitor every minute and check the background of every friend. They stifle growth and communicate distrust. A family with no breathing room suffocates a child. On the other hand, fear can also create permissive parents. For fear that their child will feel too confined or fenced in, they lower all boundaries. High on hugs and low on discipline, they don’t realize that appropriate discipline is an expression of love. Permissive parents or paranoid parents – how can you avoid those extremes? Pray! Jesus said so little about parenting, yet His actions speak volumes about prayer. Each time a parent prays, Christ responds. The big message in this story is: When your child is in crisis, turn to Jesus. But don’t wait for a crisis to come. When you send them off to school each day, do so with a blessing. When you tell them good night, cover them in prayer. When they’re stumped by a homework assignment they can’t handle, pray with them about it. Pray that your children will have a profound sense of their place in this world, and a heavenly place in the next one.
Soul food: 2 Sam 17:14-19:43; Luke 8:1-15; Ps 123; Prov 18:13-16
