2018-07-16
Psalm 32:7 NIV
Have you ever fantasized about running away from all the stresses of today’s high-tech world? Surely there’s a place somewhere on the globe where the pace is slower and the living is easy. That dream motivated a family in 1940 to move to an island called Guadalcanal in the Coral Sea. But two years later war broke out in the Pacific, and the couple found themselves witnessing a battle – in their front yard. Obviously, they had chosen the wrong place. Where can you go to escape the noise and hubbub of city life? How about a small island in the Caribbean called Grand Cayman? Vacationers to this resort say it is the closest thing to paradise on earth. The residents there pay no taxes. The water around them is calm and warm, and there are orchids growing everywhere. Sounds good, doesn’t it? But there’s a catch. Medical studies revealed that the two major ailments suffered by the citizens of Grand Cayman are hypertension and anxiety neurosis. Life on a tropical beach is not always what it appears to be. Could it be that the stresses and pressures with which we struggle, actually come from within? Yes. And they will plague us no matter where we live, until we learn to deal with circumstances as they are. Here’s how the Psalmist did it: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (vv. 7-8 NIV).
Soul food: 2 Sam 7:18-11:27; Luke 7:11-23; Ps 118:1-9; Prov 18:4-6
Psalm 32:7 NLV
Het jy al ooit daaroor gefantaseer om weg te hardloop van al die stres van vandag se gejaagde lewe? Daar moet tog ‘n plek op aarde wees waar die pas stadiger en die lewe maklik is. Hierdie droom het ‘n familie in 1940 gemotiveer om na ‘n eiland genaamd Gaudalcanal in die Koraalsee te verhuis. Twee jaar later het oorlog egter in die Stille Oseaan uitgebreek en was daar ‘n stryd op hulle voorstoep. Uit die aard van die saak het hulle die verkeerde plek gekies. Waar kan jy gaan om die geraas en gejaagdheid van die stadslewe te ontsnap? Wat van ‘n klein eiland in die Karibiese See genaamd Grand Cayman? Vakansiegangers by hierdie oord sê dat dit die naaste ding aan ‘n paradys op aarde is. Die inwoners betaal geen belasting nie. Die water rondom hulle is kalm en warm en daar is orgideë wat orals groei. Klink idillies, nie waar nie? Daar is egter ‘n vangplek. Mediese studies het bewys dat die twee hoofsiektes waaraan inwoners van Grand Cayman ly, hipertensie en angsneurose is. Lewe op ‘n tropiese eiland is nie altyd wat dit voorkom om te wees nie. Kan dit wees dat die stres en druk waarteen ons stry, eintlik van binne onsself kom? Ja. Hierdie stres en druk gaan ons pla, maak nie saak waar ons lewe nie, totdat ons leer om ons omstandighede soos dit is, te hanteer. Hier is hoe die Psalmdigter dit gedoen het: ‘U is vir my ‘n skuilplek. U beskerm my van teëspoed. U omring my met liedere van redding. Die Here sê: “Ek sal jou onderrig en die pad wys waarop jy moet gaan. Ek sal vir jou raad gee, my oog sal op jou wees'” (verse 7-8 NLV).
Sielskos: 2 Sam 7:18-11:27; Luk 7:11-23; Ps 118:1-9; Spr 18:4-6
2018-07-15
Genesis 26:8 NLV
In die dae wat houtskepe van die wind afhanklik was om hulle voort te dryf, het matrose baie gehad om oor besorgd te wees: seerowers, storms en siektes. Hulle grootste vrees was egter dikwels die ‘windstilstreke’ – ‘n area naby aan die ewenaar wat deur kalm en min winde gekenmerk word. Dit kon die dood van die hele bemanning beteken het. Hulle kon vir dae of selfs weke rondgedobber het terwyl hulle vir ‘n wind gewag het om hulle weer op koers te kry. Ons praat van dinge wat ‘die wind uit ons seile neem,’ wanneer ons ons momentum verloor en van koers af gaan. Jou huwelik verloor nie sy momentum oornag nie, maar oor maande en jare van onsensitiwiteit en verwaarlosing. Dit hoef egter nie vir jou so te wees nie. Doug Fields skryf in sy boek, Creative Romance, die volgende: ‘Om jou eggenoot te romantiseer kan baie pret wees. Daar is natuurlik geen kitsoplossings vir ‘n huwelik wat stagnant is nie, maar jy kan die verskonings eenkant toe skuif en begin om jou geliefde weer die hof te maak.’ God het die kerk in Efese hiervan beskuldig: ‘Maar Ek het hierdie klag teen jou: dat jy jou eerste liefde versaak het’ (Openbaring 2:4 NLV). Toe het Hy vir hulle gesê hoe om dit reg te stel: ‘…kom tot inkeer, en doen weer wat jy aan die heel begin gedoen het…’ (vers 5 NLV). Isak was bang dat koning Abimelek hom sou doodmaak en sy vrou Rebekka vir homself sou vat, en het toe gejok en gesê dat sy sy suster is. Wat het hom weggegee? ‘Na ‘n tyd kyk Abimelek… eendag deur ‘n venster en sien hoe Isak vir Rebekka liefkoos.’ Romanse het sy lewe en sy huwelik gered. Dit kan dieselfde vir jou doen.
Sielskos: Matt 5:8; Ps 24:3-6; Ps 18:17-26; 1 Joh 3:1-3
Genesis 26:8 NASB
Back in the days when wooden ships depended on the wind to drive them, sailors had much to be concerned about: pirates, storms, and diseases. But often their greatest fear was “the doldrums” – an area near the equator characterized by calm and very light shifting winds. It could mean the death of the entire crew. The ship’s food and water supply would be depleted as they drifted for days, or even weeks, waiting for a breeze to put them back on course. We talk about something “taking the wind out of our sails,” meaning we’ve lost our momentum and we need something to get us back on course again. Your marriage doesn’t lose its momentum overnight, but over months and years of insensitivity and neglect. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you. Author Doug Fields, in his book Creative Romance, writes: “Romancing your spouse can change those patterns, and it can be a lot of fun. There’s no quick fix to a stagnant marriage, of course, but you can lay aside the excuses and begin to date your sweetheart again.” God brought this charge against the church at Ephesus: “You have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4 NKJV). Then He told them how to remedy it: “Repent and do the first works” (v. 5 NKJV). Fearing King Abimelech would kill him and take his wife Rebekah, Isaac lied and said she was his sister. What gave him away? King Abimelech looked out a window, and, “Behold, Isaac was [sporting with] his wife Rebekah” (NAS). Romance saved his life and his marriage, and it can do the same for yours.
Soul food: Matt 5:8; Ps 24:3-6; Ps 18:17-26; 1 John 3:1-3
2018-07-14
1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV
What seems like a setback is often a setup for a comeback! There’s no greater illustration of this than Good Friday. On the Saturday between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, it seemed all was lost. But it’s not over until God says it’s over! The greatest spiritual victory in history was won on the heels of its seemingly greatest defeat. All was lost, but not for long. Three days after His crucifixion, Jesus walked out of His tomb. And as a redeemed child of God, that same power lives in you today. “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11 NKJV). In God’s kingdom failure is never final. Not if you believe in the resurrection! You won’t win every spiritual battle, but the war has been decisively won. The victory was sealed two thousand years ago when Jesus broke the seal of His tomb. It was the deathblow to death itself. Paul writes, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v. 37 NKJV). Today you are more than a conqueror (in all these things) because of what Christ accomplished for you. Yes, you’ll experience setbacks. But remember this: Without a crucifixion there can be no resurrection. So when you have a setback, don’t take a step back, because God is preparing your comeback.
Soul food: 2 Sam 3:22-7:17; Luke 7:1-10; Ps 109:16-31; Prov 18:1-3
