2020-03-13
Isaiah 54:2 NCV
Often we create boundaries around ourselves, and then stay inside them. These boundaries can come from our own insecurities because we believe that there are things we can’t do. Other times these boundaries come from times we’ve stepped out and failed. Fear can cause us to box ourselves in to what feels comfortable and manageable. It’s true that we’re not called to do everything. But God often calls us to think bigger. When an army sent by the king of Syria arrived to capture Elisha, Elisha’s servant panicked. He saw how big the army was. But ‘Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see”‘ (2 Kings 6:17 NIV). The servant could only see what was physically in front of him, but Elisha prayed that he would see the bigger picture. ‘Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha’ (v.17 NIV). God’s army was surrounding them. Sometimes we limit ourselves because we forget God’s with us and has the resources we need. God wants us to see past the limitations we’ve placed on ourselves and instead focus on our calling and His provision. Through the prophet Isaiah, God told the Israelites to: ‘Make your tent bigger; stretch it out and make it wider. Do not hold back.’ The Israelites were in exile at this point, and they probably thought their future didn’t look great. But God was telling them to see past the limitations they had placed on their future, and to prepare for the amazing things He was going to do. However much we’ve limited ourselves, we can choose to think bigger and expect God to do great things in and through us.
Gen 44-46; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 24; Prov 7:24-25
Jesaja 54:3 NLV
Vandag mag God dalk vir jou sê wat Hy vir sy mense, Israel, gesê het: ‘Maak jou woning groter. Span jou tent wyer, en moenie huiwer nie. Maak die tentlyne langer en slaan die penne dieper in. Want jy sal na links en regs uitbrei…’ (verse 2-3 NLV). Die meeste mense bly outomaties binne grense, selfs wanneer hierdie grense willekeurig getrek of baie verouderd is. Onthou, die meeste beperkings waarvoor ons te staan kom, is nie deur ander mense op ons geplaas nie, maar deur onsself. ‘n Gebrek aan kreatiwiteit val dikwels in hierdie kategorie. As jy meer kreatief wil word, moet jy jou grense uitdaag. Een uitvinder sê: ‘Alle menslike ontwikkeling, maak nie saak wat se vorm dit aanneem nie, moet buite die reëls wees; andersins sou ons nooit iets nuuts gedoen het nie.’ Wanneer jy iets wil hê wat jy nie het nie, moet jy gewillig wees om iets te doen wat jy nog nie gedoen het nie. Jy sê: ‘Maar ek het nie sy opvoeding nie,’ of ‘Ek het nie haar talente nie.’ Jy het nie iemand anders se opvoeding of talente nodig nie. Toe God jou gemaak het, het Hy alles wat jy nodig het om jou lewensdoelwit te bereik, in jou geplaas; jy moet dit net ontsluit en aan die werk sit. ‘God sê toe: ‘Laat Ons die mens maak volgens ons beeld, ‘n afbeelding van Ons…’ God het hulle geseën deur te sê: “Wees vrugbaar en vermeerder en vul die aarde. Onderwerp die aarde en heers oor… al die diere op aarde'” (Genesis 1:26-28 NLV). Jy is volgens God se beeld gemaak. Daar is ‘n deel van jou wat soos God is. Jy het goddelike DNA. Jy is in staat om kreatief te wees, so lig die beperkinge op jouself.
Sielskos: Gen 44-46; Matt 22:23-33; Ps 24; Spr 7:24-25
2020-03-12
Proverbs 23:23 NCV
When everything in our lives is going well, it’s easy to stay on the right path and do what we believe to be the right thing. However, we can easily be swayed by circumstances, people, and our own desires, to do the wrong thing. When we’re tempted or pressured, we can end up doing the very thing we said we’d definitely never do. Instead of doing what’s right, we go the opposite way. It’s not easy to stand up for the truth when everyone else is going a different way. But God wants us to go the right way. The Bible says: ‘Learn the truth and never reject it. Get wisdom, self-control, and understanding.’ We should aim to ‘never reject’ the right way. With God’s strength, we can be set apart for Him. In the Bible, we read about three men who stood up for the right thing, even when no one else did and even when there would be serious consequences for doing so. These men were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When King Nebuchadnezzar called everyone to bow down and worship him each time the music played, these three men refused to do it because they knew it was right to only worship God. Their punishment was to be thrown into a fire, but they still refused to compromise. They said: ‘Even if God does not save us, we want you, O king, to know this: We will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up’ (Daniel 3:18 NCV). God was in the fire with them, and they walked out unharmed (you can read the whole story in Daniel 3). God honours us when we decide to stand up for what’s right. Let’s be people who go the right way, no matter what.
Gen 42-43; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Prov 7:21-23
Proverbs 23:23 NKJV
In the early 1970s, the Iraqi government arrested a group of American students on trumped-up espionage charges. In order to elicit admissions of guilt, they tortured them. They were told that if they confessed they were spies, they would go free. In other words: “Compromise the truth – admit to a lie.” One by one, as the pressures and the pain mounted, they all confessed to crimes they had not committed – except for one student. The torture intensified and the loneliness of isolation became unbearable, and he came close to breaking. But he didn’t. Finally they announced that they were finished with his case, and that he could simply confess or die. A confession lay before him as they raised a pistol to his head, cocked the hammer and started the countdown. He had heard executions from his cell and knew what his captors were capable of. “Sign your name,” he was told, “and you will live,” but he refused. He closed his eyes, grimaced and prepared to die. They pulled the trigger. When he heard the click, he thought he was dead. The gun, however, had not been loaded. The student was eventually released, but he discovered afterward that every other prisoner who had confessed was hanged in the public square. He was the only survivor. That day he learned a valuable lesson about facing tough times: Compromise represents a far greater risk than courage. So the threefold word for you today is: (1) It is always right to do right. (2) It is never wrong to do right. (3) It is never right to do wrong.
Soul food: Gen 42-43; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Prov 7:21-23
Spreuke 23:23 NLV
In die vroeë 1970’s, het die Irakse regering ‘n groep Amerikaanse studente op valse aantygings van spioenasie in hegtenis geneem. Om hulle sover te kry om skuld te erken, is hulle gemartel. Daar is vir die studente gesê dat indien hulle erken dat hulle spioene is, hulle vrygelaat sou word. Een vir een, soos die druk en die pyn vermeerder het, het hulle almal erken dat hulle misdade gepleeg het waaraan hulle nie skuldig was nie – almal behalwe een student. Die marteling het erger geword en die eensaamheid van isolasie het ondraaglik geword en hom amper gebreek. Uiteindelik het hulle aangekondig dat hulle klaar was met sy saak en dat hy óf sy misdaad moes erken, óf hy sou tereggestel word. ‘n Skuldbelydenis het voor hom gelê terwyl hulle die pistool teen sy kop gedruk het, die pistool oorgehaal het en die sekondes begin aftel het. Hy het uit sy sel uit gehoor hoe ander mense tereggestel word en hy het geweet waartoe sy ontvoerders in staat was. ‘Teken jou naam,’ het hulle vir hom gesê, ‘en jy sal lewe,’ maar hy het geweier. Hy het sy oë toegemaak en homself voorberei om te sterf. Hulle het die sneller getrek. Toe hy die kliek hoor, het hy gedink hy is dood. Die pistool was egter nooit gelaai nie. Die student is uiteindelik vrygelaat, maar hy het agterna ontdek dat al die ander gevangenes wat skuld erken het, in die openbaar opgehang is. Hy was die enigste oorlewende. Die drievoudige woord vir jou vandag is dus: 1) Dis altyd reg om reg op te tree. 2) Dit is nooit verkeerd om reg op te tree nie. 3) Dit is nooit reg om verkeerd op te tree nie.
Sielskos: Gen 42-43; Matt 22:15-22; Ps 135; Spr 7:21-23
